Newcomer HELP

[kan0n]

Hey..Im new to Rc Plane/Heli..intend to get a RC Plane for myself to start learning everything...Really love the Plane F-18 Hornet, but i still cant understand most thing about it such as Brush and Brushless motor, i had a budget around $300, was wondering if it was enough for a plane? can anyone give me some advice, oh by the way, Nitro And Battery Power plane, which is most suitable in singapore? As i see most people dont use nitro was just wondering is battery really that good? thx in advance

[basher]

Not trying to "discourage" you but jets aren't really for beginners. You may wish to go for a good simulator like RealFlight G4 since you probably don't have a transmitter yet to get a feel for flying. Then buy a trainer like E-Starter to experience flight without too high a cost...

[122]

Newbie First Trainer Experience

Basher is right! Searched and tried out on simulator that jets are not suitable for beginners at all.

I'm a Complete Newbie and searched through this forum for advices given to Newbies. This is the right place to be starting on a RC journey. Would like to share newbie experience here ...

1. Got a G4 Flight Simulator first and really need to get a good feel of the different types of aircrafts and their flying characteristics. Initially thought that could handle elevator, aileron and rudder type trainers but to no success.

2. Subsequently got onto elevator and rudder only trainer and managed to take off, fly around and land. Whoppee!!! The feeling was "shiok man"

3. Hence with many more successful simulated flights on elevator and rudder high wing type trainer coupled with the new found "confidence", went off to get a Thunder Tiger Super Cub EP combo (Elevator and Rudder only), all in, 4 channel Tx, Rx, 2 servos, ESC and batteries included, actual price S$299. Still within budget of S$300

4. Chose Thunder Tiger Super Cub against the others and E-starter for these reasons:
a. Simple Assembly instructions for a complete Newbie
b. One Single Fuselage, no need to glue two fuselage sides together, sounds good for a Newbie
c. Servo rods for rudder and elevator already inserted in fuselage.
d. Yellow, not white so can easily see aircraft orientation in the sky, hopefully
e. Figured that even if gotten the E-starter with the aileron upgrade as the first aircraft, it would have crashed many times and be bashed up so badly that it would not even last to be able to upgrade.

5. Got down to dirty the hands and feel the real experience of assembling the aircraft. Really really need to read the assembly instructions many many times and then need to formulate a strategy on the steps of assembling. Note that the instructions on assembly manual sometimes can be so vague, u really need to sit down and visualize the steps one by one before you can start otherwise, one wrong move, no turning back. Ouch! Been hit at least 3 or four times.

6. Handling foamies, urgh...they are so brittle, learnt to be really careful and gentle so as not to damage the aircraft during assembly.

7. Put in passion, time and drive and voila ... here's my first RC aircraft

8. Now this is where I would need help from all the experienced RC flyers here:
a. Somehow, the angle and travel distance on the rudder seemed to be very small as compared to the elevator which is a bigger angle and longer distance. The assembly manual placed the complete opposite, elevator travel should be half that of Rudder. I am confused here
b. Somehow, the motor intermittently gets turned on even though the throttle is at the lowest. Is this the 'glitch" thingy you guys talked about or is it just not properly "trimmed" ?
c. How to Trim???

Well, the aircraft is ready for maiden and time for newbie to go down to the field and get the experience of ... field service on-site RC help !!!

[kan0n]

oh i see..thank for all the information..juz another question..Nitro And Battery Power Plane..which is better in terms of capability and limit of flyin time? like the the pros and cons?

[Sunstorm]

I might get flamed, so hold the kimchee....

I think that:
Nitro planes..... or planes equipped with nitro engines are noiser, larger, need more maintenance, tools and starting equipment. Not to mention there are less fields to fly nitro because of noise pollution issues.

Electrics are generally smaller, lighter, cleaner (ever tried to clean off spilt fuel? yuck) and I think simpler to assemble.

But hey, with all the guys progressing from Electrics to Nitro.... maybe there's some appeal there. Maybe the feeling is like upgrading from a Honda Jazz (small, cute, clean) to a Diesel guzzling Hummer (large, big).

[Sunstorm]

Oh p.s.

Nitro lasts about 5 - 10 mins per tank, I think, same as some electrics, if you manage throttle.

However, for electrics, you are limited by the number of batteries you have, while for nitro, you just pump more fuel and take off again.

Generally people have about flights about 10 mins, which is reasonably long. My longest powered flight was about 25 mins with a flying wing (throttle management) and 2 hrs for unpowered slope gliding. (you really should try it - slope gliding)

If you full throttle the thing, perhaps the batteries might last about 4 - 6 mins continously...

[basher]

I fly electrics exclusively as its clean and you can fly in most open areas as there's little noise and smoke. I tried nitro before many years ago but the engine tuning and oiliness didn't really appeal to me. But I must say during that time I didn't have much choice as batteries were big and heavy, not to mention the heavy weight plus expensive electronics. Today, its a hell of a lot cheaper, lighter and better!

For electrics, you would need quite a number of battery packs of different sizes, depending on the planes you fly. I have 5x2200mAh, 4x1300mAh and 3x3200mAh 3-cell lipo packs. For me, around 3 to 4 flights per trip is just nice. The rest of the time I spend chatting.

Electric or Nitro? Its really a personal preference...

[Babylon5]

Hi Kanon, interesting, remember this thread started with jets in mind ...that is when you are advance to handle .
With exception some Jets on electric ducted generate more noise then gas engine. I use -70db ear muffler when I test my EDF at close up.
...thats how loud it gets.

Cheers

[edmond22]

Plane about up to 58 inch is still ok to gun for electric. Anything bigger than that like 74 inches and above, normally people would gun for gasser.

I personally dun see a diff in flight time anymore, not much. The Extra 300 58 incher from Extremeflightrc will do 10 mins electric full aerobatic. Cleaner would be what most people would first say for electric, but nitro/gasser, you have consistent power right up to the last second you fly. Electric may sag a little towards the end.

[blueangel]

e. Figured that even if gotten the E-starter with the aileron upgrade as the first aircraft, it would have crashed many times and be bashed up so badly that it would not even last to be able to upgrade.

8. Now this is where I would need help from all the experienced RC flyers here:
a. Somehow, the angle and travel distance on the rudder seemed to be very small as compared to the elevator which is a bigger angle and longer distance. The assembly manual placed the complete opposite, elevator travel should be half that of Rudder. I am confused here

Well, the aircraft is ready for maiden and time for newbie to go down to the field and get the experience of ... field service on-site RC help !!!

Question :

If I were to get a Estarter with Rudder, Elevator and Ailerons, but I am only good with just both Rudder and Elevator, can I just leave the elevator alone and don't touch it on the stick. Can this plane still fly properly ? ( Properly, meaning can go up down left right and land, take off etc)

I would think, it will be easy for newbies to learn flying on just 2 controls - rudder and elevator and slowly progress to have an aileron control after several successful flights.

The best part of it is, they don't have to spend more money with another plane just to learn aileron and they are already familiar with the plane's characteristic.

I do have a suggestion - build the plane as per instruction, but then later set the EPA of the aileron both up and down to 0% or as low as possible. So even when you accidentally move the sticks on the aileron, you are still safe from dangerous ( read : More $$$ if it crash ! ) dives or rolls.

[joe yap]

Question :

If I were to get a Estarter with Rudder, Elevator and Ailerons, but I am only good with just both Rudder and Elevator, can I just leave the elevator alone and don't touch it on the stick. Can this plane still fly properly ? ( Properly, meaning can go up down left right and land, take off etc)

I would think, it will be easy for newbies to learn flying on just 2 controls - rudder and elevator and slowly progress to have an aileron control after several successful flights.

The best part of it is, they don't have to spend more money with another plane just to learn aileron and they are already familiar with the plane's characteristic.

I do have a suggestion - build the plane as per instruction, but then later set the EPA of the aileron both up and down to 0% or as low as possible. So even when you accidentally move the sticks on the aileron, you are still safe from dangerous ( read : More $$$ if it crash ! ) dives or rolls.

Not adviseable at all. Planes like this need ailerons to bank and rudder is use to yaw, unless they are given more than usual amount of dihedral in the wings. Those rudder/elavator control trainers are a designed like free-flight models, which usually have quite a fair bit of dihedral, so much so that the yaw control with rudder, also induces banking effect.

Although the E-starter will also bank using rudder, it is probably not enough to give you positive turning effect, unless you butcher the wings and increase the dihedral angle.

If you really want to save money on getting another plane, get an qualified instuctor to fly with you. It'll save you tonnes of cash.

[randomtask]

If you really want to save money on getting another plane, get an qualified instuctor to fly with you. It'll save you tonnes of cash.

Totally agree. I started off with guidance from some of the guys here whom I now call friends. If it weren't for them I don't think I would have enjoyed flying as much as I did when I started out.

As eager as we are to fly, it always helps to have an experience eye around to help with setups and flight instruction. I think even before we go that far, we should just read up and do as much research as possible. Makes it easier for the initial stages, not to mention the long haul once deeply poisoned by this hobby.

Cheers,
Adnan

[blueangel]

oh i see..thank for all the information..juz another question..Nitro And Battery Power Plane..which is better in terms of capability and limit of flyin time? like the the pros and cons?

Just one simple reason , which is similar to whether you like to start off with a gas car or electric car.

For one big reason between them, you have one less thing to worry about when you fly electric as your first plane ( or even so a car ).

You don't have to know how to tune an engine ! Can you imagine the engine stalling and stop running half way ? A gas car should the engine stalls and stops, you are left with a stationary car on the track. Can you imagine what happens if it is a plane ?

[bigfilsing]

E starter ....the clue is in the name

[bigfilsing]

The e starter is loads of fun ....simple ...easy to understand. Very forgiving in flight . Cheap to buy, cheap to repair
While others sit around messing about with all kinds of complicated EDF's and landing gear/retracts and flaps, COg and all kinds of settings the e starter is usally () in the air. No disrespect to those guys of course but for shear entry level fun into the RC flying hobby the e -starter is top stuff.

Good luck