Hello everyone, I'm about to jump into the rc plane world and need to find out if my engine and plane combo will work well. Now I'm not totally new to rc planes, I have flown a trainer a few times with one of my buddies, and have lots of hours on real flight sim. The plane I plan on getting is the hobbico superstar ARF. It looks like, and from what I've read, sounds like a good trainer. The engine is where I am uncertain. I'm leaning towards a magnum xl 52 rfs, but am not sure how it will fit that plane. The reason I'm leaning towards that engine is because of the good reviews I've heard about it and it's price point ( $79 at hobby people on sale till 2-15-10)
If anyone has any better engine ideas for around the same price please feel free to chime in! I'm looking for any input at all, even if anyone can suggest a better trainer, I'd love to hear that too! I appreciate any input and thanks for reading!

I'd just throw out the tower trainer and the OS .46la, and stay with a 2 stroke for ease of use/maintenance..just my 2 cents...Rog

I would agree. I don't normally recommend 4-stroke engines for beginners. Stick to a 2-stroke engine on your first plane.

Here is a combo that I have used to teach a bunch of people to fly on.  Tower Trainer RTF package. Plane, engine, and radio for $259. We actually assembled one at the field once and had the plane in the air in 30 minutes (the batteries were charged the night before)
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...XF4**&P=ML

Ken

Thanks for the responses guys! The RTF You mention Ken is one I actually considered, but I am leaning away from it because I would like to get a nice radio that I can use later on for bigger better aircraft, and felt that was not for me. The main thing I want out of the engine is ease of tuning and good price. It looks like a two stroke might be a better fit for me.

I use and recommend many high power computer radios. But when it comes to learning to fly my recommendations lean towards the simpler non-computer radio such as the one included with the Tower RTF package. There are many reasons why I recommend this, but the biggest reason is that it forces the new pilot to learn how to properly setup and fly their plane. Let's face it, we're all human and we all like playing with all the neat bells and whistles on computer radios. And it's pretty easy start messing with all the fancy features and mixes in a radio. Too many times new pilots will turn to adjustments such as end point adjustment and servo centering to make adjustments that should be made mechanically instead. It's very easy to make situations worse if you don't fully understand how a setup should be made if you try to adjust things in the radio. Also, I don't like for students to rely on mixes or exponential when learning to fly. The student needs to learn how to fly the plane, period. And assistance from the radio can actually hurt the student in the long run instead of helping. But if the student can properly learn to fly the plane without the assistance of the radio they will be much better off down the road as they move to more advanced planes.

Ken

Also, how can you know what any of the advanced features of the radio are for if you are just learning the very fundamentals of flight? Some radio programming can be pretty complex so why worry about it on a trainer where it really isn't necessary? I'd rather concentrate on learning the aircraft and controlling it than setting up the radio. Once you have gotten the basics down and you know you want to stick with it, then it might be a good time to upgrade your transmitter. That's just my opinion. I know some people see it differently.

Geeee Ken your really swaying me! Haha I still am unsure though, cause the modeler in me wants something that is more than ready to fly. And your right, a beginner should learn how to fly unassisted. And to be honest that is what draws me to the hobby, flying the plane the old fashioned way. I want a quality radio in terms of channel count, multiple planes, general quality etc. I don't know if I would even want computer assistance in the future as I think that would take away from the hobby to me. I don't know, I'm going to hobby people tomorrow so maybe seeing things in person will help me decide, and maybe they can give me some good advice on some products.

May I suggest you listen and BE SWAYED by Ken? His advice is without flaw.

The dealers will tend to lean to hearing the sound of $$$ entering their cash register, as that is their main motivation. That is why they are there.

One point to consider is that down the road a bit when you start going for bigger and more sophisticated models, you will want a better and more sophisticated radio system. Natural thing! Of course there may be even more sophistication when that time comes.

Regardless of the level of proficiency, there will be times when you will like to take the old trainer out, see how many landings you can make, how many innovative approaches you can come up with and land out of, help a newbie get a feel for the sport, and many other things that will enhance the fun of your own flying. Having a reliable plain-Jane radio is just the instrument to enjoy such acts with. Listen to Ken.

Find your local club. From there tell them you want to buy a trainer. Someone will have quality used gear for about half of what it would cost you new (if not cheeper). You do not have to spend $400 to start flying. Wait untill you get to your third plane before you buy anything new.

This is good advice. I bought used until my 4th plane, an Escapade. That one got the electronics and engine from one of the used planes. This sport doesn't have to break the bank.

Also, if you do buy a new ARF I recomend the sig lt40 over the superstar, The superstar is a good plane (it's what I learned on and still fly alot) but I think the lt40 is better. But, I agree with the others that it is better to buy used for awhile.

I'm on the fence on the used stuff,,dont go craiglist or the bay,,,alot of times a person will join up , buy everything and first little mishap they want out, and will dump their stuff for 1/2 price...which can be good, because you could get a good radio/flightbox/plane/engine/ for $xxx...or you could end up with a cracked up airframe/locked up engine /and a radio thats only been dropped a few time....so do what 67stang says and get a flying model that you can see fly at the field...alot of times though people tend to keep their trainer for the first flight of the day,,,so its not like they're a dime a dozen....go out to the field, you will learn a lot fast!.....Rog
and ask at your local hobby shop, they often have planes hanging from the ceiling that are ready to fly, just add rx/tx and fuel...

I like my PT 40 over my tower 60 <div>   Because  less $$$ are at stake.</div><div>                     twice the flight time.</div><div>                     I can just throw it in the car assembled.</div><div>                     The only down side is wind.</div><div>
</div><div>  I too came back to a trainer after 18 years. And it was not long till I was very board with a trainer. </div><div>  I was flying a trainer and going home and hovering a yak and landing a P 51 on my computer.</div><div>  I wish I would have spent that time and money on a more advanced plane and forgot the trainer.  </div>

Just my $0.02, but in regards to the radio discussion, I would at least get a 6 channel 72 Mhz system if you don't go with the fancier and more complicated 2.4Ghz systems. I went the Plane/Engine/Radio combo when I first started, and while it got me in the air quickly, the 4 channel 72 Mhz system becomes practically useless very quickly. I'm able to fly most of my planes on four channels, but when I've wanted to learn about things like creating and using flaps, I've had to buy another $100 receiver for my 2.4Ghz radio instead of using a really cheap 72 Mhz 6 channel receiver. I wish I would have bought a 6 channel radio from the start.

After my stint with Pico Sticks and teaching myself how to fly, I bought a Superstar 40 powered with an OS .46AX and soloed with no problem what-so-ever with just a few hours on a sim. I sold that plane to a coworker and with only sim experiance, he flew it just fine!

Then I went to a Kadet LT 40 with a Magnum 52 RFS. I agree the LT 40 is a great trainer plane, but when there is alot of wind, Ill take the Superstar 40 over the LT40 anyday.

And this is where I may cross lines with what most have posted here. I wouldn't recommend a RTF that comes with a cheap radio to anyone that plans on staying in the hobby and plans on moving up to bigger and better things. When you move up to your second or third plane, youll need a better radio and that one that came with that RTR is now wasted money.

4 Strokes. I see no reasoning behind the rep that they are for experianced flyers only because of maintainance. The only difference is once in awhile you have to adjust the valves. Just me, but I pulled the rocker cover just to see what was under there before I ever fired up my 4 stokes.

I got a futaba 7c 2.4and im just a begginer. radio will fly anything I want including heli if I fancy a shot of that later on. recievers 7 gram so can park fly/foamie as well.If you are getting 72 dont buy new as plenty wanting rid to get new 2.4 radios so bargins are out there.

As for not needing a computer radio I have4 models saved in memory,dual rates, end travel and expo set in 3 models and I am only a beginner of six months. Computer radios are here to stay and is part of the hobby you need to learn.

If you are going to be in this hobby for a while then get a good radio from the start (2.4) and that is going to do anything you may want to do in the future. Changing radio later on can be expensive what with the cost of recievers.

Question is are you going to be in this hobby for a while? If your not sure a rtf is the cheap way of finding out as ken has said.

I started out with the hangar 9 alpha 40.
www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx

I really enjoyed the plane and it flew really well. The main reason I got it is that it comes with a 5 channel spektrum radio. It is basic and has no mixing so you still have to learn to fly yourself. The only complaint with the plane is that I really don't like the evo engine it came with.