Planks are easy

[Jasmine2501]

When you have one of these ....

To quote Ferris Bueller... "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up"

I can fly better than this, but it was the first flight - didn't want to risk it


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLP5B8XfMD0[/ame]

[Justin Pucci]

Nice flying, Jasmine! Was this your first plank ever or do you have prior experience? I must say I've been more and more interested in getting a plane to mess around with in between heli flights and this one looks like a great kit, as long as it's not too advanced.

[Jasmine2501]

Oh heck no, I've been flying planks for years. I wouldn't recommend the Extra as a trainer

That was just a fairly relaxed flight to feel it out, since it was the first time in the air with that one. Tomorrow is supposed to be super nice weather, so I'll be doing some more 3D with this plane - it is really good at hovering and harriers, much better than any of my other planes. Compared to helis, doing aerobatics with planes is quite relaxing, and this one flies really easy. I'm gonna have to get out the lawn chair

[ACKopter]

I have to agree, from what little I have flown, yes, planks are definately easy.

Is that the ARF kit from Precision Aerobatics? I have been seriously considering that very kit for my first "real" plane, its between the Extra MX and the Hanger 9 Pulse.

You dont sound like you would endorse the MX as a first plane. I feel the Pulse is probably the wiser choice but man, the MX is sweet! I'd appreciate any input you would care to offer on my two choices.
Thanks, Chris.

[Jasmine2501]

Definitely the Pulse is better, but still not as a first plane. The MX is fairly pricey as electric planes go - about $600, and I got a big discount. It uses the same batteries as my Trex 500, so that's what made it a good choice for me. It does fly really true and doesn't have any bad habits, so if you have some experience it might be a good choice.

[ACKopter]

Thanks for the input,
No real experience but i'd like to avoid any uneeded cost in a plane I wont be fully happy with. I have been flying a real cheap Easy Fly foam plane but it has severe limitations and is not a very stabile flier by any means but is quite easy to fly in the right conditions and in upright flight .
From what I have been able to figure out it seems the Pulse is highly regarded, not as a full on aerobat but a very capable and fairly nimble flier with excellent manners and smooth enough to make me look pretty good as a begging pilot. After watching your video again it looks like the MX might be a tad more "responsive" than what I can handle and it seems by description the Pulse may indeed be the better choice for me.

Now, if I can only figure out whether to get the 40 or 60 size. I have the batteries for the 40 but will be getting a larger 550 heli in the very near future so I'll be able to utilize those batteries in the 60. This makes slection based on batteries not very helpful. If anything I'd lean towards the 60 as I plan to eleminate the 3S 450 from my heli fleet very soon

[Jasmine2501]

In the video, I'm flying the MX on low rates - when you kick it up to full throws, it's a monster

Personally, as a first plane, I would suggest something in the 1-meter class which runs on the 3S batteries. Those are a lot cheaper and tons more popular. If you don't have a lot of experience, staying with foam is a good idea. You might look at the GWS Formosa or Formosa 2 - I have one and I love it. For a foam plane, it flies incredibly well, handles a lot of wind and looks good in the air. It's a standard "pattern" plane layout - designed to track straight and fly smooth. I hesitate to suggest an actual trainer plane, but if you really have no experience, it might be a good idea for you. It's hard to judge someone's ability.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...odID=GWSAE0002

The Slow Stick is a classic... it is utilitarian, and makes a good camera plane or night plane.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...dID=GWSAE0018I

[widower]

What about the bnf parkzone planes? I've been thinking of trying a plank for fun and saw the foam corsair. With heli experience, I don't think I would need to start with a trainer but I could be wrong. I'm guessing planks are much easier since they can't stop, go sideways or backwards (excluding variable pitch props).

[RocketSled]

You can (and I do) fly airplanes pretty much the same as you do helis. Unlike helis, many airplanes will fly on aileron/elevator only, but if you add rudder for coordinated turns just like you were flying a heli, the plane does the right thing. There is one important distinction, though... you can't slow to hover with an airplane. While the flying skills that are required are very much the same, there is an different "dimension" to airplanes because you can't really slow them down a lot. You always have to be thinking "ahead" of where the plane happens to be at any one moment, usually, quite a bit further ahead.

I wouldn't recommend the ParkZone Corsair or Mustang as a first plane, even for an accomplished Heli pilot. Neither plane slows down very well, and the P51 (I don't have a Corsair) can be fairly "squirrely". My advice, get something a bit slower than a semi-scale warbird as your first foray.

Also, it pays to look at specs when selecting a plane. I pick my aircraft based on whether or not I can interchange batteries. The P51 comes with a 1300mAh 3-Cell pack, and I have some of that size for my T-Rex 250 and BladeSR. But the Mustang flies just fine with the 1800mAh packs I have from my B400 (and for quite a bit longer). It will probably also fly (perhaps a bit nose heavy) with the 2200mAh packs I use for my T-Rex 450.

[ACKopter]

It looks like I was wrong on the batteries for 40 size pulse, when I looked at the specs again today it needs 4S batteries of which I have none so they would be a dedicated use battery, more points in favor of the 60 size.

I know very little about planes but looking at the video it sure seemed the MX is quite responsive to inputs. If that was with low rates then I guess it must be a MONSTER using full throws!

I already have 40 size glow powered high wing trainer, no stick time on it yet so I guess in all reality I should have said I plan on moving to my desired choice (MX, 40 or 60 Pulse) as I become more familiar and comfortable with flying the trainer. The little foamy I currently play around with is a GWS E-starter, I thought it was easy flight but I was wrong there too. My LHS has the Formosa in stock but I would like a nicer plane and quite honestly one that is not foam.

Hey widower, I know a couple of guys that fly the parkzone T-28 and they are really impressed with all aspects of this BNF/PNP plane. They both tell me it is a great plane and would probably be just what I'm looking for but its foam so I'm still looking elsewhere. Rocket Sled, do you have any input on the T-28 to back up what my local fliers claim.

Not rying to dis flying planks by any means as I find them very fun and relaxing but when I first flew mine I was shocked at how easy it was right off the bat and I have no prior experience in RC other than the last year that I have been fooling around with the heli stuff. Had a friend get it off the ground for me just in case, he said it flew fine and handed me the TX and I havent needed any help since.

[Jasmine2501]

Ah ok... the E-starter is a good trainer. If you got it mastered then you can probably go with the T-28 or something like that - they are foam though. Both the T-28 and the Corsair are atypical Warbirds, with pretty basic handling and none of the common warbird problems. I enjoy flying them, and while I don't own one, I always ask people if I can fly theirs. Most of the time they are noobs and the planes are out of trim and stuff, but when they are set up right, you can do rolling circles and stall turns and whatever else you want with them. With the small ailerons, short tails, and dihedral, they don't fly anywhere near as true as the Formosa. I like pattern planes - don't know if you would like it though, hard to say. I would advise against going for broke with a 60-size electric, as a crash can be fairly expensive, and planes can't be fixed like helis - you don't just replace parts, you have to go in there and do surgery, if it can even be fixed. You might look at something like these here...

http://www.aero-works.net/store/detail.aspx?ID=256

You don't know until you try it... but a pattern plane with the long tail and precision surfaces is really a thing of beauty. Things like the MX and the other 3D planes require a certain touch. The pattern planes and high-wing aerobats are a different style.

[ACKopter]

Nice link, more food for thought and sometimes that can be a bad thing.

After thouroughly comparing cost it seems the 60 size electric is nearly the same cost as the MX so its a decision based on my personal taste of flying style (that I have yet to even develop) The smaller 40 is roughly $85 less than the others. None of which are including battery cost.

I see your point on crash cost per size but it seems to me it would be cheaper to buy a wing or fuse for the very occasional crash vs the cost of a repair on a 500 size or larger heli on a sometimes freequent basis. Please correct me if I'm wrong but compared to heli's I dont see repair cost as discouraging for a larger plane.

[Jasmine2501]

True, when you compare it to 1-meter helis... but when you compare the little planes and the big ones, the little ones are almost disposable. I have a lot of planes of different types, and I bet I went through ten of them before I figured out that I like 3D and pattern, rather than scale or speed or trainer, etc... So what I'm saying is, you might want to figure out what kind of thing you like before you put a lot of money into a plane. I could build three or four 1-meter planes for the cost of one MX. For that price I could also build a kick ass racer, or a highly detailed scale job... but I would only want to do that once a year really, at the most.

Now there are certainly some people out there who disagree with me on this - but airplanes are not disposable, in general... part of the reason I got the MX in the first place is because I know it's going to serve me well for several seasons. Heck, even my Formosa is still flying, and flying good, after a few years of heavy use. I have crashed my Trex 450 more times than all my planes combined. You are welcome to take the other viewpoint of course too, but I don't see an airplane as something I ever want to have to fix. So, if there's a chance of not being able to handle it, it's better to get something cheap. I'm not making any sense... sorry....

[RocketSled]

If you buy a foamy, the repair costs are minimal and the repair effort is usually trivial. I've flown and crashed and repaired (lather, rinse, repeat) foamies to the point there was almost as much glue as foam. Snap a wing in half and if you brought 5 minute epoxy to the field with you, you can be back in the air in 30 minutes time.

Stick-built planes, however, are *not* any fun to repair when you wreck 'em. Less expensive than a Heli, for certain, but an equal (if not greater) effort.

I strongly recommend a foamy for anyone up to the point that a foamy simply isn't strong enough to do what they want. Go with the wood-built pattern model once you get to the point you can confidently fly a pattern with your foamy or you may end up discouraged by the inevitable repair effort.

[ACKopter]

Actually it makes perfect sense and is something I hadnt fully considered. Maybe I need to just sit back and try different less expensive options to find what suits me before making a major purchase on what I "think" I may want.

[Jasmine2501]

Yeah personally, I did not like the "big" Pulse... the mini electric one is nice though. When you scale something up, it doesn't always work out good. Other people like it though, and I only flew it once. It would be awesome if we could try these things out before buying them