I am new to RC flying, and have been doing a lot of research and reading. I've been putting lots of hours into a flight simulator. I am now starting to look for a good 1st plane. I am looking at staying in the Park Flyers <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; color: windowtext; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">category. What is a goodfirst plane? You see so many advertisments for beginner plans, which one do you go with?</span>

Hobby Zone Super Cub is high on the list of good first planes.

You still really should get someone to teach you, at least for your first flight. Evaluating your flying space and getting the plane set up right is part of learning, and that's not something you can learn on the internet or from a simulator.

Everone knows I'm into R/C planes (I read M.A.N. in the break room).
I often get asked about the hobby and usually recommend the HZ SuperCub
to people. You can get your feet wet with minimal investment.

<div>YT,</div><div></div>I would suggest getting a small powered glider. Learning to fly on a powered glider will make you a better pilot in the long run. Gliders force you to learn about how wind affects your flight and using the air to your advantage, but because it is still powered if you get into trouble you can get out of pretty easily.<div></div><div>My suggestion is the Hobby People Superfly X RTF Glider Here is the link: http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php...mhz-radio.html</div><div></div><div>It is a great starter plane because its a glider, it is pretty durable and you can fly around at a good sized park. Plus if you do crash it or break it you can get all of the replacement parts for it.</div><div>http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php...9&amp;cat=3002</div><div></div><div></div>

Thanks!

YT

I can recommend 4 trainers that would suit your purpose. They are;

Hobbyzone Champ
Hobbyzone Firebird Stratos
Hobbyzone Super Cub
Ares Gamma 370

These are all highwing trainers that have gotten countless new pilots sucessfully flying. Another good one is the Parkzone Apprentice, but that plane is more suited to training with a club instructor via the "buddy box" technique. The others I mentioned can be successfully flown pretty much without formal instruction. Of all of these, the Super Cub is probably the most difficult to fly, but still a great first plane.

I love the champ and the super cub. They are great planes and even after years of flying and many repairs/ changed parts fly great.

As someone who was flying long before the little electric ARFs came along I was wondering if newer pilots {a few years in the hobby} wouldn't say it is better to go to a club and learn from an instructor on a club trainer first?? Then you can buy/fly pretty much any of the new RTF electrics. Some of the little warbirds are pretty tricky to fly and I don't know if learning on the Cub will get a person to the point of moving on?

I'm certainly no expert in the ways of the dedicated park pilot, but I'd wager that the majority of landings with them are just plopping the plane down in the grass. There's nothing wrong with that if it's fun for the pilot, but if that's his idea of a landing it doesn't exactly take a lot of training to learn it.

Landing in the grass doesn’t take a lot of training which is good when you are a beginner. But you still have to keep the wings level and go the right speed so the plane doesn’t end up 50 yards from you. It is a great first step in learning to fly.

A pusher glider seems to be the best trainer imo. Pusher gliders take minimal damage on impacts and are very stable (good ones).
Landing a glider takes practice because they have so little drag they can glide forever so you need space to come in and lose the speed before you land or else you are going to cartwheel and lose some foam!

I disagree that putting the plane down in the grass is a good beginner step. The best way is to have a smooth runway and have the instructor show you how to land properly, which means a smooth touchdown and straight roll out. Like I said, as long as the pilot is having fun I don't mind how he lands, but if the goal is to fly bigger planes and do proper scalelike landings the habits learned in grass landings are going to be a setback.

Thanks everyone for the feed back. I do plan on getting involved with a club to have them teach me.

I don't think anyone asked if you had a preference for Electric or Nitro.

I started on an electric fomie, the Easy Star which is a great plane and takes a lot of abuse. However, I wanted to get into Nitro so I then purchased the Hanger 9 Alpha 40 RTF package (2.4GHZ). This is also a great trainer and flew pretty well right out of the box.

I also flew my son's new SuperCub which was a great plane until he insisted on pulling the transmitter out of my hand and nosed it into the ground.

So to summarize...

EasyStar
Alpha 40
Hobby Zone Super Cub

Gotta agree with jester on this one. It is far, far more satisfying and fun to be able to land on a paved or short grass runway. That does take some skill to accomplish and learning how to "flare" at the end for a nice smooth touchdown.

If you can find one, this little plane is a fun one that can take abuse and get you started for under $100.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...n-bnf-PKZU1580

The RTF I have found for $90, so if you can find one, try it out.  Once you get the hang of it, and some club time, look into a SIG Kadet LT40. It makes a superb trainer.

A good little trainer plane is the Hobbico J-3 Cub RTF. Great trainer in a little package for a good price. Hobby People sells one for a pretty good deal. Small, but not too small. Lots of people have learned to fly on a J-3 Cub.<div>
</div><div>http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php/rc-planes/airplanes/trainer-planes/hobbico-j-3-cub-2-4-ghz-rtf-airplane.html</div>

I'd say if you're interested in electrics, +1 for the Super Cub and the Champ and I'd lean towards the Champ simply for it's small size and being able to fly it anywhere.  I agree with the guys that finding a club and a good instructor and learning to fly and properly land a larger plane is the best way to go.  However, I've just seen so many people invest a lot of money getting started in our hobby, only to find out that, "Wow, this is a lot harder than I thought", get frustrated and give up on it.  And certainly not everyone, some folks take to it like a duck to water, but I've seen a LOT of people give up.  I think that's the biggest selling point of a small, low-cost, electric foamie.  And whether you choose a fuel plane or an electric plane, PLEASE don't be fooled into thinking that electrics are safer than fuel planes.  A prop driven by an electric motor will chop you up just as bad as as glow fuel powered or gasoline powered engine if you're not paying attention to what you're doing.  [:@]  Good luck in your quest and let us know how it goes, hopefully with pictures and videos!

Thanks for the feed back