Ok well I also will say that I have aTWist 40 3d that was electric with a power 46 and has since been pulle out and put to nitro due to the cost factors in electric. I had over 900 into a 40 sized aircraft after the batteries bec and all the other equiptment. I am not a beginner pilot by any meens. I just think that a trainer should have longer flight times to get used to flying and my opinion for the cost to flight times is nowhere close. Its just my opinion that the nitro is the best to be trained on the you can fly whatever you want. Our club are all firm believers in nitro training and invest later when you can fly.

Well, thankyou for all the comments and suggestions. I just ordered the hobbico electristar from towerhobbies, Wish me luck.

right on!!! now you just have to wait for the UPS guy.

CONGRATS , YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED.

MIKE

poorwboy
I really hope you've got someone to help you fly that and you're not going ot take it out and maiden it on your own !!!!!!!!!!!!
Whilst I agree it's a far superior plane to the Super Cub so's my Extreme Flight Extra but it's totally unsuitable for someone to learn with on their own !!!!
If you fly that and have no experience, little time on a simulator and no one to help you'll destroy it probably within 10 seconds max like I did my HobbyZone Swift on boxing day not this Xmas but the one before and that's an aileron trainer !!!!!!!
If you've got some help from an instructor great and you've bought the better plane (by a long way) which he can help you get out of trouble with, if not and you're going to teach yourself with no help put it in the cupboard, spend a load more time on the simulator and get a Super Cub and you'll be ready for the Electristar in about 2/3 months, your best option though would be to get some help at a club !!!!!!!
Opjose - whilst I take your comments about the Super Cub onboard and can understand where you're coming from and anyone will outgrow the Super Cub in 2/3 months for someone starting out with no help what so ever I really think you'll struggle to find anything better as the hundreds of testiments on RC forums will agree and personally if he does fly the Electristar and destroy it on his 1st flight I think you should pay for the replacement !!!!!

Witterings
I recommended the Electricstar also. should I pay to replace it if he crashes?
You recommended the Super Cub. If he buys one will YOU pay to replace it if he trashes it?
Have you flown an Electricstar?
On what basis do you claim he would be more likely to crash with it?
The truth is the Electricstar is more stable, better handling and can fly in wind that would drive the Super Cub into the next county.
I do agree that he should go to a club and get with an instructor no matter what he flies.

Missleman,
Again just to re-iterate the Electristar I would imagine is by far and a long way the better plane IF and it's a big if you have an intsructor or someone to help !!!!
If you stood by and watched a complete novice with an aileron plane fly for the very 1st time apart from the orientation when the planes heading away from / towards you one of the biggest mistakes that most would make is starting a turn which rolls the plane, all of a sudden the planes now inverted and the beginner panics and what will most do - pull up elevator as they're now heading for the ground which then worsens the situation.
Rudder only / 3 channel you aren't nearly so likely to do that, the ACT saved my Super Cub at least 4 times when I 1st started which could of been 4 totalled planes and yes it very quickly becomes a pain so you switch it off but for your 1st few flights it can be plane saver.
Repairing Balsa or foam, don't think there's really any discussion for that one as foam is much much easier to repair and to say you're never going to crash as a beginner would be totally unrealistic !!!!!!! I've only just bought my 1st Balsa and looking back there's no way that would of survived what some of my other planes have been through in the last year (and I'm still flying currently but with a bit nmore CA than they had on tehir maiden flights ) as I've gone through the learning curve.
Whilst I again re-iterate the best method is to join a club and get an instructor in which case buy the Electristar all day everday but I think if he's going it alone the Super Cub for the reasons stated above would be the better choice IMHO.
I feel that opjose has blatently damned what hundreds if not thousands of people have learnt on and is widely supported as one of the best teach yourslef to fly planes on the market (just trawl through the threads on here) in favour of what yes is a better plane in the long run but it's no good to anybody if he totals it on it's 1st flight and with a load of expense that lasts 30 seconds is put off the hobby for ever, I'm just trying to help the guy and stop him going through the same painful, expensive and frustrating experience I had when I 1st started and think the damnation of the Super Cub was unjust taking the pilots experience and lack of intructor into account !!!!!
Hope that helps,it's genuinely trying to help someone who's about to embark on exactly the same route I went and with the experience I have now and looking back if I was starting out again tomorrow is the way I'd go - unless I could go to a club and have an instructor !!!!!!!!!

I bought the electristar back in Aug. last year, flew it without the help of a instructor and about 3or four hours on a sim. I do agree about having an instructor but flying without crashing it is possible.

Well I got her on tuesday, now I am to nervous to fly it. (parkinsons)

Let us know how it goes!

Austin

The problems with the SuperCub are many and varied. They are well known and documented here.

It is by no means "one of the best teach yourself to fly planes on the market", especially given the problems it has.

There are alternatives that may be better suited.

It's a disservice to a newbie to have myopia about a plane that you may own, and then recommend w/o considering these problems.

I learned on an H9 PTS. I believe it's a good trainer plane ( if you have an instructor ). But I have to take to heart all of the observations about it, given by people who actually teach others to fly. They recommend a high winger for specific reasons, and they are right.

I've been presented with new Supercubs at our field on many occasions, by newbies.

While they are amazed to see me fly it, given all of the troubles they have once they get to me... I can put them on the sticks of something more suitable as a trainer, and they always do much better and progress far more quickly.

If we forget about all of the other problems, this alone points to the Cub not being a great trainer.

Then add it's poor wind penetration, problems with ATC, lousy TX, low power, poor upgradeability, components that do not transfer well to other planes, replacement parts costs ( yes for foam they ARE high! ), etc.

Put the plane in the hands of someone more experienced, and it may be a decent bird for tooling around the back yard, or ballpark....

What have I stated that is untrue?

For every post there is saying ACT has saved my plane I can show you 2 that say ACT caused my plane to crash.
Most people that own the Super Cub, from what I have read on this forum, recommend not using ACT.
Why is that unrealistic? I never did. In fact the Kadet Senior I learned on is on its third student now and still going.
Where exactly did he say he was not getting an instructor?
Even if he isn't based on his experience ("I have messed around on sims, and know what the controls do. I have alot of exsperience in nitro cars and trucks." )I don't think he will have any problem with a better flying trainer.
Perhaps Opjose did damn the Super Cub (which I never did) but aren't you doing the same thing with the Electricstar?

Well I never intended to "damn" it... but it's amazing to see the knee jerk reaction by a relatively few people to recommend it for the newbie w/o any consideration for alternatives.

This is what I hoped to off-set. That lead to the pros versus cons diatribes.

I've seen this said a few times, and I am confused by it. I must be missing something. If you have an electric plane and a battery, and you fly until it is empty... then you have to charge the battery. This takes several hours, right? With a glow plane, you would simply fill the fuel tank and go right back up. There seems too me to be a huge difference. Electric you make one flight and wait a few hours for the battery to re-charge... Glow you fill the tank and are back up in under 10 minutes if you want too be. What am I missing? Do people who use electric planes have 5 batteries for their plane, or something?

yes

No it takes 1 hour.


Ah, here's something that seperates the "toys" from the good EP's

With a decent field charger you can recharge LiPo battery packs in about an hour. Less is actually possible, but let's say you stick with a charge rate that will maximize your pack's longevity.

So with a Lipo plane, you bring out your field charger, and a couple of packs ( or more if you wish ).

You fly for ~15 minutes ( I fly as long as 30+ minutes with my SuperSportster EP on ONE pack. ).

Then you swap the packs and charge the now discharged one, while you fly with another.

Typically you're shooting the breeze, etc. for 10+ minutes between flights... so even two packs can possibly keep you flying all day long. With three packs you definitely do.

So then the issue of the price of packs for EP's comes up.

With a non "toy" EP plane you can use somewhat standard sized LiPo's, say 1800mAh, 2200mAh, etc.

These are transferable from one plane to another. In many cases you can gang them together opting for increased capacity or voltage.

I'll take two of the same 11v 2200mAh packs I use on one plane and combine them into a 22v 2200mAh pack to use on a pusher prop Bobcat EP .25. So I get to use the same "fuel" amoung several electric planes.

You can also use two 11v 2200mAh packs to work as one 11v 4400mAh pack giving you great flight times.




Once you start leveraging your battery investment this way it's easier and/or cheaper to deal with multiple electrics than it is with say a single electric model. The latter costs more on a per unit basis... much like your field box being useful for multiple planes.

This makes say the Electricstar somewhat attractive as a trainer if you are going to stay with electrics.... as you can purchase a set of LiPo's and then continue to use them on other planes.

I've nothing against glow or electric. I fly and enjoy both. IMHO each has their place.

There are some days that I drag out nothing but electrics to the field, and other days nothing but glows and gassers.

Sometimes both go out at the same time.

This quote was taken out of context. It was addressing the cost difference only. Yes there are other differences.
2 batteries and a good charger and I can get as many flights as I do with glow. Mainly because I don't make back to back flights. I fly, chat with club members while others fly, then fly again. 2 flights an hour is about average for me with glow or electric.

Back to topic. Any words of wisdom to get the electristar in the air and back to ground safe. I've been on the sim everyday. But everytime I look at the real bird in the garage I get nervous as all get out.[X(]

Best thing is to buddy box with an experienced pilot.
2nd best. Have an experienced pilot give your airplane a trim flight.
3rd best. Have a friend stand next to you to adjust the trim switches for you so you don't have to take your eyes off the airplane.
Practice this on your sim with your friend. Puposely take off with your trim switches off center and you practice controlling an out of trim airplane and your friend will practice making adjustments as you yell them out.
Example: You say give me a little right aileron and your friend should be ready to make the proper adjustment.
First flights should be on a nearly calm day in a very large area with no trees or poles ect.. around. Try to take off and land strait into any wind.
Take off are not really very hard just don't try to climb too fast, just a gentle climb.
Use full throttle for takeoff and climb out, once in the air you should lower to half throttle or a little less. This will be your normal flying speed and the speed at which you want your trims set.
Just fly large circuits and only in one direction for a couple of flights.(ie..all right hand turns) Do the same in the other direction for a few flights.
Landings? lower your throttle as you near the end of the field after you make your final turn cut your throttle and concentrate on keeping the wings level (if you picked a big enough field you shouldn't have to worry about hitting a runway) when you get about 2 or 3 feet off the ground feed in just a little elevator (flair) this will bleed off airspeed and let your plane settle in on it own.(carefull not to give too much flair, 10 to 15 degrees is plenty)
IF you notice you are running out of room don't be afraid to throttle up and go around for another try. Don't panic, it is just another take off.
Make your flights short so you have plenty of battery left for multiple landing attempts.
Practice touch and goes on your sim.
Good Luck

Thanks missle, I will give it all a try. I've been doing touch and goes and doing alot of the plane flying at me for orientation purposes on the sim. I think I am going to spend some more time on the sim before I maiden her. I'm also trying to find a trainer in my area to no avail yet. But I will keep everybody posted.
And once again I thank everybody for the advice and kind words.[sm=thumbup.gif]

Since you are looking at electric planes, this may be helpful:

Everything you wanted to know about electric flight.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7100376/tm.htm

It may clear up some questions.

Few more things.
Make sure the batteries are fully charged before flight. Flight battery and transmitter battery. Do a range check. go about 75 to 100 feet away from the airplane and with the antenna down you should have full control of the flight surfaces.
If the wing uses rubber bands for mounting use 10. 4 on each side front to back and the last two diagonaly to lock them all in.

poorwboy,
How are you getting on, have you flown her yet ???????

http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx

92373 - zip code
search in 50 mi. range >20 clubs listed. 7 are under 20 miles.

REDLANDS MINIATURE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubdetails.aspx?club=2585

THOMAS HILGERS
[email protected]

visit their website, and send an email or make a phonecall

If you were 3000 mi. closer, I'd give you a hand.

Good luck!

Thahkyou everybody for the continued responses. No I have'nt maidened her yet. We were going to go to sportrider's sunday, but the wind was a little crazy. Now we have it planned for this sunday. I will keep everybody posted.[sm=thumbup.gif]