Ok, I am gonna get a Great Planes ElictiCub 58" Kit and whatever radio I can find (cheaply). Heres my questions:

1. Is this a good starter plane? Is it easy to build? Easy to fly?

2. Could I use an R/C car ESC or does it have to be plane specific?

3. What motor and gear drive should I get?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanx!!![8D]

Absolutely not. I believe GP has a PT electric trainer. Consider that instead. Pg 26 in the 2005 catalog.

What is your budget? How much do you have to spend and how committed are you?

Do you want a kit to build?

Would you rather an ARF that is mostly built

How about an RTF, ready to fly with radio and all?

What are your goals, your budget and your building preference?

Cubs aren't a great idea as a first plane -- they look like trainers, but they aren't. Although the Electricub has some dihedral (which cubs normally don't), I suspect that it is still sufficiently cub-like to cause you problems (crash!). I suggest that you try a genuine trainer type for your first plane.

If you are looking at electric powered planes, you might wanto to move over to the electric plane forum and ask around there. While this says beginners, it tends to be more glow fuel powered planes.

The universally recommended starter planes for electric are the GWS tiger moth or GWS slowstick. I started with a TM but the slowstick is more durable and can handle more wind. You will need to do some building (slowstick easier) and buy a radio/flight pack.

I'd have to disagree some what with this statement.

The question that you need to answer is why do you prefer electric as opposed to glow?

Reason I ask this is that at this moment it costs more to get an electric powered plane with the same performance as that of a glow.

Comparing the majority of electrics mentioned in this thread with any standard .40 sized glow trainer is a mistake.

That doesn't mean that they aren't as good as glow only that they are so different in perfomance that any comparison is meaningless

Here's an example I use when asked about my GWS Tigermoth.

It's a great little plane IF you don't mind limiting yourself to extremly calm days. Its top speed is about 10mph is weighs about 10ozs
On the other hand my old glow trainer's top speed is about 40-50mph and it weighs about 5.5lbs. You can fly the TM in a space smaller then an acre the trainer needs 5-10 acres. I flown in smaller spaces but don't enjoy it as much.

Look at all your options before making a decision.

Some other things to consider. With glow planes, when you have finished a normal flight which lasts about 10 minutes you refuel and go again. Most epowered planes will only give you about 8 minutes and then you either have to swap the battery pack out for a recharged one or sit and wait until you recharge the battery pack in the plane. This could take 40 minutes to an hour. Normally a days training consists of 6, ten minute flights. Do you want to buy 6 battery packs for the plane?? The best thing is to do it right and go glow power! Also get a 46 engine for the 40 trainer. The price is almost the same, the weight is the same and the extra power can come in handy. [8D]

I disagree, with a typical trainer like plane with a decent lipo pack you'll get 20min+ flights. My E-Starter flies for 25 minutes on 1500mAh (Stock Speed 400 motor).

I always bring a GWS Formosa with me to the field and three 1500mAh lipo packs that gives me app. 18 minutes of full aerobatics each, and I always seem to end up with more flight hours on the Formosa than any glow powered planes. If I start charging as the packages are used I can get through 5-6 flights on a good Sunday, thats more than 90 minutes effective flying.

For maximizing air-time, electrics is the way to go.

Of course, to replace a .40 engine you'll need to spend a small fortune on lipos, esc and motor, but you'll get just as much or even more power, and if you build the plane from a kit you can replace all the plywood and hardwood parts with balsa to save weight (with an electric motor the fuse doesn't have to hande vibrations or an electric starter), and you'll end up with a lighter plane than the eq. glow powered.

I agree that you can get very long flight times on electrics w/ lipo batteries. My TM will go for 40mins (!). You get sick of it before that. My larger brushless models fly about the same time as a glow plane, 10-15mins. But a second flight requires a second battery or a 1 hour+ wait. So I have a few different planes and several batteries. Lipos are expensive tho, at $20-75/battery for typical configurations.

One BIG advantage to starting with electrics is that you can go to any nearby field and fly on a moment's notice (schoolyard, empty lot, etc) as long as you have some charged batteries. Much easier to squeeze in flight time if you have a busy schedule.

OK, we have gotten into electric vs glow, but it has been quite positive in its tone. I like that and it will help our new flyers understand the plus and minus of each approach.

Let's address the cost of electrics and the time between flights. Not everyone is as agressive about this as I have been, but let's see how it adds up.

I started on parkflyers. My first plane was an Aerobird, an RTF package that comes complete for $150 including charger and 6 cell battery. I advise people to get 1-3 more batteries over time to have lots of flying time. Each battery provides a 7-14 minute flight, assuming you don't do any gliding.

Of course I went beyond that. I have 3 six cell packs and 3 seven cell packs for the Aerobird as well as having added a second charger. So I added about $130 to the original $150 for $280 total for the plane, radio, chargers and batteries. Now I have enough power (fuel) to fly this plane for an average of 300 flights per battery pack times 6 packs = 1800 flights with no significant additional expense for fuel. Electricity from my car battery is as close to free as you can get.

Typically when I take my Aerobird and my other parkflyers to the field I average 2-4 flights per hour, each of about 12 minutes. I often stay at the field for 4-6 hours. One battery in a plane, 2 on chargers, nothing to hold me back. If I get tired of one plane, I switch to another for a diffrent flying experience. I have 4 that are flyable today and two more waiting for servos and receivers.

Some of these same battery packs power my other planes. So now I have four planes in the air with no added fuel costs. Of course I added three 8 cell packs for the planes that like a little more boost.

So, figure five added Aerobird packs plus three 8 cell packs at an average of $20 per pack - 8 X 20 for $160 for batteries/fuel. That should carry me for about 2400 flights. How much would you pay for enough glow fuel for 2400 flights?

As batteries and chargers have come down in cost, electrics have actually become less expensive to operate.

Granted electrics tend to be smaller and lighter than glow planes, but some of us consider that an advantage. And, as stated above, they are quite and clean so people tend to be less concerned if we fly close to neighborhoods, in school yards or athletic fields.

Glow planes, on the whole are bigger and more powerful. As such they can typicaly tollerate more wind. I fly my parkies in 10-15 mph wind. Lots of glow planes can handle much more than that so if you are in one of those places where 10 mph is considered a calm day, maybe glow power is a better choice for this reason alone.

What will work for each person will vary. I am just glad we have choices.

Of course my thermal and slope gliders don't have motors so their "fuel" costs are virtualy nill. One four cell pack each is all I need to fly all day.

Gosh this is a fun hobby.

Aeajr,

Got some intresting figures.

Two points that he seems to skip over.

First.... While 8 batteries may well yeild 2400 flights with glow you don't need to buy enough glow fuel for 2400 flights most buy 1-2 gallons at a time use it up then buy more With Electrics initial upfront costs are more.

Two.... If you expect to pay for batteries what aeajr quoted and use them in a plane with similar specs and performance of a .40 sized glow plane You going be in for an unpleasant surprise Not gonna happen

Aearj unfortunatly provided costs and specs comparing electric park flyers to .40 sized trainers. It would have been a more realistic comparision if he had used 1/2A glow planes

Again this hobby nor any I know of are particularlly cheap its all a matter of perspective

You' need app 50W per pound of aircraft for decent performance, a little more for acro, less for a trainer. a 400W setup will outperform any standard .40 engine in a trainer. Hell, even father and son Matt are flying electric 2x2m pattern ships as YS 1.20 replacements in the world championships.

A 4S 5Ah lipo pack with one of the big AXI's in a 400W setup would weigh less than a .46 setup, have more power, turn a huge prop and run almost completely silent.

The downside is of course the price that would be almost $500 for the whole thing, but if you want the best, why not?

The quality and performance is available, its all about price.

hey everyone I am also a newbie looking to get into flying, I have a t-maxx and a touring car so I want to stick with nitro. This topic kinda of went off in to whats better gas or electric. What is a good starter plane of you wanted to get an Almost Ready to Fly? I was looking at a great planes f4u-1a corsair Park Flyer. I know i would need a radio and all that. Is this a good plane? What would you get for radios and all that good stuff?

You are certainly right, it ain't cheap, but it can be managed.

BTW, I didn't intend to compare my plane to your .40 trainer. I was providing costs for a typical parkflyer which is usually about 14-20 ozs. Just for clarity. Don't want to appear to be trying to bias anything. No one at my field flies electrics that large.

Since I didn't get an answer, I went and looked. Based on towerhobibes, looks like a gallon of glow costs about $20+. I don't have any idea how many flights that will yield. I am sure it depends on the plane.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=++&search3=Go

As for good trainer packages:

I don't know squat about glow planes, but I hear good things about the Hobbico NextStar RTF. Comes with a Futaba radio, fully built and all the electronics installed. Has a flight stabalization system, removable air breaks to slow it down during training and anti-stall wing cuffs.

Reviews I have read say it is one great package.

It received a product innovation award from FlyRC.

Worth a look.