Im new to RC flight. I am becoming a pilot and a friend interested me in RC airplanes. Now I know i should be starting with a 2ch trainer, but im not scared to fail. I can also afford to crash and burn. So im looking into getting a L-39 albatros, f-16 fighting flacon, or f-18 hornet, or f4d phantom. Im going to also buy the PC flight simulator and use that for a few weeks before I actually have my maiden flight. Let me know what plane i should get.

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. Check out the list here
[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm] Looking for a trainer- what's available. (Updated 01-03-2009) [/link]

Hope this helps

Ken

Alright Superman, lets see how many of these you can afford to put in the dirt. If your going to do it then do it right.
[link]http://www.bvmjets.com/[/link]

Buy all four. That way you will be able to have four flights and it will save you gas from having to return to the hobby shop after each take-off and crash. I take it you mean park-flyer electrics? Maybe you can keep one alive long enough to learn something from it. Maybe not. If you buy lots of them and practice doing it wrong all you'll accomplish is learning how to do it wrong and you will buy lots of models and replacement parts. Get an instructor who can show you how to do it right. Practicing errors only makes you good at accomplishing errors.

"Real" piloting skill are only useful haf the time in R/C. The other half of the time the model is flying AT you and that is when real piloting skills fail you and the intuitive corrections make you kiss Earth. Have you ever lost sight of the plane you were in or lost orientation (VERY common occurance) for whether the model was coming or going, or even right-side-up, coming out of a spin or tumble from a blown maneuver. A simulator can help with that. But folks tend to overlook simulator errors because they are painless and usually believe they are better than "real life" physics prove them to be.

Have you ever flown a real plane that can do three rolls in a second and has no neutral/stable pitch or yaw condition? You're MUCH better off learning with a flat-bottomed high wing model. Just as you don't sit in an L-39 for your first hours in piloting you should not try the same with R/C.

Troll

ealvarez,

You should start with atleast a 3 ch plane if not 4ch, a 2 ch plane is the junk they sell at Kmart/Walmart
in the toy sections. And you should start with a high-wing trainer to develope your skills, then move to
a low-wing trainer and then MAYBE for your 3rd plane a ducted fan jet in the park flyer size. If you
jump right into jets first you will just crash and burn. Atleast start with a HZ Supercub.

Hemicuda

[sm=lol.gif]

Get something cheap

I beg your pardon. My 2 channel two-meter Sig Cirrus glider was NOT junk. Taught me to fly R/C (and EVERY landing was a dead stick). I still have it somewhere but the wing is warped.

You could have 100 of those planes lined up and ready to go, at the end of the day you'd of destroyed every one of them and yet still not be able to fly and have learnt absolutley nothing as none of them would have stayed in the air long enough !!!!!!!

If you do want to fly one of those the only way you'll get there is via a trainer 1st and would suggest a Hobbyzone SuperCub or a Multiplex EasyStar, if you really are the hotshot you say you are though and really want to push to your limits get a MiniMag to start, fly it on 3 channel for a while and then it takes about 5 mins to convert to 4 channel with ailerons !!!!!

WOW...you're gonna be a real pilot!!!!!!!! Listen here Sonny I've seen hundreds of little snot noses like you in my 30 plus years fixing and crewing full scale airplanes. the first lesson you need to learn is you're not God's gift to all things that fly......or some Mech somewhere is liable to show you what a wrench is made for....
Now that I have your attention..lets talk......
1. don't let the skill that you see when you go to the field fool you...there is a learning curve to RC
2. when you begin your pilot trainning is your first flight in an F-16?..why would RC be different?
3. humble yourself a little bit..people will teach you more//
Good Luch in both Full Scale and RC

Guys, slow down a little . I have a feeling that ealvarez is getting exciting about starting in the hobby also about becoming a Private Pilot. Don't go shooting him down. Flashy advertising and "great first plane" pictures can get to all of us. Just look at the H9 F-22 Raptor PTS. I think that this bit all of us when we were starting out. I remember when I first started (too many years ago) that I thought about getting a Byron P-51 as a first plane- I though "man what a cool plane". I didn't and took the advise of a lot of old hats. I did start out on gliders (two channels) and enjoyed it. But the sound of a glow engine lured me to the "dark side" . RCKen's list of planes is great and I recommend it to new folks when they visit our field or the LHS. The person came for advise, so please dispense it nicely- not as a flame. Remember your roots.

ealvarez - my advise, just as in full scale, find a good club and a good flight instructor. Ask him/her about what they recommend to get started - be it gliders or power. Follow that advise and you will get more enjoment from this hobby without having to totally drain your wallet and/or time fixing crashed planes.

First of all.................. Welcome to R/C!

Please take the advice of those here who have suggested starting with an instructor and a trainer as your beginning airplane it will pay dividends. I understand your urge to be a R/C ace or Roger Ramjet right of the box especially being an aspiring fullscale pilot. The problem is that it takes time to learn to fly R/C its an acquired skill just like learning to fly fullscale. You never know who your talking to at the flying field either, there are many experienced fullscale pilots in this hobby(retired military, airline, corporate and others still flying). A newbie trying to show how much he/she knows really doesn't know often leaves experienced fliers with a bad impression. Showing enthusiasm for aviation is great just present it in a laid back way. Be observant, ask questions, and enjoy the fellowship of R/C.

Best of luck and most of all have fun!

I like the looks of the f4d Phantom. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Pictures and video of the maiden flight would be excellent.

I'm still scared and I've been flying them for 55 years

I agree, my knees still shake on the first flight
of the day.


Bob

guy started 2 threads and hasn't been heard from since bkdavy hit the nail on the head.

You wouldn't have gotten my attention, you would've gotten the single finger salute![sm=angry_smile.gif]

Good one Brett!

Look at it like this, a guy would really have to work around the clock to keep up a pace of 2 crashed jets / day. There is alot of behind the scenes work. Someone with unlimited funds would need to hire a full time staff to prepare the planes and to clean up the messes at the crash site. With enough simulator time and study of video taken at the field, I'll bet a self taught jet jockey could get fairly proficient within 20-25 crashes or so. I think it's safe to say that for $200,000 or less, the average Joe could earn his wings by going this route. Chump change for a celebrity or pro athelete and good for the hobby industry..

Yep, 2 threads, 2 posts total, sure looks like it to me. Anyone reading these forums occasionally would know that these are good loaded questions to get things riled up.

His other post is as equally illogical

If you cannot start in jets can you start with a war bird? "oh.nojets.so any warbirds?"

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_84...tm.htm#8432755

Ignorance is bliss!

This gent reminds me of a 19yr old fellow hanging out at one club I fly at who has just soloed in a fullscale light airplane. You'd think he is the ace of aces to hear him talk. Now he is intending upon being Mr. R/C. Mind you he has yet to purchase his AMA membership, and has had just a couple of buddy cord flights with one of our instructors. He readily offers advice on just about everything from how one should handle their aircraft and tuning the engine. Frankly I find him annoying despite his enthusiasm for aviation.

We even get those "One Month Wonders" here at RCU.

I recall several guys who showed up here one day asking, "Which way do I turn the prop to start the engine?"

And a month later, they're giving advice!

Hey Brett You wouldn't be the first to give me that salute...but it worked didn't it...got your attention...
have a good day

Why does that not surprise me?[sm=72_72.gif]