Have ordered a Cessna 182 (skyartec). Just in case I can't fly the heli, I guess I need a back up plan. Trucks are cool, but just don't do it for me. Guess I'm looking for a new hobby, or a way to waste my money. I've read about using packaging tape to increase the durability of the foam body. How is this done? Do you overlap the tape or just single layer? How much of the plane do you cover? Everything or just major body parts?

The 182 is a nice plane, BUT IT IS NOT A BEGINNERS PLANE. Helis are not easy to fly either

I strongly suggest finding a local club and join.

The clubs provide instructors at no charge. You will learn more quickly (and in the majority of cases) without damaging/totaling your plane or heli.

Anything you do to make an airplane heavier increases the wing loading and makes it harder to fly. You might also have to add additional weight to balance it if you tape it heavily. Lighter flies better - possibly avoiding the need for reenforcement. A paradox for sure.

Other than that I got nothing. I don't know from Adam with little electrics. They don't behave like aircraft from whet I have seen. I have heard that helicopters can't really fly . . . it's just that they're so ugly the Earth repels them.

Great suggestion by Campy and I might add that you might want to consider investing in a RC Flight Simulators it will make your instructor's work lot easier. I wouldn't worry about the cost too much (around $150 also cheaper from fleebay) if it saves you from one crash it will pay for itself. just my $.02

Just tape the leading edge of the wing and tail surfaces. Use thin, clear, packing tape.(one layer only) The cheap stuff from the dollar store will work.
The leading edges are the most likely to impact anything in a crash and being a beginner trying to fly a cessna you will crash.

If you are a first time flyer joining a club is one suggestion, but if there isn't one near you then the next best thing to do is buy a flight simulator like fsone or greatplanes g3.5.
Both are good, leaning towards fsone, but if you can't afford it or don't want to spend alot of money them FMS is free on the internet. It is pretty good and i will help you alot.
I am not saying that you won't crash but it will sure help enough to get a few good landings in.

As for the tape on the foam....Well i doesn't work. The palne will break if you crash regardles of tape or no tape. The cessna is a good plane but the wing does tear off if you crash it, and it doesn't take much to braek it off. Just carry alot of epoxy or ca foam glue with you...you will need it.

Thanks for the advice. I am getting a simulator and plan on spending A LOT of time on it before flying. Also, I've found only one club within about a 70 mile radius from where I live, but have contacted them for info and joining. Not sure as to their reputation though. My father is a good pilot with real planes, has tons of simulator experience, and has flown a couple entry level RC's with great results. May have to have him as my instructor if the club thing doesn't pan out.

Seems like the info on the net is very misleading. I was of the understanding that this plane was a good beginner, or at least that's how they are listed and praised. While I'm sure that they are a little piggy on power and flight time, they are affordable. As I fully expect to crash, I would be disappointed, but not nearly as much as if I were to spend 3 times as much on a better nitro model. I have flown the little micro planes and helis with good results, so I do have a general idea of flight and how easy it is to over/under shoot a runway and over/under correct. I know it will be a trying experience, I'm going to take it very slowly.

I will add that the Cessna is the most forgiving of scale models, that's what I've been informed at least. The main problem with scale models is the tendancy to drop a wing when the airspeed is insufficient, without any prior warning. This is especially true after a model has been repaired several times, when the wing may be just slightly off. That's just the nature of the beast. Get some good altitude, test its stall characteristics (cut the power, add up elevator until it pitches up and then goes into a stall). If it drops a wing, add some down elevator and crank that engine up to break the stall. Then you'll know to trim the elevator down and land under power. If you just go up some and then nose down to a normal glide when doing that test, then that indicates that you have a good, strait airframe that's not too heavy. You should be able to land normally in that case. Good luck.

NorfolkSouthern

Hmm...

I maidened a 12-13lb 1.40 sized scale Cessna 182 for a friend last weekend.

I would HARDLY call it forgiving.

A trainer is forgiving....

There was a steady 14 MPH wind that day.

After triming the plane out after it's maiden flight I took it off again, and handed the controls to the plane's owner.

He made a turn away from the wind, one wing stalled an the plane rolled upside down nose down into a dive.

Fortunately I grabbed the TX back quickly enough to loop the plane and right it again.

Even though the guy had plenty of experience, he was quite shaken by the plane's characteristics.

Just as you said it dropped a wing HARD, when it lost effective airspeed, by facing away from the wind in the turn.


I'll bet that some people confuse the gentle characteristics of say a Parkzone foam Cessna with a scale plane... these are two completely different beasts.


As Campy said a scale Cessna "is NOT a beginner's plane".


A foamy may be a different matter altogether.

For sure!

Open a second story window over a concrete walkway and drop a Styrofoam coffee cup and a ceramic coffee mug at the same time. Observe results on the ground.

Foamies can give you false confidence when later flying models that weigh pounds and not ounces. They still take skill to fly, but they don't crush themselves from just their own weight and inertia like balsa & covering will.

Rolled upside down into a dive while turning, opjose. Yup, they can do it, and that's where sufficient altitude helps in recovering from a stall. The margin is quite thin, and there's even less when several repairs are involved. I lost mine just by cutting the power and setting up to land. It just fell from the sky, and there wasn't enough altitude for me to recover. If I can find what's left of it, I'll use them parts on another Cessna ARF and have it ready for next Spring. Because if I can fly it consistently for a season without any mishaps, I can fly just about anything. This is strictly a "hands on" hobby, it has to be learned by doing.

NorfolkSouthern

Another thing about the RTF so called beginner scale models like the Cessna and J3 Cub, They are built much less to scale than a true scale model. ie... wings have dihedral and are not as tapered ect...

Go to the local library and check out every book they got on rc airplanes. They will probably have about 5 unless you live in a large city. Most of them will be old. But they usually contain alot of imformation..

Thanks everyone. Guess I didn't realize what a broad spectrum that planes presented[]. Had never heard about "foamies" either until now. Had always thought foamies were foam bodied as opposed to the balsa ones. My mistake. Oh well. Think I may may have found a good home for the cessna, and if not, I'll just hang on to it until I can fly it.

Sooo, my question is this; As I am probably going to be self educated with a simulator and trial and error, where should I start? I'm thinking a decent foamy or maybe one of those weird planes with the rear facing props that are supposed to be able to take multiple nose dives into the ground. Does this sound like a better starting point? Also, if foamies build false confidence, how would one graduate from a foamy to the cessna?

One more thing. I live on a lake and am facing 6 months of winter. The lake freezes and the snow turns into a perfectly smooth landing strip. Is there a way to swap wheels for a more appropriate landing gear? What models would you suggest? Hey, I need all the help I can get.

Wow. You raise so many questions you should probably start a new thread.

I have one of the Fighterbirds and it is more difficult to fly than some of my hotter glow fueled sport planes. That one has no elevator - only throttle and a mixed "V" tail. It borders on unmaneuverable and would be a horrible trainer.

Skis are easy to swap out. I make up a whole seperate set of landing gear with skis. As you say, around here winter is 1/2 the available season. DuBro (available at Tower) sells plastic skis for .40 & .60 sized models. Where you might get them for smaller electrice I have no clue.

Maybe the set for a Wingo from Hobby-Lobby could be adapted?


The Wingo itself is possibly a excellent choice for you as an electric trainer. It seems rugged and the one I've seen flown seems very stable and capable.

I really can't estimate the flyng characteristics of the Skyartec Cessna, even after finding their website. Looks to be a 38" wingspan on a 1-1/4 lb model. I'd say it would be a bit wind sensitive, landing gear looks light so it would need a nice gentle flair and almost no grass to preserve it and props. You're looking at a wing loading of maybe 7 or 8 oz per ft^2 of wing area. I'm used to 20 or 22 oz per ft^2; a whole different feel on the sticks. But, I freely admit almost no experience with electric motor models.

You "graduate" by becoming proficient with what you have and then starting slowly with new equipment. As always, an experienced pilot as trainer will save time and $, but if you proceed carefully you can pick it up on your own. Simulators are great as they develop your motor skills and get you used to manipulating a model coming and going from your fixed ground perspective. What they don't help with is setting up the model, balancing it properly to design center-of-gravity fore-and-aft and side-to-side, teaching mechanical techniques for motor adjustment and tuning, taxiing on "real" ground with grass and bumps and all, introducing distractions, overcoming nervousness and fear, etc. I would recommend a lot of one or two foot elevation "hops" of 25 to 50 feet length that gradually increase to longer flights. Don't try and gain altitude too rapidly (that kills REAL planes) when you make that decision to take to the air and turn her. Altitude and airspeed are your friends. I taught myself with hand-launched two channel gliders and I still was a mess when switching to motorized models. Seemed like they were either flying too fast or falling out of the sky. When I got back into this I sought out a club with instructors (and buddy-boxes) and that made all the difference.

And, from what I can tell, planes are MUCH easier to fly than helicopters and have almost no similarities except the throttle.

Thanks Charlie P. Noticed that about the cessna and the landing gear. Going to look at Wingo's.