Hello all,

Alright, so I had a nice message written out here, but since I'm a dumba** I click the back button when I was previewing the message. Voila, message gone. Oh well, I'll try to remember what I wrote.

I've been in the High Power Rocketry hobby for about 7 years now. The excitement has started to dwindle and I'm looking for something else to do. I'm an Aeronautical Engineering student, so I thought r/c aircraft would be the way to go. I'm not the type that changes hobbies every year, and I've been thinking of switching for about a month.

I talked my friend into starting out with me and he bought a Great Planes PT-40. I have looked into SIG Kits and I think I prefer those over Great Planes. Overall quality seems to be better than GP. Here comes the dilemma.
I live in a small dorm room that has a double bed and a small desk for furnishings. There is some extra space, but not a whole lot. I would really like to build a kit on my own to gain the experience but this may not be possible. How much permanent room does building a kit need? Would you recommend I just go the ARF route?

As for the kits, the local hobby shop has the LT-40 BIY and LT-40 ARF. I love the overall size of the LT-40, would be easier to see. However, when I looked at the Sig website, the MARK II is more appealing to me. It looks better, is still a trainer, has steerable nose wheel, and is cheaper. But alas, there is no ARF available.

What would you guys/(any gals in these parts?) recommend I do? Are there other trainers that I have not looked at yet that would be worth it?

Also, would sharing the cost of a new radio with my friend be a wise choice? Or would this bring unwanted fights over who get's to use it and who pays for what after dropping it.

Thanks for the help, hopefully this time I will succeed in posting this.

How much stuff do you have under the bed? A board big enough to build on will easily slip under it when you're not working on the kit. Are you a neat freak? You'll have sawdust and bits of wood all over the place. How much free time do you want to devote to this? How fast you build will determine the length of the inconvenience. FWIW, an old Air Force buddy of mine built an LT-40 in his barracks room without a problem.

No, that wouldn't be a wise choice. You'll each need seperate flight packs (servos, receiver, switch, battery) and the cost for one of those is near the cost of a basic 4 channel radio. Better to just each get a complete set. The cost difference between 2 complete sets and 1 set plus a flight pack is negligable.

Well, the bed is pretty much a box that's a few inches high with a big matress on top. No room for that, but good idea. Thought never crossed my mind. Trust me, I'm not a need freak. I was sanding a carbon fiber layup job in my room. Now THAT, was messy. I'll try to find a picture of my room.

Ah yes, forgot about that. Well, what I will probably do is buy a 6-channel radio because I intend on staying in the hobby, so a little expansion room would be nice. I know I know, someone will say that when I crash my plane, I will think otherwise. Don't worry, I have experience with crashing . There has been the odd time a rocket with $500 of electronics has free-falled straight into the earth from 9,000 feet agl. If that didn't turn me off, then I don't know what will.

You'll need a work surface about 4' x 3' to be able to build comfortably. If you're willing to pack things up at the end of each session, you could probably stick it between the bed and the wall. It may be easier to just get an ARF.

Unless you're willing to spend a bit more, I wouldn't get a basic 6-channel. Usually by the time you want the extra channels you want the computer functions, too. People often mention using the extra channels for things like flaps and bomb drops, but those aren't all that common. For sport models flaps are more novelty than useful, and bomb drops can be connected to the rudder channel without too much effort.

The gear inside of the plane is the same whether you go with a 4-channel or 6-channel, so there's no greater expense to crashing associated with a 6-channel. Unless you really put it in, the radio gear usually survives anyway.

Brad,
I have found this to be the most addicting and humbling hobby imaginable. I only wish I had started years ago. My son is five and I will fix that problem with him. I hope you get as hooked as I am and want to build kits so that there are a wide variety available for all of us to build. This site is ground zero for every question and there are many nice people only too glad to help, it makes you feel like your in the country surrounded by kindness. As far as your other questions go the answers so far sound reasonable. You can find a way to build if you want to and will feel more connected to the hobby for it and I agree with the advice about owning your own radio. Best of luck to you and have a merry Christmas.
Ron

Brad,
You mentioned that the MkII has a steerable nosegear, but the LT40 has one as well. I think you'll find the operating costs of planes to be much cheaper than rockets of any sort, barring any crash damage/repair. I could easily fly 20 bucks worth of D engines in a day (that's only six flights), but it takes some time for me to go through a 15 dollar gallon of glow fuel.

I was thinking 6 channel because one day, I hope to make a CL-415 Canadair Waterbomber. Would like to have a fully working replica including water drops. Would be kinda fun to engineer and build, that's for sure. I don't plan on doing any aerobatics.

Thanks Ron, I agree. This site is a godsend. I love it! I could read old messages for days. Merry Christmas!

Ah, I see. The sig website doesn't mention it on the LT-40 page, so I assumed it didn't. Would be easily modifiable I'm sure anyways.

You're right about the operating costs of r/c aircraft being cheaper than rockets. Right now, the cheapest rocket to fly that I have costs $20 CAN for one engine. The one I was in the process of building would have cost $500 CAN for one engine. I basically pay about $250 for each minute of enjoyment. Once launched, it's out of sight in 5-7 seconds and then I wait over a minute and a half for it to come back down. Now, that price for the engine doesn't include the engine casing (another $500), the rocket itself, or the electronics inside. Could you imagine how much $500 would last in terms of "minutes of enjoyment" in the r/c hobby?