Hi, new to the forum but wondered if this plane was any good? http://hobbyoutlets.com/hobbico/hcaa60.htm. Its a Hobbico SuperStar Select MKII Blue 4Ch RTF 60". Gas powered. If not can you recommend one:
1.Gas powered preferably.
2. 3-4 ch
3. Balsa or Plywood
4. Flight stabilizer (So i don't crash or mess it up [>:])
Thank you in advance!
p.s. I have yet to join a club, does it matter?

NuclearAl

Yes it is a good plane

Having a flight stabilizer will not guarantee that you will not crash.

I would highly recommend you join a club. Also most clubs will require you to be a member of AMA. That being said, you can train yourself, people do it succesfully, but you will need to know how to tune the engine, trim the plane during the first flight all the while keeping complete control of it and a host of other things you will not learn from teaching yourself. Also, it is a stratistical fact that most planes last 30 - 60 seconds on the first flight without an experinced pilot flying it.

This is a great hobby and can be a blast/relaxing if done in a way that gives the best chance. A good pilot will make it look easy, but it does take some training, commitment, and time to learn. Being in a club also brings new friends, a wealth of knowledge, etc...

Also, just so you know, the engine is not gas but glow fuel (nitro) powered. There are gas/oil mix engine that are usually on 1/4 scale or larger planes due to the weight of these engines.

I am not trying to scare you off. I am stating facts that you will find if you do a little searching here on RCU. Learning to fly by yourself has been gone over several times with mixed results. Usually the plane crashed, the person then decides that it too hard/frustrating/cannot fix it and then they disappear.

Hi Nu, first off the plane is a good trainer. Its made from a combination of balsa for most of the plane and plywood for areas that require more strength such as the firewall where the engine mounts to. The engine type is actually referred to as glow or glow fuel powered, not gas. There are larger radio controlled planes that do use a gasoline powered engine but you won't want to be looking into these right now. The easiest and least expensive way to learn how to fly is to join a club and learn with an instructor. RC clubs have instructors that are happy to teach you at no cost when you join the club. I would suggest a 4 channel plane to start with. This gives you more plane choices and you won't need to retrain yourself by going to a 4th channel later. As far as the flight stabilizer gizmo, it can teach bad habits such as, when something goes wrong, let go of the sticks and let the "gizmo" try to fix it! If you have an instructor teaching you with a buddy box, crashes with a trainer are rare. Before you buy anything, phone your local hobby shop that sells planes and ask them for phone numbers of nearby RC clubs. Get in touch with them and see if you can go visit the club. The club may have buddy boxes at the club house. Theres no point in buying an Airtronics radio if the club only has Futaba buddy boxes. If they have both, then see which one feels best in your hand. Hope this all helps, Fast![8D]

Hello,

My advice is to ask yourself if you want to deal with glow or electric. I strongly believe that all the "tinkering' of the setup should be kept to a minimum so you can FLY out of the box. This is where the fun begins. I have witnessed that too much tinkering with glow engine will dampen the enthusism for newbies to the point that they give up the hobby. Let's get you flying first, then you can decide if you want glow or electric as it has its own advantages. Let me recommend this trainer: Multiplex EASYSTAR RFT package (not the kit vesion). You can fly after opening box in 30 minutes. A PROVEN GREAT trainer!! I am 99.999999% sure you will love it and thank me for it. By the way, STAY AWAY FROM balsa planes when you first learn. TRUST ME ON THIS.... Dai Phan

Yup, it's a good one.

Hi, Thanks for all the replies!!! i am going down to my local club tomorrow. Oh yeah thanks for the difference between glow plugs (nitro) and gas!

The plane you have selected will work well as long as you receive the help mentioned in the preceding posts. I don't want to get into an argument but I disagree with Dai Phan's
comments. Glow airplanes have the power to fly in windy (within reason) conditions and many (but not all) electrics have marginal flight characteristics IMHO. Balsa planes are also fine, TRUST ME. With an instructor, you and your glow aircraft will be flying on the first good weather weekend. Definitely go with the "buddy box" system if at all possible. Enjoy your flying. BTW, there is NOTHING on the market you can fly 30 minutes out of the box. They ALL need to have their batteries charged, although I suppose you could use a field quick charger.(Another unneeded expense)

ps. I just looked at the plane Dai Phan recommended. IMHO [:'(][:'(][:'(]

I have that plane... And with that being said... I love the plane itself, but the components with it aren't that great... The engine isnt that great, but if you get it from your LHS they will tune it if your instructor cant. Mine is at the LHS right now after hours of tinkering with it. The radio is ok, But as i said it would be better off to go ahead and get everything seperate. If your on a budget the radio and such is great, but i am the kind who thinks its better to get good stuff first thing then upgrade....