After my disasterous attempt to fly my Aerobird I put together a Slow Stick and flew today. After correcting a few trim issues it was flying great! I know it isn't that exciting but it was my maiden flight for this plane and my first sucessful flight ever, and I didn't even break anything! I just felt the need to share this as I am still walking on the clouds. I may be wrong here (and please correct me if I am) but I would have to say that the Slow Stick would be an outstanding first plane for someone. After buying all the parts in addition to the kit you will spend about as much as an ARF but the self-recovery and slow flying characteristics of this plane are awesome. The kit by itself is only about $35 so spare parts are cheap. Also, with a roll of clear packaging tape and maybe a little glue you have your self what my father calls a Slow Stick repair kit.

Brett

It would be an excellent first plane if it was offered in an RTF. But few true begginners have the enthusiasm to build the first plane they fly, so I usually steer beginners towards a Hobbyzone Super Cub. Congratulations on your success and enjoy that stick, it will teach you a lot.

I totally understand your enthusiasm. I still remember when I started flying a Park Zone 3Ch Cub. I crashed many times an bought parts enough to pay for that plane 5 times over. But then it clicked. I had it and I knew I had it. I was flying. A cheesy grin crossed my face that stayed there for a week I think. I could not wait to get home from work and do it again the next day. If it rained or was too windy I was literally depressed because I knew I could not fly it. That feeling will be a recurring feeling when yo maiden your next plane too

Welcome to the addiction.

You sound like my twin! I also started with a Parkzone J-3, the first two times I flew it ended in crashes. The third time was a charm and I was smiling all day after a couple successful landings! But I also crashed and rebuilt it several times over before I got it completely figured out. After that, every other plane I tried was smooth sailing unless something malfunctioned or I was attempting something I wasn't ready for!
That slo-stick will be a good platform for learning the basics at an easy to follow pace. But it won't like windy days too much.

my first plane that actually flew was a slowstick, i tried to fly a estarter and it just didnt have the power. the frist time the ss left the ground and actually flew i had a grin stuck on my face for the rest of the day (prob like you) have fun.

there is nothing like the first time you take home a fragile airplane intact Every successful test flight IS a close second however...

Thank you all for the words of encouragement and sharing in my moment. I do believe it will take a while for my grin on the outside to go away, it will probably take much longer for the grin on the outside to go. I totally agree with the performance in the wind. Today I was flying in fairly calm wind with probably 4-6 kt gusts and the extra wind did make a big difference in the performance of the plane. I will say with this plane (as with all planes I would imagine) ensuring your plane is properly balanced can make a HUGE difference. I flew again later and the plane just kept wanting to put it's nose in the air even after full up elevator trim. After a nervous landing I double checked my CG and sure enough it was tail heavy. I slid the battery a little forward, checked the CG again, and was good to go. A friend of mine who has been flying for a while told me "a plane that is nose heavy will fly poorly. A plane that is tail heavy will fly once." I believe this and think I was a little lucky today.

I still remember the surprised look on my wife's face when I brought my first plane home intact. I was on cloud nine. Sh was just glad I wasn't shelling out for a new plane (little did she know).