Thanks man, your post really makes me feel better.

EDIT: I can get an arrow or an airstrike for $300 RTF new.

GT,

I fly planes and helicopters, and I don't have a P-51 yet (really BIG hint here). Everyone is warning you because they can be THAT difficult. Once you learn to fly, most (MOST, not all) planes are relatively the same in the air, but just require hightened reflexes, which are built through learning. Everyone is just telling you "no", but I'll attempt to give you a brief description as to why.

Where most people crash with the P-51 (I have been witness to a few) is on the landing. With most of the trainers, you cut power on the downward leg of the approach, and learn to glide it in to touchdown. With a P-51, you have to learn to come in "hot", which means coming in with some of the power still on. You actually have to learn to fly it TO the ground, which requires the utmost of nerves, skill, and reflexes to do. If you come in too slow, one wing or the other will usually lose lift before the other, and go into a "tip stall". When this happens, one wing will rapidly drop, and the plane will go into a corkscrew. Unfortunately, this happens on approach, so you are low to the ground, and it will auger itself into the dirt before you can do anything about it. It may have been going slow enough to stall, but it is still going fast enough to turn itself into toothpicks. And all of this is on a calm day.....add in winds and cross shears, and this is just a force multiplier on the difficulty. Taking off with a nose-heavy tail-dragger is no piece if cake, either.

On top of the difficulty, to properly set up a .60 size P-51, you are looking at spending anywhere from $800 to $1100, depending on the equipment that is purchased (plane, engine, electronics, landing gear, etc.). It is a real shame to see a guy come out to the field with his brand new (expensive) plane, all excited, only to nose it in on his maiden flight because he was impatient in his learning.

iflynething was correct about this needing to be about your 4th or 5th plane. After the trainer, you need to progress on learning a "tail dragger", a mid wing, etc. Nobody here is trying to scare you, but the addage is "the more real it looks, the more difficult it is to fly". This applies utmost to the scale warbirds.

I hope this helps some.

This is one of the most fun, and addictive, hobbies I have ever had the pleasure to persue, and I wish you the best of luck!!

I am glad that we have made you think a bit about what you are doing. If you buy the right stuff you will have a great time flying your planes. You will not believe the satisfaction you will get when you have completed your first flight.

These trainers may not look brilliant but I am willing to put money on the fact that most people fall in love with theirs after the first few flights. If you fly a proper trainer you will progress at a steady rate and this will be ten times more fun than crashing every time you go out. It will also mean that you will progress faster.

I just would like to make a point about instruction costs. Why should you get your instruction for free? It is true that a lot of people give a lot of time for free to instruct others. This would be even more true for younger pilots on a tight budget trying to get into this hobby. This should not be assumed as a given right. A lot of these people spend almost more time helping others than they do flying themselves. Remember that all the time they are helping you, they are not building or flying their own models.

I am not suggesting that every instructor should charge, just that pupils should not take this for granted. You don't get free driving lessons do you?

I meant to say, stay away from the Airstrike (or anything Megatech makes). Most of their stuff is crap; do a search in the beginners forum here for "megatech". Someone recently posted a thread about the problems he had with the Airstrike.

I don't know the Arrow, but there are a LOT of GOOD trainers out there. Spend some time reading here, or check at the local club for what they recommend. You can find a number of RTF's in the $279 to $300 range (with radio's engines, etc.) but many come with JR radios, and a lot of club instructors use Futaba. You can't buddy box the two together.

In addition to the cost of the new trainer, you WILL need to spend another $100 to $150 in other STUFF that you need for assembling the plane and to fly.

A 12 volt starter, battery and charger will run around $50 to $75.
A glow igniter with charger - $20 or so.
Manual fuel pump and fuel line - $15 to $20
A gallon of 10% fuel - $15 to $20
Epoxy and CA glues for assembly - $10 to $15

Extra props, glow plug or two, hobby knife and saw, sand paper, screw drivers (if you don't have them), and other misc stuff could easily be another $25 to $50.

That's why I suggested looking for a used trainer set up. You CAN get started for a total of around $300 by getting some of it used.
Dennis-

The Superstar is a good trainer plane i've heard. Also, on the other hand, if you ever want to fly in a nearby park without going to a club, you can get an electric plane. If you are interested, the slow stick is a good plane. Just search on horizon hobby. Well, good luck with your choice. The most important thing is to have fun flying!

Al

Well, thanks guys for filling everything that I missed.....I knew that I forgot something, like the battery for the starter and all.

Good Luck Gianni, HAVE FUN....I know you will.....

GTac01,

My dad is in Boynton Beach, he is an instructor with that club. Give him a call at 734-4186, ask for Pat. He would be happy to bring you out to the field and let you try it out with a buddy box set up (that is a training device).

Give him a shout, and tell him that his son Mike told you to contact him.