I have a Hobbyzone Champ but it is so light that the wind just carries it away. I am looking for suggestions of a larger, but easy to fly plane. The Champ is my first plane, so I am a newb. I would like something heavier that uses the same tx as the Champ or a plane that comes with a tx that can be used by other BNF planes. I would also like to stay under $200 if possible. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I've had a couple of students show up with the ares gamma pro:
http://www.hobbytown.com/Shop/-Ares-Gamma-370-PRO-RFR/

for $99 it's receiver ready. if you were to buy a Spektrum DSM receiver, you could use the same TX as the champ.
IMHO, you'd be much better off spending the extra cash now and purchase a more capable transmitter to use with the Champ AND the gamma.
(something like a DX-7s)
hope that helps!

I'll agree. These RTF planes are fine if you only ever plan to have one airplane, but if you are planning to build your collection the earlier you buy a good transmitter the better. I don't trust them just yet myself, but the Turnigy 9x has amassed a decent following for about $60. That opens up the whole world of receiver ready planes that you can pick from.

I'll add a vote for spending a little more and getting a whole lot more capability for the future. I bought an Apprentice 15e, great plane by the way, and upgraded the 5 channel Spektrum transmitter it came with for a 6 channel. Now I have all the transmitter I'm ever likely to need. I recently added an AnyLink and can now fly just about anything using my one transmitter. On the other hand, I had a very bad experience with Hobby King/Turnigy equipment. I bought two receivers and neither of them would turn on. I can't say much about the transmitter because I never had a receiver to use it with. I'd stay away from them until they get the quality control straightened out.

About your Champ, I have one and love flying it. I've flown it in winds of 4 mph or so with no problem. I'm saying this because I don't know how much wind you think you should be able to fly in but even the larger foamies like my Apprentice have their limits. I flew the A for the first time on a day with winds of 10+ mph and the first minute or so after take off got my pulse rate up.

Storm

Of my electric students I have trained two fellows with this airplane and am currently working with another right now using cordless buddy systems and find this airplane to be a delight to fly as well as train fellows with and even in stout breezes.

This is the Rx ready version for the tactic or just put your own receiver in for what ever system you please, around here we most are proponents of either Hitec or Futaba.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...CKWR&P=ML#tech

John

I'll agree that it's best to stick with the big 4 top tier manufacturers for radio gear, but the OP is wanting something low cost and the market has provided it. There are some flyers that simply aren't going to spend the money for good equipment, so the Turnigy and a few others are there for them. If he's just flying slow foamies it's not like a loss of control is going to be that dangerous or cause that much damage unless he likes to fly near trees. It's not a half bad test for new receivers to go up first in a cheap little foamy plane to make sure they are going to work properly before putting them into your good planes.

Thanks so much for everyones help!! I really appreciate it. Will the Champ work something like the DX-7s? I found a bind and fly chart with different planes and tx's at:
http://bindnfly.com/CompatibleProducts/ not much for the little cheap tx that came with the Champ.

I fly my Champ with a Spektrum DX6i. Straight bind and fly.

Storm

Any currently made Spektrum or JR radio will work with the Champ. The BNF models are DSM2 (I haven't seen any that weren't) and so any DSM2 or DSMX radio will work with them. Technically speaking the little radio that came with the champ would bind with and control a big gasser just fine, but it doesn't have the power output in its signal to be reliable at the distances that bigger planes will fly at.