Which one? Pros and Cons
 

Alright well imma be buying a plane and curious to which one i should get. my choices are as follows the NexSTAR 46 RTF package and the Electrastar package. just curious to which one would be best to learn on. havent found a price for the electrastar yet so that would be helpful too. and what your thoughts are on nitro agasint electric. seems to me that the nitro would be more fun being that you get to play more with the engine and waht not but i have haerd the electric has inmeasurable power to the nitro.

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

I learned on the Electristar. $299 at tower. If you look around..there is a tower ad# to get it for $275. HOWEVER....if i was to do it all over again....I would start with NITRO. Its a great sized plane however the motor is a bit underpowered using the NIMH batteries...and I think the Lipos is way too much money to invest on a trainer. Keep in mind you would need two battery packs per flight....unless you were planning on sticking strickly to electric after the trainer. Even then most planes need diff batteries.

I personally feel the Nexstar is also overpriced. All the extra doo-dads dont make it worth the price. Read some oof the user reviews on RCU. I would get the Hobbico Avistar, Hanger 9 Alpha 40, Alpha 60 or Arrow.

I was just given an avistar but havent flown it yet.....Ive seen it fly....definitely aerobatic when you are ready for it. I have also seen the Alpha 60...very good looking plane. Covered well. And a great size to see from a distance.

Good Luck....make sure you join a club. Im certain would have crashed my first flight out if I tried to do it on my own. Its not as easy as some think it is.

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

One more thing...the marketing for the Nextar is what gets all of us "noobies"....it isnt as cool as it looks.

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

one thing to consider is what you are planning for your next plane. The glow fuel packages wil easily convert into the next plane where as the Electrastar will need a much lighter and possibly small second plane. there are not many electric seconds planes I would recommend

as far as the Nexstar, you can order it without all of the bells and whistles and you can use everything that it comes with in the next plane. I have succesfully trained several people on the Nexstar

Don't forget about teh Hangar 9 PTS Mustang. This is a good trainer in the right hands. It's a bit more than most ordinary trainers but in the hands of a capable instructor and with proper instruction it makes for a great training tool and remove all the goodies and you have a pretyy decent Mustang as a 2nd plane

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

When I got back into RC after an almost 20- yr layoff, I got a Hanger 9 Alpha 40 trainere. It flew and flies great. Though I've moved on considerably I still have it and in fact took it out Wednesday and flew it. I don't know how many flights I have on it, but I've been flying it for at least 4 years. In fact, this winter I'm going to strip the covering, make some changes -- to bolt-on wings, among other things, and recover it.
It really was RTF. The Evo 46 literally syarted up at the first touch of the starter and we never had to touch either needle. So the notro part was painless. NOT always the case! LOL
The 60-size Alpha wasn't available when I got mine, or else I'd have gotten that one if for no other reason than the bolton wings. And as someone said, it's easier to see.
For where you are, I'd go w/ one of the Alphas and right now forget about the electrics. Just my .02 worth. But good luck to you whatever you decide to do.
Al

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

:)If I was starting over I'd go with the Hobbico Superstar trainer ARF. It costs $99.99. Then I'd purchase a OS46AX or OS55AX engine. About $110 for the 46 size. Then I'd purchase an upscale radio. Maybe a Futaba 6EHX for $170. Or even a 9CAP for $400.

That gives you a starting price of about $380 which is the same as the Nextstar and you have a great radio and just as good an airplane and way better engine. Then when you want to step up to something else...you'll have the equipment.

Recently this year, my son started flying. I moved on from the traniner (same as above) in two weeks. He now flys and Ultra Stick Lite. It doesn't take as long as you might think to go to the second and third planes. I'd plan for it right from the beginning.

When I started I bought 2 4 channel radios, 6 channel and a 9 channel all within the first 6 months of starting the hobby. I wish I'd have gotten a better radio right off.

Thanks
Barry

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

yeah but my i liek the idea of the computer sim too, it must be nice, anyone have any htoughts on it? and for the rpice right now if i get it by aug 31 i will be getting 40 bills off of it so that accounts for something putting it down to the 330 range or w/e? just tossed up between electric and gas, i always liked the gas just cuz of the sound and just because lol, but noone answered about the power the nitro gets to teh power of electric.

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

folks, I'm gonna move this over to the beginners forum. You'll get loads of input as well over there. I will leave a link in this forum so it can be easily found

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

Don't buy it because it includes the sim.

All of these packages include dumbed down versions of the sims or ( as in the case of the PTS P-51 ) worthless sims.

The Electricstar merely needs LiPo's and nothing else to be more powerful than a similiarly sized glow plane.

You can pick up the LiPos for it quite cheaply if you hunt around....

If you decide to go glow I'd suggest the Alpha or something similiar.

As suggested though if you spend a little more up front and put together your own combo, something which most beginners -NEVER- do even when we tell them otherwise... you'll end up saving a boatload of money later.

e.g. Purchase a better multi-model radio now, and you will not end up buying another one later, which you WILL do otherwise!

Barry's recommendation is not bad...

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

ok then with your thoughts leave links to where these planes could be found. how soon do ppl normally get their second plane? i figured on having this one well into next year. so none of the raidos that come with any of the RTF kits are worth anything all of them are junk? they look good to a newb but need pointers

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

All the training planes you can imagine with links are at:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

The radios that come with most of the Ready-to-Fly trainers aren't junk, they're just free.

The flight pack costs as much to buy seperately as the full radio system with transmitter. The Futaba 4YBF that comes with the Nexstar is a good example. Tower Hobbies sells the 4YF with tx battery, charger, freq flag plus full flight pack (4 S3004 servos, R168DF receiver, rx battery, switch harness, and 6" servo extension for ailerons) as well as crystal for receiver all for $119.99. If you buy just the flight pack and the receiver crystal without the transmitter, tx battery, and charger it costs $122.98. You're getting the transmitter for free and saving three bucks.

These are good sport radios, but they lack the programming and mixing functions that the more advanced computer radios have. They also lack the ability to remember setups for multiple models like the more advanced radios do. While you'll eventually outgrow them, these entry level sport radios are good radios and ideal for training; simple is better.

When you're ready for a fancy computer radio next year or the year after, your trainer radio will be handy as a backup to your main radio, as a buddy box for when you want to teach your friends how to fly, or as a flight sim controller.

I bought a Futaba 7C after soloing on my Nexstar so I could use it with more advanced planes. I still have my 4YBF and I still fly with it. It's a good radio.

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

RCKen has a great sticky in the Beginners Forum which gives lists of great primary trainers and first sport airplanes as kits or ARFs, as bubbagates mentioned.

As far as trainers go, I've flown the Nexstar, Avistar, Superstar, and Tower Trainer. I bought an Avistar before I flew the others and am still convinced I made the right choice. Doing it over, I would purchase a six channel computer radio and an O.S. 40LA with the Avistar. I would purchase the cheaper 40LA because I was hard on my engine while learning to set everything properly and ran it lean a few times.

RE: Which one? Pros and Cons
 

IMHO anything but a Nexstar