I WAS THINKING OF GETTING A SPAD DEBONAR FOR A TRAINER ,MY FIRST PLANE , BUT THE PEOPLE AT THE LOCAL FLYING CLUB SAY THAT IT FLYS LIKE A BRICK AND I SHOULD GET A
STICK BUILT RTF COMBO LIKE THE HOBBIECO
ANYONE EVER FLY A SPAD TRAINER
I LIKE THE DAMAGE RESISTANCE OF THE PLASTIC BUT THEY SAY I NEED A BETTER PLANE TO LEARN ON
ANY COMMENT WOULD BE APPRECIATED

There are a lot of NARROW MINDED people in this hobby. I prefer to call them "purists" who scoff at others who don't conform to their way of thinking. They are no different than the purists who thumb their noses at anybody who doesn't fly an OS engine, use a Futaba radio, or fly an ARF etc..etc...

I ignore them and have fun anyway with my MDS engines (my .48, 2 .58's, and 2 .68's run flawlessly), my JR radio, my Hitec universal flight packs, and my 3 new SPAD airplanes. Its kinda funny, one club in my area is overwhelmed with 4 star 60s and non-Sig airplanes are viewed with suspicion. Oh well....to each his own.

The debonair is not an Aircore .40 or a durastick. Both of these are a little heavy for their wing area and don't fly as slow as other trainers. I personally owned and Aircore .40 and thought it flew just fine . It had taught at least 6 friends of mine to fly and solo with no crash anxiety. It suited its purpose.

Anyway, try it, you'll spend a lot less money and free it up for other endeavors.

I designed it.
It was my first attempt at designing a trainer for a lovely lady who had splattered her LT-40 into a million pieces, and her DuraPlane was a little too fast...and was getting heavy from too many repairs.
The day we took her Debonair out for the first time to test fly it is also the day she soloed.
She said that it flew as good as ger LT-40 did, and much better than the DuraPlane. She also said that the biggest reason she succeeded with this airplane is because the fear factor of splattering a lot of money and time was completely gone. Her Debonair is now 2 years old. It has been cartwheeled and crashed several times and is still flying today. She was very discouraged after crashing the LT-40. We designed and built the Debby in my apartment on a Saturday, and she had her wings that Sunday afternoon. We used the landing gear and engine mount from her DuraPlane, so the cost to her for the materials to build the plane were about $7.00. I cannot describe the look of excitment, joy, and sense of accomplishment I witnessed. It was such a success, that I decided to put plans on the internet for the design and many many many pilots have experienced the same success. I even built myself one and it is also still flying today. It's a great airplane and anyone who has anything negitive to say about it hasen't flown one.

Here is Jan "Sassy" Stout with Debby #1 moments after her solo flight. You may notice that the wind is blowing her hair straight back...yep...the day she soloed there were 20 mph winds...but that didn't stop her!

I think i've trained guys on a little of everything. From Sticks to duraplanes, LT 40's, debs, and lots more. Of the lot, the duraplane trainer is the worst. Its too heavy to land well. I've even made larger, lighter coro wings for a couple of duraplanes, and its made a huge improvement in how they fly.
As far as the Deb goes, there's nothing wrong with it as a trainer. Its not as floaty as some of the wood trainers, but floats much better than the Duraplanes do. The deb handles wind much better than the average balsa trainer does. Its stall speed isn't quite as low, but, its not high enough to be a problem.
Ask around, there's probably more than one instructor, and some are bound to be more open minded than others.
The only key ingredient that i've found in teaching someone to fly, is that they have to want to learn. The plane is nothing more than a means to an end. If they want to learn, they will, no matter what the plane is.
I think i'd build the deb, and let one of the instructors fly it, and see what they think. Chances are, they'll be pleasantly surprised.

[B]


I couldnt agree more with Tatoo and Sassy and her comments above.
One of the biggest hurdles I had learning to fly was that I was so scared I would crash my trainer and not be able to fly again until I could afford to buy another one. If the wind was just a bit to strong..I wouldnt go up. If the sun was in the wrong spot..I wouldnt go up...If my engine skipped a beat on the runway for a split second...I wouldnt go up. I decided to build a SPAD HOR (I would have preferred to build the Deb trainer but we cannot get American PVC here in Aust, only a rectangular shaped equivalent.) and now I will take my trainer up in more situations than I would have before because I know that I have a plane sitting at home ready to go if I crash my trainer.
I am now a much better pilot because I know I have a SPAD ready to fly if needed and there are now other members of our club who have started to build SPADs to learn to fly on, who had previously made excuses not to take their planes up becuase they were too worried about crashing them.

Regards,

Troy.

I never could understand that "fly like a brick" comment. What I would do is ask them exactly what it means. Have they actually flown the Deb, or are they basing their comments on a plane that they think is similar? Tell them you can't afford a $100 plane, and would they be willing to teach you on the Deb even though it would not be their first choice?

You're trying to get a feel for the depth of their feelings, since you need them more than they need you. Is one of them willing to try something new? Or are they all so set in their ways that nobody is going to help you if you turn up at the field with the Deb? Are you going to get a little ribbing (which is fine), or are they really going to turn their backs on you?

Puffdaddy,

I'm relatively new to R/C; built my first Debonair about 8 months ago, and learned to fly it with an instructor and buddy box. A few short months later, I've built another Debonair with a "V" tail, a Flat Bat, Dogfighter, Das Plas Stick, Hell On Rails (3 each), PBF, etc.. If it weren't for Tattoo's and Kraut's hard work, and generosity I would still be repairing plane #1.

Flew my first combat meet, SSC, last month (got two kills), and just got through flying my DPS today in 15-20 mph gusty winds.
I would be nowhere near where I am if I were flying less durable aircraft. A gust produced a beautiful cartwheel on landing, and the biggest result was that I had to walk 50' to pick it up before I could put the glow driver on it and start it up and take off. A guy with a less durable plane had a similar experience and ended up with a broken wing, empenage, and three weeks of ground time.

I heard the same discouraging talk when I went from jumping an older round parachute to a newer "square" one (MANY years ago), but within a few months of watching me jump the wing, all of the "nay-sayers" were jumping squares as well.

Go for the SPAD Debonair! If you don't like it's flight characteristics or looks, you're only out a few hours work, and about $10 - $20. BUT, if you DO like it, with about $2 you can have a higher performance (flat) wing, or about $10 more, a super flying airplane (read: ROCKET SHIP) like a Das Plas Stick, Dogfighter, etc.!

Keep us posted on your progress, and don't forget to take pictures!

Blue skies,

DL

I get from the "old guys" in my club is It seems too heavy to fly.I just love hand launching one with almost no effort fly it around than let it hit the ground hard to hear thier comments of carnage than I will go over and pick up the plane restart it and fly some more Don't listen to them Build a Deb and have fun !!!
I'm Hooked on SPAD

I taught myself how to fly with adeb! Not the best way to learn! :stupid: BUt The closest place to learn is abot 80 miles from here! I currently have a spad stick,QHOR,Spadet ,a .60 size deb,and am working on my .60 size stick. SPAD is just a concept of building,I have not built one yet that did not fly great! I planted my spad stick at full throttle into the ground. I broke the nose gear,broke the prop and all my radio gear came out,undamaged besides that! I still fly it everytime I go to the field.

I've been flying my Debonair for quite some time now. It flies great. It does not "fly like a brick". Even though it will fly with a .40 on it (that's what I had on mine first) I highly recommend at least a .46.
I used mine to beat all of the balsa boys at our clubs annual picnic/fun fly competition. It was a blast. The Deb really handles winds well and flies great.
Thanks again Tattoo!!

Best trainer I have. And after training, you can make a flat wing to start learning basic acrobatics for about $5

Hi everyone.
Im about as new to flying as you can get.
About 2 months ago I talked to the instuctors at the local flying field about getting into flying(ran unlimited hydro boats for about 10 years).Said I was thinking about a basic trainer, what should i buy.
Reply dont buy a balsa trainer ,build a spad.
The 3 instructors all agree a spad will fly as good as a bought trainer..
I built 2 fuses and have 3 wings,1 without ailerons but extra diheaderal for my 6 year old daughter,she is a MAAC member and will have her first flight on a spad.
I hope my rambling helps
regards Wade

Hi wjames,
and welcome to the addiction. Have you visited the SPAD web sites and the SPAD forums?

Hi nukes
yes I visit spad home page a few times a week to see whats new in the photo gallery.There are some spectacular planes built of coro!
I posted in the spad forum sometime ago,I have a giant spad I'm still working on. 8' wing span with 24" full symetrical cord,just trying to work out the weight and find a light enough gas engine.I want the plane for my daughter.Coroplast is so cheap we can afford to abuse a few to learn to fly

PUFFDADDY
ask again or ask another instructor if possible,spads fly,try to learn on a spad then progress to kits or arfs.I dont see the point in crashing an arf until after you learn to fly and crash we all shall.

nice to meet you nukes and best of luck with your decision PUFFDADDY.
Regards Wade

Puffdaddy

You know my feelings on the Debby as a trainer from the post in the spad forum.

Here is a picture of my Spad Debby

Bob

Here's a pic of my Deb

heres my 60 size

thanks for all the responces

Possibly the most rewarding thing I do in this hobby...here is Debonair #1 with a group of "Starbase" 4th and 5th graders participating in introduction to aviation type program. We teach theory of flight, parts of the aircraft and forces of flight, and this day at the field, each student got to try the buddy box for 3 minutes. The overwhelming response..."It's a lot harder than it looks!"

Puffdaddy,

Almost forgot one more neat thing about the Debonair. You can change it if you want to try something new.

I put a v-tail on my second Deb and had a blast with it!



Blue skies,

DL

You can also add a flat Stick type wing (see DPS or SPAD Stick for example) it makes a great second plane for almost no bucks and time

I had no experience with R/C. Did the following SPADs/DEBs from scratch & earned my wings




My second plane is a fleet of DPSs:



In progress: SPADStick

P.s. I have a AviStar that I want to sell, anybody interested ? I need $$ for raw material to build next 10 SPADs

Last time I checked the sticks on my transmitter did the same thing on my spad as the do on my more expensive planes. You will learn to fly faster if you are not afraid to crash.

That was funny, you said your second plane (single) was a FLEET of DPSs.

Spoken like a true spadaholic.