I am building a Balsa USA Phaeton 90. My first plane and i need radio and an engine but this is getting Pricy! First pick is Spektrum radio and OS 1.20 four stroke but i am into $700 for the two.
Thats a bit to much just getting into this. Any suggestions on equipment for a beginner with this plane?

This is NOT a plane for a beginner. You are spending an awful lot of money on something that, if you have never flown or qualified on a trainer, should never attempt to fly. I am not sure if I would try it and I've been doing this for several years now, and fly 90 size pattern planes!

With that said, the best choice, in my estimation, is the DX7. Spread Spectrum is the way of the future, that's for sure. You could use it on a trainer also, then have the expandability for what you want to put in the Phaeton 90.

Refer to the beginning thread written by RCKen about trainers and what to get. The choice is almost overwhelming.

DS.

[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm] Looking for a trainer, what's available. (Updated 12-19-06) [/link]

What CGRetired said is spot on the money. The plane you are building is NOT a plane you should even be thinking about if you have never flown. If you do try to fly it yourself I will assure that it will wind up as a pile of kindling. If you try to find an instructor there is no way that anybody will even consider teaching you to fly with this plane. My advice is to hang this plane up from the ceiling and admire the way it looks. Get 3 or 4 other planes under your belt before you come back and try to fly the Phaeton. I know that this may sound like I'm being harsh, but rather I am just trying to get the point across that this plane isn't one to start with.

Hope this helps

Ken

Ken.. I hope he listens. I would hate to hear that the beautiful Phaeton 90 was crashed because he tried to fly it without any training or experience.

For CVEDRAL: This will give you some good building experience. Build it if you wish, but as Ken said, hang it up from the ceiling and admire it, but get some experience flying RC before even attempting to fly it. And at that, I would let the club pro fly it first and at least a couple times to iron out the bugs before flying a bi-plane. The setup for one of those is not like a simple low-wing aerobatic or a high-wing trainer. The setup is very complex and requires some real advanced understanding of how these things fly.

DS.

For those wanting to see the plane
http://www.balsausa.com/kits/kit.htp?id=34&shopperid=
This is definitely not a beginners plane. My gosh it's beautiful and all that but it will be destroyed quickly as bi-planes can be harder to fly than mono-planes in the first place.

PLEASE get a proper traine and an instructor to help you learn to fly. ONLY after you have become VERY comfortable flying taildragger trainers and intermediate planes should this plane be attempted.

Welcome to the hobby and I'm sorry you have gotten off to such an expensive false start but you have made a good radio choice. It will last you for many years.

And just for the record... Not only is this NOT a plane for beginners, but to put a 120 on it is only for EXPERTS.

I had one of these once and a 91 (4-stroke) is MORE than enough.

But listen to what the others have said.

Did you learn to drive a car in a Formula 1 racer? Did you learn to ski on the Double Diamond trail?

Flying is the same. You need to crawl - then walk - then jog - before you can run at a full sprint.

Thanks, guess you brought me down to earth safetly. I'll put my money in a trainer first. I built the Phaeton for fun and well, was told its a execellent plane maybe not a starter but with help i would be ok to fly it. I have most of the wood built its time to get a radio and mount an engine. I will take your advice and pick up, most likely a hobico 40, from a local hobbie shop. Still open to suggestions for the Phaeton though. I really got to love this plane want the best equipment for it so that answers my question save the money and buy the best. Hey will a radial 5 cyl fit!
Charlie

YEAAAAAA! Someone listened!!!!

Charlie, here is some really good advice for you if you're looking to save a few bucks (And who isn't)

Get yourself a 60-size trainer.

Buy a good 60 (2-stroke) or 91 size (4-stroke) engine for it and a reasonably priced 6 channel computer radio (In the $200 - $250 range) If that's too much, either plane will fly just fine with a basic 4 channel radio ($120ish) but you'll like the features of a computer radio, and it will allow a lot of room to grow in the future (Extra channels can be used for flaps, retractable landing gear, smoke, etc)

This way, when you are ready for the Bipe, the engine and radio will just swap over.

And find your local club to get some free instruction

If you get through a Phaeton 90 as a first build I will be truly impressed! That is not a beginners model to fly and it is a builder's kit to boot. Scant written instructions and no hints on the plans for engine, servos, battery, tank, control rods, etc. I just received mine and am still in the process of sketching out the bashes I want to incorporate and selecting the hardware I'll be putting in her. (PS - so far I am pleased with the die-cutting and quality of the wood supplied).

Tell you what, though. You get a trainer started and I'll try and log my progress for posting to the forum on a build thread and maybe you can learn from my mistakes.

I just bought a Hobbico Avistar rtf and the Hobbico flight kit, comes with starter, box, and such. The Phaeton will have to wait it's turn, just dropped $400 plus, but it's a beautiful day hope tommorow is nice and i can get someone willing to teach me how to fly this thing.
Thanks again

Do you know of a club near you?

If not here's a link to clubs in FL.

[link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/clb.asp?sid=5CC92D72247F4FA3BAED605DAF721974&state =fl]Florida Clubs[/link]

Hey, it's Florida. Get those batteries charging.