I hope I'm not the only one who has gone nuts. I bought 2 compleate arf kits with out a clue of what i was getting into. I have now bought to more planes(the kits) thinking of using my raidio stuff that came with the other two. It seems like every plane has differnt stuff. Can i use my 3 chan recev with my 4 chan radio?Or can I buy another. I know buy reading the posts that these planes are history because i am new and wont have instruction (besides what I read). I am hooked on building these arfs. hope the weather lets up so i can fly them soon. I'v probable spent 1500.oo$ in the last 60 days.I might build myself out of house and home. I hope Im not a arfaholic.

For instruction (at a minimum, get the plane trimmed...) contact a local R/C club. There are plenty of clubs in Virginia. Even if you aren't going to regularly fly at thier field, and don't plan on joining, there should be a member willing to test fly and trim the aircraft. (Its safer for everyone near you if you have a chance of not crashing)

Remember that these planes can cause severe injury if they hit someone... There have been cases of .40 size aircraft hitting people and KILLING them.

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The servos and batteries should be interchangeable between the 2 radio systems. (might be a plug conversion needed in some cases... but even that is getting to be unnecessary.)

The recieers might be interchangeable... they would have to be on the same frequency (channel # 52 for example) And they would have to use the same "shift". JR is not the same shift as Futaba, Hitech is the same shift as Futaba... (Tell which ones you have, and someone will know which shift mode each uses.)

All of the radio equip should be useable in other aircraft.

Generally, if planning to use one TX for more than one airplane, you would want to buy extra servos, battery and RX, so you don't have to swap stuff out, possibly changing the center of gravity (by misplacing the battery...) and to keep from having to start over trimming the plane to fly level. (If you make it a habit to ALWAYs mechanicly adjust lnkages so the trim levers are centered... you only have to be sure the controls move the right way.)

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Even if you don't have a buddy box feature on either radio... you can get some useful practice "flying" with a simulator and a common joystick... The FMS (Flying Model Simulator) is a free download... and is fairly good. $15 on E-bay gets you FMS on CD with a cord to plug a TX into the computer.

Being an old time builder I thought ARFs were for the birds. I have tried three now and think that they definitely have a place in the hobby what with people not having the time or getting enjoyment from building. As far as radio equipment is concerned you will have to check the frequency. Some ARF park flyers use a channel in the
49 Mhz band. They are generally compatible with our 72 Mhz band or the 75 Mhz surface frequencies. The advice to find an RC club is very good. You may believe one is too far away but a trip to find an instructor is worth every mile. The last check by AMA in the 90's discovered that the average RC flyer traveled about 29.6 miles to get to his field. If you save part of your $1500 compare it to the fuel costs to drive to a club field. Good luck and welcome to the most fun you can have standing on the ground.

thanks alot for all the help. If this site would have been around 15 years ago I would probably be giving the answers. Its great!! As for the radios iv decided to buy a 4 chan with feather receiver and servos. By the time I buy the receiver and the servos for a few more bucks I can have the trans too! That way I don't have to swap the one feather I have around as much. Lots of fun building arfs. mostly on my butt.

Rafter, the feather receiver is a reliable, light, inexpensive receiver. This sounds like an electric Flyer to me.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] You have a single conversion receiver, ie. it filters the incomming signal once. If you use a HS555 Hitec receiver you will have a double conversion receiver, and it guarantees a greater range. YES I have flown my feather receiver in an electric powered plane high, and far, but admittedly at a risk. I have three "kits" in boxes, and still am looking at buying another ARF. (I have 5 now)[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Maybe we both need counseling.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

yEA i JUST ORDERED ANOTHER i GUESS Its only money. well worth it for the fun thanks for the reply