Author Topic: R/C flying - is it any good? (Read 688 times)

johnathanh18 · « **Reply #15 on:** November 20, 2002, 01:32:57 PM »

i use to have an r/c sea plane until i hit a bird and crashed it into the lake. havent had the money to buy a new one.

damn birds shouldnt have been flying so low.

comradII

Kieran · « **Reply #16 on:** November 20, 2002, 01:58:35 PM »

Guys,

Anyone that can't fly a Goldberg Cub shouldn't be flying at all. Sorry, those things are popsiclecats. The hard part is getting them off the ground (taildragger), but I certainly wouldn't describe that as hard. Landing is simplicity itself.

The Goldberg Senior Falcon was a stout design, high-wing and light. That and the Eagle are both excellent trainers, but the Cub is just as easy to fly.

LePaul · « **Reply #17 on:** November 20, 2002, 02:09:32 PM »

I've kept away from R/C....guy locally had a Byron ducted fan F-15....OMG....Fast!

Skuzzy · « **Reply #18 on:** November 20, 2002, 02:17:33 PM »

Personally, here is what I would do to get started.

First and foremost, it can cost an arm and a leg to get into the R/C hobby. When starting, I would go cheap first, just to make sure you really want to stay with it.

1) Visit that R/C club and talk to them. Go out and watch and listen to them. One of them will probably eventually offer to help you learn the art of flying R/C.

2) Start with a durable, cheap, slow model. Do not get all hopped up about building your own. Worst thing I have ever seen is a new guy who brings out his plane and dumps it on take-off. It really hurts.

3) I would look for some used R/C controls and the R/C club can help you with that. Once you figure you are really going to stay with it, then invest in the good stuff.

Just take it slow and easy. This is an expensive hobby and not for everyone. Figure a good setup will eventually set you back a couple of grand to start and several hundred a year to maintain and fly.

Good luck!

Dowding (Work) · « **Reply #19 on:** November 20, 2002, 03:14:54 PM »

Thanks for the detailed advice, guys, I appreciate it.

I'd guessed that most beginners end up buying expensive kit only to destroy out of inexperience. It is tempting to splash out and think you can master it within a couple of hours.

I think I'll follow the advice given and check out the club first. Maybe they have a trainer plane for me to check out.

Cheers .

SirLoin · « **Reply #20 on:** November 20, 2002, 03:41:07 PM »

What Skuzzy said...Also,find out from the R/C club where the best hobby store is,even if it is a bit of a drive away from the closest.

Lots of great ARF's out there now,takes a lot of pain out of learning.Here is an advanced ARF trainer I bought this summer for $120...

Hangtime · « **Reply #21 on:** November 20, 2002, 04:40:21 PM »

You might consider a small Park-Flyer electric to start with... minimal building, lots of flying, and since they are small and very light they don't get crunched as bad when you mess up. They tend to just bounce.

Best flyer and best value outta all the park flyers is the GWS Tiger Moth.

Link To Pilot report on the Moth

We fly 'em indoors at a school gym buring the winter months.. can you say full contact COMBAT?

Mines been glued and taped so many times we call it 'Frankenstein".. a bottle of oderless CA and a charger and 2 extra packs and we can keep it in the air damn near all night. Best part is, yer flying fer a fraction of what 'fuel' R/C costs, and you get all the right skills before you finish that 'big' model.

Be prepared to repair what you fly.. if you can't handle the concept of a crash as yer learning, you'll be well advised to take up model trains, stamp collecting or building plastic static models.

Good luck!

mason22 · « **Reply #22 on:** November 20, 2002, 05:18:29 PM »

listen to hangtime....he is the "shizznit" of R/C .

trust me....anyone that can poke the gear through the top of 10 million dollar wings and laugh about it....know's his stuff

right hang!?

Dowding (Work) · « **Reply #23 on:** November 21, 2002, 03:35:36 AM »

Cheers guys. I'll check that out Hangtime. $55 is only about 30 quid. Although I'd have to buy the controller on top of that.

Hangtime · « **Reply #24 on:** November 21, 2002, 02:17:06 PM »

anybody tells yah R/C is cheap is lying to yah.

Mason... eat my shorts.

snafu · « **Reply #25 on:** November 25, 2002, 07:01:30 AM »

My Dad was an avid RC flyer until ill health recently put a stop to it

I always flew contol line, combat being my main passion, (Not as far to walk to pick up the bits)

.

I'm currently setting up an old PC for him and came across this.... http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html (About a 5.9mb download)

It has it's limitations sure but it's by far the best RC simulator I have ever come across (And It's free)

Although you need to run it at at least 1280*1024 resolution for a good effect. It has interfaces for Keyboard, Multiple Joysticks and connection to your favourite RC transmitter (Instructions on webpage). Just the thing for those rainy Sundays (And cheaper on the balsawood as well).

TTFN
snafu

Gunthr · « **Reply #26 on:** November 25, 2002, 08:58:17 AM »

Lots of good advice here, Dowding...

My own preference would be to build a balsa glider with a 6 foot wing span (several good ones to choose from), and mount an .049 engine with elevator and rudder control to start with. (But I like to build

)

One benifit to building is that you will know exactly how to repair it when you crash.

To experience what it is like to control an RC airplane, there are some RC Flight sims available, with demos... try this: RC FLIGHT SIM This can save you a lot of crashes...

G'luck

eagl · « **Reply #27 on:** November 25, 2002, 10:16:31 AM »

My 2 cents:

Don't buy a tiny plane. Nothing against hangtime's advice, but a larger plane will be more stable and easier to see.

Don't try to buy a trainer that "looks like anything". I've trained a dozen people and here's what I've found to look for:

High wing
semi-symmetrical wing with ailerons
Recommended .40 engine (kit will say from .25 to .40)
strong Tricycle landing gear

I learned on a taildragger and frankly prefer them myself because nosewheels are always getting bent and they're a pain in the bellybutton to align and install compared to taildraggers, but some people just can't figure out the taildraggers. Taildraggers will weigh a little less too.

I STRONGLY recommend getting a kit. ARF's have been getting better, but they are generally heavier than planes you build yourself, construction quality is occasionally non-existent (I've seen ARF firewalls held on by 2 dime-sized spots of epoxy!) and if you tear the covering of an ARF you often can't patch the hole with conventional heat-shrink covering because ARFs' are often covered by what is essentially a big vinyl sticker.

Also, if you get a kit you'll know exactly what part does what, how the plane is built, and when it breaks (not IF, WHEN), you will know exactly how to fix it.

That's my 2 cents. Oh yea, a plane recommendation... I learned on a great planes trainer .20. It was nice but maybe a little small, so a great planes trainer 40 would be a nice trainer. Also, always always always put the biggest recommended engine on the plane especially if you don't live at sea-level. You will appreciate the power later on and it can help get you out of trouble.

GRUNHERZ · « **Reply #28 on:** November 25, 2002, 12:14:33 PM »

Any good modern ARF today will come covered in real covering like Monokote or Ultracote. Only cheap and/or outdated ARFs today and ARFs up to the mid 1990s had this shelf paper sticky back garbage.

I recomend an ARF trainer. In fact an ARF will likely be lighter than it's kit counterpart because most kits today are too old in design and were designed to crash, not to fly. They are designed the way they were in the 1980s or 1970s, way overbuilt and too heavy.

The Avistar ARF I reccomended is big enough 60inch wingspan, light, its strong, its well built has a semi-symetrical wing, has full 4 channel control, and flies pretty much like a second plane after you learn the basics. Definitely stay away from anything under 40 size in a trainer, they fly like crap and the wind effects them too much. The Avistar will take a lot of abuse, trust me I know first hand..

For the most part american .40 size kits suck. They cost much more to build than ARFS- you must buy a lot of extra parts on top of the kits cost, take way more time, they are heavier, and you risk building them wrong and having them fly badly.

ARF trainers are the way to go if you want to learn to fly and not spend a long time before ever getting to the field.

And dont buy any of this you will be a better pilot if you build it stuff, thats nonsense. Flying skill is just about time in the AIR not at the workbench. You wont learn smooth landings by building the plane, nor will you learn slow flight, or inverted flight, or rudder use or anything.

Buy an ARF, build it by the directions and INPUT OF EXPERIENCED CLUB MEMBERS and go fly.

If you want build anyway, build your second or third planes as you are learning to fly your ARF trainer.

Again if you want to learn flying buy a quality ARF.

This plane is the best IMHO.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMU53**&P=7

For $300 US you get plane, engine and full radio setup.

CavemanJ · « **Reply #29 on:** November 25, 2002, 01:14:38 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by snafu
I'm currently setting up an old PC for him and came across this.... http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html (About a 5.9mb download)

It has it's limitations sure but it's by far the best RC simulator I have ever come across (And It's free) Although you need to run it at at least 1280*1024 resolution for a good effect. It has interfaces for Keyboard, Multiple Joysticks and connection to your favourite RC transmitter (Instructions on webpage). Just the thing for those rainy Sundays (And cheaper on the balsawood as well).

TTFN
snafu

That's a trip! Fun to play with, specially the cobra helo =)