kdm0516

My son turns 5 this month and really wants a radio controlled plane. I'm sure he is going to crash it many times and have a difficult time with it. I do not want to spend a ton of money on one that he'll ruin but I also don't want to buy something that will be ruined after one crash. Does anyone know a good childs first plane to recommend? He does want to fly it outside. I bought a foam one that can only be flown inside.
Thanks in advance for the help

bruce88123

AirHogs http://www.airhogs.com/

smokeyser

There's slightly larger electric foam planes that work great outside and are very tough. Check out www.hobbyzone.com for a bunch of them. Foam is probably the way to go, since fixing a crash simply means slapping on a little clear packing tape and maybe a bit of glue. I got a super cub from them for $159 ready to fly with a spare battery. At $20 to replace the wings, no crash is a big problem. You might want to consider something like the firebirds or an aerobird too. No matter what style plane you get, it's going to be crashed repeatedly by a 5 year old. Those pusher style planes will at least protect the motor and prop when it nose dives.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that many of those cheap made-for-beginners rtf planes come with anti-crash technology. If you get one, the first thing you should do when you get it home is unplug the sensors (wires connected to the little light sensors on the top and bottom). Unless you have a place where you're able to fly very high above the ground and you're ok with trying to get your child to remember to turn it off any time the plane is near the ground, it'll do more harm than good. ACT usually just causes crashes unless you're 200 feet up. My first crash came from flying over a very light colored sidewalk right after takeoff due to ACT getting confused, cutting the power, and trying to flip my plane over...

Steve Steinbring

I've had my 3 year old grandson who turns 4 next month flying a two channel airplane for about six months now.

If you have a Harbor Freight outlet near they sell cheap park flyers. We have the Yellow Bee which is a twin pusher which uses differential power to control the bird. The Yellow Bee is $30.00, an extra wing and tail is an extra $10.00. The airplane actually flies pretty well for what it is! You hand launch then its flown to some height allowed to glide or fly at a lower power providing the little pilot lets that happen? Its fun and R/C the battery charge gets 15-20 minutes of flight depending on how much power is used. The airplane takes a beating and keeps on ticking, I've repaired ours several times and its still ready to fly on our next grandson/grandpa have fun day.

Spacemonkey71

There's a type of plane from parkzone called the Firefly series. Just google Parkzone and look for the "RTF" series of electric fliers. They come with "ACT" > "Anti-Crash Technology" and they come out of the box "ready-to-fly" (RTF). The box has the engine, transmitter, batteries, chargers, etc... all in one case.

And BEST of all, they don't cost a fortune either. The lowest end model they make with the ACT on it is $55 and the highest is the Firefly Commander @ $84 (the $55 model is smaller, slower, and doesn't have some "add-on" features that you may or may not like or want).

It's a pretty clever system for the ACT. Basically a simple camera takes shots in 2 directions 50deg UP and 50deg down. When it sees too much "ground" it kicks the ACT in and the plane automatically corrects itself to keep from making a crater (when he gets better he can disable this feature). The plane also has a REALLY tough rubber nose on it (kinda like basketball rubber) so if you DO bang it into something (a tree, a car, a house, your dog, etc...) it won't bust the plane to bits or destroy what you run into. I HIGHLY recommend them for kids to fly (and adults too... they're great for learning control, direction, basic handling, just rudimentary stuff, and you can knock them around alot without (a) destroying it and (b) costing you an arm and a leg!)

There's also the airhog's, but I've actually got a similar craft (a mini XPV) with twin rotors for steering/elevation and they are not as easy to fly as you think I fly mine daily in the street in front of my house (sometimes several times a day! I love to fly that little bugger!) but it is NOT an easy craft to learn to "control" (if that's what you call making one prop spin faster than the other....) I bang mine into the house, trees, my car, my wife (ok, that one was on purpose ) but I spend alot more time "launching" it than I do flying it! A more "real" plane that has some adult supervision involved will teach him alot more about responsibility and flying and give him more adult quality time to make it "special time" (i'm counting the days until my 18mo old is big enough to hold a controller !!!!!)

millertym2000

My Feedback: (4)

If your thinking about a nitro plane look at www.spadtothebone.com These planes will take a beating. I have flown the debonair and the BUROR they are both very good trainers and very durable. I personaly think the BUHOR will take more punishment, I know mine sure has[X(] Take a look It might be what your looking for, and at 5 this may be a little to much.