2nd plane after Champ

[Rockin Robbins]

To my knowledge, we haven't got the all-clear that the Pro is ready for prime-time and you'll be a beta tester with all the attendant possible calamities. Some people really enjoy this! If so, then throw the switch on the Pro. I'd wait until AEAJR gives the go-ahead. He's the guy with the connections and experience to give good advice on that.

The Radian, however, is just one of the perfect planes out there. Somehow all the parts come together in a plane that is much more than the sum of the parts. Remember this is a sailplane, not meant for cruising under power and you'll be incredibly happy. The engine is designed to climb like a polecat with its tail on fire, shut off and let the plane do what it does best: soar! The airfoil is quite thick and penetration might not be what you expect. However it is quite a nice plane in moderate wind. That's mine to the left.

[lucas2696]

Where as an Easystar flies LIKE a power glider, slow and controlled, giving you time to react, but is meant to be flown under power, and it's easily modified for higher performance brushless power systems, and upped from 3 to four channels quite easily. And it can handle moderate wind well too.

[dkrhardy]

I have a HZ Champ, loads-o-fun. I have an eRC J5 Cub that is a handful (toooo much for me), and a SkyFly2 that I've flown but never landed! Maybe tomorrow! I'm gonna fly at a shop that has their own flying area, is that cool? The nice fellow that owns it has just about all of his a/c available as demos! I may buy the HZ Cub tomorrow, I have seen great reviews on it. Looking for the big version of the HZ Champ, manners wise! Hope that Cub is it.

[mclarkson]

The regular Radian is a great plane, but you'll need a lot of room.

The Mini Super Cub is a nice flier a bit bigger than the UMs. You can fly it out of a small school yard.

Vapor is the easiest plane to fly ever, but it will tolerate NO wind.

I've only had one chance to fly my UM T-28 before the weather closed in and it's considerably more challenging than the J-3 Cub or, I'd imagine, the Champ.

Bigger planes really are, generally speaking, easier to fly.

[cbatters]

Bigger planes like EasyStar and HobbyZone can be trimmed so they practically fly themselve but will sustain considerably more damage during a crash. One key advantage to the micro size planes is that they can often bounce off the ground without needing repair. Great for beginners.

No such thing as the perfect plane - they all have pros and cons.



Clint

[lucas2696]

Originally Posted by cbatters

....easier to fly but will sustain considerably more damage during a crash. One key advantage to the micro size planes is that they can often bounce off the ground without needing repair. Great for beginners.




Clint

Which also makes the Easystar awesome because it's INCREDIBLY durable.

[cbatters]

You have to define durability. At one extreme is a balsa built up plane with tissue or Mylar on top of balsa ribbing with a propellor and motor out front.

On the other extreme is a micro plane that can bounce off of a tree or the ground without requiring any repair.

Midway in terms of durability is the EasyStar which may break a wing or the fuse but the repair can be done with CA, epoxy or urethane glue in less than 30 minutes. There is also a reasonable chance that neither the motor nor the prop was damaged during the crash.


Clint

[cbatters]

If you bring up YOUTUBE "EasyStar Crash" you will get a pretty good selection of crashes. Sharp contrast to the carnage from Youtube video of "Hobbyzone SuperCub Crash" "T28 Crash" or "T-34 Mentor Crash"



Clint

[lucas2696]

I saw several easystars go in nose first straight down with no major damage, and mostly due to dumb thumbs, like having a servo reversed.

[NJSwede]

Originally Posted by cbatters

If you bring up YOUTUBE "EasyStar Crash" you will will a pretty good selection of crashes. Sharp contrast to the carnage from Youtube video of "Hobbyzone SuperCub Crash" "T28 Crash" or "T-34 Mentor Crash"

Yikes! When you watch some of those videos (actually, most of them), you really wonder how people chose their flying sites. I mean, this one for example... It could really only end in disaster. Who would maiden their plane on a street in a neighborhood like that? (Unless it's a micro, maybe) Or maybe that's what people do? I'm personally completely paranoid of hitting something, so I pick the biggest field I can find (probably 10 acres, at least). Bu maybe that's just me?

Parkzone T-28 Maiden Flight and Crash

[rcers]

What an idiot. A maiden flight off a city street. The T-28 could cause pretty significant injury if he hit someone walking out of their house.

And he was on the verge of stall trying to slow down so he could land on the street.

Some peoples kids....

[NJSwede]

Originally Posted by rcers

What an idiot

Yeah... It's really scary to watch youtube. Just saw some other genius who set fire to his EasyStar and flew it around. I guess he thought it looked cool. If he sets someone's house on fire and FoxNews and CNN have a slow day and decide to bite on it, the RC community might have a nice little lynch-mob on their hands... It takes SOOO little...

Anyway... Enough of this! I'm going to think positive thoughts and do some work. See ya!

[cbatters]

Either foam or pod/boom construction would be a good choice. Built up balsa would be a really bad idea. Goal is to spend more time flying than repairing

Good luck.



Clint

[RcFlyingTom]

I know this is pretty old now but got people who want to know, I had the Parkzone Ember (original) for a couple of years. I still found it fun but decided to look for a new plane. I liked the look of the micro J-3 but my Dad said he wouldn't let me get another 3 channel plane :-)
After months of looking around, I finally decide on the Micro T-28.
So glad I chose it! Although it felt weird having ailerons, I got used to it after only a few flights. It's a great plane because it can fly super slow, quite quickly, it's stable yet still capable of reasonable aerobatics. And if your like me and prefer scale flying, the little Trojan also looks great on a slow fly-by :-)



Tom