Hello, I'm new to the airplane forums. That's beacause I run Nitro Boats. BUt, I was wondering how hard it would be to learn how to fly. I would like to get into the airplanes, but don't know if I should stay in boating. I'm a quick learner and have played a few simulations. Any ideas on what I should do? I was thinking about this trainer.... http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK971

Broadening your horizons with planes is great, but boats are fun too. Unless time or $ is an issue, keep both. Things you learn in one will help you do better with the other. The Hobbico *star trainers are a good choice. Also good is to go with the ARF version you chose, rather than the RTF. This way you can select the individual components and end up with a better overall package, quite often at no higher price.

One thing you definitely should do before buying anything is to find a local club. That will be the place you learn from, and they may have a preference for engines, radios, etc. However, if you get a known trainer, not one of the cheap eBay things, and go with one of the major brands for radios (Futaba, JR, Airtronics, Hitec) and engines (OS, Thunder Tiger, Super Tigre, etc), you should be ok. The only potential issue would be buddy box compatibility.

Oh, and if you race boats, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much less a gallon of fuel costs, and how much less a sport plane runs. A .45 size trainer plane can fly for something like 15 minutes on 10-12 ounces of fuel. My Sport 40 hydro burns nearly 18 ounces (of 50% fuel) in one 6 lap heat. Glow plugs also last much longer in sport planes.

Like Chuck said, if you can afford it why not keep both hobbies?? You will have one big advantage when you start learning to fly. You shouldn't have problems with stick reversal. I have found that when I am teaching new pilots this is one of the biggest hurdles that they have to overcome. When the plane is flying away from you and you move the stick to the right the plane goes to it's right, but when the plane is coming towards you and you move the stick to the right the plane still goes to it's right but now that will be to YOUR LEFT. Since you have probably overcome this problem dealing with RC boats you should pick it up pretty quick. You have also probably overcome on other biggy for new fliers, over controlling. In fact, you should have a pretty good command of the stick already.

Enjoy the addiction!!!

Ken

I found this exact thing to be true when I learned to fly. Since I already had experience with boats and cars, I had no problems with directions when the plane was coming toward me. Up and down orientation was another thing though! One small thing that will have to be overcome is learning to move the stick side to side instead of turning a wheel. Hopefully he won't panic and try to twist the stick out of the gimbal. I didn't have to deal with that problem. I can be stubborn, and until recenly, I refused to use a wheel type radio. I learned on sticks (even the boats and cars), and I stuck to them.

Chuck,
I am the same way. Before I got into RC Flying did plenty of other RC, boats, sailboats, tanks, cars. And I never used a transmitter with a wheel on on it, I've always used a controller with sticks.

Ken

I agreee with what Chuck and Ken said but would like to push one issue a bit farther, just because you are into boats & cars etc. is NOT a good reason to try to by pass at least a few flights on a buddy box, it will save you a lot of grief. ENJOY !!! RED

The Superstar is a good choice it's stable, I started with Nextar and then the Superstar, following Avistar, P51 PTS ect. I still fly the Superstar between the others more often, then others.

roltech

Unless the kid's extremely talented, it's going to more more than just "a few flights" on that buddy box! Boat racing presents its own set of challenges, but I still think flying is more difficult. The consequences of messing up with a plane are significantly more permanant than messing up with a boat. There's a thread on one of the boating forums that appears to say the same thing.

Make sure that you put plenty of horsepower on that plane so you can enjoy it for a while after you solo.
A ball bearing .46 should make you happy.

Also if $ is not too tight get more than the basic radio so it can grow with you into your next airplanes or possibly helicopters, which are next.
I have an Airtronics RD8000 that I fly both airplanes and helicopters with. It's very user friendly and not too expensive, starts @ $289.99
That's pretty hard to beat!

learning to fly wont be too tough. you've already got your stick reversal down, and now you just need to get used to altitude control.

yeh I have an OS46AX Max on that bird, I can take off across the runway in about 12' to 15'. That plane has never let me down although if you look at it you would think it's been to hell an back, some on the covering starting to peel back , I had my son and others fly it too.

roltech

Yup, I agree with all of these guys. You are already ahead of the game in many aspects. Keep both your hobbies if you can though

Some days just arent good for flying. I do airboats and model cars. I love them all. I don't think any are inferior to any other. I think each aspect just has its own appeal is all. If only I could afford a heli!!!

Good luck and have fun!

Wes

Edit: Oh yea, planes were my first and still are, didn't want to mislead you on that fact

I would definitely keep both Hobbies, I've messed around with all of them most of my life. Starting with control line, Then to cars & Now back to learning to fly RC. I still plan on building an air-boat to play with from my bass boat. Maybe it will wake the darn fish up! I thought of doing the air-boat because I can build that just with the airplane stuff I have laying around here. I did let my 1/8 scale Ofna car car go though when I decided to learn to fly, but only because I was hardly ever using it. I set it up for pavement with a 2-speed transmittion & it was just too fast. I didn't have any place big enough to run it. At 85mph you need lots of room with ZERO curbs! None of the parking lots around really fit the bill. So I sold it for airplane $$ and I do regrett letting it go.[&o]

So hang on to those boats, or I suspect you will miss them everytime you see one!


Mark

There'$ no real rea$on not to keep both if you can afford it. But I know first-hand that isn't an ea$y task. I used to race nitro boats pretty heavily - in fact, one year I spent over $10K in boats, support equipment and travel to race the full NAMBA circuit. I've since gotten married, started a family, and moved to the mid-west. Believe it or not, I switched to flying since I now have a nice field 5 min. from home and no really usable water for miles. Not to mention that nitro racing isn't real popular in WI.

Don't get me wrong, I'd still love to play boats, but it just doesn't fit my environment as well as flying does. And I have since found that while the competitive racing was an intense rush, the relaxation I get from flying is better suited to my stress levels. In either case, both hobbies offer more than their share of fun. Enjoy!

Darn krossk, Sounds like you were "knee deep in the houpla" with them boats! That must of been hard to let them go. I'm glad you're finding what you need from planes now, or you would be in big-time RC withdrawal! Keep on flying my brother.[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]



Mark