BearMcCoy

Hi all, I just bought my husband his first plane for Christmas and didn't realize it didn't come with the engine (blush) I bought him an Ultimate BiPe 40 - 41.5 it needs a 2 c 0.40 cu in. nitro gas engine and a 4c 0.52 cu. 4 channel radio remote. I looked on the site for these items but couldn't find them. Does anyone know where I need to go to purchase thee items??? Any help is greatly appreciated!

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

take the bipe back and buy him a trainer....Rog

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

A hobby shop should have A selection of engines. For that plane and {be ready for this} more planes in his future you may want to think about A nice one like the O.S. .55 AX. Any of the .46 engines are OK but the .55 has more uses down the road and over the years. The radio I would let him choose all by himself, it's A very personal thing and there are A lot of good choices to choose from but it will be something that he will have for many years to come and may want to grow or expand into with time. Just too many makes and models. Hope this is of some help.

red head

When you get the trainer also get him a membership in a local club that has an instructor to help him. If you don't ~~~ you probably just threw away what ever you spent on him.

I don't mean to be mean but it's a fact, if he can't allready fly he WILL need help or it will really get expensive.

Find a local flying club and ask them for some assistance, it will be better for you both and your budget !!! ENJOY !!! RED

Jester241

Perhaps get him the plane and then get him gift certificate to a GOOD hobby shop so he can take over and get what he likes?

And BTW,the bipe isnt a beginner plane,but its a GREAT present and he sure is lucky to have someone thoughtful like you to surprise him like that. My woman wont even look in my airplane room let alone buy me any airplane stuff. Good woman!!!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I know you are here looking for advice on an engine. BUT, if you husband hasn't ever flown an RC forget about the engine. The plane you purchased IS NOT for a beginner in any way, shape, or form. As the others have said. Take it back and buy him a trainer. Trust me here. While the trainer may not be as "sexy" looking as the biplane is. But when he successfully learns to fly on his trainer he will be a lot happier than he would be when he crashes the biplane in the first 2 seconds of flight. There are only two outcomes with the biplane. 1) He tries to fly it himself and crashes it, or 2) he tries to find and instructor to teach him to fly on the biplane and find out that NO instructor is going to teach him on this plane, and then they tell him to get a trainer. I'm trying to be harsh, but rather trying to help you purchase a gift for your husband that isn't going to wind up causing more grief than happiness.


I've put together a list of planes that make good trainers and second planes. All of them on the list are proven planes that are well suited for successfully letting students learn to fly, or advance to a second plane. Even though I have this complete list here is the package I would recommend in your situation. [link]http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCXF4**&P=ML[/link] . This setup come with the plane, radio, and engine all in one package. All he is going to need is fuel and a small amount of support equipment.

Check out the rest of the list here
[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm] Looking for a trainer- what's available. (Updated 2-20-2008) [/link]

Hope this helps

Ken

masonman

Your a good wife, second to mine only cause your not mine. The Plane is just fine. Now when he gets it all built tell him he needs to find a instructor. Cause he is infact a man, an he will tell you "Baby I don't need any help with this, I can handle it" Its like getting a man to ask for directions. Pulling teeth. Just let him know it harder than it looks, unless he has rc airplane exp. If he does not get some time with a trainer, that bipes life will be somewhere around a min.....Sorry its true

nedyob

My Feedback: (67)

If you cant talk him into finding an instructor. Take him to a near by hobby shop and have him talk to someone there that does fly and let him talk your hubby. They will most likly stear him in the right direction. They may even have a flight Simulor that he can watch himself crash.
NEDYOB

Minnreefer

You have gotten a lot of advice, I will give a bit of a different options, buy him either a 3 month or a full membership to ama http://www.modelaircraft.org/, find a club nearby talk to them about getting training, them promise him that you will buy him aplane that will work well, sometimes clubs have planes that he can use for free.

Hope that helps

Jon

A newer pilot

BearMcCoy

Thanks for all the great replys! I didn't think any of you were being harsh at all. I wish I had seen this forum before buying the biplane, oh well, will put that up for some other Christmas down the road. Thanks for the list of trainers, I am now looking into them. Am off to surf for a trainer, Hope ya'll all have a Merry Christmas!

dignlivn

You Mam, are a Good Wife !


This place is better than Google,
when it comes to Planes. Ask away,


Bob

cold_reboot

My Feedback: (20)

Bear, your husband CAN teach himself to fly (but the BiPe may be a little too much to start), half the time you'd think the people on here are on the AMA payroll for telling people to go join a club. Not everyone has the ability or want to join a club. I don't own the Ultimate you've bought for your husband, so I can't comment on how suitable it is for a first timer (but you can trust what RCKen tells you). I can say that ANYONE can teach themselves to fly on a Hobbico Super Cub because I have one and flew it (and still fly it) in the field in front of my house and I've never once crashed it ($159 for the entire ready to fly plane...and it's made out of resilient foam, so should he happen to crash and break something he can fix it with super glue in a few minutes or an evening at most). The EFlite Apprentice (HorizonHobby.com) is also good, but it'll run you $300. Both of these planes are considered "Trainers". The plus that come with the Apprentice is the Spektrum Radio...he can re use it in other models should he so choose later on. You don't have to spend $150 on an O.S. to get an easy to tune reliable engine for your husbands BiPe. You can get a Super Tigre .40 for $59.99 or a Super Tigre .45 for 74.99 and either of these engines will be just fine (You can find these at TowerHobbies.com). Or an O.S. .46LA $69.99 (these are intentionally designed for ease of use for people new to the hobby, also at TowerHobbies.com). If you can stand or afford it...buy him two planes...keep the bipe and also give him a Super Cub. But be prepared for what your gift is starting. I got my Super Cub from my wife last year for christmas, and have added 4 more planes to the hangar since then. It's extremely addictive. She finally kicked my planes out when I started building planes from kits (i.e. a box of wood). Luckily her grandparents house right down the street was standing empty...now it's a hangar/workshop.

cold_reboot

My Feedback: (20)

Don't be sorry for buying the BiPe... your husband is going to love it! Just like the Top Flite P40 Warhawk kit my wife bought me for christmas. Keep the BiPe, it will give him something to shoot for and set a goal. If he decides he wants to join a club, by all means, he should. Definately think about buying him something like the Super Cub to start, it's cheap, will teach him fundamentals, get him over the awkward nervousness of flying the first time. The first time I flew mine I told myself "Well, I was glad to have you while I did, but I don't expect you to return". To my surprise, it was EXTREMELY easy to fly. The Super Cub also has a system called ACT, which stands for Anti Crash Technology. Two sensors in the plane...bottom one looks at the ground, top one, at the sky. Should your husband put the plane at an awkward angle where he may crash, the plane will cut the engine off and use the elevator to level itself out. Once leveled out, the motor regains power. Keep in mind he needs to fly "a few mistakes high" for this system to be effective (if he's 10 feet off the ground it's not going to help). But it does work. I know because I taught my wife to fly it. As soon as she touched the sticks she put it in a straight down nose dive, the plane recovered itself. While he's learning to fly, he can also research how he wants to finish his BiPe out. We can never have too many planes.

ChuckW

I used to fly at constructions sites, country roads, empty fields or any other place I could find. Yes, I could control the plane but once I finally joined a club, I met quality flyers and learned much more, much faster than I would have on my own. Not only that, there's the benefit of a shaded pit area, tables, nice runway, better safety, no cops telling me to leave and a whole host of other advantages. I realize that there are some people who may not be able to join a club for whatever reason but if someone is serious about flying, a club is the best way to go if at all possible in my opinion.

I agree about the Super Cub being a good little plane, especially for someone who just wants something inexpensive and simple to play around with at the local park or school yard. It is not a primer for an Ultimate Biplane though. Flying a Super Cub and flying an Ultimate are as different as night and day. The Super Cub will tend to right itself easily and fly at a crawl. The Ultimate will be MUCH faster, respond to control inputs a lot faster, stall much easier, and go exactly where it is pointed (including the ground). The Ultimate should be a 3rd or 4th plane after a good trainer, low wing sport plane, aerobatic airplane, etc.

cold_reboot

My Feedback: (20)

Good thing about living in the middle of nowhere, texas, Chuck, the only person who'd complain would be the cows, and thier hooves are too big to dial a phone....plus calling the sheriffs office would do no good considering I'm a sheriffs deputy and know that there is no noise ordinance in the county (has to be over 80+ decibels to qualify as Disorderly Conduct...that level is comparative to standing at the muzzle of a .22 rifle being fired next to your ear) I've just now considered joining a club, not for the fact that I can learn faster, which I'm sure I could, but the camaraderie. I never advised the Super Cub is a primer for the BiPe...far from it, from there I'd probably go Sig 4* for quite a while before going for the BiPe. But we don't know that her husband would have long term interest in the hobby.

Bear, if you can swing it, the Tower Trainer that RCKen linked too would be great. I recommended the Super Cub because its cheap and will get your husband in the air, and being foam, very easy to repair should a mishap occur.

aldentwc

Anther route to go is spads. http://www.spadtothebone.com one of the great things about these planes is you get the experience of building planes and when you smash one into the ground (and he will) you're out maybe $30. the hardest thing about these planes is to find the 2.5" square plastic downspout. but there are plans that you can get that just need the coroplastic. anyway it's a whole world the planes are much more durable, and then once he feels comfortable flying he can go to the bipe and other very fragile airplanes . You are a wonderful wife and any husband would be happy to have you giving them gifts.

DadsToysBG

My Feedback: (35)

I need a P-70 turbine. I wonder if she wants a boy friend.

fly boy2

I know, I can't find the stuff anywhere; I stalled my debonair, it put 2 holes which were connected by a crack in the side of the fuse. The Deb survived; just put some packing tape around it and off it goes. Right now I have a little wooden splint till I can find some square PVC. If you crash it beyond repair; all you have to do is go to the hardware store and get the materials for a new plane.

mclina

My wife gave me an Alpha 40 trainer for Christmas two years ago. She gave it to me, along with a business card for the local hobby shop, and the website for the nearest club. It was probably the best present I ever got. Prior to this gift, I was almost completely unaware that this hobby even existed.

In the past two years, I have built two more planes from kits, assembled two ARF planes, and built about 10 SPAD planes. Two of them are trainers that my daughters are flying.

I hope your husband enjoys his new plane. Definitely get him a trainer to start with, and if there is a club nearby, it will make the process much more enjoyable. In addition to safely teaching him how to fly, it will make him a lot of new friends.

And don't be surprised if he starts spending a LOT of time in the basement.

Good luck and Merry Christmas.

rowdog_14

My Feedback: (5)

You are a great wife. Let him keep the Bi plane because everyone that I know that flys wants to have a Bi plane. Yes, he does need a trainer. It will make it easier and he will enjoy the hobby by taking it a little slower. Like someone said go to the hobby shop and they should be able help you. Other than that I would go with a evolution 46 engine (sold at horizon hobby, or the hobby shop) or a os 46( sold at towerhobbies, or the hobby shop). Tower hobbies always has some type of coupon you can use. I really like them. I hope this help a little. I hope your husband has fun, again keep the biplane and buy a top wing trainer (if that is in your budget) any one will be fine they all fly about the same the only major difference is the prices.

opjose

BTW: Aside from all the GOOD advice about purchasing a RTF trainer package for him FIRST!!!!


An RTF trainer package comes with everything needed and gets a newbie in the air in the least amount of time.

Give him the Ultimate 40S as well to keep for a later date. It's a great flyer but it does not come with any of the things you need to complete it.

It works with engines ranging in size from a .40LA ( which is a little too anemic! ), a .32 FX ( better ), a .46 LA, a .46 AX or equivalent ( BEST! )...

Give him the trainer and the Ultimate, and then after he solo's and certifies at a club, give him the engine, receiver, servos, etc. as a "graduation present".

I WISH I could get my wife to buy me a new plane for Xmas... she will not as I have planes everywhere!!!

HEMICUDA

BearMcCoy,

You my dear did nothing wrong. Either take the trainer back or let him keep it, put it together
and hang it from the ceiling until he works his way up to flying it. He can always fly it down the road.
He definitely needs to start with a high -wing trainer...either 40 size nitro or a nice park flyer Electric
like the Supercub mentioned earlier by cold_reboot (which is made by HorizonHobby not Hobbico)

You guys with the wives who buy you planes are lucky! My wife of 19 years still looks as beautiful as
she did when we got married and all she's given me is great sex and 3 beautiful kids. I guess it's
a wash...wouldn't mind a new plane though...[8D]

Hemicuda

HEMICUDA

I meant take the bipe back and get a trainer, sorry...I'm tired.[sm=redface.gif]

mclina

I don't like to brag, but , it's really not just one or the other

Merry Christmas

HEMICUDA

mclina,

Back at ya, Merry Christmas to you and yours. And to correct myself correcting someone else,
the Supercub is made by Hobbyzone, and sold by HorizonHobby. I was tired last night, usually
my anal-retentive skills are sharper than that.[8D]

Hemicuda