Help and advice for a beginner

[scott rookes]

I'd like some advice on buying my first plane, there's so many out there. So any information on a good starter plane, or ready to fly starter packs which have been tried and tested would be appreciated. Preferrably one which is able to take off from ground, good quality and if possible undestuctable.(if there is such a Plane). Thanks for advice in advance. Scott

[Alvin Espley]

HI SCOTT! A lot depends on where you plan to fly,is it a park flyer you are thinking about , somthing just to fly now and then when you get the time ,or are you thinking of joining a club?Also any thoughts on the mehod of power (ic or electric)?

[the unmagnificent man]

Hi Scott, if you decide on a nitro i can personally recommend the seagull jumper 25. Its available on ebay with an sc25 engine included for 75 quid plus p&p (tenner) Ive had mine for 100+ flights and the motor fires up easily every time. Its also compact enough to fit in a small car. I would also recommend buying a computer simulator (it helped me a lot) You can get one that does the job and is cheap enough at www.blackburnmodels.co.uk Just type simulator in the search at the top of the page. IF you decide on a jumper 25 I will be only to happy to pass on any tips. Be sure to ask other people at your local club too, there will always be someone there who will be only to glad to help. Good luck. Al

[Gareth P]

Hi Scott,
My advice is find a local club and go for a Seagull Boomerang which can be picked up for around £42.99. Equip it with a 40 size 2 stroke motor, and buy the best radio gear you can afford, you may change you plane in the future, but you can keep hold of you radio as you progress, if you get a decent 6 channel set up. Personally, I use Futaba. All in all, with club membership and all the ancillery bits and pieces, budget at £250 to get started if you opt for I/C option, maybe £300 if you get a better radio.
Build time on your first attempt on this type of kit would be around 8-10 hours, and you will need to get your model checked over by someone who is an experienced modeller, who will also hopefully test fly it for you, and get you started on a buddy lead (safest solution by far)
Worst case scenario, if you do crash it, you strip eveything out, spend another £42.99 and start again! On your second attempt, build time should be around 7-8 hours, as you will have a better idea!!
All of the above from personal experience! Good luck!

[Alvin Espley]

HI SCOTT
i would have to agree with the above comments on model choice , and Gareths point about radio,i personaly use a hitec optic 6 wich is a six channel computor radio and i have found it to be very reliable,it costs about £130-£150 depending on where you buy it from, but for that u get the radio 4 servos a 8 channel receiver , a switch plus the receiver battery. thunder tiger also do a good trainer 40 for about £60 ,it takes about 15 20 hrs to put together and flies great but i would try to find a club you will get a chance to meet people and get advice on starting out and also some help building and flying your first model, trust me you will be hooked,:)

[Gaz Elliott]

I have a Boomerang with 40 engine and have had a great time trying to get airborne. I have found that by joining a club and getting freindly with a few members has helped I also bought a trainer lead. This has saved me from endless rebuild antics and inevitably saved me a fortune.You will need to fnd out what connection your buddy has though> lead cost about £ 15- 20 . Well worth it. The Boomeraqng is offered for sale for upto about £59 I have found it on www.moormodels.co.uk for £38. Radio gear i agree with everyone else buy the best you can afford as this will be the one piece that out lasts everything else!!!!! and you can always upgrade your model whilst using the same TX I have the futaba 6ex. Very happy . only thing is this bloody weather can anyone sort it out for us all. If the weather is a problem, go electric for indoor flying. I am considering this option for winter (very soon then at this rate).... Good luck and happy landings

[Kelly]

Just finished a Boomerang 40 to do my A test. See photos in the gallery section under 'Ripmax Spitfire'
Nice model to put together,go slow and take your time.

This is a good thread by a guy in Australia putting together a Boomerang, his first ic aircraft. http://www.rchangout.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13056

Have fun

[Gareth P]

Gaz,
No need to consider indoor for winter.. just make some ski's for your Boomerang! Winter flying is great..calm..(cold!!) days, with good visability...The snow only stopped me once last year..but tempted to make some ski's for this year.....

[Kelly]

Hi Scott
Sorry changed my gallery header to 'Spitfire and other pics'if you want a look

Cheers

[the unmagnificent man]

Scott seems to have disappeared...mmmm wonder if hes down the shops?

Ive looked at your pics Kelvin and your boomerang looks just like my jumper. Al

[Kelly]

Hi Al
It is a bit bright,more stickers added since photo.
Got a Lipo/charger for the Spit, still trying to work out how to charge it??

Kelvin

[the unmagnificent man]

KelvinWhat charger have you got? I have 2 one that I bought and one that I won, the one I bought had instructions written in a form of English. That is, all the words were English but in some sort of code or random order! I worked it out after a while and it is a fantastic charger. Still no sign of Scott, do you think hes OK? Al

[Kelly]

Hi Al

I have a Ripmax EQ-5 Balancer 1~5cell and Ripmax Sigma Charger AC/DC.
Spitfire flies well with the original Nimh battery pack with its new brushless motor but thought the Lipo would give a better performance.
Hope the Ripmax EP Bf 109 will be out soon, so thought I would get used to Lipos in advance.
I hope Scott is not living in the area of the floods???
Kelvin

[the unmagnificent man]

Wow i never thought of that. Hope he's ok.
I just asked about the charger because if it was the same as mine I could have given you some info. Al

[Kelly]

Hi Al
Thanks,may take you up on the advice Lipos are not a thing to mess about with, not had time to have a proper look and I still have the boomerang engine to run in.
I would say the main thing I have noticed since returning to R/C flying is the mind boggling choice of aircraft,glues,coverings,motors etc. It's a bit like B&Q, far too much choice.
Cheers
Kelvin

[scott rookes]

Hi guys, thanks for all your advice, sorry i haven't been able to get back to you any earlier. So just managed to get back online, unfortunatly i went and ordered a wing dragon 3ch trainer(£60)after reading a few desent reviews but before reading all your advice, which i will read through and take on board your tips for any future planes i get. Up north here the weather has'nt been too bad had a sniff of the floods in filey, but other wise not bad. Anyway put my new plane together, tried to use the simulator disc which came with the plane but found it difficult to callibrate the transmitter and struggled to control the planen so i decided to take it up to the local field on a mild evening, i had to manually launch it which started off o.k, untill it started to take a hard right towards a wooden fence(bang). Not too too much damage, but a bit peeved i didn't have a flight. I've fixed the damage and hopefully getting it airbourne this weekend, weather permitted, i'll keep you updated. Anybody know of any clubs, scarborough area.

[Kelly]

Hi Scott
Try the BMFA http://www.bmfa.org/index.html they have a list of clubs up and down the UK.
Google the wing dragon see if you can find any flying tips, some guys on this site may have some experience with it .
May be a good idea to get insurance and permission from the land owner if not already done so.
Keep posting and good luck

Kelvin

[Andrew Walls]

Hi Scott
i have the wing dragon 4 channel this has been my first plane in 6 years when i was into nitro.i know your 3 ch but when i got mine heres what i done
go over the wings make sure they are on nice and sraight

launch it in to the wind no power but holding the conttroller switched and see how it glides it should glide nice with no or little left or right and rise and fall nice not right up and nose down

if it left or right trim the rudder till its stright ish as for up and down 2 things the center of gravity and elevator

C/G on mine its pritty good hold under the wing on each side my be a inch or two out from the body of the plane it should sit level if not make sure the battery is in the right position and firmly in place and add weight if needed dont think ull need to if that the case

elevator trim up or down if needed

once you have done this launch again with no power but have a play with the controls
mine glides long enough to get the feel for it
then take it up!!!!!

wind is a big factor with these planes very light to no wind at all is what i have found the best conditions.
as for the sim the port that the lead plugs into on the Tx was a bit iffy on mine there not the best i found moving it around a bit worked but i had to get another box to use as mine was touchy
have a look here
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=277988
hope this helps

[scott rookes]

Thanks for the tips andrew, i,ve just got in from the park which i fly it. Your right about the wind conditions, it really has to be mild or hardly any wind at all, otherwise it seems to have a mind of it's own. I'll try and do as you say and glide it first, as on the occasions i've done it with power it tends to head right. I'm still learning with it really and haven't had it airbourne to long. The elevator tail has had it abit rough and split, and i've got to try and fix it before heading out again. I'm enjoying it though which is the main thing. You don't have a site where you get your spares from do you as the sites i've tried seem to be out of stock of the tail and rudder. Thanks again scott

[Andrew Walls]

http://www.nitrotek.co.uk/products.php?cat=43
have a look here mate dont worry abou the damage its there to learn you to fly every 1 crashes their first model its that 5 mins in the air with you filling your pants thats the great bit
a club would help as you can put a price on experiance but the 1 i was at was very strick with only 1 teacher so very little flights
the sim did help me

keep at it mate and have fun

[scott rookes]

At last got my plane up and flying, what a great feeling to get it airbourne. I must admit after a few dodgy flights and landings, i'm now getting used to the controls and now getting it to fly circuits. I'm very happy with the way the plane handles, espeacially for my first plane. So looking forward to many more trips up to the park for the reamining of the summer,. thanks for all the advice. Scott

[Andrew Walls]

Well done Scott its a great feeling when it goes up and lands under your control have fun

[scott rookes]

Hi andrew, hopefully you, with having a wing dragon(electric) or someone could give me some advice. Now finally i've got my plane up and flying, i'm having a problem with my power cutting out in mid air, or usually when i,m launching it at full power. cuts out and bleeps twice. I know it can't be out of range, so i presume it's the rechargeable batterys, i'm charging them up for 3 hours as it states in the instructions, the batterys don't get warm only the plug, so wondering if i need a new charger, or need to charge longer?
Also would you reccomnend me getting a new transmitter, than the one i got in the box, even with me just starting out(any reccomendations). Is there any reason not to use rechargable batterys for the transmitter, i seen on some sites telling you not too? Thanks Scott

[Andrew Walls]

hi Scott
i had a problem sort off like that the plane was jurking around in flight and cutting out when it got to far away and this was the batterys low in my transmitter but on mine it has a green light and that was on which i thought was miss leading I replaced them with rechargables and i dont seem to have a problem now with the loss of signal.

Use good batterys if you dont go rechargers the cheaper brands just dont give it the range i used pannasonic at first but found them lacking so it was duracel but like you the cost of them and the cost of recharger and 4 extra batterys for me was the cheapest way to go.
As for the plane batterys i go 3 and a half hours they get warm not hot but if the plug is hot think thats a good sign

1 last thing it good to have a look inside the plane just remove the plugs on the rx and have a look lust make sure it how it should be because after a few crashes them my just work loose as did mine.

unfortunately my dragon is getting near its shelf life due to 1 to many bumps its the fun of flying agains the scottish weather(wind) and normally the flying wins.
hope this helps
Andy
hope this help mate hows the flying coming on

[scott rookes]

Thanks for the help andrew, i'll have a go at that and see if it works, before forking out for a new charger. Just before it started playing up, i had it up and flying quite a few times, which was a great feeling. typically though, just as i was getting the hang of it, the weather decided to go down hill for 3 or 4 days, so eventually got up to the park last thursday, i managed to get it airbourne, but it started with the cutting out after 5 mins, and it just didn't feel right so thought i'd leave it and try and get it sorted. Hopefully get back up there soon.
Thanks again andrew, i'll keep you updated.