Does Anyone Fly RC Planes?

[El Presidente]

I am looking to get one for my youngest son (12). I assume it is best to go for a basic learner and then upgrade.

Ideally I would love to get two planes down the track and "dogfight" each other.

If there is any such thing as the "10 things a New RC plane buyer should know" ......please post

Cheers

[Rye]

We run a pair of RC helicopters that fire missiles, and they are an absolute blast! My son and I can spend hours at it! (He's 12 as well) a bit of time figuring out how to fly them, but a riot once you get the hang of them

[Drguano]

My advice is to get a simple electric plane that flies slow indoors to get the hang of it. Then find a big room with high ceilings and have fun. Flying indoors means you won't have any breezes to contend with. I started with a Parkzone Night Vapor for $129.99 US. Having a pilots license helped a tiny bit. Looking forward to your exploits.

[livedavid]

I am looking to get one for my youngest son (12). I assume it is best to go for a basic learner and then upgrade.

Ideally I would love to get two planes down the track and "dogfight" each other.

If there is any such thing as the "10 things a New RC plane buyer should know" ......please post

Cheers

I always found Tower Hobbies to be an excellent resource. This link my be useful:

http://www.easyrc.com/airplanes/index.html

[LordAnubis]

Get on hobbyking.com and have a look at the beginner planes, cheap as and great to learn with. Key thing to look for as a beginner is a plane with a high wing (wing at the top of the fuselage) as they are generally easier to fly, but not as fast and manouvarable. Go straight to a 4 cahnnel plane as well, or if it's 3 channel make sure it has aelerons as third channel and not rudder.

Also get on youtube and look up a channel called "flitetest" those blokes are pretty good at explaining beginner stuff and review quite a few planes.

If you would have posted this up a month ago i would have sent you some gear that i recently got rid of (Dx6i radio etc)

[Profmd]

If you want the hottest RC vehicle right now it's gotta be the AR Drone. It's a quad helicopter. Fully digital being controlled with an iPhone or ipad.

It records with an HD front mounted camera also.

I have had helicopters and planes and this is by far the coolest and easiest to fly!!

Check it out online and see.

http://ardrone2.parrot.com/

[markmurase]

Hi Rob,

I haven't flown for a while, but have been involved with model aviation for much of my life. It's a great hobby. Here's a few suggestions:

- If you want to fly outdoors you need to join a club. There is a very large RC model aero club in Brisbane at Tingalpa (www.tmac.asn.au/) .

- One good and cheap way to get started is electric RC indoor helicopters. RC indoor helicopters are very popular at the moment. No club required.

- Always better to buy from a proper hobby shop than a toy shop.There are a few specialist hobby shops in Brisbane. The local hobby shop will be helpful for advise and back-up service. For mail-order, Tower Hobbies in the USA (as mentioned by livedavid) is excellent, as is Radar Hobbies in Hong Kong.

- There are some excellent RC flight simulators available for the PC. I highly recommend this as a way to learn because it can avoid much expense in crashed models! You need a flight simulator that the normal RC control transmitter plugs into. They are amazingly realistic.

- Bigger planes (and helicopters) generally fly better than small ones

- Most RC models these days come pre-assembled Almost Ready to Fly, so there's not much work building work required. Might, however, require a few more tools than duct tape and ocy-straps

- Make sure you buy something that spare parts are readily available for because invariably there will be crashes.

Hope this helps. Phone me if you like.

Cheers,

Mark

[El Presidente]

I really appreciate the input !

Mark, so you can't fly RC's outdoors on your own acreage?

[BradNC]

Another vote for tower hobbies here. I learned on their trainer 40 it was called at the time. Bought the complete starter kit from them and it was surprisingly good in my opinion. I pushed that plane to the limit. The "real flight" simulator is also great and very close to the real deal.

I always found Tower Hobbies to be an excellent resource. This link my be useful:

http://www.easyrc.com/airplanes/index.html

[Fuzz]

I really appreciate the input !

Mark, so you can't fly RC's outdoors on your own acreage?

There are some restrictions imposed by CASA. Basically follow these guidelines:

Keep your model aircraft away from populated areas and the immediate vicinity of others (i.e. > 30 metres)

Do not operate within 3nm or 4.5km of an aerodrome without approval

Do not operate in controlled airspace above 400ft without approval

Do not operate in military prohibited or restricted areas without approval

Consider the benefits of approved flying areas

Do not fly in poor visibility, clouds or at night

http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD::pc=PC_93443

[Munts]

A good mate of mine is a member of the Tingalpa club. I would definitely recommend going to a club such as that.

[Munts]

I would love to fly something like this....

[Warren]

Mate I seem to remember a story about a boomerang and I think Tom was part of that story as well.

What was the other part of that story?

Oh that's right .

Hospital

[markmurase]

I really appreciate the input !

Mark, so you can't fly RC's outdoors on your own acreage?

Fuzz has the official requirements covered this in his post. I guess it depends on how big the acreage is, where it's located and what type of RC aircraft that is being flown. Public parks are definitely out. An electric RC helicopter may not cause much trouble even on a small private block, but the noisy, fast RC gas turbine in the video may cause the neighbours to complain!

Models that are large and/or fast need a large airstrip and substantial open area. Proper outdoor RC planes need a lot more clear space than most acreages would have. We are talking a small airfield. It amazing how if there is just 1 tree on a 20 acre block, planes seem to be attracted to it.

There's also an issue of PL insurance in the event that a stray model causes damage to property or people. This is important. Members of clubs have insurance included in their membership of the Model Aircraft Association of Australia, if they're flying from a recognised club site.

Cheers,

Mark

[Overproof]

I would love to fly something like this....

Holy ****!! I was lucky to get a schooner out of my old boy.

[Chris7]

Seems like most of it has already been covered.

1. Definitely get an RC flight simulator great for practice and if it's raining outside. There is one called FMS, it is free and very basic, but does the job.

2. I would recommend going electric, perhaps a largish highwing trainer. That way you don't need to fly at a club and can fly at a cricket/footy field. This is what I have always done and have never had any issues. Most people are curious and will come up and chat.

3. Perhaps get an experienced pilot to help setup the plane and also get a buddy cable, this mean that the experienced pilot has a transmitter linked to the students and can always regain control if things go downhill.

4. Another thing I would also recommend doing if you think it is a hobby that he will pursue, is not getting a kit. Buy things seperately so that they are interchangeable and he is not limited.

My .02c

I'm sure I have some spare parts that I can part with if you would like receivers, servos, etc. will have a look and see what I can scrounge up.

Good luck with it, it is a great hobby!

[Fuzz]

Mate I seem to remember a story about a boomerang and I think Tom was part of that story as well.

What was the other part of that story?

Oh that's right .

Hospital

Rob and anything potentially dangerous = a visit to the local hospital

Now that I think about this a bit more, your best bet would be to steer clear of nitro/gas/electric planes and stick with rubber band models. Less chance of injury... unless the band snaps and you take out an eye... safety goggles may be a good idea.

[El Presidente]

Rob and anything potentially dangerous = a visit to the local hospital

Now that I think about this a bit more, your best bet would be to steer clear of nitro/gas/electric planes and stick with rubber band models. Less chance of injury... unless the band snaps and you take out an eye... safety goggles may be a good idea.

...you almost take out one eye and you are deemed a bad dad

[rckymtn22]

Rob and anything potentially dangerous = a visit to the local hospital

Now that I think about this a bit more, your best bet would be to steer clear of nitro/gas/electric planes and stick with rubber band models. Less chance of injury... unless the band snaps and you take out an eye... safety goggles may be a good idea.

Paper airplanes might be better!

[Fuzz]

Paper airplanes might be better!

Oh, no, no, no. Too much risk of death by paper cut. And if you made them like I did in my youth, they'd definitely take an eye out!

[ptrthgr8]

Back when I was a kid (somewhere around 15?) I bought a Great Planes gas powered trainer or some sort (.35 engine, maybe?) and tried to teach myself how to fly. Big mistake. Aside from nearly destroying the plane within the first 5 seconds of flight (if you can call it that), all the gear that was required for a glow plug powered engine seemed somewhat overwhelming to me at the time. I ended up selling the plane, radio, and my gear a few months later and instead focused more on my car racing (mostly 1/12th scale indoor carpet, with some 1/10 off-road and parking lot racing just for kicks).

20 years later I got the bug to try flying again. This time I went with the Hobby Zone Firebird Freedom Ready to Fly since I wanted something that was good for a beginner and I wanted electric power:

http://secure.hobbyzone.com/HBZ7000.html

Looks to be discontinued now, but it was a great beginner plane. Pretty much everything was included in the box (radio, rechargeable batteries, etc.) Put the thing together in a few moments, got the batteries charged up, and out the door I went. The thing was wicked easy to fly. Nice and stable in the air and the "anti-crash technology" feature seemed to do its job. Never did turn that plane into a lawn dart anyhow. The plane was simple to launch by hand (so didn't need a paved surface for takeoffs) and landing was easy: didn't need to worry about the propeller plowing the field thanks to the rear mounted motor.

I flew that plane for a few months that summer, then got bored with flying. I don't recall exactly how much it was, but it couldn't have been more than $200 for everything delivered. I got my money's worth out of it and wasn't stuck with a bunch of useless gear and glow fuel after I realized I just wasn't all that into flying model planes.

I would think your lad would know pretty quickly if he's going to get bit by the RC flying bug. Get something simple and easy to fly for starters. If he does get bit, then you can always move up to something bigger/better. If he doesn't, then you've not invested a bunch of dough in something like that.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~