Hello.

As the winter approches i find myself packign my trainer away for the winter. as such i would like to build a kit that i would use as my second plane. iid say i have a decent amount of time on my trainer and have grown board i have about 7 gallons trough a .40 evo so that a decont amount of flying time.

Several planes have been sugested and one i found and kind of like tese are the planes im looking at:

gp Extra 300- http://www.greathobbies.com/products...od_id=GPMA0235
Sig 4* .60 size- http://www.greathobbies.com/products...rod_id=SIGRC73

Those are the planes that have been suggested to me. I have found a plane that i ppersonnaly like.
http://www.greathobbies.com/products...rod_id=GOL052P

So. Can i handel the chipmunck? What is your opinion have i overlook a wonderfull plane? Id like to have a taildragger just so i can get used to it.

Thanx in advance

You would be better off with the Four-Star before an Extra or a Chipmunk. You learned to crawl with the trainer. Now it's time to learn to walk with the Four -Star. The Extra or Chipmunk will teach you to run. Don't make the mistake of going from crawling to running. You will bang into things (ground) and get frustrated.

I think the first and third planes listed might be a bit much for you. The 4* is easy to handle but it will float worse than your trainer for landing. You might be able to handle a Chipmunk, or maybe not. Since you are looking at the 60 size kits I think a Tiger would be a better choice for now. It has a good size which makes it easy to see and its a solid build. It has a good speed range, is aerobatic, and it is forgiving when you need it to be. http://www.greathobbies.com/products...prod_id=GOL068

The extra was not my idea. It was suggested to me by 3 different instructors at my club for a second plane. I would never have though of it. Im looking at the 4* but i dont reall like its looks. but hey you cant get everything in life

The Caps and Extras are extremely sensitive and unforgiving. They have to be flown every second or in 2 seconds the plane could be in trouble. The Extra would probably be more than a handful for someone with your experience. It makes me wonder why an instructor would suggest the Extra as a second plane!!!

sounds like they(the inst.) thought you were capable of going to the next step or skipping a step in your progression, are you using a sim to practice? were you hitting the field a couple times a week.
learning to fly is different for everybody some catch on quicker than others good to not go to fast or you will be throwing your cash down the toilet.
after flying my trainer nearly to death I was getting bored with the slow flyer and was a little worried about what level I was at, I had one of the better pilots take my next plane up for me and go over it trimming it and just a general check out after the second flight I thanked him for his time and the trainer has been collecting dust ever since.
if you go with a high performance sport plane get some help, practice on the sim if you have one, and by next spring you will be ready to give it a try, just remember they are not the self recovering easy to fly trainers you have been using you have to be on the ball all the time or your new winter project will just be another pile of trash to clean up.
if you are looking for a tail dragger then the sig something extra is not a bad choice the arf is 199$ the kit which is a good first timer build is about 80$ + glue and covering.
there is nothing wrong with being a little adventurous as long as you know your limits and seek the help you need to be successful

I had an Arrow great airplane take the extra time and glue the wing and tail feathers might throw some epoxy around the firewall too
it's a very stronfg plane and once you learn to fly you can crank up the throws and still enjoy flying it

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXZT80&P=7 or mabey this http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HAN2845 both are good planes

As to how often. During the summer (when i didnt have school) i would go flying 5-6 times a week once school started id go once maybe 2 time a weekn but some weekend have been completly lost because of weather. i only got about 1 month of summer flying.

AS to why they suggest an extra 300 i can only specculat.
one of my ideas is that i land very fast with my trainer i hade a bad experince were i came in so slow that after hitting the ground and bouncing back in the ai the cross wind got me so i lost all contorl over the plane (no wind going by surface= no contrle) severr ppl that have seen my landings asked me what the prooblem wa (thiking i had fluutter or somthign and hade to get the plane down or i would loose it i often go around if i dont like my aproach but i am used to landing fast and it doesn bother me to much anymore)

That's great that you can land a trainer fast, but the Extra or Chippy is going to be a completely different animal. Could you do it? Probably. But if you want to weigh potential success against potential failure, the Four-Star has got the winning hand, in my opinion.

Freak,
What's up my Candian Friend? One other thing to consider is how you feel when you fly. Some guys want a little fear and some guys prefer to wear diapers during every flight. The extra is gonna be the most slippery and the four star most comfortable. I've had all three at one point or another. I'd say if you got "Stones" go Chipmonk, if you want to learn at a good pace then 4*, put that Extra on the back burner for a little while. Don't get me wrong though, sounds like you could handle the Chip.

One last thing, if at times your a little heavy on the sticks, the Ex and the Chip will fight you a little. IF your too slow on a loop and pull a little too much they will snap out on the way up at about the 2 o'clock position. First time it happens its a little "HOLY MONKEY..." ish, if you know what I mean. Let us know what you do buddy.

Hey nice to see all you guys toook time out to help me out. Thank you very much.

If you have anny other opinoins please feel free to share them

thank you

For what it's worth, I learned on an Easystar, and just started flying an Avistar. I'm buying a Sig 60 kit to build over the winter. Almost everyone at my club and a few guys on this board recommended it to me. I'm taking small steps. The jump from the Easystar to the Avistar was huge to say the least, but with my experience with the foamie, I do pretty well with it.

I'm imagining that the jump to the Sig won't be as significant, so it'll be a comfortable change. Not to mention, Sig makes excellent planes.

flying freak take a look at the venture 60 plane as well it was my second plane and it flys great and builds pretty easy as well,just my 2 cents worth,i did fly a chipmunk after that second plane and its worth it to fly your second plane,then the chip

The only complaint I read about the Venture 60 is that it builds together too fast to be a good Winter Project. [>:]

hmm Venture 60 to be honest i have never herd of this modl guess what il be readingi about tonight :P. How do those somthin' extra flie? so many people have them. and one person said its a good second plane what do you think?

I have a stupid quesstion.what is a pattern plane? and is it sutable as a second plane?