I'm a newbie: yep, green as they come. I am of course enamoured with the various advanced models available, but reading some of the posts here is pretty amusing and sobering. I like some of the tales of woe that come to the naive and unsuspecting (that's usually me). Seems like a slow trainer for a first model would be better than a Zagi or other plane than can move pretty fast. Would that be a fair assessment? I know that my wife and kids are going to want a turn at the helm - the recipie for disaster is here.

A guy at the local field has a second GWS Slowstick for sale (still in box). I've seen another one fly - seems okay. Anyone have any feedback as to whether this is a good plane to start with?

Radios: should I get a cheap one or go 4 channel to begin with? Can the cheap radios be transferred to a second plane without problems?

There is a guy with a 4 channel Airtronics radio plus parts, and a 5 channel Aerosport radio for sale. He's had a stroke and getting out of the hobby. Both radios are probably 7 - 10 years old? Should I even consider them?

Thanks,


Cam (who still has not experienced his first crash).

Cam, I would not hesitate to buy a Slow Stick for a first electric powered plane. I've been flying only 2 years, and really enjoyed the Firebirds, including the XL but know I learned some habits I have to break to feel more comfortable on 3 and 4 channels.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]
My first (and only) radio is a JR XF421ex and debated between it and the Quatro. Both do what you want them to do. My 421 will take me into 5 channels when I'm ready. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] (OK, firebirds had their own radios)
PLEASE BE CAREFUL ABOUT BUYING OLDER TRANSMITTERS[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] Careful means make sure they are narrow band, and will not control other people's aircraft too. Something tells me everything after 1992 was narrow band. That's a guess![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] You sound like you are a shopper, thinker, planner, and that will make a good FLYER! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] GWS pico stick is good!!! .. I started off with Pico Gws STick F, the one with a fuselage, a very good and pleasant plane to fly with. It is more adviceable to fly Pico Stick in a hall or anyplace with calm wind. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] u will like it haha. www.gws.tw.com

Dear Cam, I thoroughly enjoy my Slow Stick It's easy to fly as well as easy to assemble. I bought a 3 channel Hitec single stick. Buy the FM radio for about $85 complete with 2 HS50 servos and a feather receiver. I also bought two of the batteries recommended by GWS and the recommended speed control. Two batteries $23.00 apiece, speed control $22.00, since he airplane is complete for $35.00. A few bucks for shipping or sales tax and you have a very fun-fly airplane.
Some day you will want to build and fly a 1/4 scale warbird but that is certainly no place to start. Stick with the Slow Stick (pun intended)

I bought mine about a month or so ago and I love it. Very predictable and forgiving. Go with as expensive a radio you can afford, perferably FM or PCM and capable of multiple models. This way when the flying bug hits (and it will [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]) you'll have room to expand. If you want to see mine go here... www.rcairport.com/discussion_board/messageview.cfm?catid=46&threadid=5369 Good luck and I'm sure you'll have fun with it.
Marty

I too bought one about a month ago. The only complaint i have is that it is slow, no doubt a good quality in a trainer... Hence the name slowstick. Where i live the wind hardly ever lets up so its hard to get a day when it doesnt fly backward. Other than that it is VERY forgiving and even lets my wife fly it. I would recommend it for starting out.

I went down to the local store and they were out of the Slow Stick, so I bought an Aerobird instead. It's theoretically a level 2 place though the owner suggested that it was stil quite manageable as compared to some of the other more sexy planes that I was looking at. It's also a lot bigger and less influenced by wind, which I thought was a good thing for this location, and the price was quite reasonable. Turns out now I that I wish that I had bought the slow flyer. A guy at the local field flew the Aerobird for the me the first time and helped me work out some of the bugs. Tried it solo the other day for the first time and flew it successfully. Got a little more aggressive and crashed it, and then flew clean, and crashed it, and crashed it. The following things have come clear to me, some of which were pointed out to me by the old hand that flew the plane for me the first time:

These things don't just fly themselves, and they don't necessarily come out of the boxes ready to fly.

Slow is good. The aerobird is hardly the fastest plane out there, but it flies fast enough that you really want a big field (and no trees nearby) to practice in. Otherwise it's turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, and those turns are where you can get into problems. You can't fly this plane very slow without the controls becoming very mushy.

The combination of a plane that is not way easy to control at slow speeds and the need for a large space is real trouble because it's a fair ways to the nearest really big field. I can see the attraction of the slow flyers: you can go anywhere with them, and they don't go fast enough to crash really big. True, the wind is a problem, but I'ld be happy to have that problem right now. Right now my problem is getting a new wing.

Anyway, if it weren't painful I'ld never learn.

My son bought a Slow Stick last month and flew it by himself for the first flight of the plane and his own first flight. He had seen me and my fellow club members fly, but had never done it himself. He had played some video games using a joy stick, but no RC simulators. I pointed him at ezone, he did the research. I think that's a pretty good recommendation for the Slow Stick. BTW, he was 1000 miles away from me when he did it--that probably helped! Good luck, Dzl

HI CAM[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Thanks for reporting back. I'm sorry to hear about the problem you had with the 3 channel aerobird.
I didn't know constant wind was a problem in ID. The only way to be able to fly a controlable plane in breezes around 10 mph, is FAST.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] I did fly the Firebird XL in breezes that made it stand still over my head, making no forward progress as to ground speed. Like I said, being only 2 channels it taught me bad habits, i.e. holding it in a turn which you never do with ailerons. The 3-channel Aerobird was a good choice. The only thing is a big enough field to be able to get up above turbulance from trees, hills, even buildings, and bushes. Here's a fact: I cried loud enough to Horizon Hobby, reminding them I bought the original firebird (250+ flights before wind took it away) and the XL. They sent a wing for an aerobird, suggesting I try it. I never got to. The XL was so high one day, I lost sight of it, and haven't seen it since, but I know the aerobird wing is a faster wing than the XL wing. If you have a lot of wind, don't let anybody talk you into two planes I've enjoyed in the slow flying area.
The Mini Max, and the Tubby Cubby. They are slow, and affected by wind as you launch, or Rise Off ground, because of ground, tree, house, hill, or what ever causes turbulance.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]
Get back into the air, and ENJOY![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] We all crash![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]