Hey dent, could you explain some of the terminology for those of us that have never had access to this? I would love to get a starter set up. I know my 4yr old would love it..he's destined to be a pilot..it's all the kid ever talks about. What does 3d mean? Thanks for the info, great thread!

Cool dent, i actually came across those 2 on the website u mentioned. And its not too expensive either. But what happens if the plane runs into a tree

Your young bomber....climb the tree....

No i mean would it break. And i like all the metal bladded heli that they had. So isbit easier to fly a heli or a plane.

jimboslice27 wrote: Hey dent, could you explain some of the terminology for those of us that have never had access to this? I would love to get a starter set up. I know my 4yr old would love it..he's destined to be a pilot..it's all the kid ever talks about. What does 3d mean? Thanks for the info, great thread!

3d is fully aerobatic....Not a good starter plane... Like paul said you can get something for about $100 to $200 to start. They are in the small range of plane's. Like the one's hanging on my wall.....

Try towerhobbies, Horizon hobby and Hobby/lobby.....
You can get a small albatross or fokker triplane for under a $100 I believe...I think I paid 80 for mine.....they are rudder, elevator and throttle control...very easy to fly and parts are easy to get at a hobby store or online....hold on I'll get a pic.

I put the picture a couple of posts down Jimbo and bomber...sry

Also what radio transmitter do u use. I saw bunch of good ones but wasn't sure if they were as good as they looked


Edit, and do they work with heli and airplane or just one thing

These 3 are all produced by fly zone I believe....
If you get one make sure you get the ready to fly version...ready to fly has the transmitter (controller with it).
The transmitter ready come's with out the controller....
I think these 3 were under $100.
Do they look familiar....

I meant like the controllers u use, what kind. I saw that u had diff controllers than the ones that come with the plane for free

bomer1 wrote: Also what radio transmitter do u use. I saw bunch of good ones but wasn't sure if they were as good as they looked


Edit, and do they work with heli and airplane or just one thing

That's a tuff question...I prefer JR. Futaba is also a good transmitter. Spectrum DX transmitter's are also good.....

The radio's will work for heli or airplane....but there are heli and plane version's of radio's..
for instance I'll take my JR 9503. Mine is set up for plane but you can use it for heli's. You can get an JR9503 in the heli version, the difference is some programming, but mostly switch position...

If anyone see's anything I am wrong on or is more experienced please speak up...I'm by no mean's an expert.....

bomer1 wrote: I meant like the controllers u use, what kind. I saw that u had diff controllers than the ones that come with the plane for free

I like the computer transmitter's....since everything is going 2.4 ghz you can BIND most plane's to one radio....
My JR 9503 is a 9 channel radio with a 50 model memory meaning I can store 50 plane's on one radio..The 3 mean's it is set up for 3 type's.....Sailplane, Airplane and Helicopter

dentinhead wrote:

bomer1 wrote: Also what radio transmitter do u use. I saw bunch of good ones but wasn't sure if they were as good as they looked


Edit, and do they work with heli and airplane or just one thing

That's a tuff question...I prefer JR. Futaba is also a good transmitter. Spectrum DX transmitter's are also good.....

The radio's will work for heli or airplane....but there are heli and plane version's of radio's..
for instance I'll take my JR 9503. Mine is set up for plane but you can use it for heli's. You can get an JR9503 in the heli version, the difference is some programming, but mostly switch position...

If anyone see's anything I am wrong on or is more experienced please speak up...I'm by no mean's an expert.....

I think this still holds for current technology but I've been out of it for a while. The lower end radios (the ones that come bundled with the kits) can operate anything. Each axis of each joystick moves a servo and therefore a control of some kind. The higher end radios can be specialized, airplane-only or both-a/c and heli. High-end radio features are mostly mixing and, as Dent points out, picking what switch controls what. Common high-end mix programming on airplanes is something like rudder/elevator, so that as you try to fly knife-edge using rudder, any pitchiness can be mixed out (most airplane designs will pitch up or down with rudder in knife-edge flight). For helis, high-end radio mixing is something like custom curves for throttle/collective-pitch, so you can keep a very constant RPM while changing thrust, and so you can go to negative pitch and yet have high throttle (for inverted flying). Or throttle/tail so the tail stays straight as you increase main rotor torque.

Plus the really high-end radios like Dent's come with cupholders.

Manfred

thanks for speaking up Manfred...like I said I'm no expert...

bomer1 wrote: No i mean would it break. And i like all the metal bladded heli that they had. So isbit easier to fly a heli or a plane.

A plane.....

chime in on this question Manfred and J4ff. But I will say a plane is deffinetly easier to fly.

ok I'm spent....time for a break...cya in a bit.

I like the controllers from JR and spectrum.

dentinhead wrote:

bomer1 wrote: No i mean would it break. And i like all the metal bladded heli that they had. So isbit easier to fly a heli or a plane.

A plane.....

chime in on this question Manfred and J4ff. But I will say a plane is deffinetly easier to fly.

[1] Hovering a heli is like standing on a bowling ball while riding on the roof of a bus. Slight wind, the heli's own downdraft, interaction between the main rotor wash and tail rotor, turbulence around the canopy, etc., all contribute to the heli wanting to go somewhere (up, down, pitch forward, pitch aft, roll left, roll right, yaw left, yaw right). And it's always somewhere other than your last correction. Or the same. Or not. But back in the day, we had yaw gyro's helping with tail rotor stability. These days, I think there is active stabilizing in all three axes.

[2] Flying a heli in forward flight is like flying an airplane. Problem is, to take off or land, you need to hover. (see "1")

[3] Hardest things about flying an RC plane is putting your mind's perspective inside it, so you roll/turn the correct way when you are flying toward yourself. Think about the first time you did this with an RC car and crashed into a wall. It just takes practice.

[4] As I understand it, the cheap helis are very stable, and their control boxes push them forward/backward or yaw left/right, but letting go of the controls gives you a relatively stable hover. (But these helis can't do loops and rolls.)

Wow this is all making me want to visit the hobby store tomorrow. (Ain't gonna happen though!)

Manfred

I don't know why, but this is the only hobby i have ever taken interest in, thx manfred, dent, and everyone elze who posted here. I love this stuff

One more hint tonight: YouTube

Absolutely fascinating thread...

I made the mistake of getting an fm TX i would go digital like the spectrum dx if i could change as they are free from glitches.1 glitch when flyin a heli and unless your quick to recover its game over.
Flying a heli tail in isnt too bad as left is left up is up etc when you fly head in the left and right swap over and forward and back swap.Then things start to get complicated if you fly 3d because once inverted all controls swap around its a mind scrambler.
When buying a TX the more points the better to set pitch and throttle curves for smoother curves.
A decent gyro for the heli and a good tail servo is also worth the cash.

Hey J4ff what radio to you have? They now have the new digital modules you can plug into your fm radio to make it digital (2.4 ghz). I did it with my JR9303. That radio is now FM or Digital by replacing the module.. It's kinda nice since I still have lot's of FM stuff.

Edit: I've added some pictures of how it works..

Its a Futaba not sure on model im at work at the minute.
that would mean changing the reciever too?

Yes, You'd need a new receiver..... My module has been fool proof on my plane's. Not a glitch....the control movements seem smoother, quicker.. There is a module for futaba radio's. Getting rid of that long antenna is also a bonus...
I think the prices of the module's has gone down...the receiver may be a different story...check it out....

Nice thing with a module is you can buy the Bind And Fly model's BNF and bind them to your radio right out of the box....fly in minutes....Might be something to look into...

Here is what I mean by ARF Almost Ready to Fly....(look at the pic).
These day's most of the work is done for you.
This plane is going to be outfitted with an electirc motor. (upper right hand cornor of pic).
It will also have a sound system incorporated so that I can have the real sound of a rotary engine and the sound of the gun's....I just have to find the sound system I want...
I plan on bying another one of these kit's and turning it into a gas plane....

You can check this plane out on you tube like Paul said earlier. You tube is a big help...

Fun thread - brings back old memories as like many here, R/C was a hobby for me for years - I got away from it when I started flying sailplanes, another addiction. Sold my last sailplane some time ago, so now DF is my flying outlet mostly when my wife is away. (I call it unsupervised time.)

My last R/C was a Nieuport 11 (Proctor replica) that lies in my storage unit probably with lots of 'hanger' rash by now. Never did cover it as it looked great in it's scale frame work.

Thanks for sharing your planes and comments!

IQQI , Take a look at some of the small Parkflyers you can get now that are ready to fly and not that expensive. Lot's of different model's out there and can be flown in a small backyard or gym.

Parkzone, Eflite and Hobbyzone are some of the good one's.

dentinhead wrote: IQQI , Take a look at some of the small Parkflyers you can get now that are ready to fly and not that expensive...

Good advice - especially if one cannot get into DF or getting kicked out too often - gives another outlet!

dentinhead wrote: These 3 are all produced by fly zone I believe....
If you get one make sure you get the ready to fly version...ready to fly has the transmitter (controller with it).
The transmitter ready come's with out the controller....
I think these 3 were under $100.
Do they look familiar....

I'm not sure if the pic's will come up but they now make an Se5a The ready to fly version's are from $100 down to $85 Fokker triplane, Nieuport and Albatross. I don't have the Se5a yet... if the picture's didn't show up go to post 64915

Thanks! I'll look into it!

Here is some of Dent's and my dogfight carnage. Basically flying into each other. It is a lot of fun.