Hi everyone. I'm a long time lurker and a first time poster.

I'm finally reaching my dream of RC flight thanks to the passion my 8 year old has for airplanes.

After doing quite a bit of studying, I went with a Skyfly for a first plane. I also bought a RealFlight G3.5 and have very many hours on it. With the sim I think I'm doing well in that from a fixed position I can taxi, fly, perform immemnans, fly inverted, outside rolls, etc and put the plane down on the runway pretty accurately. Chase and cockpit are too easy. I find the Mustang, the Nexstar, Electristar and the Spacewalker quite fun and stable for me. The Skyfly in the sim IMHO sucks in that it's painfully slow to respond. In real life out on the field with my Skyfly, I find that also the case. It takes forever for the plane to respond to inputs. I have the trim set nicely and my control surfaces all go full range. I've moved the fishing line knob (sorry I don't have the terminology down) in closer to increase control surface movement and flying on "expert" instead of beginner makes a small improvement.

I'm thinking I just have the wrong plane and need something more responsive. The parks I fly at aren't very big and this plane runs out of room pretty fast considering I use about 2/3 throttle and have to make directional adjustments days in advance. The challenge I'm facing is that since the Skyfly responds so slowly, it runs out of room and hits things! I'm finding it goes through parts faster than I thought it would.

When I am able to get it out on a larger field, then it'll fly great and there are no problems - except for it's sluggishness. Unfortunately there's only one big field around here and it usually has people on it!

The long term goal is for the two of us to chase each other around the sky with warbirds. Since I'm a teacher, I don't have deep pockets and want something extremely durable, nimble yet stable, and cheap would be great. I ordered two Air Hogs Aces for us to play with but I'd like a better park flyer for myself.

Any suggestions?

Any and all opinions and comments are greatly appreciated!

thanks
Tim

The Parkzone Slo-V is a good ready-to-fly park flyer in the $129 price range that is manuverable enough that it can be flow indoors.

From the Hobbico Flyzone line, I like the Ventura and Mini Ventura RTF planes. They sell for about $119 and $89 respectively. They are faster airplanes, but also more responsive. Still, they may not be ideal for a small park.

If you're curious to try the Slo-V out, there is a plane on G3.5 called the BLT that isn't wildly dissimilar in its flying characteristics. You might give that a try to see if you like that style of slow flight.

good choice on the aeroaces. lots of fun. the Slo-v is a good plane but i would recomend the gws slowstick more. Its the same as the slo-v but you put your own electronics in it. This is better if you are looking to upgrade to different planes in the future.

Thanks for the speedy reply guys!

I just did a quick flight with G3.5 and the BLT. That's more like it. It would fit in my parks and is certainly more nimble. I'd like to do some aerobatics if possible yet fly like the BLT. The ability to handle light wind would be a plus too. I like the idea of the Great Planes Flatouts and how it behaves in the sim but it apparently can't handle any wind. Come to think of it, I think wind will be a problem with any plane and my needs.

Tim

the flatouts planes are decent but if you like those 3D foamies the shockflers are the best. The 3D fomies are actually more fun to fly in winds. you can fly backwards, stationary rolling harriers,180 deg hovers...............too much fun!. If your skills are good enough a shockflyer would be the best.

I don't think my skills are good enough yet for a shockflyer.

When you're ready to try them, you will be surprised at how well some of the flatouts handle a moderate breeze, say 10mph or so. Great Planes has a couple of new "combat" style flat outs that are $24.99 retail, the zero and the hellcat, that could be gentle enough for you to give a try.

There are a lot of good park flyers out there, but the building requirements vary extensively. With your only stated flying experiences being with the Aero Aces and the Sky Fly, I wasn't sure if you wanted a project like the GWS Slow Stick or the Great Planes BLT kit that would require some assembly or building. Is "ready-to-fly" a prerequisite for your next plane, or would you like to take on a project with a little more assembly required?

I have to say the biggest factor right now is indestructability! Once I have more flight time then I'll step up to kits but for now an ARF is probably best. I just don't want to face the heartbreak of a pile of sticks so if I did a kit like the BLT, it would be hanging from my sons room for quite a while
The Flatouts are looking like a good choice for me. Slower and more manueverable than my Skyfly and cheap like the Aero Aces.

thanks!

Tim

The Zero and the Hellcat flat-outs are a good value, but they're not cheap. You'll need a 4-channel radio system with a micro receiver and 3 micro servos, an Electronic Speed Controller (ESC), a flight battery, and a battery charger.

The problem with flat-outs is you end up spending $200+ for electronics to fly your $25 plane.

Tim, Try moving the cg back a little at a time on your present plane. That should quicken things up! Don't go too far though.
Have fun, MikeB

tim, it sounds like if you want to advance towards warbirds of any size then you are going to need more room and more plane to fly, do you know there is a flying field right down the road in Half moon bay where you can fly elec. as well as glow planes and helecopters.
the "peninsula channel comanders" www.flypcc.org , we have a cam on the field and weather on the web, as well as a call in # for wind conditions at the field with a up to the min. recording .
it sounds like you have been doing the go it alone method, and are headed in the right direction,but do you know if you belong to a club you can get instruction as well as help with your plane for free from very skilled pilots who are always willing give you hands on help,are you a AMA member?
you should be, just for the insurance policy it provides you, in case of the unforseable mishap,like hitting someone and causing injury no matter where you fly and you get a magazine also as part of the membership fee.
most clubs in and around the bay area require AMA membership.
if you are interested in flying warbirds then you might want to think about a glow powered plane somthing like the mustang PTS if you are already using the sim and flying electrics then you have the general basics, and with some instruction you would be able to fly the mustang trainer, there about 400$ complete with radio and engine.it really depends on how far you and of course your son want to take it and how fast.
you can spend a small fortune on park flyers only to have to retool when you get to a larger model.
when I restarted a few years ago I got a NEXTAR trainer and it was a awsome training platform for getting back into glow powered RC, but it sounds like you have advanced a bit past that, something to consider before sinking more $$ into park flyers is where you want to head in the hobby.
BTW I take my boys down to the field and there into it its a wide open space next to the ocean check it out joining a RC club isn't to bad of a deal.

There really isn't any "moving the cg back a little" on a Sky Fly. It's a stick-and-pod bodied electric similar in design to many of the Hobbyzone planes. It has small control surfaces with limited movement, and turning quickly just isn't in the cards.

timnevan hasn't flown anything particularly advanced yet, bigtim, so a Nexstar would be a big step up for him if he decided to try glow powered aircraft. His Sky Fly is a basic 3-channel electric park flyer and the Aero Aces are 2-channel toys (albeit very fun 2-channel toys).

timnevan also hasn't describe any previous projects that required building or assembly of any significance. His Aero Aces were ready to fly once the batteries were installed in the transmitter and the aircraft was charged. The Sky Fly only required him to attach the wing to the fuselage via rubber bands and installing the flight pack battery after charging it up on the included charger unit.

timnevan hasn't asked for a building project or a glow aircraft, he just wants a more manuverable park flyer that will still be easy for him to fly:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=PKZ1300



The Slo-V by Parkzone would provide him with manuverable slow flight in a ready-to-fly package requiring no more assembly than his Sky Fly did. While it would be nice to find a plane with similar flight characteristics that could fly in a strong breeze, based on timnevan's description the Slo-V pretty much offers him everything he wants.

Really helpful responses guys - thanks!

What I want is a tough plane that can be flown in a small area that's slow yet can do mild aerobatics. I'm not ready to start investing a lot of money into this hobby yet. The purpose is to have a shared activity with my son. He loves airplanes and flying with the "Young Eagles" program but is afraid of crashing our Skyfly. I want him - and me for that matter - to get our skill levels up so we can fly comfortably. Once we can fly with confidence, then we'll take the next step. He really wants to dogfight! So a pair of nimble, tough and cheap little planes we can chase each other around at an empty baseball diamond is the current target. Unfortunately toysRus ran out of aero aces temporarily so we have to continue on with the Skyfly.

Thanks for the info on "PCC" bigtim. I've seen the field while driving by. My son wants to go there and watch people fly. He's never seen a big RC plane fly. Is there a particular day/time when a lot of pilots are there - like Saturday mornings?

That little slo-v sure looks good!

thanks again guys,
Tim

...

That Slo-V isn't little, it has an almost 4-foot wingspan. Parkzone even makes a "sonic combat module" for it that plugs into the x-port jack on the Slo-V. You and your son could actually try to "shoot each other down" with a pair of Slo-Vs and the sonic combat modules. You can plug in lights for night flying, you can also drop a parachute figure from the plane.

I don't own stock in Parkzone or anything, I just think that the Slo-V is a good match for what you're looking for.

Your experience with the Sky Fly is exactly my experience. For a new flyer, its really fast and doesn't respond too quickly. Still with enought altitude its a lot of fun to fly. I decided to go with the Slo V, just as you are thinking about. Its very, very responsive and stalls easily but forgiving. I'm not puckering up while flying it like I am with the Sky Fly.
I think the Slo V will enable me to be better able to fly the Sky Fly since I don't have the luxury of an instructor or flying buddy to coach me.
hershey

That's terrific to hear that you're having a good experience with your Slo-V, eghershey! It really is like getting a GWS Slow Stick in a ready-to-fly version, and I wish more folks who are looking for a beginner's electric would consider it.

After looking long and hard, I decided to build my own foamy. I found some plans for one called an "STC" by a guy called "Waterdog" and it flies super! It looks like a Cub. Except for the electronics, I've got about $5.00 in materials into it. That way I won't feel bad if it gets wadded up into a ball! It's proven to be at least 3 times as tough as the Skyfly and a lot of fun to build. It's perpetually in the back of my car and I fly it any time the wind is slight - at least 4X a week.
It's much more responsive and slower than the Skyfly and building it myself was probably the best part. It took only a few hours.

My son is totally jazzed with it and we'll be building a foam P-51 and ME 109 to chase each other around with

tim