Ok, so I’m new to this section of the forums... no planes just boats, but I would like to give it a go. I have been looking at the Stryker F-27 mainly b/c it comes with everything. All my TX & RX are 2ch pistol grip so useless in a plane if I want 3ch’s - strike one. All my cells are sub-c 6 cell Ni-mh - strike two. And strike three none of my chargers will work with lipo's... and what the hell strike four - never flown an RC plane before, lol

I live on 2 Acers (171ft x 507ft + the neighbors neutral airspace, lol) of land and would like something like the Stryker b/c of the throw to launch and the belly landing, basically something I could walk out the back door with and not need a runway while I learn

My main questions are derived from my RC boat experience. First of all, the boats I have needed better radios (The RTR boats come with cheap radios, and I live in a high RF traffic area, been a problem with my boats glitching out) soooo...

1. Is the RX/TX with this plane worth a damn?
Meaning that it could be used with possible new additions to my fleet, same goes for the cells, charger, motor...

2. Is it a good starter plane?
Remember never been a pilot before, lol. Will it fly very slowwwwwwwly?

3. The price of this plane is like $170 and in 20min I could be in the air b/c it comes with everything needed to fly. The time it takes to get in the air doesn’t matter as much as the easy packaging of parts that work together does. Are there any kits or RTF’s that would be good for a beginner, while also keeping me from going broke? I would rather have a good TX/RX, charger, cells that could be used in other aircraft, ect. in the future.

Thanx in advance,
Bill

1. No. Although some people stick with the stock gear and have no problem.
2. Yes. It is cheap, easily repairable and oh, yeah, cheap. It will fly very slowly. The real problem is that it flies VERY fast also.
3. IMO foam is a great way to start. If I had it to do over again, I'd start with something like the stryker or Typhoon and upgrade the components as I go while getting better as a pilot so when the time comes, you can drop an extra $100 and get a decent ARF that your electronics and gear will drop right into. You can also mod the stryker to your hearts content and make it as fast as you want. I think it is a pretty cost effective way to go. $.02 from a relative noob.

Start out with the Parkzone Slo-V as your first plane. Buy the F27 Stryker after you've gotten really comfortable flying and landing the Slo-V. You'll still fly the Slo-V after you've gotten the Stryker; the Slo-V can be flown indoors when it rains, assuming you can find a gymnasium.

I would not recommend the stryker as a first plane. Unless you are a natural born flier, they are not all that easy to control. And as with any first plane, learning w/o an instructor, you WILL crash on occaision. The stryker is not quite as indestructible as they lead you to believe: These two were my 2nd and 3rd planes and almost made me quit flying[>:]. I would have much more money now had they caused me to quit, but I would be missing more than that. I agree with the slo v or something like the SuperCub. The cub is much more forgiving as a first plane and much more likely to survive your inevitable mishaps. I believe that this hobby should be about fun, relaxing, and meeting new people and the stryker as a SECOND plane caused me much aggravation. This is not the way it should be. I think the stryker should be for intermediate to advanced pilots. Have fun and be safe

I learned to fly on a Stryker, the first couple of weeks involved lots of Loctite 495 CA and a few broken servos. While the pictures above don't look too promising my first stryker has seen alot worse than that and as long as you collect all the foam pcs. and use a good CA to fix it you will be surprized how bad you can break one of these planes and put it back together to fly again. Get a packing tape dispenser as well, you will go thru lots of tape and remember after you beat the crap out of the first one it's only $20 for a new airframe. The stock RX TX are not that good but adequate for beginner's, my stryker now flies with an Optic 6 TX, Electron 6 RX, 2 HS81MG's and a GWS 480 speed control, if you can afford the better TX and RX it is probably the cheaper way to go in the long run i must have bought 10 servo's and 2 RX/ESC's before i gave up on the stock stuff. Good luck.