Help me choose my first Plane!

[tolska]

Hi all.

I was interested in flying a plane or try to anyway, I can fly 3CH helis which I know is completely different but I'm stuck on deciding on a plane.

The thing I'm confused about for a beginner is should I go straight in for a 4CH or go for the easy 3CH, I know 4CH is harder to fly and I believe what I've read so far the aileron ect swap sides to different sticks.

I don't want to buy an expensive plane if I'm going to crash it and cost me a fortune to repair, I see the trainer planes but seems a little expensive for a beginner to buy especially if one has never been flown before.

I'd like some advice on either to go for 3 or 4CH then I'd like to know what plane to start flying with, I'd prefer a RTR model so I can get straight into it without any building work needed, I know I'll need to know about building, repairs ect but I'd be looking into that after my first few flights that's if I even enjoy it.

If I don't enjoy it, I'll just stick with my Nitros and forget about flying.

Thanks for reading and thanks for any comments and suggestions.

[J.K]

Now I'm only a beginner myself, but I'd recommend 4CH. I started out with 3Ch - it's a lot easier and I got the hang of it relatively quickly and it wasn't long before I wanted a 4CH!

This is what I'm looking at getting: http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/topic/196682-axn-floater-jet/

[LordLucifer666]

Honestly buddy, people have great advice to give however i took it all with a pinch of salt and got a parkzone corsair for my very first plane, was only

[the watchman]

I have just started flying myself, i can fly proper helis but ive never flown a plane before untill a few weeks ago, i choose a e-flite apprentice 15 its brilliant mate honestly, at first i was nervous about flying it but once i was in the air and flying around i was totally at ease with it.

It has 4 modes of flight, beginer, intermediate, advanced, and finally a panic switch

In Beginer mode it litrally fly's itself, it takes off on its own when given enough throttle and also has a self stabalising system, it also limits your controler inputs so it cant get out of shape in the air.

Intermediate gives you more control but takes away the self stable system.

Advanced is fully down to your imputs and has no aids what so ever.

Panic mode you basicly flick a switch and no matter where your sticks are it will self level out.

Check them out on youtube, great reviews and im very imppressed with it, its not the cheapest beginer plane at 250 notes but in my opinion the best for flying on your own without a instructor, also comes with spektrum radio gear which is nice.

Ive had 3 flights now with not a single hickup, and im now in intermediate setting and loving it its great trainer plane, i highly recomend it.

Edited November 15, 2014 by the watchman

[Yoshimoto]

3 or 4ch...most 4ch airframes will happily fly without use of the 4th rudder channel-i teach my friends who are also new to flying to ignore rudder until they are a bit more proficient anyway..some continue to fly with aileron/elevator/throttle only for some time without issue but rudder is a must have for certain moves.

Lots of beginner types use 3 channels on rudder/elevator/throttle but it does limit your flying style somewhat.

 

Theres an old saying that you cant have enough rudder and once you get the hang of it you will see why.

 

As for the actual plane i can only recommend a foam type construction for learning with-it repairs easily and will often shrug off many many far from perfect landings because it flex's somewhat and has very little weight compared to other types of construction so much so that i have yet to feel the need for a traditional balsa craft.

 

I started with a full blown 3D foamy against lots of advice from other pilots.i built it myself from scratch in depron(not as robust as EPP/EPO) but capable of flying at less than walking pace making mistakes easy to correct.Yes i did have some WOT(wide open throttle)mistakes that required repairs and occasionally a whole new airframe but even replacing the whole airframe was less than a tenner each time and only an hour or two's work.

 

Theres so many craft out there and so cheap the choice really is yours   check out the HK Hummer one of my fave's for the money-i fly quite hard so the carbon rod reinforcement was changed to much stiffer carbon tube to give me a very stiff wing and fuse but still allowing enough give to survive all but the most violent of crashes.

 

In short the 3D foamies provide massive flight envelopes that will allow very slow or extreme flying depending on your mood/experience with low cost initial purchase and repairs.

 

Yoshi.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Yoshimoto

[Smoothybb]

I'm still a big fan of the bixlers from HK. Currently awaiting my 3rd 1.1 to be delivered so it can be decked out with lights and fpv gear. I started initially with a Sonic64 flying wing but tbh, while they glide well, they also respond well so I ended up with a broken sonic quite a lot. Once I got the bixler it was sooo much easier. They stay up on their own, can be flown at walking pace or WOT for a bit more fun. I'm told with a stabiliser rx they're almost impossible to crash.

 

Imho, the best plane to start with is one that stays up on it's own so you get more air-time per crash (and you will crash a lot). To begin with you don't have the reaction speed or the confidence so a slow flying glider not only gives you the time to react but also builds your confidence because it's in the air more than on the repair bench. Oh and hot glue and foamies were made for each other!!!

Edited November 20, 2014 by Smoothybb

[RCMonkee]

I got the Clouds fly AXN Floater from Hobbyking to learn with. 4 channel, glides easy and takes a fair bit of punishment. Its fairly big so easy to see and the prop is on top so you dont break them when you crash. ( i never broke one). You can take it up, cut the throttle and it will just glide. My 2nd or 3rd flight lasted nearly 30mins!
James1986 above found my thread on it and its the same as the Bixler smoothy mentioned. Its from Hobbyking comes with motor, esc, servos for about

[Zardoz]

I'm on my fourth plane now since getting a HobbyKing Bixler for my birthday.

 

I'm so glad I flew the Bixler 1st, highly recommend it.

 

Nice to have something that will glide without throttle, gives you plenty of thinking time. Plus, being a 'pusher' it'll take more punishment with a bad landing.