well here goes a second attempt as I posted in the wrong forum ........... DUH ..................... ive decided to enter into the hobby of R/C planes the kit that caught my eye is the Kadet Senoritta as at the hobby store in St Louis its $60 granted id have to pay for the finishing stuff and the motor servos etc etc but does this sound like a good FIRST plane ?

Anyone have any comments or recomedations or know of any clubs in the St louis area ?

Thanks in advance and sorry if its a boring opening post but liek I said am a noob and a total one at that

David

Being a N00b my self, I am not qualified to give advice on the aircraft,

The club search however, I can help with in a matter of speaking. If you go to www.modelaircraft.org and use the club locator search they have you will find local clubs, with contact info.

All of the Kadet trainers are very nice quality and very good planes to learn on. I have had the privilege of building a Seniorita, as well as a Kadet LT40 and a Mark II. They are a very easy build and they look great too.

A Kadet at $60 is typical and very nice price. Enjoy, I know you will love it.

The Kadet Seniorita and Senior are both as much fun to build as they are to fly.
Great trainers.

Welcome to the insanity............err, hobby

The Kadet Seniorita is an excellent plane. You will like the plane. It is a gentle, stable flyer.

The biggest advantage to building your plane instead of an ARF is that you not only KNOW how it was built (quality of construction), but when the inevitable happens, you will have the knowledge/skill to repair it.

If your budget allows, get a 2.4 radio, preferably a 6 (or more channel) computer radio.

As for an engine, the most user friendly engines I have found (in no particular order) are OS, Thunder Tiger and Evolution. By user friendly I mean that 99%+ will run decently right out of the box, require minimal break in and have good power.

Just starting out I would avoid the Tower engine. Magnum engines have mixed reviews and MDS, in the under 1.60 range, stay away from. MDS have a couple of nicknames that are appropriate - Mostly Don't Start and Many Dead Sticks (landings).

With a 4 stroke engine you will not go wrong with a Saito or OS Surpass.

In any case I strongly suggest doing a search here on what ever brand of engine you are interested in and form your own opinion.

WoW CHEERS everyone and thanks for the replies part of me is worried as even the senioritta seems HUGE very very HUGE.......................

one more quesion regarding building can I build it THEN get the innards ( engine servos etc ) or should I buy all at the same time ?

David

David,

You can build it first, but plan ahead on a few items that will be hard to get to after you "close it up". The most difficult items to install after completion are all in the closed up front end of the airplane. Notably fuel tank and firewall items such as throttle cable, fuel lines, engine mount, nose gear mounting and steering cable, etc. If you use the engine installation shown on your plans, you can pre-position all those things and they'll be ready for your engine installation later.

Just plan ahead and you should be fine.

Paul

It would be nice to have at least one servo before covering the plane to get your control rods set up while you can still get at them easily. That way you can measure out your servo tray and know exactly how they will sit.

Just one more thing, are you with a club? they can help a lot with building questions and help. You should have someone help with the learning to fly. It will save you a lot of trouble and crashes!!!!!!! I am not saying not to ask questions here, just sometimes its better with someone to show you.

nope not in a club as of yet
im looking at the list of local ones and will pick one soon there are a few in my area ( who knew ............) alot will depend on the people at the club ie how noob freindly are they and the fees involved in joining etc etc

David

You might want to look into the Sig LT-40 instead of the Senorita.

The LT-40 is basically an updated version - with a LOT less work involved. It also used many of the newer building techniques which makes the build go much faster (The Senorita was designed back in the 60's and has a LOT of sticks that must be cut to size by the builder)

Do a search for RCKen's LT-40 Build thread. You can use it as a guide as you build.

Here's the link to that thread.

[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3439708/tm.htm]Pay It Forward build thread!! LT-40 build.[/link]

Ken

wow im glad I found this site everyone seems well helpfull CHEERS to everyone for the help

David

well ... the sig will have to wait im afraid  as I was laid off....... but a mate bought me the  guillows sopwith camel    we are building them together but seperate  ie  his at his place mine at mine, because him building his and mine and me building mine at his is just daft 

so its not the sig   its still a plane so at least its something ............................ now to try and talk my mate with a laser to make me spares of teh parts.........................</p>

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You`re not planning to try to learn to fly on the Camel, are you?

The Camel is not a beginner's airplane at all. Don't try to learn on it if you like it.

Before buying anything, visit a couple of clubs. Many have scheduled training times and many instructors have trainers to let new pilots fly. If you are considerate and friendly and join the club early on, you can usually start learning without buying anything. And getting to know some guys in the club can often net you a real deal on a beginner package all set up and ready to go. I've seen numerous guys get started in nitro airplanes with the whole shebang under $300.</p>

The Camel is not a beginner's airplane at all. Don't try to learn on it if you like it.

Before buying anything, visit a couple of clubs. Many have scheduled training times and many instructors have trainers to let new pilots fly. If you are considerate and friendly and join the club early on, you can usually start learning without buying anything. And getting to know some guys in the club can often net you a real deal on a beginner package all set up and ready to go. I've seen numerous guys get started in nitro airplanes with the whole shebang under $300.</p>

there is a show/display/ what are they called anyway ? and a localish park this weekend   so if we dont take the horses out ( wife gets first choice on weekend stuff, then ill try and make it up there,  there used to be a group that flew on the moor at my home town   some of those planes were MASSIVE and must have took yeras to build   always been interested  but  as always working odd shifts  and then life somehow got in the way of things

 anyway it looks like from what everyone is saying that teh Camel is a bad choice as a first plane to fly,  yes I understand  this   but was willing to try ................................. oh well ill build it anyway as a display one unless I get menatl and think sod it   *** ill give it a go   whats the worst that could happen ............... kindling  </p>

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 thanks again for all the comments and help </p>

hi there mr fibs.
you might wanna try practicing in flying simulators first before you actually fly the plane. it helps with gaining control and ideas how to take off and land.

I was going to recommend the LT-40 before I read Mike's post, but for a different reason. If you learn to fly with a 3 channel airplane, you will train yourself to use your right thumb (on rudder) to steer your plane on taxi and take- off. But if you learn on a plane with ailerons, like the LT-40, you will learn (as you will have to eventually, anyway) to steer the plane, on the ground, with your left thumb, saving your right thumb for roll, but with the ailerons.

Lm

I was at an RC plane show today    and they had a sim running on a computer  it was very helpfull      I also got to fly via a buddy box set up   Id say I did ok

  now to get building 

 granted some of the planes there today were HUGE    and VERY impressive looking   im not at that stage yet     but even stationary  they looked great

 thanks  for the help sofar 

 david c