ME 262 Swallow. Gotta have the first Jet fighter to see combat.

I doubt that ANY jet model would be a good idea as a first R/C aircraft. Though there is a way to modify a traner's fuselage to LOOK a lot like a F-14... and not harm its usefulness as a trainer.

Its a step everyone has to take, a trainer. A jet will end up taking you 500 + hours to build and cost 10 x as much as a trainer would. Jets can start at i think somewhere around 7,000 and go up to 20,000 so there no toy to mess around with. There also very complicated and have many gadjets. You cannot get a jet without getting a waiver either, you need I think 1,000 of Ducted fan under your belt before you can get a turbine.

Smart thing to do is get a 40 sized trainer and start from there. And it is not as easy as you think.

Costs of designing, building and molding the jet would be significantly higher than buying a trainer... even doing it all yourself.

Do some searches on the net for the Altech TameCat. Its a trainer designed to look like an F-14. (remarkably good appearance... I covered mine in green/brown camo top, blue belly.) Unfortunately, the kit is discontinued... but some may still be on shop shelves. After much experimentation, I found that when using a TT .46 Pro engine, the APC 12.25 X 3.75 is the best propellor for the plane (requires lengthening the nosegear and bending the mains to have clearance from the ground) I wouldn't put a weaker engine on it. The "kit" was available in "ARC" (almost ready to cover) or ARF versions.

The TameCat, or buying a trainer kit and modifying the fuselage to resemble it would be the best option to meet your desire of a jet appearance in a first aircraft. (wing only gets changed in the aileron torque rod length and a slight loss of center "span" by having a wider fuselage... which actually adds lift!) Many trainer kits could be modified this way.... Not too hard either. But it does limit you to NOT getting an ARF.

Ssyed,
believe it or not YOU CAN be trained to fly a jet from scratch-I trained someone in the 1980's to fly a Byron F-16-and this person had NEVER flown a r/c airplane in their life.We used a buddy box.In 2 weeks they could fly solo-take off and land.If you had a U-2 type airplane or a jet you can slow down to fly around 50mph cruise speed-it can be done. So don't let anyone tell you it can not be done.


Jackjet

There is the occasional exception to every rule in aeromodeling.

Yes, an occasional person might get away with training on a jet type... but only with a good instructor, and even then, the average student would have problems.

The typical ducted fan or turbine powered model is heavy. That means it has to fly at higher speed, giving less time to react. I've run into a lot of students who had problems keeping up with an average trainer type, and had to be redirected to work with a plane such as the Dynaflite Butterfly (which is about as slow as they get) to get any progress.

In 30 years of aeromodeling, I've only heard of 3 people claiming to get anywhere using something faster than a "stick clone' as thier initial trainer... I've never seen it work, though I've seen it tried by several people who wouldn't listen. (I've seen a lot of trash bags filled too...) The potential cost of not succeeding when you disregard this advice can be very high... The DF jet models are EXPENSIVE. they can do a lot of damage to a car, house, person.... whatever they hit.

If you plan ahead and buy the better grade radio as the first system, then the cost of the trainer model and .40 class engine will be comparatively small. (you may find you enjoy flying that size too... and it costs less per flight to feed the engine.)

There's nothing wrong with having the goal of flying that high performance model.... Work to get your skills up to the needs of the aircraft.

That $30 plane from Wal-Mart is marginal for getting a start. You can learn a bit with it, but don't expect much from it. (and don't let it get too far away... short radio range.) OK for flying in a small area where a normal .40 size trainer wouldn't even be able to take off.

When the aircraft itself is beyond repair... look at moving the electronics and motor into one of theose 4 1/2 ft span foam gliders.

Ssyed,
if money is tight (and it sure is with me!)-you could build yourself a good prop driven trainer out of a cardboard box for $20-don't laugh-I have done it.And that "cardboard special"will fly every bit as good as a $100 arf- there are ways of getting around the high costs of R/C airplanes-you just have to be willing to do some R&D.......do you have a .20 to .40 size engine ? If you want to start out with a jet from scratch-you need a model that you can slow down enough so it will give you time to think as you are flying it untill your control inputs become automatic-just like when you drive your car-you don't really have to think about it-you just do it.See what I mean ?

Give me a call-760-956-1075

Jackjet

Silver,
THAT is one bad ***** jet!


Jackjet