Gas or Electric
 

I am looking for my first RC plane. Do the electric planes have enough power. What is recommended for a newbie. My requirements are...
Inexpensive
rebuildable
easy to fly from the start

RE: Gas or Electric
 

If you have been reading through the forums, especially this one, you probably don't need to hear the standard advice about joining a club, the AMA, getting an instructor and use a buddy box so I won't go through that, although I am sure someone else will.

Your best bet is to decide what you want to do, and where you want to fly.

I have not yet flown electric but there are many before me that have (I mean as a first airplane). I have several glow planes, my first was a Tower 40 but I solo'ed on the NexSTAR Select... an overall excellent choice, glow powered plane.

Again, I am sure someone out there will recommend electric, but based on my limited experience (having solo'ed with the past year), I have only flown glow and love 'em.

Why NexSTAR? Well, they come RTF (Ready to Fly.. about 30 minues assembly plus battery charge), comes with everything you need (plane, engine, radio, plus simulator software that really does help despite some comments that it does not), and Hobbico has a limited guarantee that they will replace it if you crash it before solo if you follow certain requirements (flight instructor, buddy box, sanctioned AMA field, and so on.. here we go as I mentioned at the beginning... )

Best of luck!

RE: Gas or Electric
 

An electric setup with a lithium battery and brushless motor can outperform any regular combustion engine, but it will cost a bit more.

If you're going to start flying on your own you'll better start out with something small, light and easy to repair. A GWS slowstick or maybe an E-Starter if you're up for a challange. They come with a very cheap geared motor, but power is fine for its purpose.

RE: Gas or Electric
 

if you were to get electric get a GWS Slow Stick. it's easy to fly, if you crash it you can fix it within 5 or 10 minutes usually. i got mine for 35.00 off of tower hobbies. you will need a micro ESC rated at at least 10 amps. a battery ranging from$10-$30 depending on which one you want. a battery charger that is right for the battery. and a transmitter that comes with 2 or more micro servos and a micro reciever. here's a great example: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXGAE8**&P=ML
then you can use the transmitter and reciever in bigger planes as you get better. if you stick with electric you can still use the servos too. electrics have plenty of power. if you get a slow stick i recommend that you take your first flight in ZERO WIND. then as you get better you can learn to fly in a little bit of wind. nothing over 5 M.P.H. Good luck and happy flying!!:D

RE: Gas or Electric
 

hi if i were you id deffinately start with an electric especially if you want to teach yourself!!!.theyre cheap easy to fly depending on what you get and yes if you want power later theyre are plenty of brushless motors thatll make any plane go verticle!!!.
i started on a 3 channel firebird which is verry easy to fly.there are loads of good planes out there my advice is go to the electric forum and ask!!!.the gws planes look very good to me, from what ive heard the e starter is a good plane if your looking for one with aelerons but maybe not good for your first plane unless your gonna get help!!!.welcome to the hobby!![link]http://www.gws-online.com/home.php.[/link]

RE: Gas or Electric
 

sorry for some reason the links not working,just type the address into your browser and have a look at them!!!.

RE: Gas or Electric
 

As the others have stated, you can start with either electric or glow. The choice is yours, but there are a number of considerations to take into account. Both electric and glow require a different set of support equipment. For example, you can get by with your simple wall chargers that come with your radio equipment for a glow setup, but you will propably need to spend some more money on chargers if you go the electric route. On the glow side, you probably would want to get a starter, and of course a glow driver, but those items are not needed for electrics.

With all that being said, my personal opinion is to go with glow. The reasons are many, but for me the sound of the engine is important. Can't stand the idea of a silent flight. Besides, have you ever seen an electric full scale?

RE: Gas or Electric
 

Keep in mind that going glow-powered will of course require a dedicated field and an instructor if you haven't flown before. Trying to teach yourself to fly on a .40 trainer is not a good idea and could be dangerous.

RE: Gas or Electric
 

If you are going to try to learn on your own, I would suggest an electric.

The Slow Stick http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=++&search3=Go
is a good plane, however, you will need to add your own receiver, ESC (Electronic Speed Control ), micro servos (HiTec 55 are good ), transmitter and battery and charger. The down side to the slow stick is that it has a great deal of difficulty in wind much over 3 mph.

Another good electric that can easily handle wind to ABOUT 10 mph is the Easy Star http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXFXV0&P=ML
This is an all foam plane that is complete with EVERYTHING you will need to fly. While the Easy Star is an excellent starter plane, because it is similar to a glider, you will need a larger area to fly in, at least initially. At a MINIMUM, I would suggest a football field, preferably something larger.

Either of these planes are easy for a beginner to learn on and easy to repair. The "stock" motor and battery pack are adequate for flying them. Added performance and flying time can be gained by going to a brushless motor and LIPO (Lithium Polymer ) batteries, however, these items are not cheap.

If you are considering a glow powered plane, a couple of suggestions.

1. While the Nexstar is often suggested, IMHO, it is very overpriced for what you get. The simulator is nice, however you can D/L FMS for free (you add an adapter cable - Cost about $15 ). The AFS is the major point of contention with this plane. Many people (myself included ) feel that the AFS is the biggest piece of crap going. It fights all your movements and teaches bad habits that have to be unlearned later on. A prime example - when making an aileron turn, you move the stick enough to get the plane to bank, then you release the stick back to the center position. When you want to stop/come out of the turn, you move the stick the other way to level the wings. With the AFS you have to continue to hold the stick over in order to continue the turn. If you fly this way with a regular plane, the turn will tighten up very quickly and you will, in all probability, crash. When you are learning, the stick movements need to become automatic. Many people set the AFS at minimum or completely remove it. At this point you have now paid for something you are not/can not use.
By some careful shopping, you can get a better radio and a comparable engine and plane for the same money and frequently less money than the Nexstar costs.

2. Because glow powered trainers fly VERY NOTICEABLY faster than electric powered trainers (3 times or more faster ), they need a larger area yet in order to fly safely. In addition, because of the additional speed, a glow powered plane is going to react substantially faster than an electric. Because of just these 2 things (among other things ), I would strongly suggest an instructor if you are going to go with a glow powered plane.

Hope this helps.