Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Is this plane good for a begginer. Will it train me for a trainer?

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

First I don't know a thing about your dragonfly but I can tell ya that the tower hobbies 40 size trainer is a great plane. I had two and now my father has one. Just skip the tower hobbies 46 and get an OS 46ax.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

I have that engine. If you remember I cant get an instructer so I would probabley crash.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

The Dynaflite Butterfly is essentially a 3-channel powered glider. It flies very gently and slowly and would make an excellent trainer. Even though this is a large plane, it needs only a .15-.25 size engine to power it.

That being said...

Any resemblance between the plans and the wood provided is purely coincidental. The parts do not fit well and quality of the wood is questionable. There is little or no hardware included. About 10 years ago, I undertook to build this kit for a friend. He and I opened the box, studied the plans and parts for about 15 minutes, closed the box and returned the kit to the hobby shop. At that point, I was a scratch builder with 15 years experience under my belt. It's a pity because it's a pretty plane that flies great. Here is a link to an online review of the Butterfly:
[link]http://webpages.charter.net/rcfu/KitReviews/Butterfly.html[/link]

I would recommend a more conventional trainer such as a Sig Kadet, Goldberg Eagle or GP PT-40. These planes will all be MUCH easier to build than the Butterfly.

You will probably need an instructor to learn to fly any type of R/C plane. Good luck, keep asking questions and keep us posted.

Dr.1

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Bud I learned to fly by my self but I have gone to school for A/C mechanics and pretty much understand how planes work. If I were you I WOULD NOT build my first plane because they never last to long and it sucks when you crash a kit. ARF's are a great place to start. Build next time. The link to your plane was very informative and it would be an easy plane to fly but rather fragile so I think something else would make a better place to start. You may want to consider a flight sim like aerofly pro deluxe. I have it and it would be a great place to learn to fly. With it under your belt you should be able to fly a trainer by yourself if its setup correctly.

Heres what I would do. If you can, get a sim. Then practice and do some more practice. Next get a popular 40 size trainer ARF. Take your time building it and get it running perfect BEFORE you go for your first flight. Do a range check and ask lots of questions so you know everything is perfect with your plane. Lastly find a SAFE, open area away from everyone and everything. hint- In winter frozed lakes make a great place to fly. Have a friend with you to be a spotter and give it a whirl. Make sure your controls go in the right directions with each stick movement. Check your CG and if in dought go to the forward end of its range. Never go past the rearward mark for a trainer. It makes them much more squirly and hard to land. Oh and finally if your can find a guy at a field to show you how to fly thats the best thing yet. You can ask around your local hobby shop if nothing else. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about anything R/C related.

Good luck, flying rocks!!!
Dave

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

I've built two Butterflys. The airplane should be modified in a few places. The outer wing panel of the first one broke off during a gentle left turn. I built another a few months later and did a number on the wing joints. For a first time builder you will have fits trying to get the center section's iron rod lined up with the holes in the ribs. It is also a taildragger which can give a beginner a bit of trouble until your instructor irons it out for you. If you try to add a tailwheel it will require some nose weight as well. Both of mine flew well with a .25. I wouldn't recommend anything less. As DR1driver said above it is essentially a big powered glider but using only a three control system, no ailerons, I wouldn't recommend it for training. In MHO every trainer should have ailerons, and then encourage the beginning pilot to go on from there. Just my $.02.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

I agree with both ballgunner and mojo. Get an ARF to learn, not nearly as much emotional attachment when you crash it (and you WILL:)). A Senior is a great trainer, or a Telemaster, if you want to build a kit, both are basic stick-and-panel kits (Senior ARF has ailerons, kit doesn't), or an LT-40 is a good plane also, a bit smaller.

The Butterfly is an awesome glider trainer, though. One of our club members built one, took out the polyhedral in the wing, powers it with a .20. It climbs like a U-2 and will go out of sight if you let it. He shuts the engine off when he gets to altitude, can glide for over 30 minutes

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

No plane will train you.

Either you get an instructor, you get a coach, or you train yourself.

I never went with an formal instructot. I had some good coaches using RTF electric and RTF sailplane

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

My .02 - the ButterFly is a slow, user friendly plane. Yes, it's a little tough to build, but the experience is worth the trouble. Building a plane (be it a Butterfly or a good trainer)from the box up is IMHO the best way to get a start in this hobby. Too many buy an ARF, have a minor crash and then do not know how to fix the damage. Sure, many people disagree with me, but any plane will crash. If it's built right from the start, then the pride of its maiden flight is twice as nice. Maybe it's just me, but the vast majority of my planes started out as sticks on my workbench, and I have more confidence in them than ARFs - I've learned the building tricks and apply them, plus it just fun. The main trick to the Butterfly is to reinforce the wing with gussets, and beef up the firewall. It's also a good time to met other builders in your club and gain some tips from them. I have put ailerons on a Butterfly (micro servos are great for this) and it became a 4 channel trainer!! I sold it when it was about 2 seasons old, and it's still flying after changing hands many times. Once complete, find a good instructor, train on a buddy box, and hopefully a good test pilot. I guess is, bottom line, don't be afraid to build a trainer from the box up, every plane will eventually go down, and have fun.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Bassfisher covered the questions about the Butterfly. With ailerons and a little less dihedral it would be a ton of fun. Gentle flyer for a new pilot. With the ailerons, (why didn't I think of that ?) it would be a joy to fly, both with and without power. As to building it, for a new builder might be a problem, but surely there is someone in the club that could advise and help where necessary. Recommend for a new pilot because of the size and gentle flying characteristics.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

I think the Butterfly was a great trainer. I didn't have one. But I did see other people with them. And a couple of people let me fly thier Butterflies. I thought it was wonderful. But I didn't build it. The people that did build them generally had no previous experience and theirs turned out alright.
Gliders and powered gliders are entirely different animals from the regular powered airplanes. Things happen so much slower. And since it is best to have an instructor with you anyway, you might consider going with a conventional trainer type airplane.
Now, if you out on the farm somewhere with no one to help you, then the Butterfly is the ticket. You will crash it. But you stand a better chance of success with the Butterfly than with a faster trainer type.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

I do live in the bonies and have a conventional trainer what should I do? Thats what im trying to figer out. When I bought the trainer I thought it was going to train me like it said but now ive learned theres alot more to it. Im just looking for a plane to train me for my trainer. Any suggestions?

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

In American Somoa ? Probably not alot of help there to teach you. Since you are in that situation and will have to go it alone, then I think the Butterfly is the way to go. But it can be a handful in the wind. Fly it on calm days . Or in that calm part of the day, say the morning or before sundown.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

will it train me to fly my trainer

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

mikmaxx,

Yes, you can learn to fly with a Butterfly II as a training airplane, but you must be made aware of the fact that while the airplane is about as gentle a flyer as they come, you will still have to learn how to control it. It will take time and several flights to get used to seeing how the model looks in flight and learning what to do to make it go where you want. Crashes are going to be inevitable. They happen often enough even with an instructor.

A simulator can help a lot because it will allow you to learn the basics of model aircraft control without risking an actual model.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Im an expert on 2channel park flyers and I am going to get a simultor for christmas and maybe a a 3channel aircraft will this teach me to fly my trainer?
Thanks for the help.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Well, if you are flying Parkflyers and you are going to get a sim, I would say you should have pretty good success with the Butterfly. But, you keep asking if "it" will teach you to fly your trainer. Hmm, maybe. Experience is the thing you need. It sounds like you have some experience. And when you get your sim, you will be able to get much more experience. That should help prepare you for your Butterfly. Then the Butterfly and the simulator will help prepare you for your trainer. The steps you are planning are logical and this plan sounds good to me.
Some crack-ups are likely to happen from time to time. You may have experienced this with your Parkflyers and understand already. But you should eventually succeed.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Mikmaxx,

I don't know if this helps or not, as I've only been flying electrics for the past 2 years, but I started out on my own with a sim, then a 3 channel GWS Slow Stick, a slightly faster 3 channel kit plane the GP BLT, then to a 4 channel GWS Estarter Trainer and now my 4 channel GWS Formosa.

My three channel experience taught me a lot. I don't think I would have done well going from 3 channels to the Formosa, a pattern type plane, but the transition to the Estarter was a natural progression.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Actually 5 minutes ago I just lost me park flyer to a river:(. Will the sky pilot be better than the butter fly?

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

That is a difficult question to answer. The Butterfly was a very popular kit 20 years ago. Old guys like me remember them well. But I have never heard of the Sky Pilot. Chances are the youngs guys that know what a Sky Pilot is, never heard of the Butterfly. Finding someone that is familiar with both airplanes might be tricky.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

heres the sky pilot.http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXJUS5&P=ML

Would this be better than the butterfly?

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Hi mikmaxx

Here is some friendly advise from my experience with the Dynaflite Butterfly.

1 I would not recommend this plane for to anyone as a first glow plane !!! The Butterfly is a kit plane and took me the better part of 100 hours to build.
2 The Butterfly is a very stable and slow flying plane but can be difficult to fly and land in a strong breeze. ( If you are flying Park Flyers now you can already relate to this )
3 The Butterfly is a three channel .10-.20 plane ( No ailerons and small engine ).
4 If you have never built and covered a kit plane you are going to need some basic building and covering tools. ( more expense. ) and a place to build the plane and the 99" wing !!!
5 You are going to have to make a transition from a 2 channel 1 stick radio to a 3 channel two stick radio. ( Throttle on the left and rudder/elevator on the right. )
6 The Butterfly is a taildragger and can be a bit more difficult to taxi and take off than a trike gear plane.
7 As to your question of can the Butterfly help you learn to fly a trainer.., The Butterfly is listed as a trainer airplane but has some drawbacks for a beginner as I have listed above.

My recommendations would be to start out with a .40 size 4 channel ARF ( Almost Ready to Fly ) trainer such such as the Tower 40 Trainer http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCAS2&P=0 It cost only about 5 dollars more than the Butterfly and can be built even by a first timer in a couple of evenings with very few tools ( you probably already have these at home ) and a little epoxy glue. It can be assembled in a smaller area, it is a very stable airplane and can take the wind much better than the Butterfly. It has ailerons using 4 channels and uses a larger engine, With it you would only have to make one transition from your 2 channel radio instead of going to a 3 channel and then on to 4 channels plus you would start out with an engine that is large enough to use on a much larger variety of airplanes.

My old Butterfly is still alive and well but again I would not recommend this kit as a first glow plane or a trainer. There are far too many planes out there that are better trainers than the Butterfly.

Just my .02 worth.

P.S If at all possible find a good instructor to help you on your first flights, as you stated earlier in the thread you can fly a Park Flyer but 4 channel glow planes are going to be quite an adjustment even if you are using a simulator at home. There are a couple of clubs in your area and it should be easy to find an instructor. AMA has a club locator on their web site at http://www.modelaircraft.org/

Sorry for the long winded reply.....

Dale

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

I dont live in denver I live in durango I just put that on my profile.

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

Stumbled across this late--what did you wind up doing? Here's my perspective, assuming you are on your own:

I taught myself on a Cox .049 powered Schoolmaster which had a 39 inch wingspan, and I had a great time doing it. I flew 3 channel planes for years before I got my first aileron plane. Years ago that was true of most RC pilots because servos and extra channels were very expensive, so most people started out simple. Now we're seeing the same thing again with people starting on simple park fliers. It is a fun way to learn because you are not tied to an instructor.

Gradually learn to handle some wind. Start by making S turns into the wind and keep allowing the wind to bring it back as you fly at right angles to the wind. Don't try turning downwind until you are comfortable doing the S turns because a light slow plane can get away from you very fast on a downwind turn.

The transition to ailerons is an absolute non-event, once you are comfortable flying on three channels. Do things in stages. If you go straight to a .40 powered ARF with just a little stick time on a park flier your plane might not survive the first flight. Just take your time, go slow. Build a Butterfly, get used to it, then shorten the wing so it's faster. It's all about having fun and not going too far beyond your abilities at any stage.

I'm amazed at people who think they have to have ailerons. I guess it's all they know. With a three channel plane you put the rudder on the right stick. Then, because of the dihedral, the right stick really controls roll just as it does on an aileron plane. The only difference is which stick you do your takeoff runs with. That's a minor transition. Later you can learn how to use the rudder on an aileron plane to do slips and such. Step by step, enjoy every step.

Jim

RE: Dynaflight butterfly?
 

I agree with fighter pilot. the Butterfly makes a fine beginner plane IF you understand what it is designed for and what it can & cannot do.
for a raw newbie & the proper motor-.20 .25 it can fly many slow easy flights& be a easy , if long floater lander. it was never meant to fly in much wind & ANYONE who flies gliders will tell you flying these easy to control models in strong wind is not fun& not recommended.
although the days of 3 channnel power trainers is long gone , there are some people who could do better at first with one . if your on your own , you really have little choice IF you want to be successful without serious expensive crashes. you can crash the Butterfly of course BUT, glider-like planes generally fly themselves & just releasing controls will right it self better than most new flyers would do on their own.the butter fly was really intended to be hand launched.
you may find that it make an excellent SUPPLEMENT to power flying when your instructor cant make it . keep you skills up.