Im looking to get into Rc planes and have a few questions. Ive been running Nitro cars for a while and they are such a headache!!! Id like to start with an electric plane first. Ive narrowed down what I want from a plane but I dont know which plane to choose. Not to mention the guy at my LHS isnt any help at all, I dont trust anything he says, Ive caught him in too many lies so far, so you guys are my only chance lol. Ok heres what I would like from my first plane. speed is an issue. I dont need it to be fast, but I definitely dont want a superslow plane. Id like it to have some stunt flying characteristics also. Ill sacrifice ease of use for some fun flying tricks and stuff. I definitely want a plane I can buy replacement parts for. And finally the price. I would spend up to $200 on an RTF plane. Ill purchase batteries and a charger and all other accesorries seperately. If anyone can help me with this I would really appreciate it. And if anyone has a plane like this they would like to sell and either have a good member rating on here or ebay we can talk some more. Thanks

Carl

Sounds like you want to see if you can find a trainer in the RCU market place. $200 will not get you a new setup. $300 will get you a plane that is basically RTF

Are you stuck on the electrics? Some of the cheaper ones won't do what you want. You can get into a 40 size nitro plane like a Falcon 3 from Goldberg that would not be hard to fly, but once you learn can do many aerobatics. Most electrics don't have the power to do much other than hold themselves in the air. I guess when I say most electrics, I mean the cheap ones. GWS makes a lot of them, but they are flyable, but thats about it. Some of theirs are getting better, but I wouldn't suggest learning on them. Some of the more expensive planes with electric motors are pretty awsome in the air like the Flubber and Jumpin Jack, but they wouldn't take a crash that you will have when learning. Hard to make one fit the mold you are looking for.

Have you got someone to help you learn? That is a big plus. If you are going at it alone, I would suggest the G-2 sim first, followed by one of the cheaper electrics that take a beating, but are not as fun to fly. If you go to something that will do aerobats, you will trash it before you learn to fly it.

Carl,
Agree with what's been said. A plane that's capable of decent aerobatics is NOT the plane you should be trying to learn on, and anything you can find in the $200 range isn't going to be much of an airplane. []

The typical cost of getting started, with a 40 size glow trainer and associated equipment is in the $400 to $450 range. A GOOD electric that's capable of decent aerobatics, adn the associated equipment required to fly will still run in the $350 to $400 range.

You CAN buy Ready To Fly (RTF) electrics that come with a radio, battery pack, charger, etc. in the $150 range. Problem is, the radio equipment can not be used in another plane later, so you have to buy it all over again. AND, the plane will not be very aerobatic.

Probably one of the best in this category would be the Aerobird. Between $125 and $150 depending on where you find it.

I would highly recommend that you go out to a local club and watch people fly. Ask questions and see what's around, both at the field and here on RCU, before you make any decisions about what you want.

Here's a link to the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) website. They're a national organization that provides liability insurance to their members, as well as a decent monthly magazine. Look over the site and you'll find a page that will list all the clubs close to you (just plug in your Zip Code).

AMA membership is required in order to fly at most RC clubs (for the insurance), and isn't a bad idea if you're thinking about flying eelctrics in local parks either. (You'd be covered by their insurance as long as following the safety rules.)

http://www.modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/

Welcome and good luck,
Dennis-

If your good with your hands check out www.spadtothebone.com and the SPAD forum here at RCU, the SPAD's are about the cheapest and toughest planes around to get in to RC flying, theres also a ship load of people to give you on line help