Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

Hi all,


I'm new to this forum and to RC flying also. Since I was a kid, I always wanted to buy my own airplane, but never did it. Anyway, yesterday I saw that there are some planes available for around 100€ (all-in: airplane, engine and remote control). Since I you all new more about this than I do, I wanted to ask a couple of questions:


- Which airplane in the 80-120€ range would you advise me to buy? I think the Art-Tech Wing - dragon sportser at 120 might be a good buy. (see: komplett.be) (I should at least be able to pitch, roll and throttle and preferably also yaw)

- Do you think it is worth getting one? I'm 21 by now and I don't have a lot of time. (university, addition projects, other hobbies,...) However, I am (and always have been) passionate about flying, so I think this might be a nice hobby to pick up.

- Would it be possible to fly these planes in my backyard? The total size is about 80.000 m² (including our house), but there are some trees in the vicinity. I also have a terrace which might be suitable for takeoff and possibly for landings. I'll post some picture later this week. Perhaps the Art-Tech Slowflyer might be better suited.

- Will flying an rc plane remain challenging? Or will it become too easy at some point in time?


Many thanks,
Moebius

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

My grand daughter's husband after having a few months on a simulator flew a similar plane on his own from the start. Other than a lot of time on the Real Flight Simulator he had never flown before.

The plane will need more room than your back yard. It will need at least a soccer field. There cannot be any wind when you fly it.

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

My best guess is that r/c flying will no longer be challenging when landing on the moon and mars is also not challenging.

RC flying is actually VERY difficult,dont take it lightly AT ALL!!! It requires ALOT of area with no houses or anything within few hundred yards and you'll most likely need a trained instructor to teach you. Oh,and if you dont have alot of money,you better start looking for a new job right now,especially if you get hooked.....and if you start out right,you most likely will. :D

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

A cheaper way to go would be to buy a simulator. You can get Real Flight 3.5 for about 110 Euro at towerhobbies.com.
The best part would be after you crash, you don't have to buy a new one. You just hit a button and keep going. :)

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

Hi, tnx for quick reply! I must say, I'm not to fond of the simulator idea. I already played tons of good flight sims and know all about the theory of flight, so I think it is rather redundant. However, if it is really needed, I might spend some hours on it. Can someone confirm?

Also, I'll post some pictures of our garden later today, so that you can confirm it is not possible to fly there.

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

I just found this plane: http://www.parkflyers.com/html/begin-air.html

It's virtually identical to the Dragon Sportster you're looking at (besided the decals). There are some videos at the bottom of the page if you want to see the performance.

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

When you say you've spent time on sims already, were they RC flight sims, or full scale (real plane) sims? The reason I ask is that full scale sims are not going to teach you anything about orientation, since you are generally in the cockpit. Turning the wrong way when the plane is coming at you is easy to do if you don't practice.

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

@Kow: Well, I have been playing regular flight simulators, such as MS Flight Sim, Lock On and many others.
@SargeMT: The beginair also looks very good. Is there a site (preferably Belgian) where i can buy it?

As promised, these are some pictures of the place where I would like to fly. There is quite some space, but it might not be sufficient for high-speed runs :). But would it be possible to do some slow flying there? For the spicier flying, I'll just go to some field in the vicinity.
http://student.kuleuven.be/~s0165052/1.jpg
http://student.kuleuven.be/~s0165052/2.jpg
http://student.kuleuven.be/~s0165052/3.jpg

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

beautifull yard but it looks much too crowded to fly in, especially for a beginner.
The SIMs you have flown will be very little help to you as far as RC flying.
On the cheap you can download FMS for free but you will need a cable and transmitter to hook up to your computer.
FMS is better than nothing, I went middle of the road myself and bought a used Realflight G2 from Ebay and along with an instructor at a local club the SIM speeded my traing up quite alot.
Number one choice will always be to get an instructor. If you have an instructor you can get by without a SIM.

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

Alright, to finalize this thread, I just want to ask whether you think it would be a good idea to buy an rc plane to mostly fly in the garden and sometimes in a nearby field. If you think it is, which plane would you suggest me to buy? The budget is around 150€ (but willing to pay more or less, depending on the price/quality ratio)

Some planes I've seen:
- Art-Tech Wing Dragon at 75€ (bargain?)
- Art-Tech Wing Dragon Sportser at 120€ (maybe too fast for the garden, but ideal for the field?)
- Begin-air (haven't seen it in an online store yet)
- j-3 grasshopper

If you can add any interesting planes to the list, please do so. I'm looking for a RTF plane, which is good at flying slowly and is aerobatic. Also, if you know any nice places to buy the plane in Belgium, please let me know.

One more thing: can the wing dragon do aileron rolls? Or can it only be steered using the rudder? (which seems rather illogical and IMO would seriously hinder the agility of the plane).

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

It will take a very slow flying and very lite wing loading plane flown in almost no-wind conditions to fly in that yard. With the obstacles a new guy could never do it.

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

OK, I see. I'll do my first flights in the nearby field then :-) The Wing-Dragon Sportster also comes with a sim, which will be great for practising. Concerning the plane, can anyone give some advice? Which type would be the best and which is the best shop to buy them?
Also, how can the WingDragon turn, given the fact that it doesn't have any ailerons, but rudder instead? Guess it'll be far from nimble then?

RE: Newb questions: looking for trainer
 

Being nimble and easy to fly are often a compromise. Especially in a beginner airplane

The airplane has horizontal stability designed into the wing with dihedral rather than using ailerons. You will find that it turns nicely with just the tail feathers.

There are many schemes of control, especially with the beginner planes. Some only have a rudder and motor control. To turn use the rudder. To go up or down use the motor

Some planes have just ailerons instead of a elevator or rudder. They go up - down or left - right with just the ailerons which they call elevons.