Anyone fly RC planes?

[66chevelle]

Is anyone here into flying planes? I have never flown one but I want to try. What is a good plane to learn how to fly? Of course I don't want to spend a lot of money on a learning plane but I want a good one that is going to hold up. Is there a beginner plane that you can upgrade once you get better at flying? Thanks for the help.

 

[Naptown]

Spend about $300 and buy yourself a spektrum dx6i remote and a GWS slow stick. It's a super light weight park flyer that is a ton of fun to fly. The dx6i remote will allow you to grow into the hobby as you can fly tons of other planes / helis with it.

 

[SockMonkey]

Here is a web page you might enjoy and/or find useful. Good luck!

AMA District VI Indiana Club Web Pages

 

[henktermaat]

I agree with naptown.

 

[Hiker1911]

Just a small helicopter at the moment. Fortunately I haven't lost any blades during operations.

 

[66chevelle]

I have been looking at them for a while online but I am not sure what to buy. A guy I work with flies all the time and he told me to buy a super cub and make sure I like to fly before I spend a lot of money but I don't want to waste money either. Thanks for everyone's help and keep the ideas coming. I will definitely look into spektrum dx6i and a GWS slow stick.

 

[Sylvain]

Just a small helicopter at the moment. Fortunately I haven't lost any blades during operations.

Same.I dont know how to fly it and it's even more fun that way.
For helicopters I wear safety glasses because I flown that thing into my face a few times by accident.
That's scary when you are "in control" of that machine and you see it coming straight at your face, and you know you will get hit in the face because you have know idea what you are doing with the controls.

 

[66chevelle]

Spend about $300 and buy yourself a spektrum dx6i remote and a GWS slow stick. It's a super light weight park flyer that is a ton of fun to fly. The dx6i remote will allow you to grow into the hobby as you can fly tons of other planes / helis with it.

I was looking at hobby town and I saw 3 different models of controllers. Like I said I know nothing about this stuff so which one would be better?

DX6i DSMX 6 Ch Full Range w/o Servo MD2
DX6i DSMX 6-Channel Full Range: No Servos Mode 1
DX6i DSMX 6-Channel Transmitter Only Mode 1

 

[rotortech]

I am not expert, but I have been a beginner for a long time.

I will disagree with the 6 chan, programmable radio. OK for helicopters but not necessary for airplane control. Too much money and too many bells and whistles. I would suggest a good Futaba 4 chan (about $100). If you buy the airplane already built and it has servos, then you won't have to buy them with the radio.

I also suggest that you start out with a good 040 size trainer with either a 040 engine or a 046 engine. Talk to someone at HobbyTown USA or a similar hobby shop that sells this equipment. Tell them what you want to do. When I started, I bought a kit and built my plane. That was pretty rewarding but takes a lot of time. You can buy kits that are Almost Ready to Fly (ARF). They come with the plane built into modules that you can complete in a couple of hours. These kits typically cost about $89 - $129. You have to buy the radio (~$100) and engine (~$150) separately.

Naptown was absolutely right about this: It's a super light weight park flyer that is a ton of fun to fly. That is the kind of airplane that you want to start out with. You may grow out of it but I never did.

Have fun.

 

[Sailor]

I just got a Blade MQX quad copter. No experience. It is a blast. Velcroed a key chain video camera to it and have been taking video of the neighborhood from a 100 feet up.

 

[Naptown]

I am not expert, but I have been a beginner for a long time.

I will disagree with the 6 chan, programmable radio. OK for helicopters but not necessary for airplane control. Too much money and too many bells and whistles. I would suggest a good Futaba 4 chan (about $100). If you buy the airplane already built and it has servos, then you won't have to buy them with the radio.

I only suggest this as it will give you more flexibility in the future. There's a good chance he'll end up as an RC addict and that extra $50 spent on a 6 channel will allow him to move into bigger and better planes (all while sticking with the transmitter you cut your teeth on). In addition, you can step up to the helis like I did. Same thing, go buy a heli, and bind it to your one and only transmitter.

Also, this hasn't been covered yet - My suggestion is to go electric, not nitro. I have flown both. Learned on the gas, now fly on the clean and easy electric. Nitro is such a mess and requires MUCH more room to fly.

 

[Naptown]

oh, and you can be patient, buy your stuff online. you'll save a ton with mail order.

 

[joslar15]

Spend about $300 and buy yourself a spektrum dx6i remote and a GWS slow stick. It's a super light weight park flyer that is a ton of fun to fly. The dx6i remote will allow you to grow into the hobby as you can fly tons of other planes / helis with it.

What kind of range can be expected from this rig as described -100 yds? 200? (Like I need something else to put money into!)

 

[Colt556]

Hobbytown in Castleton has a very good selection of planes and everything needed to fly them. The staff, well some of them, are pretty knowledgeable and you can learn a lot and see the planes close up.

 

[66chevelle]

I am going to stick with electric. I have had nitro trucks and cars and I am tired of dealing with them.

 

[Clay]

Don't start with a light weight park flyer unless you like making little parts out of big parts. You can't fly them in any wind unless you're on top of the sticks and know what to do.

Start with a 40 to 50 sized trainer. I dont know what the current standard is, but the Carl Goldberg Eagle was one of the best back when I started, long before everything was RTF. Something with large flat bottom wings, 4 channel control (elevator, rudder, alierons, and throttle) is ideal. Im a big fan of Futaba radios, and OS engines.

 

[henktermaat]

Don't start with a light weight park flyer unless you like making little parts out of big parts. You can't fly them in any wind unless you're on top of the sticks and know what to do.

Start with a 40 to 50 sized trainer. I dont know what the current standard is, but the Carl Goldberg Eagle was one of the best back when I started, long before everything was RTF. Something with large flat bottom wings, 4 channel control (elevator, rudder, alierons, and throttle) is ideal. Im a big fan of Futaba radios, and OS engines.

I Completely and utterly disagree.

Start with a lightweight electric foam flyer. It's safer, quieter, slower, more accessible, more foolproof, and you can fly more because you can do it in any park. Electric is easier to handle and maintain. Just plug and fly.

You do need less wind. No, it's not always windy in Indiana. Most evenings the wind dies down completely. before I had kids, I flew all the time. In Indiana. With lightweight foam planes. In almost no wind.

Common starter planes are made of foam, carbon fiber and flexible plastic parts and can take a LOT of punishment. Taking heavy weight and high speed out of the equation really makes things gentler and kinder to the newbie.

And when you do break it, common glue, tape, etc and you're back up in minutes.

 

[Clay]

You can disagree, thats fair.

My opinions come from my experiences. Ive flown everything from trainers to 3D, and those park flyers are fun, but they are a handful to fly in anything but dead air. To *learn* on a park flyer, you need dead air, to have fun after you know what you're doing, bring on the wind, but be ready to fix stuff!

Those are the types of planes that people who don't know how to fly purchase, destroy, and never stay in the hobby. I've never encouraged that because I like to see people get into a hobby and stick with it, because it really is a blast!!

 

[shooter521]

Im a big fan of Futaba radios, and OS engines.

I haven't flown since I was a kid, but even back then this combination was kinda the gold standard in terms of outfits to learn on.

 

[TheWabbit]

I have an a-10 ducted fan sitting in my closet waiting to go this spring with my son.