RC aeroplane suggestions
Discussion
I'm no expert, but i'd make sure that whatever you get that the radio gear, motor and batteries will be reusable in another model.
That was once you trash the first one the second (fancier) plane will be much cheaper as you will be able to use all the expensive bits from the old model.
That was once you trash the first one the second (fancier) plane will be much cheaper as you will be able to use all the expensive bits from the old model.
Have a look at some of the available PC based RC simulators.
I use Aeroflight Pro Deluxe but there is at least one freely available sim in the form of FMS.
http://n.ethz.ch/~mmoeller/fms/index_e.html
I haven't tried it personally but it looks to have some good features. Importantly it accepts an interface for you to use your radio with the sim.
Sims are great for practising since there are no risks involved you can try all sorts of things.
Probably the first thing to do is get used to learning how to use the controls when the aircraft is flying towards you, try to do consistent 'figure of eights' and you will soon get used to it. Remember to practise landings too.
When you are ready to fly for real, join your local club, and they will be able to help you with tuition, insurance etc.
Have fun.
I use Aeroflight Pro Deluxe but there is at least one freely available sim in the form of FMS.
http://n.ethz.ch/~mmoeller/fms/index_e.html
I haven't tried it personally but it looks to have some good features. Importantly it accepts an interface for you to use your radio with the sim.
Sims are great for practising since there are no risks involved you can try all sorts of things.
Probably the first thing to do is get used to learning how to use the controls when the aircraft is flying towards you, try to do consistent 'figure of eights' and you will soon get used to it. Remember to practise landings too.
When you are ready to fly for real, join your local club, and they will be able to help you with tuition, insurance etc.
Have fun.
HOLD ON! before you attempt any sort of rc flying you should get insurance and join a club.
Joining a club will ensure that you get the right tuition and that you get competent in the shortest time possible.
Insurance will save your ass if you fly into a person, animal or property.
I've been flying for nearly 25 years now, the most common mistake I see is the guy who buys a trainer (or spitfire in one case), thinks its as easy as driving an rc car and then stiffs it moments after takeoff.
You wouldnt jump in a full size plane without tuition would you?, no, well thats the point its not an instinctive ability and the scope for it to go wrong is massive.
The flight sim idea is a very good one, my most recent pupil invested in a flight sim and his flying skills have come on leaps and bounds as he can now practice all day every day come rain or shine.
Phoenix is a good sim for fixed wing and a superb one for heli's, its what i use when the weather is awful.
A good trainer seems to be the ripmax trainer, you can get some good deals on these and all the necessary field equipment but you wont do it for sub £50.
As a final note, if you do decide to ignore all this advice you should consider that if you buy a 35hz radio then you will have about as much range as you can see (sometimes further). If you have a nearby model club and you are on the same frequency as a flyer there you will shoot each other down via radio interference. 2.4mhz radios avoid this by allocating a spare channel every time you switch on, a 35mhz radio is preset by either crystal or frequency selecyion on the radio so be very careful!.
Its a great hobby but you will need to spend a great deal more than £50 to get any real enjoyment our of it, radios are mostly over £100 anyway and thats before engines, planes, fuel, field equip.
GO down to your local club (BMFA British Model Flying Assoiation website has details) they will help you and guide you on the hobby and most will let you try out by previous arrangement so you may even get some flying time with no outlay!
pm me if you want any more info.
Joining a club will ensure that you get the right tuition and that you get competent in the shortest time possible.
Insurance will save your ass if you fly into a person, animal or property.
I've been flying for nearly 25 years now, the most common mistake I see is the guy who buys a trainer (or spitfire in one case), thinks its as easy as driving an rc car and then stiffs it moments after takeoff.
You wouldnt jump in a full size plane without tuition would you?, no, well thats the point its not an instinctive ability and the scope for it to go wrong is massive.
The flight sim idea is a very good one, my most recent pupil invested in a flight sim and his flying skills have come on leaps and bounds as he can now practice all day every day come rain or shine.
Phoenix is a good sim for fixed wing and a superb one for heli's, its what i use when the weather is awful.
A good trainer seems to be the ripmax trainer, you can get some good deals on these and all the necessary field equipment but you wont do it for sub £50.
As a final note, if you do decide to ignore all this advice you should consider that if you buy a 35hz radio then you will have about as much range as you can see (sometimes further). If you have a nearby model club and you are on the same frequency as a flyer there you will shoot each other down via radio interference. 2.4mhz radios avoid this by allocating a spare channel every time you switch on, a 35mhz radio is preset by either crystal or frequency selecyion on the radio so be very careful!.
Its a great hobby but you will need to spend a great deal more than £50 to get any real enjoyment our of it, radios are mostly over £100 anyway and thats before engines, planes, fuel, field equip.
GO down to your local club (BMFA British Model Flying Assoiation website has details) they will help you and guide you on the hobby and most will let you try out by previous arrangement so you may even get some flying time with no outlay!
pm me if you want any more info.
Nemo from als hobbies.
A bit dearer at 80 odd but has all the gear which can be put into another plane as you progress. It comes with a simulator, and is made of epp foam so you can belt it like a ginger stepchild and it wont break.
Mine must have more glue than original plane left on it, but still going strong
A bit dearer at 80 odd but has all the gear which can be put into another plane as you progress. It comes with a simulator, and is made of epp foam so you can belt it like a ginger stepchild and it wont break.
Mine must have more glue than original plane left on it, but still going strong
Another recomendation for a simulator here.
I fly helicopters not planes but the ability to crash 100 times on the sim before you try and fly for real is just the same.
A friend has an electric foam plane and its pretty easy to fly and it survives a light crash without damage. It looks pretty similar to the nemo posted above. The supplied FMS simulator isnt brilliant, but it will help you to learn the basics.
I would still recomend going to a club to get your plane checked over by somebody with experience and hopefully you can get somebody to put you on a buddy lead for your first flights so they can take over if you get it wrong
Even a "ready to fly" plane can be built incorrectly at the factory, and you probably wont notice as a beginner untill you look at the bits that are left
The only other thing to say is that, as with everything you get what you pay for. If you buy a really cheap plane it will probably fly badly or be unreliable and you will end up spending more money getting it to work than you would have buying something decent to begin with.
I fly helicopters not planes but the ability to crash 100 times on the sim before you try and fly for real is just the same.
A friend has an electric foam plane and its pretty easy to fly and it survives a light crash without damage. It looks pretty similar to the nemo posted above. The supplied FMS simulator isnt brilliant, but it will help you to learn the basics.
I would still recomend going to a club to get your plane checked over by somebody with experience and hopefully you can get somebody to put you on a buddy lead for your first flights so they can take over if you get it wrong
Even a "ready to fly" plane can be built incorrectly at the factory, and you probably wont notice as a beginner untill you look at the bits that are left
The only other thing to say is that, as with everything you get what you pay for. If you buy a really cheap plane it will probably fly badly or be unreliable and you will end up spending more money getting it to work than you would have buying something decent to begin with.
I think you can have some good fun with 'Park Flyer' type models - you won't need to join a club or get insurance with these things in my opinion.
I know 4 people (including myself) who have been at the exact stage you are, and we've all made mistakes! From my experience, this is the best option to get you going:
1) Buy a HobbyZone Super Cub for around £110, lots of places stock them here in the UK. Trust me, this model is a puppy to fly and VERY tough for the inevitable crashes you will have. Fly this 30 times or so until you are competent, don't crash and can even land OK. I tended to hand launch. This is a 3 channel Ready To Fly model.
2) Sell it on eBay, I got £75 for mine even after some 50 odd flights, so you've recovered some money.
3) You're now ready for 4 channels and the Parkzone T-28 Trojan is perfect for this, around £140. I tried other options and failed, but as soon as I bought this, realised it is the best 4 channel beginners plane. Don't be fooled though, it's very fast and manoeuverable. The radion Tx has a High/Low switch for servo travel so makes it good to start with. Landing gear is rock solid and will land on rough surfaces with ease.
All the above are big enough for lots of fun, just small enough to fit in your car boot, light and battery powered. You get everything you need in the kit. I've had hours of fun.
Once you're done with this, then I would recommend joining a club, moving to bigger aircraft and nitro/petrol powered.
I know 4 people (including myself) who have been at the exact stage you are, and we've all made mistakes! From my experience, this is the best option to get you going:
1) Buy a HobbyZone Super Cub for around £110, lots of places stock them here in the UK. Trust me, this model is a puppy to fly and VERY tough for the inevitable crashes you will have. Fly this 30 times or so until you are competent, don't crash and can even land OK. I tended to hand launch. This is a 3 channel Ready To Fly model.
2) Sell it on eBay, I got £75 for mine even after some 50 odd flights, so you've recovered some money.
3) You're now ready for 4 channels and the Parkzone T-28 Trojan is perfect for this, around £140. I tried other options and failed, but as soon as I bought this, realised it is the best 4 channel beginners plane. Don't be fooled though, it's very fast and manoeuverable. The radion Tx has a High/Low switch for servo travel so makes it good to start with. Landing gear is rock solid and will land on rough surfaces with ease.
All the above are big enough for lots of fun, just small enough to fit in your car boot, light and battery powered. You get everything you need in the kit. I've had hours of fun.
Once you're done with this, then I would recommend joining a club, moving to bigger aircraft and nitro/petrol powered.
hmm, I'd advocate joining a club well before you progress past an electric foam piper cub.
Problem is that all the guys who dont join clubs are potentially going to ruin it for everyone else as sooner or later someone is going to think its ok flying a model plane in a park without insurance and have a mishap involving a member of the public.
You'd do a lot better with a flight sim to see if you enjoy it, then progressing directly to a 4 channel IC or electric trainer at a flying club.
All these little pa28's and foam cubs are toys really, and dont bear much resemblence to the real sport ( its a bit like those "Nikko" rc cars for 5 year olds compared to a proper 1/10th or 1/12th tamiya, kyosho or schumacher jobby)
Sorry Viper Larry thats the way it is.
Problem is that all the guys who dont join clubs are potentially going to ruin it for everyone else as sooner or later someone is going to think its ok flying a model plane in a park without insurance and have a mishap involving a member of the public.
You'd do a lot better with a flight sim to see if you enjoy it, then progressing directly to a 4 channel IC or electric trainer at a flying club.
All these little pa28's and foam cubs are toys really, and dont bear much resemblence to the real sport ( its a bit like those "Nikko" rc cars for 5 year olds compared to a proper 1/10th or 1/12th tamiya, kyosho or schumacher jobby)
Sorry Viper Larry thats the way it is.
Edited by hman on Monday 4th May 10:46
I agree with Viper larry.
I had loads of fun with my nemo, i took the servos out and used them in another model.
Since the Nemo, i have had a couple of parkzone models, a few depron shockflyer types, and now build my own out of epp foam from flyingwings.co.uk which you can crash over and over and not do any damage.
Thats as far as i want to go with the hobby to be honest, i have no real desire to use IC models- i have had a couple in the past, but battery appeals more as i can simply walk out of the door and throw it in the park.
I have visited a local club, and its really not for me. Very strange people there.
Anyway, the other idea is to buy a Kyosho minium. Small, light, slow and rudder only on some models, so easy to fly.
I had loads of fun with my nemo, i took the servos out and used them in another model.
Since the Nemo, i have had a couple of parkzone models, a few depron shockflyer types, and now build my own out of epp foam from flyingwings.co.uk which you can crash over and over and not do any damage.
Thats as far as i want to go with the hobby to be honest, i have no real desire to use IC models- i have had a couple in the past, but battery appeals more as i can simply walk out of the door and throw it in the park.
I have visited a local club, and its really not for me. Very strange people there.
Anyway, the other idea is to buy a Kyosho minium. Small, light, slow and rudder only on some models, so easy to fly.
Right thanks for all of the info guys, rather alot to think about by the sound of it. I do have rather a large area to fly in as i live out in the middle of nowhere and the nearest house to mine is 1/2 a mile away so dont really have any problems with the public, although joining a club does appeal to me in some ways for the tuition. Will have to wait and see what happens
Regards
Matt
Regards
Matt
Emsman said:
I agree with Viper larry.
I have visited a local club, and its really not for me. Very strange people there.
Wilst you can turn up at a club, until you're member dont expect to be counted as one of the crowd.I have visited a local club, and its really not for me. Very strange people there.
We get a lot of people turning up at our club adn so far this year we have a 100% conversion to membership rate!
hman said:
Emsman said:
I agree with Viper larry.
I have visited a local club, and its really not for me. Very strange people there.
Wilst you can turn up at a club, until you're member dont expect to be counted as one of the crowd.I have visited a local club, and its really not for me. Very strange people there.
We get a lot of people turning up at our club adn so far this year we have a 100% conversion to membership rate!
I went to three or four clubs untill I found somewhere that I felt comfortable.
I can agree with the strange people comment, but not all clubs are like that
I've just started too and have had hours of fun with a Wing Dragon. It's even capable of aerobatics!
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=wing+dragon+&...
fficial&client=firefox-a
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=wing+dragon+&...
fficial&client=firefox-aMElliottUK said:
Anyone know if/when the Parkzone T-28 Trojan is going to be availble with the 2.4ghz radio?
Don't know, but the Parkzone Corsair comes with a 2.4GHz Tx so they might add this option later, but it adds significantly to the price.I've put my own Spektrum DX6i Tx & Rx in the Trojan.
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