Need advice for the next level of flight

[HomeDaddy]

Hi all,

Been lurking around here for a while and now i'm hooked and want to fly!

Here's my backround...I've been flying Aero Aces for over a year and I love them but I want more control. I really got exited watching videos of 3d flying in a gym on you tube. Amazing stuff! I know this is not for beginners but that's what I eventually want to do.

I have a small field walking distance from home that is about 400ft by 300ft, maybe a little more. The only problem is that it is surrounded completely by very tall pine trees. I do have another field about a mile away that is wide open and much bigger. I also have access to a small gym at a local church

So... Need recommendations for an entry-level RTF or ARF, slower flying, 3 or 4 channel plane that I can fly in these locations. i'd like something relatively durable (epp, depron?) and maneuverable. Sounds like an oxymoron but I know there's something out there to fit my needs.

Help me out if you can cause i'm a bit confused at this point.

[peter_ashland]

The field is to small for anything but the slowest planes.

The GWS Slow Stick would probably be the better choice.

If you are going RTF then the Wing Dragon will also fly well in the small spaces.

Any of the 3D flyers will also work well but you should get a Slow Stick first and work your way up.

[Insomniac]

For outdoors, the hobbyzone supercub and the wing dragon 4 are good choices. Seeing as you mentioned a gym, you might want to have a look at the parkzone micro cessna 210. It is about the size of an aero ace, much more expensive but has 3ch. This means you can loop it and turn much sharper. Should be pretty durable because of the light weight, and spares are available.

[HomeDaddy]

I really like the looks of that little Cessna but way too much moola.

If I decide to go the ARF route, i'll need a radio and don't want to spend a whole lot. I know everybody says it's better to spend more for the future but you see, I don't make any money. I'm a stay at home daddy of two toddlers. Hence the lack of money and time to go to bigger fields.

Anyway, and good radios out there in the 100-150 range?

If I do go RTF, the wing dragon seems like the best option. I also like the supercub for looks and durability.

Keep the advice coming!

[cliffh]

Be sure to get the help of a local flier.

Read the above advice again!!!!

RC aircraft are not all that difficult to learn to fly for most people, but there is a learning curve. You will need/want someone next to you for the first few flights. You will know when you are ready to fly alone. You also want someone to make the first flight of your new plane to make sure everything is okay and trim it out for you.

If you have no experience and want to stay cheap while flying in small areas, the Slow Stick is the way to go. With a little practice, you will be able to fly in very small areas, the plane is very inexpense, it can use just about any battery, it is only a 3 channel......and did I mention that it is cheap:D

One thing that many people won't say, but I will.....it is UGLY:eek: Okay, it has character, but it is ugly. You won't feel NEARLY as bad crashing it as you will if you chunk some pretty thing into the ground......and you will at least have a few "less than gracefull" landings while learning;)

Then, when you want to move up, you can buy a flat foam 3D wing for it or contact Millenium RC to get a complete balsa, built up, full syemetrical wing for it......and maybe a cheap brushless motor. The Slow Stick is a very good plane with a wide variety of modifications you can make to it.

Have fun and good luck!

[jasmine2501]

Anyway, and good radios out there in the 100-150 range?


Yes, the Hitec Laser 4 is a decent radio for $120 with servos and a receiver. I fly all my planes with it and it works fine. You can get more features if you spend more money, but the Laser is top quality and will get you started.

Put it together with a Slow Stick kit and some accessories and you might be able to get flying for about $220.

Slow Stick kit (includes motor and prop) - $35
ESC for brushed motor - $25 (hard to find online - could be cheaper at LHS)
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/jeti.htm
Lipo battery - $18
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6305
Lipo Charger - $25
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2055

These are dirt-cheap parts though... you should consider getting better stuff, but these will work.

[flydiver]

If you have limited money (or are cheap like I am) do your homework (LOTS of reading in the forums), get to know some of the "best" equipment for your level, and buy it used. I've bought nearly everything used off the forum or Craig's list (forum has been better). You can get decent 4 CH radios (like the Laser above) for under $50, sometimes 25, receivers for 15-20, servos for under 10. You have to know your products and the cost. You only get this by getting familiar with the stuff. Takes time. Dig in. Start with a plane you can actually fly and have success with and build from there. You could also try building from foam if you are the creative or adventurous type. It doesn't look too hard but the first one might be easier if it was some sort of kit.
Here's one man's approach to a low cost slow stick:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784314

fly

[jasmine2501]

Good points... I need to look in the For Sale forum more often. One of the best kits for the money, I think, is the Hobby-Lobby Yak-55. It takes a little experience to fly it, and it does need one extra CF rod to make it nice and stiff, but it's a great 3D foamy, and a good lesson in a simple way to build them.

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/yak55.htm
I like the pink one :)

[peter_ashland]

If you have limited money (or are cheap like I am) do your homework (LOTS of reading in the forums), get to know some of the "best" equipment for your level, and buy it used. I've bought nearly everything used off the forum or Craig's list (forum has been better). You can get decent 4 CH radios (like the Laser above) for under $50, sometimes 25, receivers for 15-20, servos for under 10. You have to know your products and the cost. You only get this by getting familiar with the stuff. Takes time. Dig in. Start with a plane you can actually fly and have success with and build from there. You could also try building from foam if you are the creative or adventurous type. It doesn't look too hard but the first one might be easier if it was some sort of kit.
Here's one man's approach to a low cost slow stick:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784314

fly

Yes and e-bay can be good if you look very carefully and bid on used hobby stuff or stuff with low opening bid from a few of the stores with real items. With e-bay time is your discount. If you want it now pay a lot. If you can wait then bid on auctions until you win at a low price. It usually takes no more than 2 weeks to get something at a very low price.

I have virtually all my lipos from an e-bay seller XMHobbies and am really happy with them. The hextronic ones that Jasmine pointed out were OK but heavy and not as good as the e-bay lipos. I think people are having good luck with the Loong Max http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5478
(http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5478)and the Mystery 900maH 2s1p http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7621
are just to cheap not to try.

The for sale/wanted boards work really well to. I got an Optic 6 transmitter and 3 electron 6 receivers all with crystals for $150. I think if you know what you want and what you want to pay you can put up a wanted to buy and probably get something.

The hobby stores run sales which can be really good. Half price on a kit is really not unusual for the good sales. Sign up for their newsletters.

And Jasmine has already pointed out Hobbycity to you. I have that charger and it is very good for the price. I buy more than 50% of my stuff there but probably only spend 25% of my money there.

As for the plane I think the Slowstick is better for your fields. You really need a slowfly for the small field but since you have been flying the AeroAce you probably have a good idea of orientation so you have more options than most beginners. A Tiger Moth might also work for you. But you might want to look into some of the very light scratch build foamies. The scratchbuilt foamie trainers can be built very light and if you end up in the trees you can knock the plane down with a stick and build a new one.

[HomeDaddy]

Thanks for all the great advice folks. I also appreciate the warm welcome for such a noob. I'll be sure to post my experiences once I get some gear.

Cheers!

[Shon24]

Hi,
I'm also new to this whole flying thing. I bought my first plane (a HobbyZone Firebird Phantom) in October of this year, and found it to be a very good beginner plane. It is a 3-channel, RTF, and the most important point is it's cheap ($59). The price and good reviews was the selling point for me, as I also have little to no income being a grad student. You would definitely need that large field you mentioned to fly the Phantom though. While it has a small motor, the sucker goes fast for a beginner. I had to teach myself to fly from scratch with no help, which was tough at the start but after some epoxy and packing tape I can push the plane pretty much to it's aerobatic limits (unless it's too windy ;)). One suggestion I can give if you're going to solo route too is to let the plane fly itself for the most part. Almost all of my crashes were from me over-controlling the plane. I would hold the stick over too long while turning and spiral the plane in. All I do now is hold the stick until the plane just starts to bank, then release it. The plane will continue to turn on it's own for a few more seconds, then straighten out, at which point I repeat the above or let it go straight if it's turned enough for me. The second big thing I realized is to get the plane up at least above the height of those high lights in big parking lots (about 60 feet I would guess). I was hesitant to put it high, as I reasoned more hight = harder crashing. But when turning, even correctly and giving a bit of "up" elevator, the plane still loses a significant amount of altitude. Enough at least for a beginner like me to crash if I was too low. As I got better at turning, I could turn without losing much altitude, but when I was starting and taking everything slow, I had to learn to keep it high to cope with the loss of altitude everything I did seemed to result in. Also, in the event of an emergency (stall, tip tall + spiral dive, etc) I found that simply letting go of both sticks would usually result in the plane leveling itself out. Note though that it still took several dozen feet of falling for this to occur, so again, flying high saves me now. The Anti-crash technology (ACT) in this plane is useless and I have never used it. It only works at high altitude, and as mentioned above, the natural aerodynamics of the plane seem to autocorrect anyway. In fact, the ACT just shuts off your control for a few seconds anyway, so it's the same as just letting go of the controls. The ACT may just do it when you don't want it to, so I don't use it. Anyway, I need to get back to work, just thought I'd put in my two cents from a fellow beginner who had to teach himself. Good luck!

[jasmine2501]

As they say in this video... "The ground is the limit" - worth waiting to watch this:
http://www.precisionaerobatics.com/video/addiction.htm

[peter_ashland]

Shon24, Those are great tips. Flying high and letting the plane fly itself when it gets out of shape are 2 of the easiest things to do but unfortunately most beginners don't learn these before the plane is trash.

[Shon24]

Thanks Peter,

You're correct in that it was so simple to go from crashing after 20 seconds of flight to burning through a battery without coming close to crashing. You're also correct in that most beginners (myself included) don't learn that the easy way. Before I learned that I had snapped the boom multiple times, snapped the left and right tail parts off, ripped off both ruddervators, and snapped the main wing in half. After much epoxy and packing tape, and a 3 inch nail inserted into the hollow boom to bridge the breaking point, my plane is pretty much indestructible. At least nothing breaks anymore that can't simply be re-taped or re-epoxied. Although I now have less severe crashes. But fixing up the plane and improvising to see if I can get it flying again is almost as much fun as flying it ;-).