I've been interested in getting a plane for some time. I've got my own land on which I can fly, and want to know about laws concerning that.
Also I read volkans very helpful beginners guide sticky, and wondering about general price of plane, engine and servos, and also running costs.
Thanks alot.
Pete

Not sure about the laws where you are. I fly on my own land, just make sure the homeowners insurance is paid up.
I got my Hanger 9 Alpha 40 Trainer under $300 US. from Horizon Hobby. Plan on another 40 or $50 bucks for the field equipment.
As far as running cost that depends on how much you fly and how much you fly successfully

Just for info standard glow trainers called 40 size cruise about 40 mph. They also tend to float while slowing down to land. This means that you should have about 300 long by 40 feet wide feet of fairly level grass or pavement for takeoff and landing. If you don't have this then conditions for learning are less than ideal. Once you are experienced you can take off and land in about in about 50 feet. [8D]

Hi, here in UK I suggest you are best to join the nearest club where you will get advice and facilities from people with the same interests. As a minimum though, if you feel you want to fly on private land (not a good idea for safety's sake if it means flying alone) I would follow the info. that the BMFA gives - see their website www.bmfa.org for details of insurance, UK legal issues, useful links etc. - so as to avoid basic problems. .

Thanks alot! I'll try to find the nearest club (not sure if there's one this far from anything???!!).
I've got about 8 acres (no trees) to play with so landing space shouldn't be a problem... just the actual landing!! hahaha

And another question.
If I get the plane seperately, I've seen that when you buy a radio it comes with receiver and two servos, but I'm going to need two more - ailerons, rudder, elevator and throttle... wait, that's five, right? Ailerons - one in each wing?
Anyway, if i buy more servos can you just plug them in? Do they have to be the same make as the ones that come with the radio?

Most radios come with 4. And most trainers only need one for the whole wing.

Not sure what radio you are looking at. Standard 4 channel RC radios come with transmitter, receiver, 4 servos, battery packs, crystals and a wall charger. Most trainers only need 4 servos as well. A single servo controls both ailerons at the same time. Some hgher performance sport planes have a seperate servo for each aileron. If you need more servos, you don't have to buy the same brand if you don't want to. You can buy Hitec brand servos for instance that will work with Futaba or Airtronics. You can also get Futaba or Aitronics compatible recievers ot one that works with both types called a universal receiver. Receivers are usually 7 or 8 channels. If you use 4 channels, just plug the servos in to slots 1,2,3 and 4. [8D]

Thanks.
How does one servo control both ailerons?

The servo arm is attached to the servo with a screw in the middle. In this case you are using both sides of the servo arm. Each side is attached to 1 aileron with metel push rods. When one aileron moves up because it is being pulled, the other one will move down because it is being pushed. I made a rough sketch to try and illustrate.

Ahh~~ I get it! Thanks.. But what about planes with ailerons nearer the tip of the wing, e.g. scale planes?
Some sort of rod setup?

they would typically have two servos--one for each aileron, or what's called a bell-crank system (not as good as two servos). It'll be some time before you need to worry about that, though....

Personally I think bellcranks are a pain to install and setup but they do seem to work well once its done. I just use 2 servos for those types of planes. . [8D]