Hello.. i'm new to the forum...

I've always wanted an r/c airplane and for this Christmas my girlfriend got me an electic megatech air strike, I would have to say im severly dissapointed in it. I have never flown an r/c plane before, but I have my private pilot's license and I think that helped me understand the basics.

My problem is I can fly the plane just fine, and even land it.. but it has constant radio failures, and the engine just periodically quits. However, the brief moments i've had the thing flying properly it has really gotten me hooked on flying r/c planes, so i've decided to order a Goldberg Eagle II w/ a .40 engine.

My question is though, since I seem to be able to handle the airstrike alright, when it is functioning properly, will the eagle 2 be a lot harder to fly, should I manage ok in this plane without much instruction?

thank you,

Chris

I'm not trying to tell you what to do, just offering my opinion(for what it's worth). The glow fuel powered plane will be alot faster it will take more room to fly it if your not used to flying it. If you had one of those "oops,oops,oops, whew ...ok i got it now" with the electric the "oops, oops" will happen alot faster, maybe not giving you enough time to say "whew...ok i got it now" with the gas plane.

If you have someone available to help you it would probably be a good idea just incase you got into trouble.

If the megatec gave you the bug...your going to have the bug real bad when you fly glow fuel.

I dont think you will have alot of problems but I do think you should find someone to help you out for the first few flights.

Good luck

I started in electric too, gave up and switched to gas.

Join a club that has a training program. You will learn much faster and you will save plenty by not crashing as much.

The biggest problem I found learning was losing touch with the orientation of the airplane, and handling the airplane as is comes towards you. I bought a flight sim and this helped greatly.

Best of luck!

It's also a good idea to have an instructor look over and test fly the plane for you. Even a little bit out of trim can make an otherwise easy to fly plane a real handful. Even ARFs can be out of trim or need fixes before being safe to fly.

Also, some guys find running the engine to be easy and no problem, but it's not uncommon for it to take a little time to learn how to tune the engine correctly. An instructor can really help here too.

I'm not saying you can't do it, just that you'd be better off wil some help.

i also started with a megatech electric plane. it also had constant radio and speed control failures. piece of junk. the hobby shop took it back and gave me a hobby grade parkflyer. well anyway after 4 electric planes i got a spad trainer. it was ok it was definitely faster than electric but not terribly fast. i only had it flown the first time by a club trainer to get it trimmed out and then i flew it fine with no problems. if you want a glow plane that will behave like an electric trainer, get an lt-40 or lt-60. i think SIG manufactures them. anyway, they fly at the same speed as an electric parkflyer. i was amazed when i saw one flying. if you get this plane, you wont have any problems at all

Go to this website and find the page for "Charter" AMA clubs. You can plug in your Zip Code and find club fields near you. They will have instructors that will help you learn (free). You will have to join the AMA $58 per year, but you'll have liability insurance. Club fees could be another $25 to $125 per year.

The glow powered planes are NOT toys. They're powerful and fast, and have killed people that they've hit. Don't risk that.

By the way, welcome to RCU and RC flight! You're going to enjoy it.

(Forgot the link!) http://www.modelaircraft.org
Dennis-

Great info. above.... The Eagle II is one of the most popular trainers of all time- MANY pilots have cut their teeth on that thing!

If you don't mind the $$ the Realflight Simulator is great tool to learn on, and you can practice many scenarios including when the plane is COMING TOWARDS YOU! LOL

Most important is finding a club near you and an instructor who can look over you airplane, make sure the engine is running properly and hopefully talk you through all of that, then try to get them to "buddy-box" with you until you are comfortable-(Probably will not take you very long based on what I have read about you..)

I recently taught a guy who flies 737's for a livin' and his knowledge of aerodynamics and flight controls helped quite a bit... He was VERY squirrely when the plane was coming at him but quickly adapted and soloed after about 45 minutes of flight time- [X(] (Faster than most!)

I am pretty sure you will be H O O K E D after you get some "glow-flights" under your belt!

razor really hit the nail on the head. you should always get an instructor to help you out. i learned to fly years ago, got out of it, and thought i could still fly the same!(good ole' hard headed me) needless to say the results weren't pretty. i only lost a prop in my ordeal, then i found a club and got some good training. .40 are generally easy to control, and altitude is your best friend when learning how to fly. i learned on an alpha, both times i learned, which is very similar to the eagle 2. (as far as the ease of flight) they can be a little fast, but just don't make it that way. as with any plane you can control the speed. 1/2 throttle is a good cruising speed which will allow for tight turns without losing altitude, but also slow enough to handle for a beginner.

cherry made a good point about the club and ama. ama is insurance for your plane if you crash into someones car, property, or even a person. i wouldn't fly without it. as far as an instructor, i have been flying for quite some time now, and every time i get a new plane i always have the guy that re-taught me to fly look at the plane and test fly it to double check it's safety. if you join a club(most of the time you have to join to use their field) it is easy to find someone that will teach you how to fly, tune the engine, and trim out a plane. after a while you can do all the above on your own. i still have my instructor help me, and i am a very proficient pilot.

over all, everyone has given good advice, take it to heart. i want to welcome you to the world of flying r/c, wish you the best of luck, and i'd like to congratulate you when you start solo-ing. so keep posts on your progress!

-james

Ok, thanks for all the good tips! I found a good club to get started at near-by and im gonna head out there this weekend to check it out.

Hopefully the eagle II should get here tomorrow and I can start building it!

-Chris