first RC plane

[ChrisRain]

hey guys, so ive been flying heli's for about 7 months now and am currently flying a 6 channel Blade 400 made by E-flite

its a great heli.
i can do FFF and just recently started doing some VERY minor 3D manuevers such as flips and rolls.


and im looking to try and get into RC planes.
i dont want to start with a 3 channel plane because i know they are not difficult to fly and i enjoy a challenge.

i was looking into the ultra micro p-51 made by parkzone.
do you guys think this would be a good first plane??
and if not any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Heres a link to the p-51 i am thinking about getting http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=PKZ3680


-Thanks

[willlig756]

It all depends on where you will be flying and how much room you have to fly.. As with the heli's the bigger the more stable its going to be. I would recommend a high wing trainer with some dihedral to the wings to start with.. 4ch is better it will give you more control of the airplane also. If you have a local club they may have a trainer plane or two and be willing to let you try one to see if you like it. They can also help you pick out something to fly.. If not and space is kind of limited then the parkzone flyers may be a good plane to try out. I have never flown one and really dont know much about them so cant really steer you either way on those..

[ElIntocable]

Chris Rain, the UM P-51D was my first plane. I disagree with willling756 on going with a high wing trainer. Since you have some good experience with a 3D heli, you'd get bored very quick with a dedicated trainer. If money isn't an issue, I would recommend the Park Zone T-28D. It's very stable and can cruise around or you can step it up to basic aerobatics. Since it's larger, it can handle a little wind easier. However, if you are set on the UM Stang, it too is a nice flyer. Just keep in mind that any winds above 5mph, it'll be a handful. Once you get the hang of it, you can handle winds a bit stronger; it's just not fun fighting the wind.

Where are you located? I'm near Kansas City. I have an UM P-51D and T-28D I'd be willing to let you try...

[Ace4]

I would recommend the PZ T28 as well if you can handle a CP heli in FF. The T28 is easy to land, handles wind well, and is capable of a lot of aerobatics. It's pretty durable as well.

[LogoFreak]

I got a PZ P-47 as my first plane (been flying helis for a couple of years). I think it's a great plane to start with. I now have added flaps and retracts, the flaps made it pretty easy to land

[xspare]

I found the micro Su-26m had far better manners than the P-51.

The micro P-51 is fast and a blast but the elevator is a lot of work. It's hard to keep it out of the rafters when doing full-throttle pylon circuits in the gym. It wants to climb hard under power and I have not found a nice balance for CG & elevator trim.

[ChrisRain]

Thankyou for all the replies...will look into your all's suggestions.

Originally Posted by ElIntocable

Chris Rain, the UM P-51D was my first plane. I disagree with willling756 on going with a high wing trainer. Since you have some good experience with a 3D heli, you'd get bored very quick with a dedicated trainer. If money isn't an issue, I would recommend the Park Zone T-28D. It's very stable and can cruise around or you can step it up to basic aerobatics. Since it's larger, it can handle a little wind easier. However, if you are set on the UM Stang, it too is a nice flyer. Just keep in mind that any winds above 5mph, it'll be a handful. Once you get the hang of it, you can handle winds a bit stronger; it's just not fun fighting the wind.

Where are you located? I'm near Kansas City. I have an UM P-51D and T-28D I'd be willing to let you try...

unfortunately i am located out in Phoenix Arizona.

Thanks for the offer though

[SierraIntruder]

I have a UM P-51 and The Beast. I have also flown the Sukhoi and have seen the T-28 fly. Wind is the issue for sure.

The Beast - Wildly acrobatic bi-plane. Would be a little hard for a beginner to fly unless you dialed in some expo or dual rates. Snap rolls like crazy!

Sukhoi - About like The Beast but with a single wing. Fast and agile!

P-51 - A little less speed. Not nearly as acrobatic. Looks good!

T-28 - Fast / handles well and predictable. Probably your best bet.

Flying planes isn't hard. But, you will crash a few times before you get the hang of it. The simulator will help a ton.

Have fun!!!!!

[Mojappa]

+1 High wings are the coaxial of planes, you will grow bored quickly with it. If you were totally new to RC flight I'd suggest one but if you've got heli experience or even a decent sim then you're advanced enough for a low wing warbird or with a bit of patience a mid wing sport plank. I started with a UM 4-site (3D stunt plane), then a UM SU-26 (aerobat, quick and touchy) and then straight to an Extra 300 as my first big plane. Planes are a relaxing walk on the beach compared to helis so don't be afraid to get a capable one.

[ChrisRain]

thankyou all for your replies.
been looking long and hard for a great plane...have completely stopped thinking about higher wing planes thanks to all the advice im getting.

and now im looking into several different planes.
im about 99% sure that i want to get a warbird...not exactly sure which one.

i chose warbirds because all of the ones i am looking at have lower wings, and from videos ive seen of them they can get going pretty fast.

will keep you guys updated on what i end up doing.

Thank you all so much for all your suggestions.

[LogoFreak]

Originally Posted by ChrisRain

thankyou all for your replies.
been looking long and hard for a great plane...have completely stopped thinking about higher wing planes thanks to all the advice im getting.

and now im looking into several different planes.
im about 99% sure that i want to get a warbird...not exactly sure which one.

i chose warbirds because all of the ones i am looking at have lower wings, and from videos ive seen of them they can get going pretty fast.

will keep you guys updated on what i end up doing.

Thank you all so much for all your suggestions.

P-47 buddy :-) nicest parkzone to date

[willlig756]

Maybe my wording wasnt right but I didnt mean run out and buy a trainer I was simply stating try one out to get a feel for it and see if you like it... Theyre a dime a dozen around here and plenty of people are willing to let you fly one to see if you like it or not.. Plus have you tried to fly inverted with a trainer.. It can be quite fun..

[ChrisRain]

hey guys, its been a while since i posted in this thread but i just thought i would update you on my choosing my first RC plane.
today at the field i have been trying to sell my Blade MSR to help fund my first plane, and when i told one of the guys why i was selling the little heli he asked if i wanted to try flying his plane and it was tons of fun and EXTREMELY easy. The plane was an E-flite foamie i believe it said Extra 260 on the plane...not 100% which plane it was though.
anyways he let me fly it for 3 packs one after the other and even let me land it each time and i was very suprised at how easy it was to fly and land the plane.

hopefully soon ill find a buyer for my Blade MSR so i can buy myself a plane.

Also i found two planes that look real good, i dont want to spend a fortune on my first plane so im looking at some planes on hobbyking and here are two that im thinking about getting.
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...dproduct=14875
and the other
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...dProduct=14502

they are both very similar in price and size so im having trouble deciding between the two.

And also i dont really know much about the motors in these planes so i was wondering if you guys could give me suggestions of a motor that i could upgrade to once i get used to flying the plane.

Thanks

[ChrisRain]

hey guys, havent posted here in a while...but just thought i would update you all.

as much as i wanted to go with a Parkzone model i decided to go with something cheaper.

i ended up going with the Hobbyking f4u corsair...heres a picture of the plane




so far ive done one modification to the plane, i cut out alot of foam and a huge weight in the nose of the plane to fit a larger battery...the weight is there to make the COG right, but with the bigger battery it balances everything out

today my reciever finally showed up in the mail, i installed it and got everything set up and taxied it around the house just to make sure everything worked.

very excited to fly this plane (hopefully this weekend) if i do get to fly this weekend i will be posting video of its maiden flight

and here is a picture of the inside of the plane

[Mojappa]

Looks nice, good luck on your maiden.

[Elios000]

good luck just a hint keep it on the ground till you get some speed up
also the Corsair wallows a bit from the gull wing fly it like your driving a boat

[ChrisRain]

just an update guys, went to the LHS and the flying field yesterday with my friend. we went to the hobbyshop first, while there i bought enough deans connectors to put on all my batteries and heli's/planes. and i also bought that hinge tape you guys were talking about...was lucky and got the last roll of tape they had

after getting done at the hobbyshop and soldering the connectors onto the plane and the planes battery we headed down to the field which is about a 2 minute drive. it was pretty windy out yesterday so while we waited for the wind to die down i was range-tesing my OrangeRX... everything went fine. then a guy who is always at the field came down to chat and he flew both my friends plane and mine to trim it our for us. my friend had just got done putting together his parkzone corsair...he has been flying for about 2 months now and this is his second plane...first one was a Eflite Apprentice. the guy trimmed my friends plane, then landed. and now it was my turn. was quite a bit windy but the plane had plenty enough power to fly straight into the wind...about 1 minute into the trimming he turned to approach for a landing and lost the signal to the plane ... he showed me that he had no signal and then started running towards the plane with the transmitter held over his head and managed to get the signal back about 20 feet away from the ground came around and landed...i decided not to fly after that and am going to get the satellite reciever for the plane before flying it for the first time, dont feel like crashing my plane because of signal lost.


will keep you all updated as things happen and will be posting a video of me flying it for the first time



Sorry if some of this stuff doesnt really make sense to you...asked some questions on other forums and i talked a little about those things in this message...i just copied and pasted so i didnt have to type so much all over again

[TomRex]

Hope you stick to the named brands now! Lesson learned!

[ChrisRain]

yes, from now on its only the high quality stufff....at the moment saving up for a heli so i didnt wanna spend so much on a plane. But shoulve just spent the extra $40 on the spektrum receiver in the first place