Hi folks,

I'm just getting started into electric RC planes. I've been flying electric helis for the past 10 months, and doing okay. I thought I'd give planes a try. I've purchased a 4ch [link=http://www.dynam-rc.com/products/airplane/cessna.htm]Dynam Cessna EP 400[/link] RTF kit because the price was right ($150 to my door), it comes with everything I need to get started, it's electric, and high wing. I figure if I like it, I can start dumping serious money into a good TX and plane later.

I haven't flown it yet. However I've been spending a lot of time in the Simulator (Realflight G3) flying the Cessna 182. It seems that I can fly pretty well, in terms of taking off, banking, some messy loops (plane in SIM seems slow). I can't land very well, it seems like the plane always runs off the end of the runway before it stops... not quite sure what to do there.

I've been poke'n around these forums, but there seems like SOO many on airplanes, compared to the heli section. I'm wondering if there is any good "newbie" tutorials or progression charts/check lists for flying planes. Or am I already going about it the best way that I can? There is a flying field in my area, but I'm a bit anti-social when trying to learn something, and wouldn't want to show up there until I can at least take off and land properly. I have lots of private space to learn how to fly before I endanger other RC pilots

Anyone have any advice, comments, or suggestions?

There are some good beginner stickies at the top of [link=http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7]this forum at Wattflyer.[/link]

LOL Brian...check out the thread I just posted............. I preordered spare parts for mine before the build was ever done. Welcome to the plank world! I like you have spent at least 10 hrs flying the J-3 cub on FSOne to get a feel for my plane and also thier Cessna with ailerons (4 channel) too.
I am grounded on the planks until I get the spare parts in......probably tomorrow. One of the local clubs has a deal right now....learn to fly using thier trainer plane and TX for 50 bucks.....after you get your solo card......the money you paid for the lessons is put toward a membership in the club. I may be purchasing that deal real quickly....... Looks like I need it!
Heres the link for my maiden flights aftermath! [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6290871/tm.htm]Maiden flight[/link]


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Of all the things I ever lost....................................... I miss my mind the most!

Hi Brian,

I actually wrote a beginners learning RC course here:

http://www.oz********.com/2007/03/le...ers-guide.html

There's about 10 parts, and you are probably beyond much of it, but reading through it may answer some of your questions.

W.r.t. landings and running long the key thing is minimising your airspeed when you land. The rule is Elevator controls airspeed, throttle controls rate of descent (counter intuitive isn't it). On your approach you need to throttle right back to just above stall speed, so the aircraft naturally loses altitude, but doesn't stall. Now with the throttle set you use the elevator, slightly nose down to increase airspeed, or slightly nose up to decrease airspeed. Once you do this two things will happen - it will become much much harder to hit your aiming point for landing than when you just pointed the plane where you wanted to land, but when you arrive at your landing point you will be going slowly enough that your plane will settle down and come to a stop quite quickly.

Cheers,
Oz.

Hi Brian,

Welcome!

The plane that you bought is not a good beginner plane. From your attachment I can't tell whether the plane is yet another version of the Art-Tech Cessna, or ifs its made by another company. In either case, starting on your own with a 4-channel plane is quite difficult. using a Cessna, which for the most part are known to be underpowered and have fragile landing gear, only makes the task that much more difficult. If you can afford to, I would strongly advise you to set the Cessna aside and get a good beginner plane, like the HobbyZoneSuperCub or the Mulitplex EasyStar. Learn to fly the beginner plane, then assemble and fly your Cessna.

Thanks for the advise guys! I haven't checked back here in a few days, and I guess I missed the last two posts until now. I appreciate your feedback!

Earlier tonight, I went out to maiden my Cessna. Not only was this my first flight with this particular plane, but this was my first flight with a plane. Here you can have a view at part of my flight (I didn't get it all recorded). The soccer field we flew in was pretty bumpy as far as the ground goes, and it made for a bumpy take off and landing, but it worked out okay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTT6IdEeGyo

The second part of the video is a friend flying one of his planes. He came along to bail me out if I got into trouble with the plane. For the most part I'm quite pleased with the plane I got. It flies quite well and I didn't have any problems controlling it. So for my first taste at flying planes, I'm quite happy, and hope that my experience continues to be a positive and enjoyable one!

Nice flight Brian! Looks like your experience with the helis paid off in the plank world too. That cessna looks pretty stable and is alot like the GWS Estarters we are learning on. i see alot of guys warning newbs away from flyng aileron planes but We have had a mixed bag of success and failures. the failures are mostly my fault during the build which caused me to try to fly a very heavy foamie. I paid the ultimate price but hopefully will have the 2 new kits here next week. I will be going into the LHS later today to pick up crystals for the Futaba and at that trime will see where my lits are.
Again......good job! wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..........all RC!!!



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Of all the things I ever lost....................................... I miss my mind the most!

There are very different rates at which new flyers learn. If someone has some aptitude for this, and is getting a friend to help them for a couple of flights then maybe a 4 channel more or less straight away is doable, but you can get yourself in a mess very quickly with 4 channels - and you can also have the most spectacular types of accidents as well.

Probably the biggest risk with 4 channels for new flyers is that they accidentally (or on purpose thinking they are ready for it) invert, or partially invert the plane. Three channel RETs just fall into a stall turn under these circumstances and almost recover themselves, whereas your aileron plane will need to be flown out of this orientation.

BTW - that was a great first flight.

Cheers,
Oz.

Thanks for all the nice feedback guys. Since that maiden flight, I've been out a few more times, flying several packs without incident. One particular day, Sunday, was pretty windy, so I got to practice flying in the wind. The light plane gets blown about a bit, until you have to pour the throttle on to get it to fly back up wind, but it did alright. I'm getting a bit smoother on the controls... I'm finding you don't need to react as hard or as quick with the plane as you do with the helis... at least it seems more relaxed.

So while I'm messing about with the Cessna while waiting for calm days to fly the helis, I've also started to build an Edge 540 Foamy out of depron to mess about with. It'll be a while before I get it all put together, but it should be fun. I've been messing about with the 300 in G3.5 and I can do a few tricks, but nothing too special yet.

All-in-all, I'm glad that I tried the planes... it seems like quite a bit of fun!

Well it's been a while, and I've managed to get 7 flights under my belt. I'm starting to think I need a better plane, perhaps something with a faster roll rate, a bit more power, and some more weight so the wind doesn't blow it around so much on a landing. Not quite sure where to go from here... I saw an ad on the Great Planes Seawind EP... would be handy for when the snow comes in a month or so... but not too sure if it's a good second plane.

At any rate, here is a video of my 7th flight I had earlier today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU3_xwhhsQM

So many planes to choose from... any suggestions on a good 2nd plane would be appreciated. Keep in mind I'm already flying a 4 channel plane.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Brian,

Do you have any idea what sort of flying you want to do yet? 3d, Aerobatic, scale? If you can answer which one of those you are interested in people will be able to give better guidance.

Also - watched the vid - you are doing really well for 7 flights (although heli experience helps I imagine), but your landings still look like they need a bit more work. Perhaps on your next battery practice a few touch and gos - when you can get the plane down for a nice landing at more or less the point you want to that will be when you really know you are making progress.

Anyway, 3d, aerobatic or scale?

Cheers,
Oz.

Thanks for the response Oz.

I'm not really sure what I'll end up getting into, but for now I like to do steep climbs, dives, loops, and rolls... tight circles. I don't want to get into anything that won't fit easily in the trunk of my car, I also want to stay with electric. I'm still working on the foamy, so once I get that done I'll get a chance to try some 3D stuff and see how I like that. For now I'd like something that will let me do what I'm doing better... I find the Cessna really slow on rolls, and a bit weak on power at times.

I'm finding it a bit difficult to land in the wind with such a light plane... seems if I slow down too much and a gust comes, I go up 3-5 feet, so it becomes difficult to control. It seems to go a lot better in G3.5 - landings are quite smooth each time around. I guess it will just take practice.

Well, I'm still trying to figure out what to buy next... In the mean time I finished my Edge 540 Foamy this weekend and got it out for a test flight ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDT5pljqTK4 ) I can't believe how well it flew for a first ever build. Was a lot of fun flying this little thing, it's pretty much what I had wanted to try. A few more flights and I'll get a better idea if it's the direction I want to go or not. There are just so many options, especially for a noob like me.

If you want to stay with foam, consider the ParkZone Typhoon2. If you want wood, check out the E-flite MiniFuntanaX.