Appreciate your suggestions on which plane I should look to buy as my first RC plane. Would like to go battery.


Ideally a plane that can take some rough landings and can be easily. Supported with replacement parts. No necessarily looking for much in the way of performance for my first plane. Something that will be easy to fly and reasonably forgiving.


I already own a DX8, battery chargers, tools and have an electronics background. I am happy to look at kit planes but equally happy initially to start with BNF or RTF options. I am happy to pay a little extra for training planes that will ease my way into the sport. Important to be able to have spares available.


Appreciate also any suggestion of what spares I should buy at the time of plane purchase to allow for some clumsy landing and or crashes.


I am open to the size of the plane again it is what help a beginner learn.

Thanks....


Regards,


Fleetz

If your near a club, pop on down with your transmitter (and a mono to mono stereo cable) and see if they have a trainer that you could use to start flying on - hopefully they can 'buddy box' you with your own transmitter so you can get a feel on that first.
Then get a simulator like Phoenix or Real Flight, if you can use it in conjunction with a instructor, you'll progress a hell of a lot faster and save yourself a few damaged planes, and be out on your own in no time.
If you can't get to a club (Port Douglas is a mining town right?), again, get a sim if your serious about getting into the hobby and do as much practicing as possible to where your nailing landings, cornering, flying towards you etc every time, then and only then, perhaps try this - http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...bnf-HBZ7380#t1
Best of luck, and just remember to keep clear of other people!

Thx Bob all good advise. I have Phoenix and plan to start using this once I have selected my trainer.

I am actually now living back in Adelaide as we sold Port Douglas last year....I will up date my profile after writing this. Unfortunately I am going from rural to city with a lot less open spaces. I will need to do some research here before buying a plane only to find out I have to travel 30 km to fly it. I hear you on the keeping clear of people!

I will see if the is a club around.....I am retired so if there is I can while I am training go during the week when it is quiet and pick good weather days.

Someone also has suggested Bixler2 a foamy as a learning model....

Regards,

Fleetz

If you're going it alone you really needn't look further than the HobbyZone Super Cub. It can handle light winds just fine, it bounces well and has good parts support for the times you do manage to break it, and it's a decent flyer.

The other reason I suggested the Cub is that as a Bind N Fly (BNF), it will bind to your DX8 without issue (you should even be able to download the setup program from somewhere online if you look)
Best of luck

Thanks Bob and Jester.....just fired up the Phoenix simulator and the HobbyZone Super Cub model is an available model.i have seen a You Tube review and it look good. The only reservation is has a prop on the front rather than mid plane as is the case with the Bixler
or ANX, just thinking about the safety aspect being a novice. Having the prop mid plane seems safer, but the other models are not on the available list on the simulator.

The other thing that is nice with the HobbyZone Super Cub is you can buy any part separately....which is a must for beginners like me.

think I will head down the Super Cub path and try not to fly the thing into anyone or myself!

I will look out for a DX8 setup configuration that I can download.....that will be a great start.

Thanks again,

Fleetz

+1 on the club I'm afraid if you don't get with an instructor you'll be very disappointed. A sim is not a subsistute for an instructor.
The best trainer in my opinion is the LT-40 from Sig. You could make it electric.

Fleetz, if at all possible, head to a club to have your setup checked and the plane test flown (and hopefully where you can buddy box it), even if it is just once. While it is possible to learn on your own, it's not easy and by no means recommended.
The simulator is great for thumb memory (where you control the plane without having to stop and think where your thumbs are) and getting your orientation sorted for when it is coming at you. The cub in the sim will odds on 'feel' a little different to yours in real life due to all sorts of factors (wind, balance, true weight, nerves etc). What the sim won't teach you is being able to judge just how fast your going in reality (I found myself going too fast on the first few flights), and where exactly you need to be to line up for your circuit and a landing, and where you should be slowing down exactly for that landing to get the right glide angle - an instructor will teach you this.
As I state above, when used correctly and in conjunction with an instructor, the sim will get you going a LOT faster than you would have otherwise would have, and it will allow you to practice specific things you need to over and over again regardless of weather, and without consequence (be it painful or fiscal consequence).
Either way, best of luck and keep us in the loop with how you progress.

PS - go to the online manual and see IF there is a setup list for the DX8 in the back of the manual - I know they (Horizon) do that with some of their micro helis