Hi everyone. I am still moving along with my novice training. The guys at my local club have been wonderful, but due to approaching climate, I have all winter to think this out. I have been flying a Hobbico Superstar EP. Some of the guys would like me to go nitro and also get a little heavier plane so I could train in a little bit of wind. I much prefer an ARF or RTF. I also would like this plane to be a second plane. Do you have any suggestions? Much appreciated. Mike

The Sig 4* seems to be the favorite for that # 2 plane around here. You can Get it as an ARF in both .40 & .60 sizes, & Red or Yellow in each size. If you decide to build it yourself, the kits are a little less money, and you have all winter to do it Here's a link to the plane from Tower Hobbies.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCHY4&P=7

Good Luck with your winter project, whatever you decide on.


Mark

the 4* is a great plane. The Modeltech Dragon Lady is also a nice plane.
i guess u really need to deicde if u wanna get nitro plane and what size? 40 size would obviously be cheaper.

mikeflyzz,

For a second plane, go with a low wing with more of a symmetrical airfoil. This will allow you to learn the inverted side of flying. There are many "sport" ARF designs out there to pick from. What you are looking for is a light wing loading. A great one I recommend is the Goldberg Tiger.

Regarding wind, your Hobbico will fly great in very strong winds. Here in S California starting this time of year through early spring we get what are called the Santa Ana winds. These usually blow 25 to 40 with gusts much higher. You bet we fly on these days, and the "trainer" types are preferred. The thumb rule is as long as you can make headway at full power you can fly! No kidding! Learning to fly your trainer in wind is the best next step you can take.

Multiflyer

The genral response seems to be either the four star or the tiger2

Personaly im going with the four star 120(will be picking up later this week)

I like my easy sport alot. ITs great and i love flying it, but most of all, the landings aret he best

Well, this one is generally a good first plane. But I get the feeling you are being forced to make the move a little early. Anyway the Avistar ARF trainer has a semi-symetrical wing and handles the wind very well. The plane is capable of advanced manuvers and it should take you at least a year to exhaust the plane's potential.

Is there really an Altoona ?

I would recommend an Hobbico Avistar or Hangar 9 Arrow with a .60 class engine.

Hi Mike!
Seems most are in favor of the 4* as a second. I have a bias for shoulder wing pattern trainers like the ugly stick or midwest aerosport. Or even a hots.
Not sure about their status in ARF but I'm sure there are satisfactory equivilents out there. Why ARF anyway? You dont like building? Dont have time??
Reason I ask is that I find the cookie-cutter ARF selection booring and substandard. They use a lot of 'lite ply' and slab wood that adds weight and takes away from flying characteristics. Dont get me wrong, if thats what your up against it better than not'in!

PilotFighter, Yup there really is an Altoona, I've been there and seen it with my own eyes! Not far from Beaver Falls, & a liitle place called New Brighton, where I was staying at. There's a few famous football ppl from Altoona as well ( if I remember right).


Mark

My 2nd plane (20 years ago) was a Falcon 56..
My 3rd was a Midwest Sweet Stik.

Aftering being out for 15 years I'm starting up again with a Falcon III
I'd like a Skylark as a 1st low wing but it's only avaliable as an ARF so I'll prob go with a Sig 4*

For a high wing 2nd, Avistar. For a low wing taildragger, 4*. For a trike gear low wing, hard to beat a World Model T-34 with a good 46.

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for all the great advice. PilotFighter, yes there really is an Altoona. All snuggled down in an Appalacian valley. Actually not a bad town. We can be in the mountains from any direction in about 15 min. Income here is low, but it sure is beautiful country... Except when it's cold, then my tooth hurts! I think it might have a cavity.
All joking aside, I agree with you PilotFighter, maybe I am trying to make too early a move for my next plane. I did not explain entirely, my superstar is electric and I do not have ailerons. I only have a three channel radio. The reason I am looking at a combo (RTF) is that I can get a futaba 4 channel, and ,depending on the plane, usually an O.S. .40 or .60 LA. It is simply everything I do not have now. For Aerospot..... I do like building and I have the time but like I said, I need so many things to move to nitro/ ailerons that the RTF combos sure make it look attractive. Maybe that is a mistake, since some of the guys locally do not recommend an O.S. LA. O.S. makes better engines.
I hope you all understand that my futaba 3 channel radio has no buddy jacks. Maybe I should just stick with my Superstar EP and invest in a good 4 or 6 channel radio w/ buddy cord and learn to fly correctly. The poor instructors here are in a sweat trying to take my radio from me to save my plane. What do you think? Thanks again to all of you. Mike

Mike, after looking at your last post I'm thinking maybe an RTF Trainer is the way to go. The Tower Trainer RTF is $259 + shipping, it comes with a 4 channel radio, their pro .46 engine, which has a gang of power for that plane. It does have ailerons, which I think you need to learn how to use before even thinking about a #2 plane. It is what I'm currently learning to fly with & I'm still on the buddy cord (training got stalled for hand surgery) but I'll be back at it next week. The buddy cord I needed was $9.99 @ Tower, they have a few different ones available. Just find out what kind of radio the Instructor will be using and look at the cord port on it. Some are round, & some are a smaller square. The Tower radio takes the litte square end, my Futaba takes the round end. So you can get whatever you need Round to round, sqare to sqare, or sqare to round. There's alot of different RFT Trainers available, some look nicer than the Tower, but none are less expensive that I know of. I have no personel experience myself with the LA series of engines from OS that you mentioned, but I hear they are under-powered.[] I have some older FX engines from OS and they are all screamers![sm=lol.gif] I'm sure someone that actually has firsthand knowledge of the LA engine will let us know they're opinion of it. Good Luck in the decision making process[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]


Mark

Hi Mark. Thanks a bunch. I may just tell Santa to get me a Tower Trainer. The price is right and I believe that engine is ball bearing. That way, by spring, I will have the Superstar EP electric and the Tower Trainer (in case one goes down). I have also been praticing on Real Flight G3 for the past 4 months so I do know what the ailerons will do at least in theory. A good plane also would be the Hobbico Nexstar, but while I am learning, that is qiute an investment @ $399.00. The tower trainer seems a great value and the instructors at the club will be happy that I am on a buddy cord. Also I am told, that as I get better, the dihedral can be built out of the wings so it will do more maneuvers.
I don't know how much I will be flying through the winter here. Probably very little. It would be a good time to get a Tower Trainer and work on setting it up and testing the engine etc.
Thanks, Mark and good luck with your hand. Take care. Mike