Ok, I am adicted to RC plane flying. I have completley exausted flying pretty much every type of park flier and am ready to build an electric (brushless of course) plane myself before I move into the "Big Dog" gas planes. I would like to buy a quiality radio now that will take me through this stage and into the next! I would like throttle, elevator, rudder, alierons, along with some extras like smoke, a drop modual, maybe some lights.... What kind of radio is best? What do you need to have the main 4 channels plus some other bands for doing things like lights, smoke, or a unit that releases in air? I really would just like some advice on radios!!! If you could fill me in on what anyone knows I would REALLY appriciate that! Thank you so much!

You need to get a radio that has 6,7,8,or 9 channels to do what you are asking to do. The first 4 controls are aileron, elevator, rudder and throttle. This takes up 4 channels. Most of the radios then get into flaps, with a couple of switches that can be used for other thing's. As for brands, there is Futaba, JR, and Airtronics to name a few. I prefer the Futuba and I just love my 7C as it does what I want it to do and allows me the set things up the way that I want it to. As for which one is the best, that depends on who you talk to. I just got a Tower Talk in the mail and the 7C and the 9C are both at a good price. Good Luck, Dave

I would suggest that you start with an entry level computer radio. Allows much more flexability and something you can grow with. I have a Futaba 6eax and love it. Will handle up to six planes, exponental fuction, mixing for flaps etc. Negative is that I feel their flight packs are a little over-priced, but the quality is excellent...Fred123[&:]

As for me, I have two Airtronics radios, an older RD6000, 6 channel entry level computer radion with five model memory and all the other mixing capabilities, and a newer RD8000, 8 channel with 10 model memory and all the bells and whistles that are part of the computer radio family. As the previous posters said, the big three, Futaba, JR, and Airtronics are the best choices. HiTech, Tower, are ok but are lower end radios, probably will do just as well, but the big three are the most reliable and will proably give you the best service. I also have a used Airtronics Quasar, first generation computer radio that still works just fine and it is over 10 years old, original battery for both the TX and RX (although I have since replaced both) and, as I said, works just fine. I don't use it as much because the other two are easier to program.

One good way to do this is to find out what your local hobby shop (LHS) carries, and talk to whomever is at the flying field to see what THEY use. If you get good support from your LHS for, say JR, then by all means, go JR.

Good luck with your choices.

I also like Futaba, but it's a Ford/Chevy thing.Find out which brand most of the guys in your local club use (But avoid asking the club "Know-it-all" LOL) The best brand for a newbie to get is the one that all his buddies can help him with.

And yes, a 6 or 7 channel is what you want, more than that will just be too much to learn too soon (I have been flying for over 40 years, and have used flaps, retracts, smoke, etc. etc. and have never needed more than 6 channels)