I have a ripmax Nova Trainer which i can now fly pretty comfortably and feel that now winter is coming in i want to build another plane ARTF (as i'm not reaDY FOR A KIT) i JUST WANTED SOME SUGGESTIONS I am at the moment thinking of a ARC Jupiter is this a good plane what engine should i use ?


Look forward to as many suggestions as possibel many thanks and Happy flying

Stedge.

To be bashed about the head and shoulders for deciding on an ARF...

Arf Bashing?

In THIS forum???

Nawwwww!

If you really feel that you're not ready to build, the Jupiter looks like it would be ok, providing you're really comfortable with your skills. As far as engines go, any good .46 with ball bearings will work well. What engine you have in your Nova? It may work in the Jupiter.

But, as long s winter is approaching, and you won't be flying for a few months anyway, why not consider building? It's much more satisfying!

ARF Bashing??? I Think not...

Just remember Kits are designed with levels of diffculty in mind.
ARF are great. But if your flying skills progress more rapidly then your building skills you could get stuck with ARFs (Which is not a bad thing) because the types of planes you want to fly could be much too complicated for an inexperienced builder to assemble and the kits you could assemble will be too easy for you to fly.

Just a thought!!!!

The winters can be quite long, cold and miserable and the ARFs don't take much time to get together. A 4* fourty kit is inexpensive and won't take much longer than an AREF. It is very easy to build due to its simple shape. Anyone who can read and put notch "A" into slot "B" can get put one of these together. The parts are cut and pre-shaped to fit together without much prodding. When your done the plane will be a much better flyer than the Jupiter and you have the satisfaction of having a plane that you built yourself. Any 40 or 46 will fly the plane well because of its light weight. It will also give you more models to choose from down the road.

ARF,Sig Something Extra, Sig 4* 40 or 60,one of if not the best kit and super fine flying plane is the Venture 60 by BTE. As CRASHEM sez,sooner a person learns to build!!!
Have a goodun,John.

I don't mind the building aspect it's more the covering that puts me off!!!!

Covering is not a difficult as it looks...
Just takes practice. Tower sells some videos on how to cover

Hey stedge ...

I am building a BTE Ventrure 60, and it is my first kit. You have seen my nova photo's, that is where I learned the covering thing, just repairing that beast after crashes. Covering is really easy, just get in there and do it.

I am really impressed with the BTE venture kit, I have some posts in the kit building forum that shows some progress pictures. It is going together very well, and the materials supplied in the kit are first rate. I plan on starting to cover it this weekend.

Our local hobby shop sells mainly two types of covering solarfilm and profilm. I have not seen monokote or ultrakote over here in the UK. Profilm is a far superior product in my opinion, and would recommend it.

Before you get too turned off on covering, get yourself an iron, some covering, and practice on some flat pieces of balsa, and then build a frame out of balso sticks and cover that. After a few practice runs you will see how easy it really is.

So get yourself a trim iron, put some sticks together and give it a whirl. Also, check out my posts in kit building on the venture, it really is dead easy to put together, and I am really anxious to get her into the air.

Bo

MinnFlyer - You don't fly in the winter? Just givin' ya a hard time. I have a brother in near Glenwood, Minnesota and I only see him around Christmas, when there's 24" of ice on the lakes, so I know how cold it gets; but here in southern New England we have been known to fly in every month. But back to the subject at hand - I loved my GP Easy Sport ARF as a second plane, and it's only about $125. And IMHO, covering a plane isn't that difficult.

Hi stedge: I would suggest the Goldberg Tiger 40 or 60 or Sig 4* 40 or 60 as a 2nd plane. Or at the risk of being flamed again, as a first plane as long as you use a buddy box and instructor. Even as a second plane I would suggest a buddy box and at least a pilot with experience on one of these planes for first 1 or 2 flights, as they are more responsive to your input. The first time I flew my tiger 2 inverted I almost crashed because I fed in to much down elevator being used to my LT-40 and stalled it. Lucky for me my instructor who was just standing there waiting his turn with my new plane, got the transmitter from me just in time. Both of these planes 40 or 60 size, land as if on glass smooooooth, and IMHO are easier to fly than a trainer because they go where you point them without the extra control input you have to feed a trainer to get less than desirable results for minor aerobatics. Of course this is my opinion.

When I lived in New York I flew in the winter, and we have a few brave souls here who fly year-round too, but as for me, when the mercury is around 30 below zero, you can find me in my workshop stayin' warm! (Although, I DID fly off the frozen lakes a few times)

Visit our second plane recommendations page for ideas:
http://www.geistware.com/rcmodeling/second_plane.htm

Go with a Sig 4 Star 40 or 60 . Either kit builds easily, the hardest part is covering. Or you can get the 60 in an ARF. These are GREAT second planes and if you get into some modifications for the one after that they make a great 3rd plane with increased controll surfaces and throws.

A SIG FOUR-STAR IS A GREAT 2ND PLANE

This is a good place to get your wife/girlfriend involved! (Gee honey, I haven't got a clue how to cut-out shapes and iron them on )

Also note: Having your wife see you doing a good job with that iron could lead to domestic problems on your part!

ARF, bARF!

Please forgive me. I just had to get that out of my system. ;-)

Go with a KIT. Your ARF will be assembled and ready to go, taunting you unmerciful all thru the winter. A kit will give you the fix you need in slow steady doses to get you thru til spring.

Remember, you have this great forum to post questions and get (sometimes useful) advice every step of the way.

Fever