hey folks my names Erik im 18 and i live in NJ, im thinking of startng r/c planes i have about 4 years experience in gas cars so i can tune my engine but i have a few questions, i read on the forum that plastic props are better so ill go with them but do they need to be balanced like wood props? how do u balance a prop, ummm any other info u could give me would be helpful. i have a few other questions but i wanna keep the post short so ill ask more later. thanks guys/gals appreciate it.

PS i already know what plane i want, the Hobbico Nexstar

I run APC props and the are very well balanced and you reallly do not have to worry about it. Also they don't break that easy.



Mike

Erik:

Most of the time it is not all that important to balance the 9 or 10" props on a trainer plane. If you wish, you can buy the Du-Bro or whichever prop balancer rig at about $20.00 When you move up to the larger 12 to 24" size, then it is best to balance. To balance horizontally, you can paint the light tip till it hangs level. To balance vertically, you have to sand or file the heavy side of the hub till it is as close to vertical as possible. Personally, if I trade for a larger glow or gas motor with a Master Airscrew prop on it, I'll take it off and use it for stirring paint. All my 46 to 60 motors have APC props and the large gas G38 to 62's have T/F PowerPoints.

NITROFLYGUY.....
I myself used to be into nitro stadium trucks.
i was introduced to nitro planes 5 months ago and have not had any desire to go back to my nitro truck since!
matter of fact ive been trying to sell it to some lucky soul!!
if you get into nitro powered planes you wont want to mess with nitro trucks ever again guaranteed!!!
i myself am a self taught pilot and it cost me a few bucks in planes.
id strongley suggest finding a rc flight instuctor in your area to teach you with a buddybox!!

I'll second the instructor idea. It can get expensive trying to learn to fly on your own, and it could get dangerous with a glow powered plane.

Find a local club. Join it and the AMA (most clkubs require it). The club will have instructors who will teach you for free.

(The AMA provides insurance, and they have a page that will help you find a club. Just enter your Zip Code! http://www.modelaircraft.org

You've made a great choice with the Nexstar though. Read beginner's posts here, in fact, read as much as you can. There's so much great info on RCU, you won't believe it.

Oh! And welcome! It's a great hobby and it's filled with terrific people.
Dennis-

I agree, find a club,you'll also get a new batch of friends.

yeah i hear that alot, hey magmount i got a $2000 T-Maxx, i love it but it is getting kinda boring, only so much u can do with a truck ya know? see the thing with instructors is, i found a place near me its around 30 mins away but if it saves me a plane hey who cares but there is ONE PROBLEM they want $25 an hr, this isnt a flying club though but still 10 hrs is $250 bucks! SHEESH any idea how much an instructor would cost at a flying club?? thanks folks more to come later

Hi Nitroguy,most of the clubs I've been at charge from 40 to 100 bucks a year and the instructors are free,lot of the clubs have trainer planes with buddy box which is also free. Don't think I would join the club you checked on,might check with ama on a list of other clubs in your area.

Many clubs provide free instruction. Here is a link to the AMA chartered clubs in your area.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/templat...91F6665EFFB727

Eric

most all clubs ive heared of will teach you to fly for free!!
the club i belong to does. they are glad to teach people!!
i bet if you go hang out at your local flying field and let it be know your serious about learning to fly sombody there will be more than happy to help you for free!
its as much fon for them as it is for the new pilot.
i definatley plan on teaching people who want to learn for sure!!

There's no way I'd get involved with a club or group that charged anyone to learn to fly.

Your post is the second one I've read recently that talked of charging for training. The other guy was from Jersey too I think. I hope you've both been talking to the same people, and this isn't a trend! [:@]

Find another club.
Dennis-

there are several instructors in our club and we teach people new to the hobby for free.We do so in an attempt to make the early stages of this hobby successful for the new pilot and i think a lot of clubs will do this.Check for your local club and see if they have something like this in place.Good luck and welcome to this addiction i mean hobby

I started on an Aerobird. Today you would get an Aerobird Challenger.

Ready to fly! Nothing to build, balance or set-up! Nothing to do wrong in building,
balancing and setting up! $110 on e-bay ready to fly! $150 at your local hobby store.

No you can't move the electronics stuff to other planes, but who cares? I
have 6 planes, soon to be 7, and I sill fly my Aerobird so I wouldn't want to
move the equipment anyway. Plus this is the plane I let friends fly to try
out RC flying.

Low cost entry on a very rugged three channel plane that flies well. If you
like RC flying, then you can invest in more costly equipment and then go for
the 4 channel plane. If you don't like it, you only dropped $150.

Of course if you like it, you can go back and get the air to air combat module
and the bomb/parachute drop module for the Aerobird Challenger Then get a
friend to get one and have a ball with air to air combat, precison bombing
runs and parachute drops.

Prepare for the purists to groan at this, but it really is hard to beat it for
a low cost entry plane that can really take a beating!

nitroflyguy,

Since you're into R/C cars I think you'll get this

The aerobird is comparable to Nikko R/C cars!!!
Stick with you nextstar choice
Good luck

Nitroflyguy...

Welcome to the Club! I see you're from my neck of the woods in NJ. What club or where did you go that quoted you $25.00 per hour to learn to fly?!?!? That's B/S if you ask me! I started in R/C in Sept 03 and have been a member of the West Windsor Flying Club since Oct. It cost me $80.00 to become a member until 12/04 and I have an Instructor who's training me for free! As long as he's not working on his homebuilt fullscale Heli and he not on call for his job, we'll go flying at either the club field (in Vincenttown off south rt 206) or fly where we both work (Carnegie Center in Princeton). You should come to our meeting on Dec 10. Starts at 8pm at the Hamilton Twp Library off White horse-Hamilton rd in Hamilton. All you need to bring is yourself...

If you haven't bought yourself an A/C yet, these guys can give you all sorts of advice about trainers and you'll get to see some really neat A/C flying at the field.

Hope to see you there!

Regards
Don
AMA 791825

PS: I fly an Avistar 40 w/an OS 46FX on it. Great trainer, has a semi-symetrical wing so it can do basic aerobatics and by itself costs just over $100.00 w/o engine or radio. But there are quite a few others out there to choose from.

I KNEW THAT WAS B/S!!!!!! i taught 7 ppl r/c and i never charged them a thing! major repair work they paid cost of parts and maybe $10-15 my way and that was it or i guided them so they did it themselves for FREE, if your trying to promote the hobby i dont think u wanna make someone spend $250 for 10 hrs! hey don do you have AIM? if so whats ur SN mine is Nitronut zy if anyone eklse wants to chat r/c thats cool but i need ur SN first everyone but my b-list is blocked out thanks for the info guys


oh yeah and crashem i DEFINETLY know what you mean LOLOL one of my friends actually STOPPED them from making a nitro burner a few years back they were gunna try it

Nitro....

AIM name is shredderman101..........would be happy to give you any info that I can.