No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

I live in the middle of nowhere, with the closest RC clubs, trainers, and airfields being over 3 hours away. I recently built a Kadet Seniorita as a trainer, only to have it destroyed by the family dog while I was away on vacation (far beyond repair). I had just finished covering it and hadn't even gotten a chance to fly it yet - not a happy man to say the least. So now I've just decided to look for another trainer. At this point, I'd just prefer an ARF. I already have a .40 OS engine and radio, so something in that size range would be ideal. Since I have no choice but to learn to fly on my own (yikes), I'm looking for the most durable, forgiving trainer. Also, my guess is no matter how tough the plane is, I'll probably still destroy it at some point while I'm learning, so something that is reasonably inexpensive is a bonus. I don't have the catalog in front of me, but I saw a few ARF trainers in Tower Hobbies that resembled the "Stik" models, but are made by a different company. They were only about $60 I think and supposedly bomb proof. The Seniorita I built was recommended to my by a friend who said it was a relatively easy plane to learn to fly with (only rudder and elevator - no ailerons), but even if it hadn't been destroyed by the dog, I was still a little nervous about flying it because the construction seemed kind of "delicate."

Any advice on really tough, good trainers that can handle some abuse?

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Get one of these, they're damn-near indestructable:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK965&P=7

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Just my 2cents worth, get your self a foamy. I know it will take some additional outlay for chargers and such, but they are somewhat more forgiving than a balsa/glow powered trainer.

You chances of crashing your plane on the first flight are about 100%. I've got probably 30 to 40 flights with an instructor, and I crashed mine on take off Friday. It's repairablem but there was some major damage.

You need an experienced pilot to check out the plane befor your first hands on. Things like balance and trim, problems that become obvious only in the air, need to be under control before you have a chance of getting the plane in the air and back on the ground in one piece.

In my case, using a simulator didn't do much for my actual flight skills. Things are just so much different when you are standing there with the transmitter in hand and the plane heading down the runway, and that is the easy part.

Don

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

skelrad,

Since your kinda stuck with having to be self taught, you're going to have a hard time finding a plane that would be good for you to teach your self on without risking a 5 second flight. You'll probably have to think quite seriously about going to a park flyer or powered glider to have the best success. What part of the country are you in? Winds in various parts can be a problem.

I'm in the process of building a little ARF to use for park flying/thermaling. It's sold by Hobby People and called "School Boy". It has a 50" wing span, and I'll be using an OS .10 on mine. I'll let you know how it does after it's finished and flown, but it appears by the nature of the design it should be a gentle flyer.

A .40 size plane that is really tough and uglier than butt ugly (but its a kit), is the Balsa USA Stick 40. If you build the fuselage with epoxy and the wings with carpenters glue, it's an extremely tough plane. I've had several and it will fly on an engine as small as an OS .25 LA. Your .40 will have a bit more power than it needs, but you can also throttle back. It can be build 2 or 3 channel. IMHO, in you situation and if you want to stay with a .40 size, I highly recommend you go with this plane. Since you already some building experience it won't take you long to build it up. I can get a picture of it's smaller brethern, the Stick 30 tonight (I have one framed up) if you want.

Hogflyer

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

You may not be aware of them but it appears that there may be clubs in your area.

http://www.ama-dist-8.org/Clubs/Locator.php

I used 25 miles from Fort Colins and got four results.

FRONT RANGE AIR SHOW TEAM......RC......FORT COLLINS CO 80525
LOVE-AIR R/C INC...............RC......LOVELAND CO 80538-1781
ROCKY MOUNTAIN MODELEERS.......RC......FT COLLINS CO 80525
VALLEY VIEW FLYERS.............RC......LOVELAND CO 80538

There is contact info listed also. Before heading out on your own, please try to contact some of them.

A good, inexpensive ARF trainer is the Tower Trainer 40:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCAS2&P=0
65 bucks

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Thanks for the quick replies. I evidentally haven't updated my profile - I'm no longer near Ft. Collins. I live up on the side of a mountain in the Rockies. I have a nice big hay meadow to learn to fly in. Thankfully, in the mornings there is almost no wind on most days.

I do have a question regarding the "Sturdy Birdy" mentioned. On Tower's website it says it can take up to a .40 engine, but in the manual it says not to exceed .30 due to weight. Better to go with a different model, like the Duraplane Trainer that is built for a .40 size engine, or do you think the Sturdy Birdy would be okay with the bigger engine? By the way, I'm at 9000 feet, so as far as power goes, the bigger engine the better.

Thanks for all the help.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Try this, i'm self taught on this plane three years ago. Maybe 10 bux in the air frame. PM me if you need more details. I can give measurements and such if you need it. The "fuse" is a 3 foot piece of 1/2 inch square poplar from Home Depot or Lowes. The "wing saddle" is mahogany or sheery from the hobby store, and the up rights are 1/2 inch hard balsa. You can make the whole thing out of balsa, but then it's kinda frail. Wing, horizontal stab, and vertical stab, are 1/4 inch blue foam core. Three channels, throttle, rudder and elevator. Flys with a 350 brushed GWS motor on a 5.3 or 6.6:1 ratio gearbox. And slow enough to walk next to. I dorked mine into the ground several times. Lotsa fun though, I still have mine at my parents house. Not enough room here at my apartment.

Oh yeah, get a simulator. I has saved me thousands. No joke.

PS: the wing is baked in the oven for 20 minutes in a form I made from plans at foamfly.com

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

My brother and I taught ourselfs with the Multiplex EasyStar. Yes it is electric, but the thing is almost indestructable. We did climb alot of trees at first, but after about 3 weekends we didn't have any problems. Great way to learn the basics. I am now getting into nitro. The EasyStar was a great first choice for us. Hobby Lobby RTF for 269.00 or just the plane for $59.00. Good luck!
chopper man

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Skelrad,

At that altitude you'll need a light wing loading for .40 power. I'd suggest rebuilding the Kadet, but the structure is not the most rugged (that's also why its so light and flies so good).

In your case of teaching your self to fly, keep with a 3-channel plane - Rudder/Elevator/Throttle. You'll have to learn to trim it out by your self, and the less controls to mess with the better. You can upgrade to ailerons at a later date after you learn to fly. You will also be battling the issue of density altitude where planes just don't like to perform. At 9000' even a .40 will struggle to develop power on these planes. With the altitude, the plane will still want to fly at say 40 mph airspeed, but the ground speed will be quite a bit higher compared to being at 500 ft. I think you really need to take a very close look at an electric powered glider. It has the wing area to help carry the weight yet keep the speed down. They are very gentle to fly and react slowly to control movements. When they stall, the don't loose very much altitude (your biggest enemy). And the motor will not care about density altitude, only the prop will (others who fly at high density altitudes may be better at helping you with props, but I think a larger dia may work better also).

The Duraplane has a span of 50" and weighs 5.25 lbs., the Hobbico Sturdy Birdy has a span of 53" and weight 4 lbs. Quite bit less in the weight department and a bit more wing area.

By comparison the BUSA Stick 40 has a span of 60" and weighs 5 lbs. It has a lot more wing area. http://www.balsausa.com/kits/kit.htp?id=36&shopperid=
A bit more weight than the Sturdy Birdy, but a much larger wing for a lower wing loading.

What every you do, take your time and do your homework. You're flying at an altitude most people will never see. I know when I fly full scale that the climb performance at 9000' has really degraded to a crawl. The same happens to models.

Hogflyer

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

I'm leaning towads the Sturdy Birdy II, but don't know if it's smart to go ahead and put the .40 engine in it versus the .30 max that the manual recommends. ?? Is it okay as long as I get the CG right, or will the flight characteristics change enough that I'll have a tougher time handling it?

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Try to talk to somebody at Hobbico first. You need to expalin to them that you think you need to fly with a larger engine due to the density altitude you'll be flying at - let them know about that 9000'. Last thing you want is to find out your plane will fly at 60 mph ground speed, and just mush along.

I haven't read the assembly manual, but per the Tower web page, it should work if you something like a .40 LA. They warn against the FX engine which has ball bearings and will weight a lot more and power.

Hogflyer

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

How about a flight sim, I've got old G2, and it's got a instructor mode in it. Ive heard more times than not, "If you can take off, fly and land the simulator, with out crashing, you'll be able to fly the real thing." I still play with it, just for fun, and if you do crash, it cost $0 to hit the reset button.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Completly off topic. but do you think that could work as a speed plane they suggest a .25 la what do you think a tuned .61 would do to it [sm=confused.gif]

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Nah, you'll rip the wings off or fold them in half.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Look at the recent " simulator " thread in beginners. An FMS download is free and a cord for your transmitter is available under "links" on the site for about 40 - 50 bucks. You'll be glad you did. No one builds a trainer to withstand a crash.

Good luck.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Look at a SPAD Debonair (http://www.spadtothebone.com). Build the wings longer than the plan, and add 1/2 inch to the chord. with an OS 46 ax and the slightly lower wing loading, you should be ready to go. And you'll have a plane that is truly designed to take a beating.

Brad

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

It depends upon which .40 you have.

If you have the .40 LA then it will work fine on the Sturdy Birdy as the .40 is more like a .25 FX in weight and power.

If you have the .40 FX, then yeah go with something else.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

For what its worth, I taught myself to fly over the past few months with a Hobbico Superstar .40. Its a pretty big plane that flies well. I bought a simulator and flew it for 2 weeks every night. Weekend of the 3rd week, I took to the air and flew pretty well (for a newbie). Once I got over the first couple of flights I relaxed and have been just fine. I could be better at landing, but I have only bent up one set of gear so its not that bad. I also flew a Goldberg Tiger 2 that I liked. I am a firm believer that you can teach yourself to fly if done right. Others may disagree, but I thought it was fun and am proud to be a self taught.

Edit to add- I firmly believe the simulator was the only reason my plane did not end up in a pile of sticks after 5 seconds. They are worth their weight in gold.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Skelrad,
I think I have found the perfect plane for you. Its the U.S. Aircore 40 Trainer. It is a plastic, foam, and wood airplane that is "indestructable" It is selling on tower for only $70 [link]http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKH24&P=7[/link] I have also posted a pic of an add that was in MA a few years ago. It may be a bit blurry and hard to read, but in the lower right hand corner in the blue box it says, "If you crash and destroy your U.S. Aircore 40 Trainer before you learn to fly, we'll replace it - FREE!" I admit I have never flown this model, but I have seen it fly. I also know people who have crashed theirs several times without destroying it. But with a free replacement guarentee like that, I don't see how you could go wrong.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Unfortunately the guarantee also states the following.
Success Guarantee: You will learn to fly with this trainer or
US Aircore will replace it with another US Aircore trainer.
All this is assuming that the modeler learns to fly under the
supervision of a club designated instructor at an AMA-sanctioned
field. This is also assuming that the airplane is assembled as per
the instruction manual. This guarantee is effective for 60 days
after kit is received.
If you don't have an instructor it doesn't do you any good or fly at a sanctioned field.
Still looks like a good bird.
chopper man

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Thanks for pointing that out chopperman. I should have gave the warranty a closser look. Yeah, I was thinking that deal sounded too god to be true:eek: I still think it would be a good choice though. It is without doubt a tough plane for a great value.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

You mean there is nobody in Colorado Springs that fly's r/c?

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

I wouldn't recommend the U.S. Aircore Trainer. I had one and it was too heavy. If you already knew how to fly it would be fun but I would suggest something like the Kadet Senior to learn by yourself. I think you want something slow and stable where things don't happen too fast.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Slow and stable would be the electric foam trainer I posted earlier. A lot of guys have learned on something similar to it at the feld I fly at. Plus, building it is a snap and allows you to learn a little about building in general as well.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Consider the Hobbico Nexstar. It comes with a basic flight simulator. It is almost RTF and you can spend hours on that simulator to get a lot closer to flying without disaster. Good luck in whatever course you take. You have a lot to choose from here.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

I've been reading a lot of good suggestions here with a lot of good planes talked about, but is everybody taking into consideration the fact that skelrad is flying at 9000 ft.? If you've flown a full scale non-turbo/non-supercharged recip at that altitude, you know how degraded climb rate can be. While all these planes fly great at most fields which are probably at 3000 ft. or less, how will the thinnner air at skelrads atlitide effect it. Also how will the altitude affect engine performance? All engines have a service ceiling at which point they won't make their rated horse power. Guys I've talked to who live at elevations at and above 5000 ft. find that in a lot of cases they have to run larger engines to make up for the altitude, and this is just a bit more that half the altitude skelrad will fly at.

What he needs is a plane that will perform as well at 9000 ft. as everybody else see's at much lower atlitudes.

So here is a couple of questions -
Who knows why the average 2-stroke model airplane engine makes it best power at sea level or below, and loses power as the altitude goes up (i.e. why does an OS .40 AX make more power in Miami than Denver)?
Why will a plane (say a Cessna C-150, just to use as an example), climb at 650 feet per minute at 600 feet above sea level, yet less than 100 feet per minute at 8000 feet above sea level?

The basic theory behind the answers to these questions is what skelrad has to deal with.

Hogflyer

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

3hrs from nowhere? That puts you right smack in the middle of the Rockies. You can travel from Fort Collins to Pueblo in 3hrs. Can't find a single club in between there? You can get from Denver to Trinidad in 3hrs. Are you 3hrs from Fort Collins? 3hrs in any direction puts you within 45 minuets or an hour from the closest field. Colorado is peppered with flying clubs. They are everywhere. In all honesty, I think this is a BS post. You can't be 3hrs from the nearest club, no matter where you live in Colorado. It's just not possible. So, I think it's an excuse to go it alone and try to learn to fly without joining a club.

But, if you insist on going it alone, I will try to help you. I learned to fly at 6000'. I've flown in Silverthorne at about 8500' and I've flown in Leadville at 10,400'. I think I'm experienced enough to give you some advice on high altitude flying. ;)

You need a HUGE engine to get enough thrust. RPMs don't mean squat. It's the thin air density that is going to cause a loss of thrust. I flew an LT-40 at 10,400' and only filled the tank up 1/2 full to save weight. It took me every damn inch of 600' to get it off the ground. All flying was done over 3/4 throttle. Anything lower than 3/4 throttle and it started to sink and get mushy. Landing speed was approaching 15-18MPH at about 1/2 throttle and sinking like a brick filled with lead ballast.

I'm an experienced pilot. I've been flying for close to 8yrs now. I fly giant scale gassers and 40 size 3D and I still have a hot rod LT-40 with a TH .75 that I like to flop around when I feel like slamming on a plane, but don't want the shaky nerves that go along with flying a $2500 gasser.

I flew my 80" Extra 300S w/G-62 powerplant and it was NOT fun. You guys think those things land fast at sea level? Try it at 10,000' [X(] Landing a 16 pound aerobatic plane in those conditions is like trying to land a guided missle on a poker card. Probably 30 MPH landing speed at 1/2 throttle and eating up runway like a dragster going down the 1/4 mile track. The runway gets real short in a big friggin' hurry.

I'll tell ya, flying at that altitude is not for the inexperienced or faint of heart. I highly recommend you just knuckle up and go find a club. The premise that your 3hrs from nowhere is simply untrue. Unless you live 25 miles up a dirt road on the backside of the continental divide and it takes a Hummer and 3 bulldozers to get down the driveway in the wintertime--your NOT 3hrs from a club. Can't be. You might be an hour from a club, and I realize how much of a mess it is to drive that far just to go flying. I used to drive an hour in HEAVY TRAFFIC in Denver just to go flying. I know it's a pain.

But, you need some help if you want to succeed at this. You just do. You've got extreme conditions to deal with and you have no experience. Get some help. If you insist ono going it alone, I'm afraid your just setting yourself up to fail. You don't have to fail. You can succeed, but you really need some help. I doubt you'll find any plane/engine combo that will land at slow enough speeds for you to actually learn by yourself and not tear up a bunch of planes in the process. There is just not enough air to get them slowed down to a reasonable landing speed.

You need to learn how to fly first. Get 10hrs of stick time on and get soloed first. Then go fly in the hay field out back.

I know this isn't what you wanted to hear. But, it's the truth from an experienced pilot who has flown at those kinds of altitudes. Trust me, I had my hands full. Thats no way to learn how to fly and land. You just have no idea how much runway your going to need and how FAST a plane is going to come down to land. Just steering it on the runway after you land is almost imossible. Think of the landing speeds that jets guys have to deal with. 30MPH? 40MPH? 60MPH? It's not a cake walk to control a plane on the ground at those speeds. You better be one smooth pilot, or your going to run that sucker right off the side of the runway and rip the undercarriage out of the plane.

Just get some help. If you were down in the middle of a wheet field in Kansas at 400' elevation--I wouldn't be telling you any of this. 9000' is a recipe for disaster--even for the most experienced pilots. I got lucky, and I won't be doing that again anytime soon.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Just curious....

Where do you live?

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

BTW, the idea that a trainer that's sturdy, or more sturdy than normal trainers, is an idea that can bite you.

If you're going to learn without the security of an instructor, no amount of sturdiness is going to be enough. Airplanes are compromises and overly strong ones are compromised. They fly lousy when they're beefed up too much. And are harder to fly and nearly impossible for learning.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

the worlds best trainer is the sig kadet lt-40. simply the best and most durable trainer ever. it is very cost efficient. it will run very well with a .40 size motor and even better with the os .46 fx. it will do some areobatics also.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

I appreciate all of the advice, but take it easy on the accusations, huh? I've got better things to do than start a BS post. Fact of the matter is, you hit the nail on the head with your description of where I live (you know, after you said that living 3 hours from nowhere is simply untrue)! I DO live 25+ miles up a dirt road that, what do you know, is up on the backside of the Continental Divide (hence being at 9000 feet). I live on a ranch, and yes, in the winter it's not uncommon that we have to take 6 hours to use the backhoe and tractor to dig out the 1/4 mile of our driveway to the nearest plowed road. Actually, that will be worse this year because we just built a new home about a 1/2 mile further down the driveway, so it may take all day to plow out now! But, sorry, we don't have a Hummer. Most of the time in the winter we just have to use snowmobiles to get around the ranch when the trucks can't make it through the snow (we average about 280" of snow a year). So your description was spot on - way to go! You have to remember that mileage means nothing in the mountains - there's no going 65 mph on the dirt roads up here!

You are right on one fact though - after looking into it further, the nearest flying club that I could locate is not 3 hours away. It's only 2 to 2 1/2 hours away (Steamboat Springs). But doing 4 hours of driving in a day is more than I can do just to get to an instructor. Working a ranch is a 12 hour a day job, 7 days a week. Hence, the reason I would like to be able to teach myself to fly.

Regardless of the fact that you think I'm full of it, thanks for the help. I know that flying at altitude is going to be tough, but the other option is to not fly at all. When I do take the time to drive to a place like Steamboat or Fort Collins, I'll make sure I take my plane and track down an instructor at a club. But that trip only happens once every month or two, so it's not a good "learn to fly" plan.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

hillbillyexpress,

Have you ever tried the Balsa USA Swizzle Stick for durability (have you ever heard of the Swizzle Stick)? There a lots of good trainers out there in the .40 class, and with limited knowledge it's difficult to be able to lay a blanket statement on one trainer like that over another. They all have good pro's and con's to them. There is no best or most durable trainer out there - it all depends on a persons preference, and factors like where are they going to fly, what is prefered in the area of the country they live, ect.

skelrad,
Seeing more of your situation, you may want to seriously consider an electric powered glider. That is the only plane I can think of that has enough wing area (i.e. low wing loading) that will fly slow enough to learn on at your altitude. Electric motors don’t care what altitude they are at, so that is one thing in your favor. Have you considered posting in the powered glider and glider forum? Some of those guys may be able to give you some good guidance on what would work at your altitude.

Wish you the best of luck.

Hogflyer


Hogflyer

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

All,

I have to agree with the above. A few of you are acting like hes trying to teach himself how to do open heart surgery here. For gods sake, its RC aircraft.... Its supposed to be fun, not a witch hunt. What if he was full of it.... What if he just wanted to learn on his own, like many have in the past? Its no big deal and should be fun as long as he has some wood glue ;-)

Some of you should try to guide him better in his choice of plane, not attack him. Me personally, I dont like clubs, it too proper. I like to go it alone, in a field, with some friends... Its my choice. Give him the same ability.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

I went this route,downloaded the free G3 demo.flew it enough to learn the basics as far as disorientation,stalling etc. I then built a SPAD BUHOR from the plans at spadtothebone.com .Frankly you cant get a tougher airplane than a BUHOR,its got a very low wingloading,Ive stuck it in trees cart wheeled it down the runways,stalled it up high and basicly got it into a flat spin, slamming into the ground,Ive tore up props,landing gear and mufflers but the SPAD held together.
With the basic training from the flight sim I would take it off,fly it without issue,landings were harder.At first I would just get it flying away from me,chop the throttle,keep it level and glide it in to the open field.When I got braver I would start landing approaches and start landing it where I needed to.After about 2 gallons of fuel I had it down,no instructor.
It may have been easier with an instructor,but with a SPAD it was fun going at it alone,worst case,as long as the engine and radio are ok your only out a $20 airplane,build a new one in a day,and start over.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

I built a BUHOR, it had horrible flutter in the ailerons. I crashed it and folded it in two. Then I built the foam trainer. Now, I fly anything and help out the new guys. All this in 3 years. Oh yeah, my simulator has saved me thousands. I still use it too, it's fun to play with when it cold, or dark, or windy, or rainy, or too frigging hot to stand out side in the middle of a field in the hot, muggy St. Louis summer.

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

I'll have to second the idea of the Nexstar. It comes with a simulator, which you can do basic practice on. I would save the engine from the Seniorita for when you get a second plane. You will want to practice on the Nexstar's simulator until you are able to get roughly 20 landings and takeoffs, without crashing. While learning the simulator touch and goes, you will also learn orientation. Also, landing on the simulator is actually slightly more difficult than in real life, at least it was in my case anyway. Make sure you have the "speed brakes" installed on the Nexstar, as they also generate LIFT (I know from experience). Also, be sure to mow that grass strip very closely for less wheel rolling resistance. It's too easy to nose over in grass that's more than 1" thick.

There are some advantages to the Nexstar that other planes don't have. For one, the elevator and stabilizer are easily removed and replaced (they're held in place by strong nylon bolts). The wing bolts down with a single screw. If you damage a fuselage, you can save everything else and essentially just bolt the parts on the new fuse. The landing gear is a bit of a disadvantage, though. You have to make sure it snaps into place completely and give each side a toug. If one comes out, it may have to either be epoxied to the clip through the hole at the bottom, or you might wish to use rubber bands to "bunch them in" where they join the fuse, which ever works. I would opt for the latter.

Considering the altitude of where you live, I can't say how the Nexstar would perform. You might need a long strip, and you may need to fly it fast. So, anything you can do to get as much out of that wing as possible will help. Don't forget to install that simulator that comes with the plane, it's helped me a bunch. I wish you the best of luck, and let us know what you get!

NorfolkSouthern

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

skelrad,


I learnt to fly without an instructor as well due to certain circumstances. My learning curve has been slow as a result. but its certainly do-able.

instead of looking for a very sturdy, hard, well built plane, i'd suggest look for slow flyer electric that is very light and can glide to a landing if you take your hands off the stick. I started flying on something like this: (this is not the plane i learnt on, but its similar)

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/wingdragon.htm

Review
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/notes-wingdragon.htm

it taught me the basic controls and orientation. and when i'd do something stupid i'd just let go of the stick and it would glide itself back to the ground or crash but still be air worthy. (or when it lost battery power in the air). you need two things for this though...light or no wind, and a nice grassy open area to take care of the rougher landings. You can hand launch it because of the grass (the video tells u how to). Another advantage is that it comes with everything included at a relatively low price. you will not have to deal with the array of accesories that come with glow power. Even spares for this are available. Plus, it has only three channels so its not TOO complicated to fly and understand.
(Is this beginning to sound like one of those infomercials :D )

Once you get this plane under control you could start looking for something bigger but still slow to fly and with ailerons.

Just a suggestion...good luck with the flying...and post pics of what you buy and where you fly [8D]

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

im self teaching on a gws beaver with good success i have drained a couple of batteries without crashing and so far i have only lost a pair of props (they dont take much) i have had a couple of scary looking crashes and it just pops up and starts flying again (after a safety check) at 9kft i dont know though

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Wow lots of advice so I am going to butt in with more. I feel your plain been their.. The little electric foamies are hard to break, but fly very hard meaning unstable. Big planes fly easy but are expensive experiments. I learned on a Telemaster 40 great slow flyer, BTW easy to repair. In your state I would do both pick a 40 size plane with your 40 engine on the high end so it’s over powered. Low wing load 10 to 15 oz. Then get a 400 size electric brushless again over powered by 50% in like trainer, eagle or telemaster etc. Just ONCE get an instructor to fly your new planes balance and trim them.. then you buddy box for 1 hour. Everyone needs a weekend vacation use one to learn a great hobby a H**l of a lot easier. You will be years ahead and many heart breaks behind, then use a simulator and your field to get good.
Rich

RE: No Instructor - Need a Sturdy Trainer!
 

Here's annudder suggestion. FX Hobbies make ARF SPADs, their main claim to fame is their wings, they are nice, not the usual sharp leading edge you see on many SPADs.
I know your way up there in altitude, and these SPADs are a lit' on the heavy side (mine weights in at just under 7 lbs) so it will take more than a 40. But it will take some real abuse.
Just me 2cents, probably not worth a penny.:)