beginners help
 

Hi all, just getting started in RC Planes. After taking my fathers advice, I bought a Dynaflite Piece o Cake glider to "learn" on. It took me about a week and a half to complete the kit. We took it out the the field below my dads house to fly it, after about 20 minutes fighting with the engine (cox .049) it was ready. My dad threw it into the air and it flew nice and level, then he told me to start climbing, so not thinking, I just pulled the elevator stick all the way back, strait up into the air and onto its top on the ground. The crash didnt mess anything up, so we tried it again, this time with a little less elevator, but it did the same thing, starit up in the air... this time it broke the elevator and rudder off.
I have absolutely no knowledge of rc planes, so I decided to post here and see if anyone knew what the problem is.

Also, people have told me to throw the glider away and get a regular trainer, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

beginners help
 

being a very new beginner myself im going to give you the advice that was given to me by just about everyone here, find your local club, and seek an instructor, as for the glider VS trainer, id get a trainer.
good luck

beginners help
 

any suggestion on what kind of trainer, .40 or .60?

40 or 60 ??
 

The 60 size is a little more forgiving and easier to see. I recently tried a Sig 40 size Kadet which has a span close to most 60 size ARF kits to use as an intro plane after helping a new pilot with one at the field. This plane does come out a bit on the tail heavy side. Plan on using an Irvine 53 as it will also be used with floats.
EXCAP232

Glider as trainer.
 

Powered gliders are harder to learn on. The .049's don't run
well, and won't give a steady supply of power. When their screamin', the glider will climb like mad....and are hard to keep level.
And your lucky to get a couple minutes of flight time in.

Keep playing with the glider, until you can get a real trainer.

I always recommend the .60 size, because they fly better than the .40's, and are easier to see in the air. Look for something
with a 65 inch or bigger wing.

Is your motor mounted in the nose, or on a pod ? The nose mount is better. I've never seen a pod mount that worked very well.

Good luck....Dave.

beginners help
 

How far are you from Summersville, WV? That's where I fly and will be there this Saturday the 28th at about 10am until I can't stand it anymore. If you can get your glider repaired and want to bring it I'll be glad to help you out. If you can come, let me know and I'll give you directions to the field.

beginners help
 

Hypter, you couldn't find a better fellow to help you than Joss Stick. See if you can get together with him.

quint :D

beginners help
 

Joss Stick, Thank you, I just may take you up on that offer, I live way up north in morgantown. Its a good drive to Summersville, but I dont think I am doing anything else this weekend, but to be sure, ill let you know after I have a talk with the wife.

It is mounted on the nose.

Thanks, quint!
 

Sounds Good! There are some friends coming from Pittsburgh to fly that day. You are only about 2 hours away.

beginners help
 

We'll be heading through Morgantown about 8:00 - 8:30. Mike's a great guy and will give you tons of help. If you're a definate, I could possibly bring my Senior depending on the winds and the buddy box and Mike could take you up on that for a while if he doesn't mind. Let us know and I'll make room.

beginners help
 

Hey Doug, He's coming so if you can stuff it in and have room for everything that will be great!

beginners help
 

Consider it loaded. I'll find a way to make everything fit.

beginners help
 

I want to thank both you guys, I will be there.

looking foward to it

Wes

beginners help
 

Great! We're looking foreword to it!!!

beginners help
 

Doug, we may have to strap Michael onto the top of the truck.........he he he.
Can't wait til Saturday guys!

Mike

beginners help
 

Glowplug is the other buddy of mine that is comming Mike. See you guys on Saturday

beginners help
 

WOW! There will be two Mikes and a Mike-ull at the field Saturday. Get Doug to tell you about Mike-ull. I gotta kid him about that some more on Saturday.

beginners help
 

Hey guys, I took your advice and bought a Trainer. I ordered 2 of them today, one for me and the other for my wife. Tower Hobbies has a deal going on 2 for $98. they are .40 size kits, and I ordered all the accessories required to build 1 plane, wheel collars, covering, ca hinges etc. I need to get an engine and radio.. any suggestions?? It calls for a .40 - .46 2 stroke or a .52 4 stroke, is there any certain radio that I should get or just a cheap 4channel?

beginners help
 

Not sure what kind of a budget you're on but. For a low cost basic engine I would recommend the Thunder Tiger GP42. They are about $50. If you plan on being ion the hobby for a while, it sounds like you are I would go with a TT PRO46. Quantum Models has them for $74.00. It is a great engine for the price and you can use it on your next plane when you are done with the trainer. We are using these on our planes and have had no problems. The Senior I am bringing down has a GP42 so you can see how it runs on Saturday as well as the PRO46's. The engines are very easy to tune and setup.

If you are planning on staying in the hobby for a while I would recommend a 6 channel radio setup. They will cost a little bit more than a 4 channel but they give you some additonal features such as dual rates that you can't get with a 4 channel. You won't really need all the features on a trainer but you will when you get your next plane. Once you figure out where you will be flying, I would suggest you see what is primarily being used there and go with the same brand only because it will be easier for someone else to help you if they are familiar with the radio you are using. My son and I both have Futaba 6xas since you can program up to 6 different planes on the same radio.

I'm sure Mike will chime in and give any other info I forgot. We can discuss indepth on Saturday.

See you then....

beginners help
 

I see that the Futaba 6XAS is PCM but comes with a PPM receiver, would it be better off paying the extra money ($30) and getting the Futaba 6XAPS with the PCM receiver, also, what is the diffrence between FM and PCM, sorry for all the questions, but I dont know anyone that is into RC Planes.

beginners help
 

Wes,

We just have the standard 6xas. I really couldn't tell you which is better FM or PCM. I know with the PCM you cna program a safe mode function into the radio so it will hold pre-determined settings for the control surfaces of the plane. There's alot of treads out here pertaining to the subject. Heres a link to one

http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...803&forumid=27]

beginners help
 

Thanks doug, I think ill stick with the standard FM Radio.

Here are some pics of my glider that I will be bringing down saturday. Im not the best at covering, this was my first attempt at it, so its a real mess in some places.. well ok, all over the plane. Glad you cant really see the "professional" covering job in the pics, just have a webcam.

beginners help
 

another

beginners help
 

• Both PCM and PPM are encoding methods running in the FM modulation mode. One is a bit more interference resistant than the other, but the standard PPM is the one 99% of us use for glow engines.
• If you DO use the PCM mode, you should make yourself aware of the advantages/risks of programing certain fail safe settings and in some cases not to use them at all (That's a whole different discussion that you don't want to start here...).
• If you choose a computer features radio the 6XA series is a very good one, but also consider that if you get a low end set like a Tower 6 channel with the standard servo airborne pack and later decide to upgrade, the only thing you make redundant is the TX. Comparing the cost of a new basic 4 or 6 channel system to an airborne pack such as you will buy for your second plane (oh yes, you will end up with many ships at a time ;) ) the TX is a small price. Besides, you will want a second TX around sooner or later, so nothing will be wasted.
• I second the GP-.42 choice, it's a neat little engine to begin with. For my 2 cents worth, avoid the OS-LA.40 like the plague, but some like them... If you're in the higher $$ range, the Tower Hobbies .46 BBABC is a great performer for the price.

Still to come are the top end ships and all those pretty 4-strokers and gas engines... Are you sure you want your wife to know what it will all cost? :eek: :) :D

quint

beginners help
 

and another

beginners help
 

LOL, I dont think she needs to know

beginners help
 

Do like I do and just tell her the cost of the kit. Honest honey it was only $89.00. Forget to tell her the cost of everything else.

beginners help
 

Its kinda hard for me to do that cause Tower sends me an email when the stuff is shipped, including everything I ordered, and we use the same email address. :rolleyes:

Like the 2 Tower Trainers I ordered she thought I was just getting the kits for $98, well I ordered all the accessories plus covering, and she kinda blew up at me a little bit (see my signature?) cause it was around $150. So I really dont think she needs to know about a $230 Radio.

beginners help
 

Get separate e-mail addresses definately. That's a must. Separate checking accounts helps too.

Thanks Quint for explaning the differences in PPM and PCM, i really wasn't sure and didn't want to give any incorrect info. I wonder what Wes likes on his Pizza? But thats another forum

beginners help
 

Wes and his wife, along with Doug and a crew from PA came to Summersville today. The glider was tail heavy is why it wouldn't fly. We balanced it and then it was way to heavy for the .049. It wasn't a black widow. But his wife said I had it in the air longer than Wes had it up. We had to use all the lead weights we could find plus about 60 cents in pennies and three rocks (see photo).

Doug did put him on the trainer cord for his Kadet Sr. After he took off he handed me the box and told me to teach him. I had gone over what the sticks did before we took off. I told him he had it and I didn't take it back until he told me he was too nervous to fly anymore which was about 5 minutes. He did Right Turns and Left and did real well.

It was a good day at the field even though the weather wasn't the best.

beginners help
 

Hey Mike, just made it home, thanks for taking me up with the buddy box! Thanks alot for the GP-42 Doug! cant wait to get together again!

beginners help
 

You're more than welcome... Come back again Soon! Sorry Jennifer's face was hidden behind the horizontal in the picture. :( I shoulda been paying attention.

beginners help
 

Thats ok, Jennifer said you can make up for it by bringing Bubba to the field next time.

beginners help
 

Mike, with our little buddy Bubba getting an article written about him in this coming month's RC Report magazine, he might want to get an agent. :p. You better bring him (and talk Wes into comming too) down for next year's 'Offishal' Uncle Quint's 4th of July fly-in" so folks can get their picture taken with a world traveling super hero.

quint :D

beginners help
 

I had already planned on bringing him. Bubba wasn't the only thing I forgot. I didn't have enough fuel for a tank. My other jug was still in the case at the house. :( Doug gave me enough to get around the patch a few times.

Wes, I'll bring him next time.

beginners help
 

congrats on getting to fly Hypter.... My personal method is to get a Yahoo Mail account... free and if she doesn't know about it... well.. much easier to get your e-mail private....

course sometimes it is still pretty hard to hide a whole new plane... but somehow I've managed to do it...

if you keep your building area nice and cluttered that can help a lot too.. hard to tell what's new and what's just part of the old pile.

BTW that picture of all the weight in the front end of that glider is too dang funny... I know my Butterfly had a couple ounces of Lead up front... and flew similarly crappy... but that big 8ft wing was hard to balance so maybe that was my problem all along...

beginners help
 

BFedRec

I was just joking about her flipping out at me when I order stuff,
I think she loves it just as much as I do, and that is a GOOD thing :) :)

Sept 28
 

Wes and Jennifer,

It was truly a pleasure meating the 2 of you over the weekend. Your quite welcome for the engine. It will help with some of the start up costs not having to but that too. I had a club member give my son Michael one for his first plane and felt it was the least I could do to help a newbee out. Hope to see you again real soon.

The "Offfishal Uncle Quint's Fly-in" is scheduled for July 4th weekend of 2003 in Ocean Springs, MS. Hope you like crawdad pizza.......

beginners help
 

Hey guys I just got my trainers, going to start building after I go through the book to prepare myself for what lies ahead, I ordered my radio from tower a few minutes ago, I just went with a cheap 4channel because we have to pay rent tomorrow (I spoke too soon about Jen not yelling at me about the prices of things). It doesnt look like a hard task to complete this kit, should be pretty easy, hopefully ill have it done by sunday, my dad called one of his old friends and he said if I had it done by then to bring it to the field sunday and he would try it out for me. After I get the plane done I would like to get together with one of you guys soon so I can start my adventure in this hobby.

edit

Doug, im sorry for emailing you at work, I dont think I have your other email address

beginners help
 

Don't worry Wes, Doug doesn't do anything at work anyway........

Mike