Thinking about buying a 3d plane

[Butter]

I have a couple of 4ch micro planes and I have been flying a larger corsair and messed with a T-28, the two larger planes are not mine but I am comfortable with them. I'm ready to buy a larger plane but the looks of a hi wing or war bird are not what I want, I really like the looks of the Parkzone Extra 300 but I'm a little intimidated by it's capabilities. If I used low rates how hard are 3D planes to fly, I'm not talking about 3D acrobatics but just casual flying.

Thanks in advance for any input

[Stangfreak2001]

The parkzone extra 300 is a great plane. On low rates its very tame but crisp. Its also great to get started into aerobatics. You can flip it on to high rates and she is a lot of fun to throw around. I have one of these and even tho I fly aerobatics I still love flying this one.

[JetPlaneFlyer]

The PZ Extra isn't designed for 3D flying. Basically it's too heavy to make be a decent 3D plane. If you read the PZ web site it doesnt claim to be a 3D plane, just a regular precision aerobaitc type: http://www.parkzone.com/Products/Def...ProdID=PKZ5175
If you want to do hot-rod aerobatics it probably fine. If you want to progress into 3D then you need to look elsewhere because it's the wrong plane.

FWIW here is an extract from the Horizon web site on the subject:

Some customers have purchased the Extra 300 expecting to use it for 3D flying. However, the ParkZone Extra 300 was not designed for 3D flight; it was designed for sport aerobatics or precision aerobatics. Its wing loading is too high to be a good 3D performer.

bear in mind also that with it having a higher wing loading it might be a bit more challenging to fly than a genuine 3D model which will be lighter and capable of flying slower.

[Stangfreak2001]

Also look into the Eflite carbon Z yak. Its also very tame and crisp in low rates but on high it really flies 3d great. Might run a few extra bucks but I'd definitely worth it.

[Mysterious]

Originally Posted by Stangfreak2001

The parkzone extra 300 is a great plane. On low rates its very tame but crisp. Its also great to get started into aerobatics. You can flip it on to high rates and she is a lot of fun to throw around. I have one of these and even tho I fly aerobatics I still love flying this one.

did the correct the inverted wing?

[JetPlaneFlyer]

It wasn't really inverted as such (as in the wing being made upside down). I think it was just distorted due to the spar installation and/or paint shrinkage, which gave it the appearance of an inverted airfoil. I don't know if they have improved it at all on later versions. I have to admit that sort of fault would irritate me even if the plane still flew ok.

To the OP;
On the subject of alternate choices.. There are lots of foam or balsa ARF's that you might consider that would be much better for 3D if that's what you want to graduate to. Check out 3D hobbyshop and Extreme Flight RC for some fantastic 3D planes which due to being super light are also really easy to fly if you reduce the rates.

[Stangfreak2001]

Yes! Lol

[Stangfreak2001]

If you'd like to build an arf i reccomend going with an extreme flight extra 300exp! Excellent 3d machine and excellent build quality! I've tried to break mine in the air with some very high g snaps and walls with no luck...

[Stangfreak2001]

Or if you like the parkflyer style check out http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...-basic-EFL6250

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by Stangfreak2001

If you'd like to build an arf i reccomend going with an extreme flight extra 300exp! Excellent 3d machine and excellent build quality! I've tried to break mine in the air with some very high g snaps and walls with no luck...

I dont how you can build a arf but here is a plane and tiled plans so you can print it out and tape the plans together and build one . I have 3 bucks of dollar tree foam ,motor was 7 bucks servos were 24 dollars and the reciever 8 in mine and almost ready to fly . http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...ghlight=ultron

[Stangfreak2001]

You have to build an arf because its not rtf.....if arfs came pre assembled what would they be called??

[road king 97]

You build planes and assemble arfs as far as RTF you bind and fly them . There is not cutting wings or building the fuse but you do mount the parts ,hence assemble . joe

[dahawk]

Joe,

The Ultron looks pretty cool. I read through the thread. On my list !

Thanks for posting.

-Hawk

[Stangfreak2001]

BUILD - 1. To form by combining materials or parts; construct....... WINNING!

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by dahawk

Joe,

The Ultron looks pretty cool. I read through the thread. On my list !

Thanks for posting.

-Hawk

I had mine almost done with just mounting servos and i wanted to build a canard stick after the 60 size one i found but a 38 inch wing span electrict so i parked it for a week.lol Ok Stangfreak you bind and fly them good .lmao You welcome Dahawk joe

[gramps2161]

I have been enjoying my AcroMaster it has been a good one to learn on. It is easy to repair when you have that opps moment. I bought mine from HURC a year ago and this gets brought to the field every time. They are out of stock with this one, but he does restock pretty quick.
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the...OMASTER/Detail

Joe looks like your getting good with the foam builds cheap way to make planes that's a for sure.

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by gramps2161

I have been enjoying my AcroMaster it has been a good one to learn on. It is easy to repair when you have that opps moment. I bought mine from HURC a year ago and this gets brought to the field every time. They are out of stock with this one, but he does restock pretty quick.
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the...OMASTER/Detail

Joe looks like your getting good with the foam builds cheap way to make planes that's a for sure.

HE HE i told you it was time for me to learn ,i have 7 foam planes under my belt and this one is my first kinda scratch build .If this flys good i will blow it up to 5o inch and give out free plans for a foam one here . I have two big balsa builds comming up also so its back to my comfort zone working with wood. joe

[gramps2161]

Joe lot of folks think it's hard to work with balsa, or balsa breaks to easy. Well you should see what i can do to a piece of foam when I'm cutting and building with it. Can you say lots of do overs.

[Butter]

WOW thats a lot of great info, thanks for all of the reply's! I'm going to look at a few different 3D set ups, and will buy a built plane at this time. I was into surface rc's for a long time and have made my fair share of parts and modifications but I'm not sure if I still have the patience to build something. Thanks again for all of the advise!

Peter

[mclarkson]

If you're going to be doing 3D for the first time, an EPP plane makes a good, unbreakable choice.

[JetPlaneFlyer]

Originally Posted by Stangfreak2001

BUILD - 1. To form by combining materials or parts; construct....... WINNING!

I give you another definition:

Assemble:- To fit together the parts or pieces of.

For me the key difference is:

Building: infers creating something from raw materials or basic components parts. Like scratch building or gluing together hudresds of components to form a plane. In simple terms taking a pile of stuff that has no resemblence to an airplane and creating an airplane from it.

Assembly: infers fixing together of ready made parts that in themselves have already been 'built' and already are clearly recognisable as the main parts on an airplane.

Another thought... if you really think that you built that ARF then what did the guy or girl in the Chinese factory do

For sure when I'm flying and the kids/dog walkers ask me the old question "did you build it yourself?". If I'm flying an ARF my answer is "no".

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by JetPlaneFlyer

I give you another definition:


For me the key difference is:

Building: infers creating something from raw materials or basic components parts. Like scratch building or gluing together hudresds of components to form a plane. In simple terms taking a pile of stuff that has no resemblence to an airplane and creating an airplane from it.

Assembly: infers fixing together of ready made parts that in themselves have already been 'built' and already are clearly recognisable as the main parts on an airplane.

Another thought... if you really think that you built that ARF then what did the guy or girl in the Chinese factory do

For sure when I'm flying and the kids/dog walkers ask me the old question "did you build it yourself?". If I'm flying an ARF my answer is "no".

Thanks for the right definition ,i dont argue with the arf guys to much about the difference, i figure they will figure it out if they ever build anything or show up to a warbird contest with a shinny arf warbird and look around . lol Dont get me wrong i own a few arfs that i have won here and their in contests but i fly those during the week so i dont wreck my nice scratch built planes . For the right definition iam sending you some nice free hard to find plans i found the other day. joe

[Butter]

Originally Posted by mclarkson

If you're going to be doing 3D for the first time, an EPP plane makes a good, unbreakable choice.

I'm not sure I really want to put something together right now but these looks very interesting, thanks for the link!

[mclarkson]

I know exactly what you mean. Don't let these grumpy old men make ya feel bad.

The good news is, when you're ready to try your first ARF, you'll get all the help you need here. Reading through my first ARF 'build' thread, I'm stunned at how clueless I was as I stumbled through the process, but no one ever did anything but offer help.

[Butter]

Thanks for the encouragement! I do have some servos, esc and motor lying around that just might work on one of these epp's, I'll have to pull them out of the box to make sure they work.