With all the excitement of getting in the air, of course I've been looking for a second plane. I really like the scale stuff, and I want something sporty, so I've decided upon the Great Planes Cherokee 40 ARF. The grand total for my second plane will be $262.36, which includes everything from Pitts muffler to a half gallon of 15% fuel to 3 more servos (7 total). The devil on my left shoulder is saying that this really isn't a bad price for a second plane and all building equipment (Tower has $20 off orders over $149, and I have a $25 rebate form, added together for supplies/servos/muffler, and a second order for just the plane at another $20 off.) The clean-shaven, hornless devil on my right shoulder is saying that it's only my second plane, and it's an awful lot of money to smack into the cornfields. Of course it will take a while to assemble (won't even start until June) and will fly my trainer as much as possible until then, hopefully not flying #2 until I'm really ready, or until my trainer breaks! My plan is to remove everything from the trainer, and keep it as a skeleton for emergencies.

Should I go for it? (Like I don't know what your answer will be! Also just got a new credit card in the mail today...uh oh!)

Always welcoming recommendations for a semi-scale sporty plane. I already fly well in the sky, am very good at making recoveries, and soloing by my 10th flight.

Thanks!

Why not a 4* 40 or similar. A little more docile and a great first "low wing" that is very able to do most anything you could ask for. A second plane should be just an extension of the trainer and able to do most things you want at the stage you are at. Scale planes usually land faster, fly faster and are less able to perform some of the fun things new fliers like to do, except look neat

Do it! I have already ordered mine. I think I have only been flying about 3 or 4 weeks longer than you have. I dont think I'll be flying it anytime soon. But I am sure it will be tearing up the skys before summer is up. I fly Saturdays and Sundays and even get flight time in after work. I fly with instructors on the weekends...they have a strict test to solo. But I fly solo in the afternoons my buddies are there to help. I am working on polishing my landings. My in the air flying is pretty good.

Boxes both ways, Ovals, Figure 8's. Turning with Rudder, Ingleman turns, Split S, Rolls, loops, Takeoff and landings. Thats the test. They also simulate a dead stick by shuting you down to idle randemly and you have to put it down.

I did get over the hump with my landings this past weekend. I was so happy..............Hell I am still happy!! I hope to solo this weekend if the weather is good.

The Dolphin from Pheonix is a knock off of the 4 star and I found it at RC Planet for $89.00. I was in love with the Spacewalker but I heard it was tricky on take off.

The good news, it has the looks of a good second or third airplane. Constant chord wing and side mounted engine. Now for the bad news, at 7 lbs., it is a bit on the portly side for a newer pilot. Some of this is offset with a 6:1 aspect ratio for the wing, but is still going to be a bit hotter landing than a good second airplane. Watch the video.

Kat, I've got to aggree with Gizmo. You just can't go wrong with the 4*. It won't hover, and knife edge drops petty fast. Other than those two things, you couldn't ask for a better 2nd. It is a good transistion to a higher performance or scale plane. I wouldn't jump into a scale of any kind untill your third plane, or fourth. There are some neet bashes you and do with the 4*. Simply cutting the canopy down for a sleeker look does wonders. Fiberglass specialities has a good looking cowl and wheel pants, but you can get some prefinished in white pants from tower for quit a bit less money.

Take a read through the 4* threads and look at the bashes done on them. One guy had a fighter look on his, still with the great handeling of hte 4*.

A word of caution. Just after you solo, you will create a lot of broken sticks. It just goes with the learning process. Every one of the guys I know who soloed just after me has done serious if not faital damage to their trainer, then the second plane. I'm about ready to put #5 in the air and I soloed last april. By the way, if one of the guys at the field offers you a trainer, even one that needs some love, take it and get it flight ready. It will be a good tool to get you back in the groove when you jump out. Especially it is good to have a plane ready to fly in the event of a crash.

Don.

[:@] There's a guy at my club with the H9 Cherokee; I'll get him to let me fly it to see how I do. (I think he's going to sell it so he can get the Great Planes Cherokee). But this is why I posted this before I went ahead and ordered anything. My second choice is the Nitromodels Super Low-Wing Trainer 40, which is a copy of the Tiger II, and it's cheap. I think the 4* is ugly, that's why I don't want it. I like nice looking planes, which is why I got the Nexstar as a trainer. I wish there were some better looking intermediate low-wing planes. The World Models Super Sport 40 is almost not ugly, but it still is. The Kyosho Calmato directions are not easy to read... I'll keep looking.[:@]

How about the Great Planes Super Sportster?

There is nothing wrong with considering a second plane or even buying one. Just don't get into too much of a hurry to fly it. It is an easy trap to fall into. I've done it and so has just about everyone else. Fly your trainer until everything becomes second nature. make all your take-off's and landings picture perfect with your eyes closed and one hand behind your back. Get to the point that you are the master telling the plane what to do, not just the guy with the controls reacting to what the plane is doing. Master the trainer and your #2 plane will have a much longer, happier life.

I notice that you live up in the northeast. That means a lot of time in the winter not necessarily suited to flying doesn't it? Have you ever considered building a plane from a kit? that's one way to stay active in the hobby when the weather isn't conducive to going to the field. Maybe build a second plane during that time? Just a thought. Building isn't for everyone though; you have to do it because you want to.

I have to agree on that 4-star also. It is a great airplane. The Cherokee looks promising but it is a wait and see thing to find out from those who fly it if they think it will make a good second plane. I may order one when they come back in stock just to check it out myself.

Just remember that is light "scale" landing gear and won't take a lot of bouncing and splatting like a sproingy trainer's gear will. It will either damage the wing or the gear to slap her down hard. You also have the added difficulty of an inaccessable engine for tuning and adjustments. Scale models aren't really the best choice for #2, but you may have no regrets if you go for it.

A much better choice, and a great looking aircraft. It is a great flying design. Try hard to keep it light and it will reward you.

That's one of the biggest issues I see with this Cherokee as a second plane. There is nothing wrong with regular old cheeks or nothing at all like a Stik. Cutting a cowl and the lack of access really isn't the best idea for a beginner plane in my opinion. I've cut at least 1/2 a dozen cowls and done a few pretty nice but I'm still not looking forward to it on my new Skybolt. Just not my favorite thing to do.


I may in the minority on this one but I don't think this is a good second plane. It is probably better suited for #3. I've owned the .40 size ARF and currently fly a kit built 60 size. Both were/are very fast and agile. They are a lot more forgiving than scale Extra-type plane or a 3d plane but still not as gentle as something like a 4-Star or GP Rapture in my opinion.

Here are the three 4-stars I have had. All were kit built. The red one was modified quite a bit and I called it the 5-star. some guy really liked it and kept making offers to buy it so I let him have it. Wish I hadn't now.

Here's some of what I've been reading up about the Super Sportster from another RCU thread:

And here's the link:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7489151/tm.htm

The Super Sportster is the author's third plane, after the Great Planes Easy Sport. This guy followed the advice given, and the plane still stalled after the engine quit. This indicates that you cannot jerk the Super Sportster off the ground prematurely, and it may need more landing speed than most beginners are accustomed to. It will also be less forgiving of errors in flight. So, it may not be a wise choice unless you get into the habit of flying rather than floating the trainer in. And, maintaining good airspeed during flight.

The Cherokee has a few good things going for it. One, the modular construction which allows for the easy replacement of tail surfaces. The fin, rudder, stabilizer, and elevator are all solid which improves durability. They bolt on the fuse in an interlocking fashion with no gluing required, and can be removed for replacement. That alone would prove to be especially beneficial in a crash like the one above. Reading the instructions, there are many small time-saving steps that are already done, saving several hours of building time. The jury is still out on the Cherokee's performance and characteristics, however. But at least it looks like it would be the easier of the two to fix.

NorfolkSouthern

RCkens list f trainers and second planes is pretty thorough and widely agreed upon: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm

My Tiger-2 kit arrived tonight. My flying has technically advanced well beyond that category of plane but I see nothing wrong with having it around for a good, simple sport flyer. Anyhow, my initial impressions of the kit are very good. If anyone is looking to build a second plane, this looks like it should go together pretty smooth.

Interesting. I went to the reviews section at the top of the page and searched for the Super Sportster, and most of the twenty-something reviews said it does fly fast, but it also floats and glides in for landings, and that low speed flight was very stable.

If the Cherokee is the plane that you really want, GET IT! You said that you wouldn't even put it together until June. I believe you wouldn't even sweat flying a new plane by then considering that you get ample stick time. If you are really concerned about it, get help with the first couple of flights with it until your in the comfort zone and enjoy it. Heck, I maidened a kit built Somethin Extra as my 2nd plane without worry. The Cherokee will be a great flyer for your fleet whether you decide fly it as a 2nd plane or not.

It all depends on your comfort level. You sound like you're getting plenty of stick time so I say go for it. My philosophy is that you regret the things you DIDN'T do.

Best of luck
Rufcut

Regarding stripping down your trainer for parts.. well, as I've said before, most people keep their trainers. If you do strip it down, I can pretty much guarantee that you will be back to looking at putting it back together and flying it.. sooner than you think. It's always nice to go back to basics and just fly the simple trainer. It sort of humbles you a tad because you will find that you will get more capable aircraft and proficient with those.. then going back to the basics, you will proibably have to 'relearn' some of the basic stuff which will really improve your flying the more advanced stuff.

Just a suggestion.

As far as the CUB is concerned.. I would not get it as a second plane, I would opt for a more capable 'trainer' type as a Tiger II or 60, Four Star 40 or 60, or even a Goldberg Protege or something on that order. All very capable yet doscile enough so that you can smoothly progress through that stage. Then perhaps the CUB would be a good one.

CGr.

Good morning CGRhave a heat wave here55*.. I have a couple of Cubs and they are not good trainers. Will not take any abuse. Hard landing and the cockpit area is in pieces. We are getting ready to built the LT-40 for the new middle and high school club. Kinda excited about that. We have several instructors that will help them when it is ready to fly. Will be using the building thread from RCKen and Minnflyer. We will put together a build thread of the LT-40 and we go along. Give you a chance to meet some of our kids. Have a great day.

Second Plane WORDS OF CAUTION!!!
The second usually leads to a third, the third to a fourth, the fourth to a fifth and so on and so on and so on...until you have a house full like me. Of course, most of mine are scale and most are Warbirds, with one autographed by General Chuck Yeager. Best of Luck to you.

It is and it does.

As with ANY plane you need altitude or speed to fly though, and a dead stick at takeoff can be fatal no matter what you are flying.

The Sportster floats and glides in gracefully on dead sticks IF you have altitude to trade for airspeed.

Your also looked at a cheap second airframe, which is not a bad choice either.

You could fly that airframe until it falls apart. Typically when you are less worried about the costs, you have less fear of taking small "risks", and thereby learning what works and what does not.

Kat,

have you looked at the black horse model planes ? there better looking than alot of the planes out there and the speed air 40 that i have flies very well (it was my second plane) . it was also very easy to put together.

check them out and see what you think. link= http://www.americanpioneerhobbies.co...aerobatic.html




mitch

This is kind of a no brainer for older guys who have had a lot of planes - either a Goldberg Tiger or a Four Star. Scale or semi scale is not really the way to go for a second plane. Sorry. Get an OS 46 AX and you will have hours and hours of care free fun. These two planes will provide you with an oportunity to really advance your flying with out much fuss. You will need this for your future scale planes.

By the way, don't gut your trainer, keep it fully intact complete with radio. When you smash one you'll be able to keep flying WHILE you fix it. This is very important for all RC'rs who have been bitten by the bug. You always need a fun sport plane around when you fly scale.


Have fun!!!!!!

Believe me, if I could do anything I wanted, I would keep the Nexstar flight worthy (and probably buy 2 planes right now, a cheap basher and the cherokee, to fly in that order). If I get something super cheap then maybe I will get more electronics and a new engine. The way I see it is I can only fit one plane in my car to bring to the field. If I crash, I can switch out radio gear and engine the night I get home and reload the trainer. Especially if my second plane is just yet another tool/stepping stone to get to where I want to be, I don't see why I should sink any more money than absolutely necessary into it, which is why I will go for a cheaper imitation rather than a 4 star or Tiger II.

I don't know where the CUB was mentioned - is this another name for Cherokee?

As far as the way a plane flies, the only concerns I really have are severe stalls. It will be a while before I have #2 airborne, and I will be taking off and landing, over and over again, slow speed, high speed, steep approaches and gradual approaches, until I am a champion at take off and landing. If I know my second plane lands hot, then I will land my Nexstar hot and get it right and be confident before I take the second plane out. And I will use the buddy box on my second plane. I have used the simulator with sport planes, and while it's not the same as real flying, I believe it has made me a very good flier for a beginner. I can perform any move that has been asked of me, and am constantly complemented and congratulated at the field for the progression I've made. I feel that I will be ready for a more responsive plane as soon as I stick my landings a little better.

I got into this hobby because I love the look of a scale looking RC plane, both whizzing by in the air and on a shelf. It's mildly disheartening to think that I need to go through at least two planes, and just under $1000, before I can fly one. I don't feel like I am asking a lot with that. However I understand and appreciate and respect what you all are telling me. I get a lot of enjoyment out of flying a pretty looking plane, again, why I got the Nexstar (one of the best looking trainers IMO). It looks pretty cool at a low altitude pass, but terribly unrealistic at a high speed, low(ish) altitude pass with a 80 degree, tight banking turn. A guy at my field has a Cherokee, and it just looks a lot better at sport flying maneuvers.

There is the Pacific Aeromodels Knockabout Cherokee, which to me, is the best looking plane I've seen yet! Probably my favorite as far as looks go. But for the same price (with Tower discounts and rebate form) I can get the Great Planes Cherokee, with flaps, 7 servos, a huge removable canopy (though not as nice looking IMO) so that seemed to make more sense, as it would be like a second -> third plane transition.

So, at this point, the options are:

Great Planes Cherokee ARF - Good looking plane, has flaps, probably needs flaps to land because it's heavy with a heavy wing loading[&o].
Pacific Aeromodels Knockabout Cherokee - best looking, fair value, more of a standard second plane? Similar to the above with a lighter wing loading ('cause only 4 servos?) Also this plane is set up so that it can easily be made a tail dragger
Great Planes Super Sportster - really good looking, have to get used to hot landings,
Nitromodels Super Low Wing Trainer - fair looking and cheap, won't be afraid to go nuts with it, though might be disappointed I don't have one of the two above.

Kat, I've been looking at the Knockabout and am very impressed with the color schemes it offers. Both Cherokees have an advantage over the Sig Four-Star and some others: They have a tricycle gear. This would help ease the transition from the trainer. The Knockabout goes further: It is very similar in design to the Goldberg Tiger 2 that's recommended on Ken's list. I will emphasize that low-wings like these are not all that difficult to fly, you just have to keep a reasonable amount of airspeed and not do 3D unless you really know what you're doing. The control surfaces are just too small, they're designed to fly like scale planes and not flop around like a Hangar-9 Twist. I have a Great Planes Rapture 40 that I built from a kit, and have had many successful takeoffs and landings with it, until I took it beyond its limits. It was my fault, and I knew what I was doing when I had it virtually stopped in mid air before it dropped a wing and spiraled. It's almost fixed and ready to go again, so I'll be taking it up while I fix the gas tank on my Tango. If you are able to do a dozen or so consecutive takeoffs and landings on your Nexstar with no formalities (broken props, for example), then you may be ready. Go easy on the first few flights: Just fly the Knockabout like you would your trainer and you should be set. You can start doing the good stuff when your skills catch up.

NorfolkSouthern

I really like the Fly Boy 50

http://thewingsmaker.com/airplane_de...php?code=GA014

I foolishly did that..............TWICE!!

My trainer now has newer electronics then my other planes