I was at my hobby shop to buy parts for my Heli, and was messing around with the flight simulator they have. the helicopters are really hard to fly but I am able to fly the 4 ch planes pretty easily from take off to landing. now I want a plane!!! whats the best RTF plane for the buck? I don't want anything to expensive that I'll probably end up crashing, but I want something that flies well. the plane I seemed best with as far as landing and being able to control was a cessna. any suggestions?

Are you talking about electric or glow?

I'm not sure which is better, I like the simplicity of electric but I'd like to be able to have longer flight times (nitro?)

You could go with a Big stike, ultra stike, or something along those lines, there more of an Intermediate type flying plane and will allow you to do loops and rolling manuvers alot easier then just a trainer type plane.
NEDYOB

are they electric or nitro? what should I expect to pay? +1 on the aerobatics that is what make me want a plane!!!

Nitro really won't give you longer flight times if you get good batteries. But Nitro will give you more even flight, as far as power. A electric plane will get weaker and weaker as the flight goes on. Where a glow plane will stay the same the whole flight.

Unless you only plan on getting a park flyer (maybe ready to fly), an electric plane isn't going to be any simpler than a glow. Actually I think that electrics are more complicated. You have everything a glow plane has (servos reciever, battery,), and then some (speed control, motor wires). The only real advantage as far as simplicity for electric is that you dont' have to deal with the motor not running. But with electric you have to deal with charging batteries and waiting for them to charge.

Austin

"Stik" They do maneuver easier than a trainer, but you won't do as many of either in total as you'll probably crash it pretty severely in the first few takes off & landings.

You can start on a Stik, but you'll be in the top 5% of lucky or naturally gifted pilots if it survives a dozen flights if you start on your own. They have to be flown, not reacted to as is the way most students fly while learning.

By far the best bet is a trainer and an instructor. Learning to fly a trainer well does make some later tasks easier. Hey! What a concept. The trainer helps you become better. Shazam!

As far as a simulator. You know when it is real and potentially expensive and unpleasant vs. when it is a matter of resetting the simulation. Practice by having an assistant break one of your fingers every time you mess up on the simulator and that may help simulate the nervousness you feel with real models in the air. Landings and take off are WAY easier (IME) on simulators. No bumpy grass and pot holes that the wheels fight or poorly running engines that konk out when you open the throttle.

Oversimplified.

If you want to go with glow,(nitro) the most bang for the buck is the Tower Trainer RTF. At $259.98 you can't find a better trainer for the money. That includes the plane, engine, and the radio.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCXF4**&P=

As far as getting fuel into the tank and starting the engine, this goes for $119.99 This is the best and safest way to get started.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXL419&P=0

Along with this you will need a prop wrench, some 11 X 6 props, thin CA, and 30 minute epoxy.

thanks for the input!!! I don't have any experience with anything nitro powered. everything RC I've owned has been electric. how hard is it to tune the gassers, how temperamental are they as far as altitude. where I live is below sea level. other places that I would be flying range from 2-5000 ft.

First off, the term "gasser" is normally the term for the gasoline engines. The engines you are talking about are glow power or nitro powered. If you get an instructor he will tune it for you and you will have no problems, and by the time you fly without him you will know what you are doing to tune it on your own. Do you plan to get an instructor? When you change altitude by a lot you will probably need to make minor adjustment (a few clicks). Some people like to "play" with their engines (meaning they always adjust it even when it is not required) I call them needle nuts . And some will "set it and forget it". If you do go with glow you will need equiptment to start/run the plane. You can spend anywhere from $20-$150 on this equiptment.

Austin

I find electrics simpler to build and set up.

There is no throttle servo or throttle linkage. No servo travel endpoints to carefully match to the engine's throttle.
There's no fuel tank or fuel lines to worry about.
Nothing has to be fuel proofed.
The motor battery can be anywhere it needs to be to balance the plane.
Did I remember to charge the RX battery? Oh wait! I don't have one! The ESC's battery eliminator circuit powers the RX.
RX on/off switch is optional, just plug the motor battery in and the RX comes on.
Wrapping the RX in foam is unnessesary. Just stick it somewhere with servo tape.

If there is any complication, it's that most ARFs are set up for glow and have to be adapted to electric, but there are a lot of exellent electric specific ARFs in the stores now.
Get three batteries and a couple of chargers and you can do a flight so often that they might accuse you of being a channel hog at the field.

thanks again, I think I might go electric for a first plane. I was looking at the parkzone f-27 stryker they seem to be pretty tough and really manuverable. the only thing I don't like is that it doesn't take off and land under its own power. any thoughts on it?

Hi!
First of all if you are really interested in flying R/C and want to fly bigger R/C planes that take off from a landing strip (like in the sim)... join a club and get help! Othervise get a small electric plane (not a Stryker) and crash on you own...for crash you will.

The chances of you having a succesful flight with that plane is very slim, I'm pretty sure that they advertise that plane to go over 80 mph. Not a beginner plane. Something like a hobbyzone super cub would be great for a first electric plane.

Check out the video below. I know it's not a stock stryker, but just to get an idea what this plane can do. You need some serious orientation skills to be able to know what the plane is doing and what it will do when you are going this fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKaRn...eature=related


Austin

Electrics are simple in use flying but everything else about them is way more complex. For example, the present battery technology sets up a newbie to burn down his house if he doesn't understand about batteries.

On the other hand, glo or gas engines take a bit to understand how to handle them in use. They would be my preference for RTF or ARF for newbies. Less cost in the long run, which is what you should expect from the hobby, a long run.

I agree, I tried to fly a striker (well a similar plane)on the sim, and had a hard time not losing it or slaming into the ground. I want something a lot slower. can someone post up links to the planes you're talking about so I can see what they are. I saw the one link, but I think I want an electric plane to start with.

Most people will recomend the hobbyzone super cub. It's no rocket, but you can have a good time and it will teach you the basics. The first link is to the super cub.

http://www.hobbyzone.com/rc_planes_h..._super_cub.htm

This here is a thread that was made just for the super cub. It's very active and I'm sure the people there would be happy to help you out should you need any assistance.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_43...r%2Ccub/tm.htm

This here is a site that has tons of tips and mods for the super cub. Be sure to check this one out.
http://supercubclub.proboards78.com/index.cgi

There are lots of other planes out there that are great for beginners, so be sure to look around.


Good luck,
Austin

http://texasrcplanes.com/arftr.html

55 bucks for a 63" wingspan balsa trainer.. you can't beat that.. that website has a lot of good planes but this would be the plane you need.. then go to the marketplace on here (rcuniverse.com) and buy you a .46 size engine and then your radio gear, which i am sure you have an idea of where to get that stuff if you have been flying heli's.. that plane on the site i linked you to will come with everything else (hardware that is, fuel tank and tubing, engine mount, landing gear etc.) so all you need is an engine radio gear, receiver battery, and all your field equipment and you will be ready to head to your local field and find an instructor.. don't try to go it alone like i did, it can be very disheartening after about 12 bad crashes you will be ready to give up like i almost did!

Well, this is from a newbie, I just started and have 2 flights under my belt. I purchase a Hobbico Superstar 40 and that planes handles great. Plenty fast for a beginner and I was doing loops and rolls from the start. I paid $259 for the RTF from Tower Hobbies. I also made sure I had a trainer to help me with take off's getting it trimmed and landings. I spent another $100 getting fuel, elec pump, fuel cap for fuel, elec starter, additional glow plug, extra rubber bands, plug wrench, prop, glow plug heater and power panel. I already had a box and battery so that was one less expense. My advise is no better than anyone elses and probably not as good, but I did get the advice from people on this site which leads me to believe I selected well. Good luck in your search for the right plane, so far I have enjoyed mine and I can hardly wait for the next good day so I can get out. O yeah, you can find that advice in my first thread I posted here. The bottom link is for the Hobbico superstar .40

My first post: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6649402/tm.htm

Hobbico SuperStar 40: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXEKF4**&P=ML