What RC plane to buy?

For unknown and wholly mysterious reasons – Flying RC planes is a 2000% less-cool thing for a grown man to enjoy doing, as opposed to RC cars. Social suicide, really. But I really like flight (have piloted one IRL) and have next to no interest in cars. So it’s a tough call!

But anyway, what would you choose? Or what *did* you choose already? Run a second more anonymous STW account if you don’t wish to sulky yr ID, but I’d love to see some RC planes. No crazy suggestions costing years of work and 1000s of notes tho. Something under £500

Thinking of starting out with a Powerup 3 andpaper-models just for a tinker? May stick at that it looks like a lot of fun:

Otherwise, if I manage 70 yrs then maybe dropping £300 on something like a Freewing De Havilland Mosquito:

My auld boy is really into them. If this is your first one then get a simple high wing trainer preferably built from edf foam. You will crash it.

One model I really like the look of is a parrot disco. It is a cross between a plane and a drone and looks so easy to fly.

Save the scale models until you have a bit of flight time, I’ve seen my fair share of wrecked models.

Thnks lyrikal. Seems like sound advice. Am more interested in the scale models but I guessed running before, er, walking would be the sensible way fwd. Though I may have already put many hrs in on the sim: 8)

Absolute RC Plane Sim
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/absolute-rc-plane-sim/id534915930?mt=8

*Edit – thinks – actually that Parrot Disco could be a lot of fun with the photography angle, not to mention useful reference material for landscape painting 💡

I’ve always liked the look of the Parkzone RC planes. Never bought one, as it’ll probably just end up as an expensive way to smash up polystyrene – but perhaps one day…

I’ve got one of those small Parkzone planes, the Mustang. It says you need to be an experienced flyer, but I ignored that and spend a summer learning to fly it. Fortunately I had a fairly large field to learn on, and only had to climb a tree once to get it back. I wouldn’t say I could fly it at the end of the summer, but it was nearly under control.
Still got it somewhere!

Likely to be totally not what you are after but as a starter, I got my lad the Hobbyzone Duet RTF.
It was about £45 all in, batteries, radio everything.
It’s really quite good and he’s getting quite a dab hand at flying it, thinking in 3D and when left is right, right is left, coming away, heading towards etc.

Avoid the scale warplane things as they tend to need to be moving fast or they run out of lift due to wing shape.

As above go for a high wing trainer until you can fly. Chris Foss Wot4s or something like that are good and would do you from learning through to pretty advanced aerobatics. It would involve some building and fitting out though. Could easily be set up for less than £500 including pretty good secondhand radio gear.

Best advice would be to join a club and learn properly and get BMFA (SAA in Scotland) insurance. Hurting yourself with a prop spinning at 6000+ rpm hurts like a bitch (1 seconds inattention and 40 stitches later taught me that one and a guy did it a week later testing an engine and took off 4 fingers) but hurting someone else in a park could land you in court.

For a fun entry into the hobby with leccy engine, you can’t go wrong with a Multiplex Easystar.

Multiplex Easystar II Electric RC Plane – ARTF

It’s foam, easy to build and fly, fit it with the right engine and it goes like stink. Easy and stable to fly but open it up and it would go vertical and can easily loop. Unfortunately mine is broken as I flew it into the ground but did provide many many hours of insane grins as I flung it about the sky with scant regard for it.

Following that, a Seagull Jumper 25. High wing trainer, lovely to learn on but a lot less forgiving when it hits the ground harder than you would have liked.

http://www.tjdmodels.com/seagull-jumper-2532-trainer-p-1432.html

Or there’s helicopters… But I’m scared of my Align T-Rex 450 as it puts the fear of god into me and doesn’t like being in the air.

Phoenix R/C Pro Simulator 5.5 is a good bit of kit. You plug your TX into the PC then learn to fly on the computer.

Can really help when your plane is coming towards you and upside down as it gets a bit confusing then.

Get a slopesoarer, ride up a hill and throw it off. No noise and you’re in the hills having fun.

I do fancy a radio controlled glider but is it just a case of chucking it off Box Hill or do you need one with a motor to get it up to height?
As you can tell I don’t have much (any) experience of these things other than a glider that my dad made us that just went round in circles after launching.
How long could you realistically keep it up in the air for?

I get bored after about an hour and land it for a drink and a sarnie.
Just chuck it off a. Appropriate slope facing a moderate breeze and away you go.

This kind of thing is unbreakable

Edit. Unlike the link. I shall retry at home later.

I preferred acrobatic planes. If you’re experienced, the Cougar and PAnic were both lovely planes. They could go from sedate pondering to sheer lunacy.

Mine also had a 91fs. I’d go leccy now though

If you’re less experienced and don’t want to spend too much time fixing, I learnt with one of these

It’s a jp prangster dont get the 3D version, get the one with some dihedral in the wing.

Then move onto a sportier plan like an acrowot.

I’ve owned all the above.

Prangster for learning. Acrowot for acrobatic learning and crap weather – a lovely plane and takes a bit more build too so should be on your list. Panic/Cougar for 3D

HTH

Edit -just seen you’re looking to take it up. Join the bmfa and a local club. Being on a buddy box will save money and time on repairs etc. Also make sure you have insurance and fly somewhere where it is allowed.

I remember my Uncle having an RC Glider, he was hopeless… every few minutes he would send me off down the hill to go and retrieve it…

I was shattered after that…

mmmm might get a Glider myself, and take my lad out…

This Durafly Tundra is a great, fun, and strong plane to fly.

I do fancy a radio controlled glider but is it just a case of chucking it off Box Hill or do you need one with a motor to get it up to height?

yep more or less, though you would be better off on Colley hill.
I built loads of balsa+paper planes but never had an easy to start motor, my brother had good kit. But once he tried a glider that was it he didn’t bother with a motor again. If I remember rightly he used to chuck them off the hill and fly around in a large circle and in no time he had lift and it was going up, soon it was just a dot in the sky.

Planes are too easy, get a helicopter.

It is easy to start with a little indestructable EPP flying wing like this:

IMG_0001-1 by John Stanley[/url], on Flickr

Sadly that is a gateway drug to stuff like this:

IMG_0092 by John Stanley[/url], on Flickr

Then this:

93c1eba6 by John Stanley[/url], on Flickr

eefc6d24 by John Stanley[/url], on Flickr.

Forget the gentle flying in circles with the Needle loaded with ballast. It is designed to do this. 10 times along a 100m course in the shortest possible time.

eddiebaby, are those top picture looking out over Weymouth and Portland?

Nice gliders there. How are the EPP flying wings? Always thought getting one would be cheap fun.

I had a brief go with RC helicopters. God they crash a lot!

Once you get the hang of it, and use a bigger, more stable heli, it’s good fun.

It was learning to fly it nose in (front point towards you) that did me in, some of the controls are reversed in that scenario and I just couldn’t get it. The cycle of crash – order bits – repair – calibrate got boring.

I think a plane would be far easier, but start with something cheap and easy to fix.

if you get to Hucknall you can have a F15 build from depron with an electric prop in the back.
Stupid fast as I went overboard with the motor.

Have sold all my radio stuff so will never fly it.
It will need a speed controller, but motor and all servos are there.
Flies on a 3 cell lipo

jonm81 – Member
eddiebaby, are those top picture looking out over Weymouth and Portland?

Yep, that’s the bowl above Sutton Poyntz just to the west of the white horse.
The wings are great. Because they are polypropylene foam covered in strapping tape they are pretty solid. Multiplex even make one that comes apart so you don’t look like Buzz Lightyear when cycling.
Very nimble and once you get it into your head which way is what then they can be easy to fly.

I knew I shouldn’t have opened this thread…

Yep, that’s the bowl above Sutton Poyntz just to the west of the white horse.
The wings are great. Because they are polypropylene foam covered in strapping tape they are pretty solid. Multiplex even make one that comes apart so you don’t look like Buzz Lightyear when cycling.
Very nimble and once you get it into your head which way is what then they can be easy to fly.

Is that open for anyone to fly there or is it a club site? I moved down that way last year and want to get back into RC flying again. i have several planes and a powered glider so it might be ideal if anyone can fly there.

A shed full of moulded carbon money pits here. The one that I have spent more time flying is an EPP wing. I don’t think they are sold any more but is an SAS (can’t remember) however, the company seems to exist still without the model I had.

Wildthing 46″

Just fired up the transmitter and the model was called a Fusion. Much like the wildthing still for sale but higher aspect ratio wing.

Nothing compares to half a dozen mates on a cliff with EPP combat models. Three dimensional dodgem cars.

I have a half build semi scale spitfire lying at my parents place.
it was designed for dogfighting, where you put long paper streamers on the tail and then you have to cut the paper tail of the other planes.
Sounds like a lot of fun, as long as you don’t mind rebuilding planes.
My last model before I gave up on it, was a fast electric foam glider that ended its days when we had a mid air collision 2m above the runway. we hit each other nose on as my model had a dent in the spinner. Had a rather sharp carbon prop on which totally shredded my friends model as both were foam.
Used to fly at Rolls Royce airfield and we had quite a lot of big jet models flying there too, best thing ever was when a jet exploded in mid air.

Anyone can fly there but a couple of days a year the conditions are right for the paragliders. No pure powered stuff but a electric powered glider should be OK though. The best cliff soaring is on Portland, but make a mistake and the plane can be gone. Very good flying at Ringstead with massive clean lift. Again, not a pure power site. I’ve never flown powered stuff so can’t help.

how about something like a Parkzone Radian powered glider-gives you time to get your head together when changing direction rather than watch your pride and joy spiral into the ground. I have never flown a plane before but got on with one o.k when a mate let me try.They do a version with ailerons but apparently it’s not as stable due to lack of wing dihedral

Thanks eddiebaby. The glider and a few of the planes are electric so should be ok. Not sure I can be bothered with the IC planes now due to the mess and noise. I doubt I will fire up the diesel plane again as the fuel is pretty hard to get and I can’t stand the smell any more.

I built this thing about 5 years ago but have never gotten around to flying it.

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I did have a 40″ version of this called the Clancy Lazy Bee that was great fun and looked ridiculous doing aerobatics. It would also fly backwards into a strong breeze.

Just fired up the transmitter and the model was called a Fusion.

– I had one of those. Much preferred the WildThing (Alan has retired now but SAS still going strong).

I started on power but soon moved to slope and much prefer it. I have one of EddieBaby’s cast-offs which is still my favourite model.

SAS Fusion by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Gray Sky Thinking by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Bird 60 unflown by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

If you’re going to fly power, really join a club and get some instruction. I prefer slope as you’re out in the hills rather than in a big field.

I’ve just had a count and realise I have 10 gliders. TEN. I really need to go back out and fly some more!

Anyone can fly there but a couple of days a year the conditions are right for the paragliders. No pure powered stuff but a electric powered glider should be OK though. The best cliff soaring is on Portland, but make a mistake and the plane can be gone. Very good flying at Ringstead with massive clean lift. Again, not a pure power site. I’ve never flown powered stuff so can’t help.

I’ve been flying paragliders at the White Horse and Ringstead for the last 30 years 🙂 Fantastic sites.

Mikkel – if you’re after rc gear, I have an old Futuba FF7 kicking about and I’m sure I can rustle up a couple of rx

Keep meaning to eBay it because if I do get back into it (I’ve a half built from plan typhoon that I want to finish and fly), I’ll go 2.4 because my local site can be a bit noisy.

I just love the look of a glider.
As said above….this thread makes me want.

Not been on rcgroups for a while and checked the sailplane section.
A quick check on the Dynamic Soaring speeds to see how fast gliders are lapping and found the top speed is now well over 519mph. No motors no tricks just dipping in and out of a wind shear.
That is so much faster than any of the turbine models are doing at the moment. Way over 80G recorded at times.

Just don’t buy a heli unless you enjoy rebuilding the thing.

Regular £50 dumb-thumb tax bills take the shine off rapidly 🙁

I learnt with a UMX RADIAN, its basically a small very light powered glider that’s quite difficult to crash, has a gyro built in to smooth it out.
It really taught me how to control an aircraft at a gentler pace so there wasn’t any terrifying moments of dumb-thumb hamfistedness that couldn’t be corrected as it gives you time to react.

Those slopesoarers are amazing – but fixed-wing aircraft scare me. The only thing I’ve flown seriously is a bunch of Mikrokopter multi-rotor helicopters, with those if your head gets messed up you can just press a button and it’ll sit in one place in the sky until you get yourself sorted out. Can’t do that with a fixed-wing aircraft.

That reminds me, though – I’ve still got a big 6-rotor Mikrokopter at the shop that was never collected – I should see if it still works and go play with it.