Anyone into RC planes?

[EazyDuz]

I bought one ages ago but ended up selling it before i even flew it, but i want to get one.
Can anyone recommend a good starter electric plane, if there is anyone here that is into it?
____________________
To shreds you say? Tss tss tss

[stonesie]

Why electric?


I hope they have come on since I was plaguing my local flying site with my WOT4 mk3... Definatley IC powered.

[P.addy]

I have a "trainer" RC plane, runs on 5% Nitro stuff, never flown it

[stonesie]

The one I have in the garage is a Gangster 63, It was a quick mover with it's Russian MDS58 and I don't think I will ever throw it out, at this rate I will never restore it to flying condition either

[cb1rocket]

Been flying for ages but not at all lately. If not go and join your local club. Go for ic power if you can. Any trainer will do, it's a trainer and boring to fly!

You should carry BMFA insurance if not already got

[stevew]

I fly electric fixed wing and I'm an old oil head, loved and understood the glow & diesel engines. In fact I still run my old diesels just for fun in the test stand.
BUT flying is now all electric. Same size aircraft as before but MORE power and less weight (battery tech has moved on a LOT). For trouble free flying I would defo recommend E power.
In the world of top end RC helis E power has a MUCH higher power to weight ratio when compared to the best if the IC.
As for a first plane something like this https://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=39108 should do well.

Sorry wrong link originally posted, new corrected link should take you to the Firebird Stratos RTF
____________________
Maxsym 400i 2013, Sterling 125 2017, Honda Wave110i 2014,
Orpington
The opposite of bravery is not cowardice, but conformity. Robert Anthony

[Yoyo]

Was pretty much brought up with model planes. Since my dad was into them. And taught me and Crazymotorbiker as well. But rather strangely we all ended up into different things.
My dad liked the low wing scale stuff, Crazy was into the silly fast aerobatics, and I liked the really slow ones.

IIRC, Crazy's last plane could top 200mph, and was a delta wing. He used to be pretty good with it, doing full throttle low passes. Whereas I liked to be right up and getting my glider to fly backwards. Then there would be my dad, teaching other people, and doing perfect circuits, with his Tucano.

All of it is good fun to do. Well apart from the crashing
____________________
Joe: I don't wish to floccinaucinihilipilificate your choices, but the best word in the world is gaylord.

[Benno]

I've got a ducted fan RC plane, crashed it a while ago though and still haven't glued the nose back on. It's missing a few pieces so when I do glue it back in it's going to have a massive hole...not sure what to do about that.

I just fly it around our valley. Nobody around to give a shit and I've got some great aerial footage...or I did until I accidentally deleted them in a massive cleanup of my documents folder

For a good starter electric plane get an Easystar, good basic plane, and you can mount a gopro on it for some awesome aerial footage. I started with the ducted fan one...it's not the best type to start with.
____________________
I'm autistic. That means I'm smarter than you.

[Yoyo]

Body filler works a treat.
Just keep on repairing the missing bits until it is so heavy it won't fly anymore.
____________________
Joe: I don't wish to floccinaucinihilipilificate your choices, but the best word in the world is gaylord.

[stevew]

As for a first plane something like this https://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=39108 should do well.

Sorry wrong link originally posted, new corrected link should take you to the Firebird Stratos RTF
____________________
Maxsym 400i 2013, Sterling 125 2017, Honda Wave110i 2014,
Orpington
The opposite of bravery is not cowardice, but conformity. Robert Anthony

[cb1rocket]

Combat gliders are worth a shot, made from EPP and is good at crashing so it can be flown time and time again

https://www.freewebs.com/sasepp/

But only good if you have a steep embankment hill to fly them off at

[stevew]

For flat field power this little plane flies well and it's pretty easy to fly and build.
https://www.flyingwings.co.uk/store/product_info.php?products_id=898

Also worth looking here;-
https://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=12661
for info
____________________
Maxsym 400i 2013, Sterling 125 2017, Honda Wave110i 2014,
Orpington
The opposite of bravery is not cowardice, but conformity. Robert Anthony

[Im-a-Ridah]

The electric ducted fan planes are probably your best option, cheap and easy to fix. You can also hand launch them and you don't have to be concerned about being hit with a 20,000rpm propeller. Straight wings on a trainer/crop sprayer type plane will probably perform best at the sort of speed's we're talking about here. Delta wings are great if you're going to be flying at transonic speeds, but I'd doubt you are

Oh and be careful with the LiPo batteries, store and charge them somewhere you would be perfectly comfortable with them catching fire and/or exploding.

[LordShaftesbu...]

[Bikeless]

Just got an Art Tech Alpha Jet 64 EDF,probably smash it to bits on the first flight,me old man flys them swell.

[sulphur]

My dad got me one for my 16th birthday, a proper nitro fibreglass kit. Think he spent a good few hundred on it at the time. He'd already built it up and tested it running etc, but when we went out to fly it, (it was one of them you had to throw to get flight) it kinda looped straight away and smashed to shit on the road.

Gutted.

[MarJay]

I've got a kit that I bought when I was about 14 called an 'Aerojet 540'.

Me and a mate were concerned that its performance might be a bit pants being we were planning to power it with a standard 40 turn Tamiya 540 motor and a 1700mAh Nicad. So, I took a small two bladed propeller off of one of those toys that you twirl between your hands to take off and attached it crudely to the 540 motor. I took the two wires from the motor and jammed them into the terminals on the battery. The motor span up with virtually no load and produced what can only be described as a small wind storm in my mates living room. The propeller then became detached from the motor and flew off at a high rate of speed. We noticed on the plasterboard wall a small chunk was missing where the prop had hit it.

So we decided the performance of the plane might be a bit much, especially as we only had a two channel radio set and could only fit elevator and aileron controls, with no throttle. We were planning to fly it on full power constantly, but this was impractical.

So, the kit stayed in my parents loft until a couple of years back when I dug it out. I've still not been brave enough to build it, because as I found out later a hairy lightweight low wing monoplane is probably not the best kit to practise with.

However, as Bendy pointed out to me only today, it is better to have it embedded in a tree somewhere than gathering dust in a cupboard.

https://www.model-plans.co.uk/galaxy/galaxy%20aerojet%20540.gif

Found someone who has the same model. It was about £30 at the time without radio or motor so was pretty cheap. I'm not surprised it was popular, and I'm also not surprised that people didn't build them until they were more experienced at model flying!

https://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php?topic=39477.0

https://www.worley.me.uk/aeromodelling/electricaerojet.htm

And here's an onboard video seemingly taken by a model aircraft club a few miles from where I work!

https://www.fdmac.org/index.php?option=com_ttvideo&view=video&cid=35fdmac-2011&id=8:galaxy-models-aerojet-540-at-fdmac-&Itemid=55
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[bladerunner]

have several RC planes in the garage. i learnt on a seagul " arising star" with the std .46 motor....still fun to fly even on gusty 30mph plus windy days! I bought one of those usb cables that you can plug into your pc via your transmitter and learnt that way mostly. I had a friend who was willing to buddy me for the first hour and that was it...solo flying. Dont think all trainers are slow and boring! I reacon ive hit near 100mph on silly windy days down wind....even been able to get the damn thing to fly backwards at idle facing the wind...tricky but fun! they do elec conversions for the same boomerang and arising star kits and they fly well and are at the lower end of the ARTF trainer budget. Now have a spot on 50 with a .70 4t motor....a .60 mustang and a bloody huge 3 double D that has a whopping 1.8cuI 2t moki motor......when i find a way to start the bloody thing as my std elec starter cant turn it over and when i tried my cordless drill it started but each time it fires it snaps the chuck screw off the drill!!!!!! seems most people hand start them by flicking the motor backwards the idea of even trying to flick start a nitro motor that size swinging a filed 14" prop is just not on the cards for me thank you !!! did take 2 friends to hold the bugger down in the garage when i did get it running tho!

from what i learnt re training is find a club or a friend willing to help teach you and get a 50" or so wingspan 4 channel trainner and cram some hours in on the flight sim. i find little foam cheaper craft to be much harder to fly with any real control, not to say they aint fun tho


something like this

https://www.kingslynnmodelshop.co.uk/p3329/SEAGULL_Boomerang_Trainer_V2_.40-.45_or_Electric/product_info.html



The main benefit of going that route is that you can use your radio gear etc on your next model...so your upgrade will cost you £60+ and you'll have a proper 6 channel radio you can use in later planes and helis etc that will let you channel mix, adjust servo rates and all the good stuff you might want later! Get a few flights on a local clubs trainer first and see if its for you first tho!
____________________
Current bikes...cbr929, KDX200's, Rd125lc mk2, RGV250's

[stonesie]

The most fun plane I had was also the slowest, a Dave Smith models Panther with a basic but good OS 46LA.
On anything over a slight breeze it could be hovered/reversed and would loop in it's own length once i got the ailerons mixed with the elevators.

https://images.rcuniverse.com/forum/upfiles/40333/41869_20111.jpg

Best Pic I can find, mine was Flouro green with Flouro orange controls on top, reversed underneath with black/white 3" sections on the wing leading edge (at the site I used you couldn't always fly close in).

[Tarmacsurfer]

[Im-a-Ridah]

[stevew]

[Shaane]

Me and my dad took this up, passed our license and joined a club. Absolute great fun. At present I've got an arising star and a spitfire that's still in the box. Arising star was crashed because I had an issue mid flight with 1 of the Aileron servos spazzing mid flight so I crashed and burned. Since then I deployed with the RN so I haven't repaired it and nor did I renew my membership with our local club. Great fun though and a real enjoyable hobby.

Never used electric, Only ever had nitro powered. EDF jets are pretty quick so can be difficult to learn with IMO.
____________________
EMRA Roadstock #92 - Paperwork Permitted.
Previous: 1992 DT125R
Current: ~ 2005 ZX6R C1H

[EazyDuz]

I guess i should start with something very cheap, like a Parkzone Cub or something, and work up from there? Nitro planes look awesome
____________________
To shreds you say? Tss tss tss

[Shaane]

If you go nitro though you have to lass a test and get insurance which is something silly like £15 a year. You can't just take them down the field and play with it. I'm sure that's right but someone might come along and clarify for me.
____________________
EMRA Roadstock #92 - Paperwork Permitted.
Previous: 1992 DT125R
Current: ~ 2005 ZX6R C1H