For Newbies or those New to RC Planes

[Sunstorm]

Can't find it...unless you google trick r/c where they sell it in blocks.

But EPP is flexible and breaks cleanly...so buying extra epp is unlikely.

I know one guy that had a mid air collision and broke his epp wing, just epoxy back, maybe reinforce with balsa if need be.

[L3on2k]

I'm interested in this hobby!!!

Hi people, I've been reading up quite abit on this.
I'm planning to get a 2nd hand plane that has 4ch but use a 6ch tx and rx.
I know there are different types of tx's, the modes and all.

I just wanted to know if aileron control is what controls the roll of the plane.
does it control the roll of the plane?

And after being able to pilot an rc plane properly, i thought of building myself a nice foam fighter model plane that runs on ducted fans or somethin'.
Where can I get plans from?

Erm, Thanks in advance for helping! xD

I live in tampines too btw. (Been reading some posted replies form alamin. xD)

[hoppie]

Maybe you would like to start of getting a Estarter, that is a good plane with ailerons.

Hi people, I've been reading up quite abit on this.
I'm planning to get a 2nd hand plane that has 4ch but use a 6ch tx and rx.
I know there are different types of tx's, the modes and all.

I just wanted to know if aileron control is what controls the roll of the plane.
does it control the roll of the plane?

And after being able to pilot an rc plane properly, i thought of building myself a nice foam fighter model plane that runs on ducted fans or somethin'.
Where can I get plans from?

Erm, Thanks in advance for helping! xD

I live in tampines too btw. (Been reading some posted replies form alamin. xD)

[JieZ]

Hi people, I've been reading up quite abit on this.
I'm planning to get a 2nd hand plane that has 4ch but use a 6ch tx and rx.
I know there are different types of tx's, the modes and all.

I just wanted to know if aileron control is what controls the roll of the plane.
does it control the roll of the plane?

And after being able to pilot an rc plane properly, i thought of building myself a nice foam fighter model plane that runs on ducted fans or somethin'.
Where can I get plans from?

Erm, Thanks in advance for helping! xD

I live in tampines too btw. (Been reading some posted replies form alamin. xD)

Yes,ailerons control the roll of plane.try to fly a plane from high wing to mid wing to low wing.dont rush.i regretted.the proceed to ducted fans when u feel that u can do it after flying high,mid,low wing planes.
plans u can get frm RCGroups.com then under Fomies(scratchbuilt) there a tons of plans there.EDF,Pusher prop.Hope this helps

[Raven]

Hi people, I've been reading up quite abit on this.
I'm planning to get a 2nd hand plane that has 4ch but use a 6ch tx and rx.
I know there are different types of tx's, the modes and all.

I just wanted to know if aileron control is what controls the roll of the plane.
does it control the roll of the plane?

And after being able to pilot an rc plane properly, i thought of building myself a nice foam fighter model plane that runs on ducted fans or somethin'.
Where can I get plans from?

Erm, Thanks in advance for helping! xD

I live in tampines too btw. (Been reading some posted replies form alamin. xD)

Have you flown a plane b4?

[BigKid]

beaver slope glider?

hi guys,

may i noe whats the difference between (GWAEO016) beaver -$38.4 and GWDHC2SG (GW/DHC2-SG) beaver slope glider-$31.1. or should i get the e-started as the first plane? other than rotor where can i get the above plane?thanks.

[Jack_Chen]

I also RC beginner myself but when old birds ask have you flown before, very ambiguous.

Does it mean
a) Got PPL, soloed, fly real thing, ILS rated, able to fly commercial class?
b) Play Flight sims, from arcade-joystick to realistic flight sims?
c) really fly RC plane before, irregardless it's some mini-z indoor flyer that fits the size of your palm?

hmmm, if I were to comment for the 3 types.
C class beginners will be able to orientate better, understand the components, but need more aeronautical knowledge.
A class people are the real deal but will still experience problem with orientation plus the insides of RC planes a little different. (however they are the sort who can really afford this hobby)
B class people - split into 2 levels.
Pure Arcade experience, helps to understand how the controls work on the plane but no real physics. Not much use.
Realistic flight sim users will be able to understand controls, speed, physics, but it's a different world when you are looking at the aircraft from the outside.

then of course, those who don't really know aeroplanes. I have met one RC old bird who start out like this. He confessed that when he saw how other people were able to make the RC plane do stunts here and there, he got hooked and he learned the hard way of crashing things before they fly. Never did play simulator, very hands on.

anyway, one of the best advice to other noobs like myself is look for information to enrich yourself. A lot of the advice given by old birds help to avoid risky mistakes. However, on the other hand, you gotta be like the Wright Brothers. No one flew a heavier than air, powered aircraft before them. So in spirit, our thinking must be like them. Do you Dare to Dream?

[charlessito]

need help again

how can a 4 channel rx control 4 servo and esc?
my rx only have 4 channel and one of the channel been used by the esc,so my question is how to connect 2 servo running on the main wing ? Can I use the y connector?

[DL8698]

Everything You Wanted To Know About Electric Powered Flight

If you are considering taking up RC Flying (especially Electric Powered flight) or have just started out on the hobby, do take a look at this site

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7100376/tm.htm

It is a dynamic (ie regularly updated by author) E Book, and the contents are:

1 ............Preface
2 ............Amps vs Volts vs C
3 ............Sizing Power Systems
4.............Props vs. Amps
5 ............What is an Electronic Speed Control?
6 ............The LVC, Low Voltage Cut-off
7 ............Who Needs a Wattmeter?
8 ............Why Use a Gearbox?
9 ............Extended Flight Times and Balance
10 ...........Battery Basics
11 ...........Lithium Batteries, Chargers and Balancers
12 ...........Six Keys to Success for New Pilots
13 ...........Things to Check on an RTF
14 ...........Now its Your Turn!
15 ...........The Role of the BEC in Your ESC
16 ...........The Mythical Best First Plane
17 ...........What You Need to Know About Receivers
18 & 19 ... Radio System Basics

I have not yet read fully the whole book, but what I have read impressed me greatly for the wealth of information I got, answering some questions I have been thinking of asking as well as questions which I did not even think of asking in the first place.

[Crafter]

Simulator Training first

Hi Everyone,

As someone who dabbled in RC flight in my younger days then put it aside because of, you know, school, army, work life, other hobbies, studying again, etc, I really enjoyed reading this thread regarding beginners.

Actually I consider myself a beginner too 'cos back then I never got a successful flight before putting aside this interest. Back then ,there was only the glow engine to power your plane. Through a somewhat well-off neighbour, I managed to salvage his small glow engine and built the trainer shown around it. Actually this is the second trainer fuselage, the first was destroyed in... a crash. Haha. THe wing is the original though, and you can see the damage sustained at the wing tips from back then, but it's intact enough to still fly today. Doing house-cleaning around CNY made me take a closer look at the fuselage which had gathered so much dust, and I realised that it was 95% complete. Thus I converted it to electric power.

I'm so glad to be able to say that I successfully flew it on 30/3/2008! All my doubts about how the plane would handle went away as I did crude but controlled circuits around the field At Jurong West. The success must also be atributed to Hawkeye (Thanks Bro) who took-off for me, did the intial trims and did the first landing. Knowledge gained up to this point also came from Hawkeye and LOYN who brought me up to speed on the current electric era.

Finally to my point here.
I have to attribute a great, great, great deal of my ability to comfortably keep the plane in the air to my time spent on simulator flying on the PC. I've read some posts here which may prompt some newbies to think that 'PC simulator programs' mean programs like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Combat Flight Simulator, etc, where you 'sit' inside the aircraft and fly. The simulator I, and I believe the more experienced RCers are referring to specifically, are "R/C flight simulation pograms" like Reflex XTR, Realflight, G3 and so on, where you view your model from the outside. A freely downloadable one, Which I personally trained on myself, is FMS (Flying Model Simulator):

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

To start relistic practice, the two other things that a newbie should get hold of are an R/C transmitter, and a trainer cable.
If you're quite decided you are getting into this hobby, then one of the first investments you can start with is the radio-control system. Others here have already made their recommendations so I won't add to that, but I'd suggest ensuring that the transmitter you get has a 'Trainer' connector. This will allow you to use the second item I mentioned above, the trainer cable, which is how you will connect your transmitter to your PC to control your 'aircraft' in the simulator. Personally, I chose the Hitec Eclipse 7, 'cos I wanted the number of channels, and also because Rotor had a Christmas sale last year :>. As for the Tx-PC interface trainer cable, I made my own following the 'SmartPropoPlus' interface program which plugs into the audio Mic or Line-In jack of the PC. We must take our hats off to those people who wrote the FMS and SmartPropoPlus programs and put them up for all to freely download and use. I highly recommend getting enough practice on the PC before you try flying your trainers in the field. It could save you from a good number of initial heart-aching and costly crashes, as I think the most common cause of crashes is that the newbie does not have the 'feel' for the controls, the correct and instinctive control responses are not developed yet. That's how I felt before, you just freeze up in sticky situations. I 'crashed' dozens of times on the PC, and slowly but surely your feel develops.

Whoops, I think my post is getting very long here. Think I'll stop for now and maybe continue with a part2 later. Just wanted to share that simulator flying really helped me stay in the air and made my maiden flight soooo thoroughly enjoyable. :>

Cheers to all us Newbies. Enjoy!
Pete

[Crafter]

Trainer's First Flight

Just a little pointer to add on to my above post...

This may bore the 'old birds' here, but here's something I discovered firsthand at the end of the maiden flight which may be useful to newbies.

During the maiden flight, I had mounted the prop following the left picture below. I had secured it pretty tight, but after the plane had landed, we were shocked to find that the standard nut and the two washers were no longer on the motor shaft! I'm still wondering how the prop did not fall off mid-flight

Now I know why GWS-style motors shafts come with two nylon-lined lock-nuts, and have since gone back to the default mounting shown in the right picture. The slight vibration REALLY IS ENOUGH to shake the nut loose!

Well, it's a lesson learnt, thankfully not painfully with a plane crash, though I'm amazed it didn't happen. It's an under-estimation on my part, but in a way, (unintentionally) a chance to see what can actually happen. It's a lesson I won't soon forget, and sharing it so hopefully newbies can also take-away something useful from my experience and avoid your own disasters.

OK, happy first flights....
Pete

[BullTerrier]

how much does Alex sell a cheap plane for noobs?

So sorry for the late reply, didnt see it until now...

Alex has RTF (ready to fly) packages starting from $260+ if I remember correctly. What's different is that he will guide you with a few lessons and even help you with little onsite repairs from time to time if he is around.

[BullTerrier]

how can a 4 channel rx control 4 servo and esc?
my rx only have 4 channel and one of the channel been used by the esc,so my question is how to connect 2 servo running on the main wing ? Can I use the y connector?

If your RX or Tx is 4 channel then you need a Y connector to operate 2 servos for both ailerons as yes the ESC will be taking up 1 channel too. Of course if you have the more common 6 channel setup we usually use channel 6 (leaving channel 5 blank) for the 2nd aileron servo.

[thealex]

Anyone bought from Spore Hobbies Suplies?

Anyone has bought their plan form this shop? I find that their sales staff is super friendly, almost wanted to buy from him the beginner package which include a futaba receiver, but the only thing is they don include teching you how to fly....

[VinCopter]

Anyone has bought their plan form this shop? I find that their sales staff is super friendly, almost wanted to buy from him the beginner package which include a futaba receiver, but the only thing is they don include teching you how to fly....

Hi there, welcome.

Glade that you have good experience from the local hobby shop. Most of the local shop don’t provide training, there’s a lot to learn.

Try to locate any of the fun fly, ask politely and you will be welcome.

Or you can join one of the local aero modelling clubs.