When you have a wind gauge you don't need to over think things or use a wet finger or piece of paper. When your planes are measured in ounces then an 8mph wind is a bit more then just a breeze.

I was in the ame boat as you my friend! I went with the Fly Zone Sensi.  Its a great 4 ch plane and I have been learning to fly it on my own. It has a 58 inch wing span and is 48 inches long. Here is the link for it.  Hope this helps!!

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...XCKWL&P=ML

You can also look at the review on youtube by 2 brothers.

1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk96TGPLbOw
2  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9k7bHeVRIw

I didnt mean to start a huge debate ........ Everyone has their opinions ofcourse........I am taking it all in , like I said i wont be buying untill spring and more sim time.....I am however the kind of guy thats like to do things on my own but also I am not afraid to ask for help....otherwise I would not be posting here.

I appreciate all of everyones input..... I got 3 planes to choose from super cub. apprentice and the sensi.
1 is on clearview the super cub is like the 3ch plane on clearview i would imagine.

Thanks everyone.

Otto

Guys after my last post I was thinking I need to clarify something.
I started out in 2006 trying to fly a blade cp and honeybee fp heli w/ no luck at all lol.......I had at the time a blade cx whixh got me started in helis.Since i was unable to fly the fp or cp I gave it p..About a month and a half ago i got a small 3.5ch Heli from radio shack, I was amazed how stable it was the 4 days later i bought a $60 GT model co-ax 30" off e-bay burnt a motor a week later while waiting for parts I bought a double horse co-ax and love it very smooth 2.4ghz and stabe. So for x-mas I wanted a single blade Heli settled on a double horse. I got it wife wrapped it up.Then I decided to get a flight sim ....bought a dynam controller 6ch and purchased clearview and came across( in clearview) the blade 120 sr was very easy to fly in the sim So w/out wife knowing I bought one that thing is so cool Its gonna really help me fly a real cp one day.
Then playing around one day i tried the planes and I have to tell you on the sim I had way more fun w/ the planes than the heli's that is why i made my original post........Like I said I really do appreciate all the info you guys gave me and I will read this thread over and over again before making my 1st plane purchase.

I hope this was not to boring for you all to read. thanks again
Merry Christmas
Otto

Nothing beats the smell of nitro in the air, think about glow too.

Ah, the heavy smell of nitro - it is from a time a long time ago. 25 years ago it meant standing behind 4 Formula One's, each screaming away at 22,000 rpm burning 65% nitro fuel at a rate of 3 oz. per minute waiting for the flag to drop. A day of that and you simply reeked of burnt fuel and oil fumes. I feel for those where we ate in the evenings after a hard day of competition.

But those days are well behind us now, unless Red Bull decides to quit dropping people out of balloons and start pushing model airplanes.

While a wind meter is a nice to have item (they are fairly cheap), I always have a paper towel around that I can tear a corner from and drop. Even on very calm days, I find it useful to pick up a few tuffs of grass to drop to get a final reading of wind direction just before take-off. Too many pilots try to adjust their take-off direction into the wind without actually knowing which way it is really blowing. I tend not to do that, preferring to align with the runway centerline and using ailerons to do proper crosswind take-offs. But when I was just learning, I used every crutch available including standing behind the airplane and going straight into the wind. We are all on a simular path, just at different points.

This is RCU and you will never post anything that isn't a debate, it's the nature of the beast and most of us know each other and will debate the time of day if the topic comes up.
The wind Gage is bought at Amazon for about $30.00. One of the guys at our field have a complete weather station in his van. It's a lot of fun to have people guesstimate the wind speed then show them what it really is. Those 25 mph days instantly turn into a 10 or 12 mph day. Two weeks ago I posted some photos showing a fellows maiden flight of a foam electric with the wind Gage in the photo and the Gage started a conversation of it's own. The plane was a glider type with a motor in the rear, a pusher. Big wing, can't recall the name but it handled the wind {landing} better then my little Extra. Another three channel.
12 mph may be just a breeze in Kansas but when my little plane was on the ground and I pulled full up elevator and it took off again I would call that a wind. At this field it is also a cross wind but at my usual field it's 7 sq. miles of flat so direction doesn't mater. My 72 antenna has a piece of yarn on it for wind direction. I haven't bothered with anything on my 2.4. The yarn has been on there for decades and I have just never bothered to remove it.

We find that most wind meters run out of range on our windy days. We switch over to the log scale then. That is what angle the log chain is flying at from the top of the post where it is attached. On really windy days, we count how many links of the chain blow off per hour. We blame Nebraska and Oklahoma for our wind, as one sucks and the other blows.

You could not have said this any better thats why i have been laying in the weeds and just watching this one unfold. Alot of different trainers to choose from and wish you luck with any one you pick .I traded one of my scratch built planes for a brand new apprentice for my son and its been a good trainer and it glides very well to. I have friends with most of the trainers that were talked about here and they fly well to its a matter of what you like now. I have been building slow flying foamy's from the german sites and the one that would be a cheap slow flyer is called the slowly http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...0#post22098736 The videos and plans are here if you might want to try to build one over the winter. Here is mine and it does fly at a slow walk ,built out of dollar tree foam . It amazes me some times when a new flyer is looking for a plane most posters go with a arf instead of having a newbe try to build one if he wants to, but older hats like me would like to see new flyers and builders i guess. I know Grey beard is a builder also,i have learned how to glass better from some of his threads on his warbirds . I have about 25 or 30 bucks in this toon plane but have had hours of relaxing fun with it . Floats are to be mounted on very soon for a nap at the lake. lol joe

High plains, my daughter and grand kids are all in Kansas and I loved the idea that when one of the kids ran away from home no one worried about it, they could see him for three days!
There is a post right next to this one titled: First Trainer Kit by DaGersh25. The question was very straight forward but this is RCU so it went sideways a bit. The fellow just wanted a small trainer, electric and a kit, not an ARF or foamy. All of the normal everyday kits were mentioned, how can anyone not say the LT so there were a number of those. I would like to try one of the new Balsa USA trainers that teaches most aspects of building all in one plane, plus it looks better then most trainers. Just waiting to see RC Kens review on it.
Carr saved the day and showed a trainer kit I had never seen before. I pulled up the instructions and it's very impressive in the design and a good build. Price is right too. It's something that a person can get into RC cheaply with, learn to build and would be a great basic trainer.
I didn't mention building here because of the planes asked about but if you look in the other thread, new pilots may even give building a try just to get a nice plane for a cheap price.
Caution though, building takes some thought and thinking hurts almost as much as the effort of gluing some wood together.

You are right grey beard . put a link up for the kit you were talking about my son is getting ready to build his own balsa plane so we are still looking for X-mas . joe

That's a good one!


I had wondered what Tom Herr was doing after he sold his earlier designs and company. Sig has two or three of his 1/2 A sized models available. I had assembled the fuselage of his P-51 and it was a easy build, so I would expect his new stuff to be even better.

Other than dealing with cox 1/2 engines, that size airplanes are pretty good to get your feet wet. I had a Ken Willard Schoolmaster from a TF kit, Ken Willard Showmaster from plans, the Q-Tee, and "the Real Thing" which all flew with small engines that would be great with electric today. The Q-Tee was so great that I scaled it up to 40 sized to use a scaled up Showmaster wing (with under camber). I still have those wings, may have to build the rest of the planes

What trainer kit was it. I didn't see a link for it. Geeze, been out 2 days in a row. Wind is going to be 49 for the weekend. Probably won't take my vapor out in it.

Where I fly at the wind is almost an issue especially during the winter, and summer afternoons. The flight line faces north east with a tree line about a 100 yards away. What that does during the winter with a NE wind, is create eddy's and swirls that cannot be predicted like open fields can. I guess the average wind speed is about 14 mph.

During the summer the winds can also be high during the afternoons, so you better get there early. And if you never raised your TX to your right to block out the sun, your gonna crash. [:@]

For the new trainer that I like just go to Balsa USA web site, it's a pop up here on RCU all the time. Yellow and black job. It isn't just a flight trainer, it is a building trainer and uses most every type of construction all in one plane.
carrelh posted this one for the OP and he choose to go with it. I think it had more to do with size and cost then anything else. http://www.alienaircraft.com/k101.htm looks like a nice easy build and is a good choice for someone not wanting to go with a foamy ARF.
I have no one wanting to learn to build and no students in the foreseeable future but I would like to give that new BUSA kit a try. I'm really sick of building the 4*60 and all the trainers look and build alike. Ken told me he was doing a review on the BUSA plane so I have been waiting to see what he thinks of it, both building and flying..
As I posted and left this thread of course the BUSA pop up came on. http://baulsausa.com and it's called the student Trainer.

gws has a foam kit out called the e starter. They are fairly simple to assemble and have very good flight characteristics. a lot easier to learn on than a super cub. i learned solo with a super cub and I was amazed at how much easier the e starter was to fly.

To the OP.
If you are thinking of sticking with this you should look at a RTF package that has a decent radio/transmitter which will allow you to use it for more than just that particular plane. Most planes come with a very basic transmitter that is limited in features and can't easily  be used for other planes, helis .. You can start with a decent transmitter in a RTF package and always upgrade it later, or you can start with a more advanced transmitter now and then get a plane. Something else to think about !