Author Topic: Question for R/C Flier Enthusiasts (Read 521 times)

fdiron · « **Reply #15 on:** May 16, 2002, 08:52:00 PM »

I learned on a Great Planes PT-40. Excellent aircraft. Mine had a unique color scheme also, yellow wings, black body, and a black stripe on the right wing and right horizontal stab to help orient myself in case of emergency. Have only had one minor crash in it.

Arcon · « **Reply #16 on:** May 16, 2002, 09:06:25 PM »

In the past, Great planes used very good wood with a high degree of prefabrication. PT-40 was flown a lot as first plane at our club.

SirLoin, I used the Briggs & Stratton of R/C for my first Kadet... the K&B .40

Originally covered in doped cloth, It was recommended I recover in monokote, which I did. Much easier to repair

eskimo2 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 16, 2002, 09:13:54 PM »

Or start with a glider.

eskimo

Arcon · « **Reply #18 on:** May 16, 2002, 09:47:09 PM »

With all due respect, eskimo, a glider isnt going to help smooth the way to powered flight very much, certainly not the semi-scale he wants to fly.

Gliders can be flown just about anywhere without upsetting people, so that is an advantage if your not in a club...

Granted, orientation, radio controls, simple stuff can all be learned from a Gentle Lady, but if your headed towards powered flight, nothing substitutes for a powered aircraft.

I've built and flown gliders, slope soarers (their fun and simple!) Powered: ARF, scale, performance, pattern, etc. Don't make me an expert. But going from a glider to the ME would be like going from crawling to juggling while riding a unicycle

eskimo2 · « **Reply #19 on:** May 17, 2002, 12:41:07 AM »

True, but it's a cheep easy way to ease into the hobby.

eskimo

SirLoin · « **Reply #20 on:** May 17, 2002, 05:25:59 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by eskimo2
True, but it's a cheep easy way to ease into the hobby.

eskimo

Rgr that..It's cheaper and easier to go the powered glider route.Lot's of electric arfs out there.Also lots of glider kits that would take an OS 1.0 on the nose or wing pod.I have a 2 metre Top Flight "Metrik" that I built 20 years ago.It still flys great!(though I did have to use the plans to build a replacement wing after flying it into a goal post)...

moose · « **Reply #21 on:** May 20, 2002, 10:11:42 PM »

Punt -

How good are the 'house of balsa' kits?

SKurj · « **Reply #22 on:** May 20, 2002, 11:16:21 PM »

Heh SirLoin I don't have the coin or the workshop for RC, mebbe one day!

Dad's the RC'er yet he's lucky if he gets to spend 24 hrs a yr withem these days. Mum has too many projects for him

SKurj

SirLoin · « **Reply #23 on:** May 21, 2002, 07:41:34 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by moose
"How good are the 'house of balsa' kits?"

House of Balsa make very good kits though I have not built any.They have an excellant line of small scale kits too.Anything from a J3 Cub to a Me109...Kits are around $59.00 and are by far the best small scale kits on the market...Check out "Model Airplane News" June 2002 or http://www.houseofbalsa.com

Kieran · « **Reply #24 on:** May 21, 2002, 07:55:22 AM »

I think gliders are the perfect way to ease into R/C. I started with a Gentle Lady myself. It takes a while to get the feel of reversing aileron input when the bird is coming at you, and gliders give you the time to figure it out. They also teach you about stalling without killing you. This is especially true if you are starting without any instruction (like I did).

moose · « **Reply #25 on:** May 21, 2002, 02:29:25 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by SirLoin
Quote
Originally posted by moose
"How good are the 'house of balsa' kits?"

House of Balsa make very good kits though I have not built any.They have an excellant line of small scale kits too.Anything from a J3 Cub to a Me109...Kits are around $59.00 and are by far the best small scale kits on the market...Check out "Model Airplane News" June 2002 or http://www.houseofbalsa.com [/B]

Yeah, I saw a bunch of them on ebay and I picked up a P-51 kit for $40

Maybe one of these days ill get a digital camera and make notes of my experience building it

Kieran · « **Reply #26 on:** May 21, 2002, 03:11:22 PM »

I built a House of Balsa P-51... used a .20 engine on it. I left the gear off and did grass landings. It flew fast and honest, but was no beginner's bird.

Moose, if you build any warbird as your first plane, go bigger. One of the best scale birds I had (for honest flying) was a Pica 1/6th scale FW190D9. It was laid out very well for an R/C bird, was light enough to be forgiving on deadstick, and didn't suffer much in the way of needing trim change with speed. It had the added benefit of being very easy to see, too.

Whatever plane you build, you won't be able to squeeze a pin into your rectum on the first flight.

GRUNHERZ · « **Reply #27 on:** May 21, 2002, 06:00:25 PM »

Moose you are making a huge mistake if you don't buy a trainer type plane when learning.

There are reasons why even real world pilots started on easy handling, slow, light wing loading trainers. Much the same, even more actually applies to RC.

Buy a .40 size trainer, not a .20 Mustang.

You WILL crash your Mustang, loose money, then either quit- or do what you should have done in the first place and get a trainer.

FIND AN RC CLUB
Get to know the guys, ask around, ask what trainer is popular at the field and who can train you to fly.

JOIN AMA
http://www.modelaircraft.org

JOIN THE CLUB
AMA membership is required at all clubs in USA for insurence reasons.

BUY TRAINER

I reccomend the Hobbico Avistar "Select" ARF, this plane comes with a high quality name brand OS engine and Futaba radio installed for $300. It's the best value in RC Trainers. Plus this plane has a semisymetrical wing and less dihedral so it can be quite aerobatic after you learn the basics.

Don't be arrogant and prideful by avoiding trainers, you will buy one sooner or later after you crash the Mustang. Its way too small, too fast, and will be thrown around by the wind way too much.

Buy a trainer and join a club if you wanna learn and don't wanna kill somebody.