You need a pretty big hall to get a plane up to 60mph, and to control it there. Indoor aerobatics can be pretty awsome, though, in a way that is very different from the feeling that you need to duck behind a car when a F3D pylon racer is in the air....

There seems to be a thread on electric vs glow pros and cons here:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6886279/tm.htm
At least some of the posts are to the point...

One group of things that affected my choice when I started has not been mentioned yet.

- Do you have the space to build, store and transport a "largish" plane?
- Do you have a club with a good field within reach?
- What sort of weather do you have in your area, especially wind conditions?
- Do you live with someone who might object to you taking a smelly plane into your home? (I like that smell but ...)

Perttime, yeah I fly in an indoor soccer/football complex every Wednesday. The ceiling is about 30 feet high. Even with that much room, 60 mph eats up the field quickly. Also keeps your heart rate elevated! My indoor speed racing is essential a pylon or oval track pattern. Lots of high banked turns. I actually did that bit of flying with a homebuilt flying wing. I grounded all of the other flyers while I was screaming around.

You're in NE? What do you ever do outside anyway this time of year? Nitro and FL go well together.
I don't know why some people say modern nitro engines wear out. Unless you lean it out, abuse it in a crash, let it rust without after run maintenance, get sand and dirt run through it, they should out live us. I have Enya and Tigre engines from childhood that still run like new and doesn't everyone have 100 hours at least on their club trainer? Nitro engines owe you nothing when you retire them.

Hey, we fly in Nebraska during the winter! It just involves the same gear you need to go snowboarding. The flying is also a little more on the edge, even 2048 resolution looks like crap with snow gloves on...We have also mastered the dual purpose plane. All of the float planes come out to play in the snow. Turns out floats work rather well on the snow and you don't have to worry about flooding your electronics.

I have been flying electric planes but
I want to move up into larger models. Im thinking of buying the Hanger
9 p-51 Mustang RTF package for $399. Im also looking at the T-34
mentor trainer coming out in April cost $440 I want the power and size of
nitro but not the mess. When flying at my club (where mostly everyone
flies nitro) I get at least 3x's more flying time with my electric. If I
bring multiple planes I can be in the air almost continuosly. The
trade off is that I don't have the power, speed and my planes get battered
around in 10-15mph winds. The Mentor gets about 10min flying time.
How does this compare to the Mustang? Please let me know your thoughts
on this.

Not that I disagree with your points....

The Electricstar comes with NiMH batteries not LiPo's.

These can be upgraded to LiPo's. With LiPo's installed the plane pulls just like a .40 equipped plane.

Have you tried one this way?

The motor is more than sufficient to move over to another .40 sized plane. Only the batteries need to be changed. The supplied motor works just fine with larger props.

On the other hand there certainly are advantages to starting out with a glow plane... too.


Well, two sets of NiMH packs or two sets of LiPo's will suffice with a good fast charger.

We have these planes flying at our field all the time as trainers, and two pack sets work just fine for everyone.

You can get these MUCH cheaper if you look though... ( HobbyCity, etc. )...

Like Glow, there is an initial investment in anxillary hardware and equipment when getting into this stuff.
Some of these costs can be spread out over time.

Much like putting together a good field box, judicious purchases with packs and chargers can take things a long way later.

A more expensive charger, though hard to swallow at first, will suffice for many different electric planes...

A newbie getting into this stuff finds it very hard to swallow all of the added costs...
Many here rightly suggest they opt for the better but more expensive equipment initially as they can leverage this over time.

A better radio will last you much longer and suffice for many different planes, lessening the overall costs in transmitters, that you will have.

IMHO the entry price of Glow is easier on the wallet when starting out.

Hello; This is an interesting discussion. My experience is glow, with 4 strokes for the last 15 years, but recently I've noticed electric planes and have bought a few to see what all that's about. I also bought a helicopter recently (Trex 450). I would still advise a newby to look at a LT40. or a PT 40, or a 40 sized telemaster type plane to give them the best chance of success. It always amazes me when newbys come out with P-51's or spitfires, of course it has to look good, but you want a plane that isn't hard to fly. The additional knowledge needed to run an engine will eliminate a few potential pilots. For those, buy an electric trainer.

I fly a Typhoon 3D , and a geebee flatout for electric planes, but I have flown larger electric planes and like the fact that I don'e have to wipe the plane down after every flight. Electric engines are easily powerful enough to do an excellent job on any plane, but there is a cost factor a newby would find shocking. For someone entering the hobby, a consideration is that they don't know if they like flying or not yet, and can't justify investing a lump of cash on something that they might not enjoy doing. Most people who post here are committed (or should be) and will give advice based on their situation. You can listen or not, based on your needs and sensitivities.

Our club trainer for 8 years, was a PT40 with an old Saito 45. That plane taught more then 50 new flyers. Many continued on with their own planes, some dropped out. I gave away that plane, but by then it was so heavy from all the repairs over the years, that it wasn't such a good flyer any more. All the gear went into the next plane, making the initial cost seem less important.

go electric

I think with the new electric rigs on the market today one could go either way, Its just a matter of preferance. I would go to a field and observe gas, nito and electric and make a decision based on that. I prefer the nitro for smaller models and gas for the big birds however I would use electric only in one instance.. A Glider. Oh..may be another idea for electric would to hook up an robot mower to keep the flying field trimmed down
I am sure flying electrics inside would be fun for some but to me I just like to be outdoors!

Go Go Glow!

Ditto what opjose said.

Hogflyer

I would suggest starting out on electric and then move up to glow after you have some experience because glow planes will cost more to fix if you crash while with alot of electrics you can just pick it up and go after a crash.

I've been flying electrics for about two years now and am moving up to glow and it is a very easy transition thanks to the experience.

Good Luck

That becomes a matter of what you learned with and the equipment you got to start out with.

I started out glow and am no that enthused with electric. They lack the endurance of a typical glow powered aircraft. Simply stated, the harder you play the throttle on electrics, the less you have. Not so with glow.

I agree with opjose and the others.

Glow is good. Electric is ok.

What does this mean "the less you have" ?

Could you explain it further ?

Harry