why do manufactures insist on putting under powered planes out there for beginners? I have a hobbico j3 cub and a hobby zone slow v I got from 2 different people who will never be part of this great hobby again. They got discouraged when they could not fly these planes and sold them cheap when they gave up. good for me but bad for our hobby! I have had to do extensive modifications to both to get them to fly. Both are now brushless with lipo power and fly pretty well now. I tried to fly both in stock form and struggled to do so. I am far from an expert but I can fly and just feel that a beginners plane should at least give someone a chance. I know using an instructor is best but still these manufactures should at least put a product out there that one could possibly fly with some success. Anybody ever encountered this before or is it just me?

price. for your setup i bet that plane alone cost $200. less tx. some people wouldnt pay that much for a plane</p>

i had the same problem trying to fly a gws estarter. it was just to under powered. i had to invest about 100 bucks to get it flyable.</p>

i do agree with you. at least give them a chance</p>

I too completely agree. But u really get what you pay for. My first plane was a $700 all up cost, nitro trainer kit. Obviously, mst beginners don't invest that much when beginning, but u can't really fly cheap unless your experienced. This hobby has a weird wall for beginners that keeps growing with every failed beginner. I really don't believe that there is a (very) cheap way to learn besides using (your friends) simulator. Weird. I never really thought about how hard it is to start out in this hobby. (I loved it since I was 3 years old so i was willing to invest the dough)

Someone gave me an old trainer that was complete except for the RX with an old .40 LA engine. Idon't have a clue as to how many people learned to fly with that plane before I got it. I ended up teaching three more pilots on it before one of them crashed it after he did his solo. All Iever asked was that my students bought there own fuel. Other then that they learned to fly for free.
After that it was up to them how much they wanted to spend on the hobby, that free flying went out the window very fast.
Iwas given another trainer this season but I had no students so it is now on it's way to another state for a few months. If it survives the summer I will have it back this fall for anyone that needs some free flying lessons.
Learning to fly is cheap, it's after the solo that can cost my students. Ihave one old student now looking at 40% planes, so much for keeping things cheap!!

well there are good trainer planes.. like the supercub or ez star. can't expect for a beginner to pilot a faster more powerful plane can we? i ordered this [link=http://www.twift.com/RC%20Toys%20&%20Hobby/TW748%20F4U%20Corsair%20-%20Warplane%20RC%20Plane.html]Corsair[/link] by mistake a month ago, and until now i haven't tried to fly it. im still using my pal's old sCub.

The inexpensive starter planes with brushed motors and NiMH battery power systems that I've seen fly well are HobbyZone planes. The HobbyZone Super Cub is one of the more popular RTF electric trainers. The HobbyZone Aerobird 3 and Firebird Phantom both fly pretty well too.

Other than those planes, I'd pretty much stick with brushless and LiPo power systems. You will get great performance with brushless/LiPo power setups due to the greater power to weight ratio of those systems. Brushless motors are 2-3 times more efficient than brushed motors, and LiPo batteries have a much greater power density (mAh capacity per ounce in weight). Those power systems cost a bit more, but they are virtually maintenance free, and the boost in performance is well worth it IMO.

The Slo-v Just needs the upgraded 7 cell nimh battery and it flies fine, I actually have the slo-v and through a lipo on it and kept everything else.. very easy fix and is plenty strong now, will not burn out the Esc or motor and can do continued loops and climb very easy.. I do agree though the STOCK set up with the 6 cell nimh is WAYYY underpowered, flyable though

-pkh- You have a very impressive hangar, can't go wrong with raptor 50's!</p>

Thanks for the compliment! Due to lack of free time, I've primarily been flying my Strykers lately (throw them in the back of the car with some LiPo packs and go). I need to get my Raptors in the air again this season. Probably need to do some engine tuning on them and maybe replace the receiver batts.