Ok i'm totally new to this hobby. I've never seen one fly. I know nothing about it. I'm looking for a good trainer plane that is gas powered and I want to get everything for $350 or under.

I have access to a very large hay field nearby with very tall and thick grass. So hopefully the crashes aren't gonna hurt as much.

I plan on learning myself i'm willing to take the chances.

So any ideas on planes that are easy for a newbie like myself to put together and fly. And spending $350 I would like to get a plane that would still be fun to fly past my training days.

Also i'm thinking about getting one of those wireless cameras so that I can actually fly the plane from a cockpit view with a tv monitor Do any of those cameras have like a half mile range?

One more question heh do they make gas powered planes with like plastic bodies. Balsa wood seems like it would break very very easily, even in tall grass.

Thanks in advance!

As a fair newbie and oner who hates to ask for help, I will tell you that you really should join a club and get an instructor. Besides the social advantage, you will save about $2000 in planes. If you INSIST on doing it yourself, I would recommend starting with something like a Zagi electric. It is a foam delta wing with a pusher prop. Doesn't seem like what you want, I know, but it can hit a telephone pole at full speed and still fly. You have to walk before you crawl!

Once you get good at that...landing it on the belly, making good turns, etc. you can move on to better things. A flight sim might be a good help, but don't break the bank on one (can be $200).

Yes, you do want to go with balsa when you get to that stage. While you think it is more fragile, it glues fairly well. My fiance stalled my trainer (Hobbico Superstar Select) at about 10 feet. It dropped straight to the ground. I was not too happy, but it ended up being ok.

As for your choice of field...I assume you are going to cut a runway...otherwise you will not get going very well. Also, you don't want to be cutting the grass with your prop...junk gettin in the carb is one way to kill an engine.

If there is anyway to al least go take ONE lesson with a local club, you will see that it is not as easy as it seems!!! JOIN THE AMA (the national organization) becuase you get insurance! Hope this helps

Zee

am happy to see your interest in r/c planes. but do yourself a favor b4 spending yur hard earned money.....find a club or at least some1 with some exp. to help you. you will surely lose your plane in the hay field......there will be lots more posts coming saying the same.
after you find some help a great plane to start with is the all time fav of every1 i am sure.....a sig kadet ARF with a nice 4 stroke motor. have fun and do it right and you will be flying a long time..... -Tinman-

Only flying about 2 years, but I joined a club, had a great instructor, joined AMA got 2 mil insurance, etc etc, just what the other posts said. As far a a plane, I love my LT40 by SIG and still fly it! Rolls, Loops, and just fun.

Ok thanks for the replies. I've been playing a sim I downloaded for free. FMS. Do planes really accelerate and fly that fast? I flew the slow flier and it was alot easier, and more fun for me. Are there any good gas powered slow fliers? I just hate the thought of batteries only being able to fly for like 8 minutes.

Yes they do fly that fast which is why everyone here is giving you the good advice to join a club and get help,including me.

If you are still planning on trying this on your own...

Go to www.spad.org, and look at the Debonair. Is it within your building capabilities? Are you very fastidious about measuring and making sure things are tight, correct, and level? There's a lot more to learn than how to fly. Just getting the engines to run correctly takes more of my club's flight training time than any other aspect of the hobby. It is very difficult for a beginner to "trim" a plane in flight (you sort of need three hands and two pairs of eyes), so you will need to build very carefully so little trim will be required. If you decide to go with the SPAD the folks at the Simple Plastic Airplane Design forum at www.rccombat.com are about the most helpful and friendly you'll find anywhere.

I'm not saying I'd recommend this, but I'm trying to answer your question. Yes, they make plastic planes that are very durable. If the Deb seems a bit beyond your building capabilities, another possibility is the U.S. Aircore kit. The advantage of the Aircore is that the kit is very complete, so you don't have to go all over tarnation to find parts, plus it is about the most rugged trainer that there is. You would have to work very hard to damage the Aircore in a hayfield (but you might need a plane finder to find it!).
(You are correct that you will destroy a balsa trainer in minutes if you try to learn how to fly on your own.) But it's still a kit, so you need to learn a lot about setting up control surfaces, and the throttle, etc.

So, if you practice for hours on your sim, and if you don't mind crashing over and over, and if you have a talent for this, you would not be the first person to learn on your own.

I'm looking at the Aircore kit right now, and it looks like a good deal. I just might order it. But then again I think I might be more interested in slow/park fliers, but all the slow park/fliers i've seen are electric. And like I said earlier I hate recharging every 5-10 mins of flight.

Am I not looking hard enough? are there park fliers gas powered?

Flight time depends on your batteries and throttle management. 5-10 minutes is a fair time in the air, believe it or not. I only get about 10-12 min on one of my glow powered ships...which still have batteries that have to be charged every couple of hours (for the reciever and transmitter). With 3 battery packs and a quick field charger, you can fly until your heat is content. If you have questions about batteries, check out the forum at this site...there is a GREAT link over there to Red's battery page.

BTW, just cause it is eletric does not mean it is less expensive.

Zee

Something else to consider if you REALLY don't want to join a club is...

Is there a field near where you plan to fly? Remember, if someone at a nearby field is flying on the same frequency as you, (Note, this happens a LOT) His signal will "shoot down" your plane, and vice versa. You may be flying a little cheapie, but other fliers put a great deal of time, effort and MONEY into their babies, and if you shoot them down, don't be surprised to see people carrying torches and pitch forks come to your door some night. :boxing:

I would recommend the Hobbico Avistar. It will be a good first and help you to get more acclimated for your second plane. If you get the select series it comes with a OS40LA. If you don't use this engine I would recommend a OS46FX.

Don't dismiss electric park/slow flyers. I've been in RC for about 40 years and have flown all types of fixed wing planes: glow, electric and sailplanes.

I have a GWS Tigermoth slow flyer and it is the easiest flying plane I've ever had. It is totally relaxing to fly. It flies very, very slowly which will give a beginner plenty of time to react. You can easliy hand launch this plane if you have no runway. It doesn't need much, it will take of in about 5-10 feet from a smooth surface.

As for batteries, I'm using 300 mah NiMH packs that get nearly 10 minutes at about half to two thirds throttle. Get two of these and charge one while flying the other. You will, however, be limited to flying in dead-calm weather with this plane.

This is probably one of your best bets for success if you are totally on your own. Otherwise, like the others here, I advise you to find someone who can help.


Good luck.

Also fuel powered planes are powered by a mix of methanol, caster oil, synthetic oil, nitromethene.
Not petroleom

Except for the really big birds that use small gas engines.
But!!! dont even think about those till you have a great expirtise with modeling.