Hello everybody. I am brand new to the whole rc airplanes. I have been around cars since i was young and recently into xmods. However i was looking for a plane to get started on, i am certainly not made of money and i need a cheap trainer. I went to my local discount Hobby Store and this salesman told me that th F-27b Stryker was a "Great Trainer to start on." Well i went to our towns football field and gave it a shot. Turns out that i can not keep this wing in the air more than thirty seconds before I plumet it into the ground and buy replacement parts i have just gotten my fourth Stryker body and painted it up all nice, taped off wings made a reall nice orang to red transition paint job with ^ to the leading edge i can post a pic if u want. So now i set out to find another plane to empty my wallet to TRAIN On because i really want to become a radio flyer ( hehehe wagon rember it) Anyways my salesman was more helpful this time and said that was deffinatly not a trainer and u should fly 5-10 hours on other planes before this one and recommended the firebird freedom, the price wasnt too wallet breaking but pricy non the less is this a good plane to start on because i really do not want to keep buyin 20$ bodys and parts for my stryker. I must say i have gotten good at putting that plane together, regretably[&o] So if anybody could help me on this one it would be appriciated please let me know thanks.

this kind of post comes up allot, a guy goes to hobby store, finds cool looking plane has no idea how to fly, crashes and spends allot of money gets bummed, here's a tip first find a club thats close to home try the AMA club locater,decide what kind of plane you are interested in getting into electric or glow powered the planes you are looking at are park flyers and are getting more and more popular but a smaller plane is not that easy to fly and learn on , if the club works for you ask if they have a instructor to help you learn the basics of keeping that bird in the air. after some lesions and practice less crashing more flying. for a bunch of trainers check some of the posts there are tons of ideas ,most clubs require you join the AMA good idea provides insurance and you get a magazine also

theworldismyburrito, you are going to find that a lot of your countrymen will tell you to find out where your nearest model club is, and to go along to them, and ask if an instructor will teach you how to fly your model safely. These lessons are free and you will save heaps in repairs. The freedom is a good model in the lower price bracket to learn on, and you will find out in due course that recommendations will be for you to look at going for glowplug powered models, in the range of a 40 size motor. Something like the LT40 and a 4 channel radio. These models will handle wind better , they are larger so consequently are easier to fly also. So do yourself a favour and look up your nearest club. As i said , you will save a lot by taking instructions
Bill

Alright thanks for the responses i will look into a club and find a decent instructor to help me out. If u think the firebird freedom is a good choice then i will go ahead and get that one thanks again for ur help. Theworldismyburrito

It would be a really good idea to find a club and instructor BEFORE you spend any more money. The club members, along with us on RCU, can give you advice that's not influenced by monthly sales quotas.

P C hit the nail on the head start with the inst. and club you might be able to find a used plane cheaper than a new park flyer.BTW if I flew as well as I ate burritos I would be RC world champ!

Hehehehe ya burritos are good, thanks for all of your help it is greatly appriciated. I will look into a club and an instructor and hopefully i will start to get longer flights. Thanks again.

Just a small side note.

Some clubs have a club trainer. Most instructors will be more than happy to help you along.

Good luck, I hope you stay with it.

most clubs also have a club trainer so they might be able to start your training before you get anything. otherwis.

[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCXF4**&P=0]good trainer[/link]

At first thought glow power probably scares you as it does many new folkes. In the long run glow is much cheaper to maintain and operate and load more fun since the power to weight is higher and cheaper to attain.

you can find a club here. I'm not fan of the AMA but 99% of the clubs will require it to fly with them

[link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx]ama[/link]

theworldismyburrito

If you live close to Georgetown, then the closest club is only a few miles away. Here's a link to their web site:
[link=http://www.gamarc.org/]GAMA[/link]

They have a new field just north of Georgetown, about 15 min. from Discount Hobbies where you probably got your "trainer".

They do have instructors, I learned from a guy called Ken a few years back.

Good luck,

tychoc

I'd just like to echo pretty much what everyone else has said, Especially Piper Chuck. Don't spend any more money until you get with the club Instructors!! The money you have already spent on broken Shrikes & the money you are about to spend on the Firejunk Freedom would have bought you a real rc plane. By that I mean a 40-46 size glow powered Trainer, that with an Instructor would still be in one flyable piece! Just a couple quick examples:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXCXF4**&P=0


http://www.thundertiger4u.com/mark-wgp42-p-7325.html


These are both fine Trainer planes that with proper instruction will have you up & flying in no time. The Tower RTF package is a great bargain & a terrific flier! I have this plane & still fly it all the time.

The Thunder Tiger with the TT .42 engine is another great deal leaving only the radio of your choice to be bought. I really like this one, I think it is just a very sharp looking little Trainer & I have heard nothing but good things about that engine too.

Welcome to RCU & our favorite addiction. I hope that now you have a little better idea of what's worth buying & what's not. Good luck, & hang in there. Don't get discouraged, we all wasted a lot of money buying the wrong stuff in the beginning. Or at least I did![:@]

Awesome thanks for all the help i will get into a club and get a real training airplane. Thanks for everything.

The next time you go buy a plane and the salesman tells you "this is a greatplane," ask him if he's ever flown it. If not, come back and ask us first.

Instead of the Firebird Freedom, I would recomend the Aerobird Challenger by Hobbyzone. Its a little cheaper and more easy to handle. Plus you can pull off basic tricks.