brian8474

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wto0149p3 This is what i have my eyes on right now..I have realflight g3 and i love this plane..I can hover and knife edge with ease so i feel that my flying abilities are about intermediate..I would appreciate any info from Experienced pilots as well as your oppinion..Thanks in advance.. Brian

Missileman

Is it just me? The page in your link says "your shopping cart is empty" I don't see anything else there?

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Nope, I get the same thing here too.

Ken

brian8474

I guess its just letting me see it ..It has a Flatout turmoil foamie..Futaba 6exas 6 channel pcm radio what would i need the pcm for??or what is it useful for???

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

Shame on you two, how can you have an empty shopping cart at Tower? When I clicked on the link, I got to see...




... my shopping cart!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Because I don't have any money to buy anything at Tower right now!!! Come on Chuck, you know what I'm trying to spend my money on right now!!!!

Ken

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

Nope, that's not a good plane to learn with. The best clue is the part of the description that says "For Intermediate to Advanced Modeler/Fliers."

PCM is the way the radio encodes the signals. Another method is PPM. PCM is supposed to offer better protection against interferance than PPM, but I've been using PPM for years with no problems. I believe all of the 6EXAS transmitters are PCM capable, but to use PCM you also need a PCM receiver, which is usually more expensive than a PPM one. Most PCM capable transmitters do both PPM and PCM.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

I don't either, but I always have stuff in my cart. When I think of something little I need I add it and then order when I reach a good level!

brian8474

What plane should i learn with???? Remember i am on my own land which is 100 acres.And i have aced the g3 simulator..But i just dont know a whole lot about the real stuff and i want to make a good decision...

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

The typical recommendation is to get a high wing trainer plane and an instructor to help you learn. While some have learned without an instructor, the success rate is higher, and number of crashes lower, for those who have help. Probably the most important thing to decide is if you want to go electric, as with your first choice, or if you're eventually thinking of glow. Since they require some different equipment, it's best to choose one and stick with it for a while.

Missileman

If you really want electric
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXJKU3**&P=0
(call tower and tell them you would rather have the 6 exas radio and see what deal you can make)
Personally I would go with a 40 size glow trainer.
Intermediate on a sim is much different than on the real thing.
IMO you should absolutely go with a trainer type plane, especially if you are learning by yourself.
(I recommend getting with a local club and let a qualified instructor train you)

brian8474

Im not new to modelling just to planes.I definitely feel i am good enough to teach myself and i really dont want to go thru the time and hassle to join ama and pay dues at the local club just to enjoy this hobby.I think with the help of realflight g3 and a little bit of brains i should be fine. I mainly want to find the right radio to start with so i can buy additional planes as i get further into the hobby..

Missileman

The Futaba 6EXAS you mentioned is a fine radio I use a 6EXHS myself. The only real difference is that mine also has helicopter programing.

carrellh

Like most on RCU I recommend getting instruction from an experienced pilot. It seems you have made the choice to go on your own and that’s fine too.

For learning on your own, something like the GWS Slow Stick would probably be better to start with than one of the Flatouts. It’s fairly tough, fairly inexpensive, and replacement parts are readily available. Getting something designed for a beginner just makes sense. You may be a �natural’ at flying; no one on a web forum can know one way or the other. You won’t know either until you fly a real model. I’ve flown models on G3 and real models. In the air G3 is somewhat realistic but not exactly like really flying. Takeoffs and landings on the sim are not realistic at all to me. The two most important parts of the flight and they seem so easy in G3 and much harder at the flying field.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXHCJ0&P=7

The 6EXAS radio with micro receiver and servos is a good choice and can be used with future planes
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXKAJ1**&P=0

agexpert

My Feedback: (1)

I'm not new to diving....just to SKY-diving. I definitely feel I am good enough to teach myself and I really don't want to go through the time and hassle to ....


Bring a Trash-Bag


Yup...sounds like a broken record... but without help, you can count on buying a few more planes. The radio should survive just fine. Simulators WILL help, but they cannot duplicate lessons. Trust me on this. Get an instructor and have fun learning.

Welcome to the end of 'free-time' and 'disposable-income' as you know them.

M. Michael Meyer

I concur with all the advice you have gotten. Get a high wing trainer and an instructor. If you don't want to work with an instructor, see if your LHS will give you a quantity discount on the trainer.

Dr1Driver

"And i have aced the g3 simulator
i feel that my flying abilities are about intermediate"

So you aced the simulator, huh? And you feel your flying skills are intermediate? Well, I'm going to tell you what you don't want to hear.

Your flight skills are NOVICE. And that simulator is a far cry from real flying. You're not ready to fly an intermediate, aerobatic plane, no matter how many acres you have to crash on. You buy that plane and you'll plant it quickly.

Get a BASIC trainer and learn on that. TRY to transfer what you've learned on the sim to real flying. You may find it's harder than you believe.

Dr.1

elenasgrumpy

My Feedback: (4)

Don't let that sim write checks for you that you can't cash. I too can fly any & evrything on the sim, including 200mph touch & go's with the Jets. Does that mean I can go out & fly a jet?? NOOOO!!! I would crash it in less than 30 seconds!! Guaranteed. The sim can be a good practice tool but is not a substitude for real instruction. You will find even a regular high wing trainer to be a real handfull if you go it alone, much less a more advanced plane.

Look at it this way. Remember when you first got the sim, did you go right to flying the snot out of it with perfect landings from your very first try? Or were you getting confused & crashing like everyone else? Be honest with yourself when you answer that question because there is no spacebar to rebuild your plane for you in real life flying. You should really re-consider before doing it on your own. There are those that have done it by themselves. I was one of them and I crashed some perfectly good airplanes, heck I still do [&:]. Before I found RCU I was trying to do it alone with little success. Then I got Trainer planes & Instructors only to loose them both to serious illnesses after three sessoins on the buddy-box, then it was just me & the sim again. After a few more months on the sim trying to do what they told me I finally managed to go fly my NexStar, I allmost lost it to the AFS on the very first flight. I got very lucky just to get it back down on the runway in one piece.

I crashed the first five planes I tried to fly by myself right off the bat. I've crashed two more advanced planes since I have soloed & learned to fly.

If you are bound & determined to do it alone, don't just buy a plane, buy them by the case. You're probably going to need them.[:@]

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

Brian, I had my first RC flight in 1998. I was 32 at the time. I did it solo with no simulator time. I took off, flew around, did a few loops and a few rolls, then landed, all without incident. The only prior “experience” I had was some RC cars in my 20’s and some control line in my preteens.

You have the added advantage of a sim. While not the norm, it is totally possible that you can fly solo without incident first flight. However, I did my first flight on a trainer, and stayed with the trainer for another 50-100 flights. You’d be amazed at the aerobatics a lowly trainer is capable of performing.

I had access to 20+ acres for my first flights, but after a week or so, I joined the local club. Being stubborn, I didn’t ask for lessons. And since I could land, takeoff, and fly reasonably safely, non were offered either. Occasionally I’d get tips from other pilots, but no official lessons. Looking back, I should have joined the club from day one and asked for lessons. I learned a lot of bad flying habits that took several years to correct and I know lessons would have saved me a few planes. I feel so strongly about this that I started and spearheaded an official training program at our club in recent years.

I didn’t get into trouble until my 2nd plane, which was a GP Ultrasport. Much hotter, more aerobatics. I really don’t want to remember how many planes I destroyed in my 2nd and 3rd year of flying, but lets just say it was way too many. I’m convinced that if I had started by myself on anything other than the trainer, and never joined the local club, I would have become instantly disgusted with the hobby and would have quit the first year, maybe even after the first flight.

As for skill, you may be “Quick Learn Novice”, but are still novice. It is a matter of perspective, but I consider those maneuvers you listed dead easy as there isn’t much skill involved. Try a rolling circle with the trainer in the sim, say two rolls per 360 degrees and a nice round circle, no altitude changes. If you can pull that off, then you are intermediate. I won’t get into all the maneuvers and their skill levels, but I now consider myself a decent pilot after 8 years under my belt, and I can fly pretty good 1 roll and 2 roll rolling loops, probably the hardest maneuver I can routinely pull off. I fly Advanced pattern, and can hold my own. But it took a lot of work, eight years and several thousand flights. Here’s the kicker, I still pale in comparison to what I consider the Expert pilots… food for thought. You’re probably way ahead of the typical novice curve, and may be a natural, but you’re still a novice… you haven’t even flown a real plane yet in real weather.

I mention all this because I think we both started with similar ego and skills. My ego was put into check pretty early and I had to work hard to fly at my current level. My suggestions, for what it is worth…

Join a club and find an instructor. If you really are ahead of the curve, you can start with something other than a trainer, like maybe a moderate 2nd plane, but ONLY if you have instruction. The instruction will allow you to safely learn on a plane a bit hotter than a trainer. If you really want to fly on your own, which isn’t ideal, get a trainer to start.

Cheers and best wishes.

red head

HEY CHUCK !!! Go back and reread the second sentance of your post # 10. I'd do the quote thing or PM but I'm still new at computers, lucky to be able to do this much. ENJOY !!! RED

TheParrot

I got you covered Red

agexpert

My Feedback: (1)

Well, there it is...Help in any form, whether from an instructor or not, will CAUSE MORE CRASHES!!


Instructors are just plain dangerous. We must stop them before it's too late....


(We all know what you meant to say Chuck). [8D][8D]

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

OK, I messed up! Thanks for catching it!

brian8474

Ok Im back again..Even after all the advice i received i was about to just forget about this hobby, But i decided to do it anyway all by myself and see what would happen...I bought the flatout turmoil arf from greatplanes with the brushless upgrade and a futaba 6 exas radio with servos and esc ...My first flight was a success as the following 7 have been as well.. I have not crashed yet ..BUT i have had some rough landings .1 broken prop and some bent landing gear and thats it..I guess i owe it all to realflight g3 ..I think the biggest part of learning to fly is learning the controls and knowing how to correct the aircraft..After that it's all gravy.......

bruce88123

You haven't even flown a tough plane yet. Good luck.

He appears to be a member of
BURLESON FUN BUNCH RC CLUB
so he is probably at least getting some coaching.