What (in your opinion) is the best beginner jet out there in terms of reliability and ease of flight.

My flight experience:

All glow or Gas propellor planes, I would consider myself to be an high intermediate to advanced pilot, flying highly manureravable planes like the Sukoi SU31, Cap's, extra 300, etc.

I am definatly getting the edf bug looking at what is out there.

Get a habu and you will be very happy. I fly big EDF and my little habu is the most fun I have had flying. It goes slow fast and can do anything you throw at it.

Is the Habu have enough power with the stock equipment and the recomended batteries that Hobby Lobby recomends and sells with the complete bind and fly?

Also, what BIG EDF's are good for a second or third jet? Are the bigger ones easier to fly? I know in Glow planes the bigger they are the better and easier they are to fly....

Thanks

Weskel

well bigger EDFs are the same price as turbines. And no they are faster and allot harder to fly then small EDF. A good large EDF would be the BVM electra it has very slow flight aerobatic and fast flight. Aslo everything is plug in play no guess work with BVM.

Here is a video of my converted BVM viper to electric. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9chn...layer_embedded

The stock set up on the habu is more then enough to have fun with and if you want more power you can always just install a bigger battery. I use mine in grass and it gets up in about 20 feet if that and will go straight up but my battery is a little better then the stock battery.The habu is the perfect first EDF in my opinion.

I agree with gunradd's recommendation. The Habu is the best entry level RTF all around fun and friendly EDF. At $400 bucks it's actually a good deal but more expensive than the smaller offerings. With size also comes expense. The Habu fits a 70mm fan and flies about 85 mph top speed stock. Since it is rather draggy (by design) it will not benefit from extra power and hits a ceiling much over 115 mph. It does utilize EPO foam (like the multiplex twister and other Parkzone planes) so repairs are pretty easy and don't result in too many pieces in crashes.

If expense is an issue, I recommend the Phase 3 EF 16. It comes with a 64mm fan and will fly almost as fast as the Habu in stock form (~75mph). The EF 16 is a little friendlier all around in stock form and at $110 it's hard to resist and arguably the most populer EDF ever. It comes with motor installed in the fan and supplied ESC. It has taileron control only so you only need 2 servos, RX and battery (2200 3S cheap and plentiful these days at less than $20 from HC). Habu Batteries are 3200 4S and cost twice that much.

Also, if you want to go faster, the EF 16 will fit 70mm fans and achieve speeds of 140 mph. I think the record is over 170 mph. Also as you've guessed, the bigger planes are easier to see. The small jets "seem" faster but can be a challenge to see when highly powered.

The EF 16 is very easy to assemble but requires more time than the Habu of course. I found the most challenging part is the application of the supplied decals which must be cut out and positioned in large sections. Many guys paint and glass these planes and create real masterpieces which look very scale. If more power is desired, there are a few mods needed for the taileron support, but they are easy to do.

Both planes are enjoying a lot of popularity on RC Groups. The EF 16 has been around for a few years and there are several build/mod threads for it. The longest is over 600 pages and still going.

Thanks for the replys and info. At this point I am not looking for major speed just something to ease into EDF's. Expense really isnt an issue, I just want my first experience to be a good one and not leave a bad taste in my mouth..

The Habu looks like it will be the one for me, I saw on RCGroups where peaople were putting hte sonicelectronics electric retracts in them, would you recommend me using the stock fixed gear for awhile and learning the ropes before going with the retracts?

Thanks

Retracts in general tend to be a source of numerous headaches.

Personally, I like the looks and performance of the Habu without the gear (less drag and weight) however if you have a nice smooth runway and would rather use it than handlaunch the plane I recommend using the stock gear and maybe installing retracts later. Note this will require a lot of modifications and overall performance wont' be as good as without any gear due to weight.

It is a simple quick change to go back and forth to stock gear or without. That's one nice feature in all parkzone planes.