Let's choose a model for Sarah

I just looked at my local man who is doing the Easystar cheap,his price for the DX6i plus 1 receiver a massive £129:95 thats very expensive.I would hav thought Spectrum would havwe improved there reliability by now.Garry has never had a problem with his but I had loads with 3 transmitters,none with my Futaba.I think a digital tx is essential because you cant move your trim settings.Also think 2.4 is essential also.

Quorneng wrote: Sarah
Just to prove the smaller 40" is fully repaired I flew briefly today (quite a bit of wind) with my Key Fob cam on board. Up to about 800' and straight down again!

Unfortunately the cam battery died just before the landing.

wow!!! That looks fantastic, apart from the spinny bit where I nearly brought my ham sandwich back up :sick:

Can see that clump of trees that moved on me :whistle:

Re- which radio, ok to be honest have onlyl looked at the specky cos everyone I know has one of those and raves about them so the others? no idea. Planes well, going to write em all down this weekend as you lot have recommended and to be honest, might invest this month in one plane that i can chuck about and fly, next month in another that i can take to a club and fly. Placement ends in one week, then we have a presentation to give before am off for a week- then am going to go a club and see.

Hows that sound? Am happy to invest in 2 planes for now- trainer around 60 ish, the other well cheapish but will look at list from you guys first

Sarah
Sorry it made you feel dizzy but it really does look like that when you are actually in a spinning plane. You can see why people can get completely disorientated.

Buy a plane this month to "chuck about and fly" and next month buy another that "I can take to a club and fly":S

It may sound an attractive course of action but it does rather go against the normal recommendation.
There is a fair chance the first plane will not last till next month particularly as nice calm days are few and far between at this time of year

I suppose if the first one is cheap and robust enough......

well would be cheap, but for the club i need the plane with the tri wheels simon- with you and the rest at the orme i dont. so am sorta going for both worlds, buy a cheap trainer to learn to fly with at the club, land, take off etc and a chuck about to have fun with?
thats my reasoning anyway.

willowlea wrote: well would be cheap, but for the club i need the plane with the tri wheels simon- with you and the rest at the orme i dont. so am sorta going for both worlds, buy a cheap trainer to learn to fly with at the club, land, take off etc and a chuck about to have fun with?
thats my reasoning anyway.

Not sure what you mean by tri wheels?

If you mean tricycle as opposed to tail dragger, I not certain that is a "need"

The main advantage given for tricycle is easier ground handling, but having a tail dragger does give you much needed rudder control practice at a very safe level...... on the ground!

The first trainer I had had tricycle undercarriage, I got so sick of straightening the nose leg, then one day a log jumped in front of the plane and cracked the firewall, it was very soon converted to tail dragger, which is what I have flown since with no problem.


There is a very slight difference in take off, a smaller difference on landing, far less complications without the steerable nose wheel, less weight, often one less servo, easier conversion to floats or skis.

The tricycle is easier to land as i have seen at the club, the guys with tricycle land well and then when they have tail drager they are bouncing up and down like a yo yo, i had the standard wat 4
but had it as a tail drager i did the yo yo thing but learnt how to land, still the best trainer on the market, i gave mine some stick could not hit the same field when i started ( still cant sometimes)
and its still in the hanger and in good nick

The Swift comes with the option of trike or taildragger,electric or IC and had a lot of it already finished.If you want to see the Swift Sarah the is a thread for it on here,Ill bump it forward for you

THE BLACKBIRD wrote: The tricycle is easier to land as i have seen at the club, the guys with tricycle land well and then when they have tail drager they are bouncing up and down like a yo yo, i had the standard wat 4
but had it as a tail drager i did the yo yo thing but learnt how to land, still the best trainer on the market, i gave mine some stick could not hit the same field when i started ( still cant sometimes)
and its still in the hanger and in good nick

That's why guys, the club i applied to recommended a tricycle (sorry i cut it to tri cos couldn't remember how to spell tricycle and was too tired to look it up haha. ) for exactly that reason although they did say that can use a taildragger if preferred, I think I would be more confident with the former myself. They recommend "six Channel Radio set operating on the 2.4 GHz frequency." high wing arrangement, to try to go for all 4 controls throttle, rudder and elevator, aileron and not just the 3 that most trainers have (thats what they said, so dont all jump on me to argue if thats wrong lol)

I like the swift, was looking at that one when i first started looking cheers beardy

Ok firstly would like to thank everyone who got involved and contributed to this thread, and garry for his email. All of you have given me some fantastic advice and for a newbie who is not completely green to all of this, it has been really helpful because there is so many options out there and so damn confusing.

Here is the shortlist anyway of the options you guys have given, split into the tricycle and glider catagories.

1 Multiplex Mentor
2 Multiplex FunCub
3 Multiplex easiCub (which from what i can gather only differs from the above with regards to the wings?
4 ST Models Discovery
5. swift (got a bit lost looking for this online?)

1 ParkZone Radian glider
2 Multiplex Easy Star
3 wildthing sloper

Can I ask for help now in narrowing it down, cos I like em all lol lol lol. Ok here is the remit- I dont mind buying one from each category- something i can use to chuck about glider style at the orme and in the fields and something to practice with at the club (all of which on the tricycle list are suitable for the club in question) HOWEVER this would be staggered over the following months- am not expecting to go out and buy everything i need in one go lol, radio and ONE plane first

So, in mind is this-
-dont worry so much about cost, though dont go hitting the £200 per plane mark just yet lol. I expect to pay a decent amount of money for each one but the cheaper the better PLANE wise for a first time plane please (so if that means around the £70 mark for a tricycle, £140 for a glider- brill, dont mind saving a bit more for something worth it)
- I have no probs building a plane (got an A in blacksmith and woodcraft at school so ner peed the teacher off though as was better than all the lads hehe) I can turn my hand to most things BUT this is my first plane, I dont want to be worrying about building it first time round- just flying it. Rebuilding/repairing and building big will come later on. For now I want something that I can put together with ease and you lots help then go fly.
-Electric- it has to be electric, lets not confuse me at the mo with I/c lol stick to the KISS principle for now, small baby steps for me please

Thank you folks- oh and it will most likely be the DX6i over any other- not cos I am picking favourites or disputing (getting into a debate over best ) just that is the one i have heard the most about, learnt the most about and seem to have seen used the most.

So if you guys dont mind, can you vote 1-10 for the above planes, then can see what seems to be the best choice- i have looked at specs on each online but to be honest some of it right now is above my level of comprehension lol!

thank you xxxx

The first three on your list are tail draggers, but to my mind they are still the best choices.

Better landings are NOT made with tricycle undercarriage, they just don't show up your faults so easily

I would rate, as a trainer and something that is capable of taking you further


Mentor 10
Funcub 9.5


and the

Easycub 8 (only because it is not heavy enough standard for the test, and does not have ailerons standard)

Sangoma wrote: The first three on your list are tail draggers, but to my mind they are still the best choices.

Better landings are NOT made with tricycle undercarriage, they just don't show up your faults so easily

Thank you

I know, they are a mix which is why I still included them- its not ME that said stick to tricycle was the club lol, but as i said they also said tail draggers are ok. My faults show up very easily though so am not bothered regarding that - haha ask Simon, he will tell you my faults are glaringly obvious and in about 5 pieces! hehe

The Mentor, the build is just about identical to the Funcub and the undercart is held on by 4 screws. So, for a start the wheels can be left off and some Duct tape used to stick on the bottom to give the foam some protection. A 3s 2500 Lipo, Motor wise, about 1100kV, to swing a 13 x 6E prop just short of 11,000 for about 170watts, sorted!

From your list,it has to be the Funcub,Ive tortured min and the only reason its not flying is Ive used it so much with a powerful motor that the front of the fuselage has fatigued and now the motor vibrates.Ive bought a mod from the states to eliminate this problem.You wouldnt get the same problem because you would use a smaller power train which would be far more gentle to the fuselage.

Sarah

I really cannot comment on group 1 as I have no experience of any of them but something appropriate for the A test is a reasonable objective.

Group 2 is harder because the they are very different.
The Radian is a proper power assisted glider so has true glider type qualities but will break if treated too roughly.
The Easy Star is a true beginners plane (almost a toy). Simple & robust and it flies well enough.
The Wild Thing was originally designed as a combat slope soaring glider so is very tough but as a flying wing maybe not the easiest thing to learn on.

My advice is if you are going to buy a Mentor or Fun Cub then initially you are likely to fly it on a buddy lead (i.e dual control) under instruction at your club which should protect your not inconsiderable investment, however if you buy something now "to chuck about" then it should be simple, easy to fix and above all relatively cheap!
Until you have mastered the basics you will crash and damage it - probably several times!:ohmy:

Cheap & simple? now let me see :whistle:

its cos i want to go to the club and learn as WELL as come out with you guys to chuck one around (so to speak lol) maybe the something now should be something second hand and cheap as chips off ebay?

I dunno, am new to this but i dont want something i cant use when i come out with you lot and i couldnt use one from the first list could i at the orme or your field?


I should imagine i will crash lots lol, i just want to be able to keep options open and be able to come out with you lot from time to time too