Hey Everyone -

So I'm thinking of jumping into planes ... I've had cars for a while and always wanted to try planes, but am overwhelmed at where to start.

I'm looking for something fun easy and well priced.

I've talked to some guys at the field, and they said either a Cub or F4U is all I can tell you about the "type" or brand. But looking online that seems like it could be a lot. I was looking for a RTF, but they all seem to come with radios' that aren't 2.4, and they said don't mess with 72 or under.

Can anyone recommend a RTF or a set up (which servos I should buy etc if it doestn' come with them) that would be good for a first time flyer?

The local hobby shop has one for $160 everything (everything everything battery charger radio etc etc). (I think it must not have a 2.4 radio though?) Seems like it would be fine, but just want to get some other opinions.

Thanks!
Tim

The Super Cub would be great to get your feet wet: http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HBZ7100

Once you get comfortable with that, something like the Parkzone T-28 or Corsair would be a great next step:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=PKZ4400

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=pkz4600

There is nothing wrong with 72Mhz radios, especially on an inexpensive RTF plane as most are really not suitable for any future planes, (even the 2.4Ghz radios on cheap RTF planes)
F4U is not, even remotely, a beginner plane.
Quite a few people have had success on the Hobbyzone Super Cub:
http://www.redrockethobbies.com/Prod...100&Click=6136

Cool, It seems like people keep coming back to that $160 kit range. Sounds like it will be a good place to "get off the ground"

THanks for the info guys

another good beginner plane would be the hobbyzone firebird freedom. I bought one for my 7 year old son and he is doing pretty well with it. www.hobbyzone.com check it out

+2 on the Hobby Zone SuperCub. Extremely easy to fly. It also looks like an Airplane as opposed to something parked in John Denver's garage. Very docile, slow flier. I had a Skyfly as well and pretty much chunked it after flying the SuperCub the first time. Night and day different. You had to think way ahead on the Skyfly (which isn't a bad thing in and of itself) because of the small control surfaces (Skyfly was also underpowered)...it didn't respond to any inputs very quickly. Needless to say, the Skyfly had been crashed many times. I've had the Supercub for a year and it's never crashed. I still fly it when I just want to go out in the front yard (I live on 16 acres) and keep the rust knocked off my thumbs.

Try this:

[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKVY7&P=0]Click me![/link]

It's virtually indestructable.... a FULL 4 channels ( unlike the "10 hits against it" three channel Supercubs )... and likely to hold interest for a long time as it is a great 3D flyer when maxed out...

That plane had better be indestructable because a beginner will be crashing that plane a lot, like every flight. Maybe a beginner with a lot of simulator hours could handle it. A true rank beginner really needs a radio controlled free flight plane IMO.

Just my 2 cents. The Super Cub is a good choice. I started out on one. I would literally burrow it into the runway on approach and gule it back together with CA and be back in the air in minutes. Another good choice is the Electistar RTF. You will pay a little more around 300 bucks but well worth the investment. Even though its a much larger plane, it is very easy to fly. See if you can find a used one in your area. To save yourself tons of money and grief, get a flight sim program!!!!!

Ok guys, so what simulator would you recommend buying to get a good feel? I guess you would need one that comes with a "real" remote control so you can get a good feel?

Thanks
Tim

A great plane I would suggest for a starter is the snow bird which is made by a company called dynam, I bought it from www.ultimaterchobby.com for less then $100 delivered and got it in 3 days. Everything is included and ready to fly. It even has an extra set of wings included. My son is new to the hobby, he took to the plane really well and we have had a blast flying it together!

Cost and your computers abilities are major factors.
Some top of the line sims that come with a controller are FSOne and Real Flight G4 but check the stats because they do require a fair amount to run and I see a number of people buy them and then have to upgrade their computers to get them to run. Expect to pay about $200 for either.
You can pick up an older version of Real Flight G2 on Ebay with controller for about $60 to $100 depending on if any expansion packs come with it. I am using G2 myself and it is a perfectly fine sim.
FMS is a free sim you can download but you will have to buy a cable to interface your controller to your computer and no gaurantees that the cheaper controllers from some of the RTF airplanes will even work with it. (some RTF airplanes will come with a sim and cable)

I have a GP 3.5 and I had to reduce the detail in the picture before it would operate without lag.

When you load your simulator, work the control surfaces of the parked airplane, if you notice any delay between stick movement and control surface movement, your computer is too slow and the airplane will be really difficult and unrealistic to fly.

Ok Guys,

To throw a wrench in things... I found this
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=EFL2725

It looks like a VERY solid RTF, with a 2.4 ghz radio that is the more useful 2 stick control.

Any opinions on this one? Could I learn to fly with this and be happier for longer with it, or will the super cub be easier to learn on and better to start?

Thanks!
Tim

Personally I think the Apprentice is a better choice, I think you will be better off learning with ailerons anyway and you will have a better radio.
I would have also recommended a Hobbico Electristar but looking at Tower Hobbies it looks like perhaps they are discontinued?
Nexstar Select is another good one but will run you close to $500 with lipo and brushless setup.

I'd imagine it's just as easy to fly as the SuperCub. I recommended the Cub because it's cheap, no telling if you'll like planes till you try it and if you didn't like it, 159 is easier to swallow than 299. But if you decided planes weren't for you and you decided to sell it you'd probably have better luck selling the Apprentice because of the radio alone. The SuperCub has what Hobbico calls "Anti-Crash Technology", the idea is, if you put it in a nose down attitude the engine cuts and it pulls up elevator to level itself. Depending on your altitude this may not help anyway, and once you get comfortable with flying it, leaving it on may do more to cause a crash than avoid one. A huge plus is that the Spectrum Radio the Apprentice comes with can be re-used down the road (I'd keep it relegated to park fliers however, Park Flier radios aren't the "full range" a non park flier calls for). Another plus is the Apprentice comes with and is set up for Lipo's. You'll get more flight time with that than a standard NiMH the Cub uses and more power as well. I don't think the Apprentice would be a bad choice at all, just up to you how much you want to spend.

Edit: I just watched the Apprentice video on the Horizon site. That's the one I'd get between it and the Cub. The above poster is also correct, the Cub has no Ailerons and it wouldn't be long until your either wishing it had them, looking for an Aileron trainer (another plane to buy), or modifying the Cub wing and adding Ailerons (a lot of people have done this).

I have to dissagree about the radio being for Parkfliers only.
The receiver may be but the transmitter is full range and can be used with any plane that requires 5 channels or less.

Yup that's the whole point... it bends but does not break...

Set the rates down and it's relatively docile... there are various posts here from newbies who have learned with that plane w/o any problems due to it's extremely forgiving nature.

trpastor,

What ever you do, do NOT buy anything from Flyzone, they are heavy and underpowered and will
cost more $ to get air worthy. That said, the Electristar would be a good choice with and instructor
but they are discontinued.(the Electristar not the instructors) I would agree with the choice of HZ
Supercub as a great beginner E plane. I assume that you are new to the hobby therefor I strongly
suggest that you find an instructor no matter what plane you chose and the SIM's help too. Even
if you go with an "easy" plane for beginners like the Supercub, with an instructor you will avoid
potential disasters and needless repairs.

Hemicuda

I am teaching myself to fly with realflight G4 and the Apprentice it has handled all my mishaps and within a few flights I feel very comfortable with it!
I would really recommend the apprentice but make sure you have a good sim to go along with it.

Hey Guys

Well I'm moving forward pretty quick! Thanks for your help to get me here!

I picked up realflight 3.5 (for $60 on Craigslist, what a steal!

And I'm doing really well with it so far. I'm using mostly the Nexstar plane, and can now easily take off and land. I get messed up sometimes when it gets far away and I have trouble telling if it's coming at me or going away.

Landing is getting pretty easy. I'm been messing with it for about 2 hours.

How good do you think I need to be at the simulator before I can go out and fly the Apprentice? I've had cars before, so the whole, backwards when it's coming at you, has not been that hard for me. And I'm tested well spacially in the past, so I think I may have a slight advantage to the MOST novice.

Thanks for any help as always
Tim

I have found that rc car experience is a definite help when learning to fly rc airplanes. People proficient at cars only have to learn how to fly, not how to fly and operate a vehicle by remote control at the same time.
In fact, when I was learning to fly, I bought a cheap Radio Shack RC dune buggy toy just to practice RC with, it helped me a lot.

Here is the catch 22 about the whole flying without help thing.
Can it be done? Yes absolutely and an airplane like the apprentice along with a good sim makes it all the easier.
But the catch is no airplane, including RTF, are trimmed out properly so not only are you trying to fly an airplane with no experience except the sim, you are distracted by the need to trim the flight controls.
Try this on your sim, have someone else move a couple of the trim switches a few clicks in random directions and without looking at the controller take off and see what happens and if you can adjust the trims by yourself or even fly with the trims off.
At the very least have a friend with you on your first flight to adjust the trim switches for you and make sure he knows what switches are what so when you say I need some right aileron he will know what to do.
Better yet find an experienced pilot to assist you and trim your airplane for you.

The Best Thing is to make sure in the preflight all the flight controls are in the right positions and the control throws are right.
your best bet is to use the sim for 8-10 hours and progress to faster aircraft (just alittle faster) once you can control those faster aircraft and you can land the nextstar smoothly on any runway at the flight training field without having to use a hell of a lot of rudder after landing then you are ready.

When you can snatch the pebble from my hand, then you will be ready