RC Airplanes....

[338375]

My 12 year old son got an RC airplane for Christmas. Its a HobbyZone Mini Cub.
I was skeptical at first because its made out of foam, but the specs said it would do 30 mph, fly 300 feet high and had a control range of 1300 feet.

Well, this weekend was the first time we got to take it out and I was impressed. It took him about an hour to get the hang of it, so obviously he spent a lot of time crashing, but this little plane is almost bullet proof.
Now that he is use to it, it really flies great. He can do loops and stalls with it and can do touch and goes...

He really wants me to get one so we can fly together, and I'm thinking about it.
I like the idea of getting one like his, it seems like a great way to learn. They make a bigger version called a Super Cub that I like.
Of course I want to get a kit and build one with a gas motor, but should resist and start with a durable one. We have 6 different RC parks around here, and I guess each park has a trainer that will teach a person how to fly the gas models.

Anyone here into RC ? If you are, pics of any style of RC would be great... Also any suggestions for online stores you have dealt with would be great too...

Mike

 

[Wildewinds]

Through the years, I've been involved in every type of RC vehicle, cars, planes, boats, and helicopters. All of them have enjoyable aspects.

I prefer electric planes versus gas. The REALLY big planes are usually gas powered, but for normal sized rc planes, you can get more performance from an electric system most of the time.

I really prefer sailplanes over powered planes, though. They're more challenging. I get bored after a few minutes of flying a power plane. Sailplanes, I can fly for hours. If you want a bit of exercise with your flying, you should check out discuss launch gliders (DLG's). That's a TON of fun, but generally for more experienced pilots.

Here's a video of that:

[youtube]FitnIG_2Kws&[/youtube]

 

[turk.919]

I have been Into RC for about 13 years, sunk about 6K Into the trucks I had, they were fun (I had 2, still have 1) ended up trading one for a four wheeler (truck was appraised at $2000 value <--- NOT BS) and the other one I have kept to play with, I will get pictures up later

 

[knarfeng]

Here's a fella that is waaaayyy into RC planes:
For some odd reason this one strikes a chord with me.

[youtube]SDbQ5xvsrIU[/youtube]

 

[SIFU1A]

the SR71 is pretty darned cool, i bet if he crashed that thing ya could see a grown man cry lol.

there is a airport for RC's that wasnt far from where we lived in austin, used to go out there with my son a lot, early to mid '90s, back then jets were just starting to be seen some, mostly prop though, but i saw a few migs/F14s/etc, all pretty cool.

one of my buds bought $1200 or so kit for a helicopter, took him hours to put it all together, he took it out and wrecked it the 1st time he tried to fly it lol, the planes used to be not too terribly hard to fly, the choppers were a different story(kinda like real life in that respect), they might be easier nowadays though.

 

[LMT66]

Don't spend too much on it. Can get $$$

[youtube]Aajp-A43glA&feature=related[/youtube]

 

[SIFU1A]

i guess thats what ya call "augering in" lol, also "total loss".

 

[LMT66]

In the summer I go out and watch our local RC club practice. I can sit all day and watch these things. There are great inexpensive planes that survive pretty bad impacts.
They have a few shows each season with the full 101" WW2 planes. Great time!
You-Tube PalosRC Club or google it. Might be some good info on their website about getting started.

Here is one of the clubs 09's military show video's.

[youtube]sQukd69aVt4&feature=related[/youtube]

 

[338375]

Cool videos.... The more I think about it, the more excited I get about doing it.

 

[quattrokid73]

I am a big RC pilot. I fly everything...foamie airplanes, big balsa acrobatic planes...my favorite are helicopters!

My hangar right now includes a 4' wingspan acrobat, a small 3d helicopter and a foam plane. If this is a hobby you seriously want to entertain, I'd definitely suggest getting the Realflight G5 simulator. It's a $200 system that is as good as it gets. The physics are literally...real. It will save thousands in potential crashes.

 

[orrey45]

I have an electric RC boat that is pretty neat on the lake. Had it for a while and is pretty entertaining.

I've been looking into getting a RC something lately. Leaning towards a helicopter but they are either really high priced or fragile looking, and I have know experience with them at all. Guess I need to do some more research on it though.

 

[ROLX51]

i fly and the best i found is parkzone styker does 80 mph and you can fly it in your (big) back yard electric no mess gas great plane all foam can rebuild cheep and new with everything is less than $300 new body $30 nose $5 extra batt.are about $65 that's the bad and it flys for around 15 mins

 

[338375]

I am a big RC pilot. I fly everything...foamie airplanes, big balsa acrobatic planes...my favorite are helicopters!

My hangar right now includes a 4' wingspan acrobat, a small 3d helicopter and a foam plane. If this is a hobby you seriously want to entertain, I'd definitely suggest getting the Realflight G5 simulator. It's a $200 system that is as good as it gets. The physics are literally...real. It will save thousands in potential crashes.

Thats a great idea. I hadn't thought of getting one of those

I have an electric RC boat that is pretty neat on the lake. Had it for a while and is pretty entertaining.

I've been looking into getting a RC something lately. Leaning towards a helicopter but they are either really high priced or fragile looking, and I have know experience with them at all. Guess I need to do some more research on it though.

The boats look like fun too... Everyone I have talked to says the helicopters are really hard to fly.

i fly and the best i found is parkzone styker does 80 mph and you can fly it in your (big) back yard electric no mess gas great plane all foam can rebuild cheep and new with everything is less than $300 new body $30 nose $5 extra batt.are about $65 that's the bad and it flys for around 15 mins

Thanks for the info. I'll have to do some looking and check that one out

 

[Native1]

338375,

I fly R/C aircraft quite a bit, that Cub your son has is a great model from what I have seen from others flying one. I fly mostly nitro powered aircraft they are really fun. If you want to get into that I would suggest the Hobbico Avistar. The Avistar is great to learn on it has a semi-symmetrical airfoil great for aerobatics once you get confidence to do so.

It comes in the form of an ARF Almost Ready to Fly. You need to add the motor, servos, and radio. It's a lot of fun building it almost as much as flying it.Tower-hobbies would be a good place to start with.
If you need any more information leave me a visitor message.

Mike

 

[Old CW4]

DOD, my employer at the time, sent me to a RC chopper school in Florida run by Earnie Huber back in the early 90s. Earnie did a lot of the special effects for Hollywood movies and tv shows and was a real expert with various model choppers. He did a thorough job of training us. I quickly learned to fly nose in, rotate a bird 360, fly in any direction, and so on.

I continued helo RC for a number of years after retiring from DOD in late 96, then got into other businesses and interests. Finally sold my personal collection of Xcell 60s, Concepts, and so on. I still get the urge from time to time but manage to resist it.

As I learned early on, you will crash one once in a while. When the crashed helo does 'the dying chicken thing' by beating itself to pieces as it lays there and you have no throttle control, my oh my is that expensive! At such times you can just see in your mind the local dealer's cash register spinning as you buy repair parts. Yep, been there, done that. Also spent lots of hours crawling around in the grass/weeds/brush trying to find missing parts.

 

[wintermute]

If you want to see some crazy stuff, do a search on RC submarines...ballast tanks, trim tanks, torpedoes, missiles, hydrophones. Insanity! if I had the time and the money...

 

[338375]

338375,

I fly R/C aircraft quite a bit, that Cub your son has is a great model from what I have seen from others flying one. I fly mostly nitro powered aircraft they are really fun. If you want to get into that I would suggest the Hobbico Avistar. The Avistar is great to learn on it has a semi-symmetrical airfoil great for aerobatics once you get confidence to do so.

It comes in the form of an ARF Almost Ready to Fly. You need to add the motor, servos, and radio. It's a lot of fun building it almost as much as flying it.Tower-hobbies would be a good place to start with.
If you need any more information leave me a visitor message.

Mike

Thanks for the info Mike. I'll check that one out

DOD, my employer at the time, sent me to a RC chopper school in Florida run by Earnie Huber back in the early 90s. Earnie did a lot of the special effects for Hollywood movies and tv shows and was a real expert with various model choppers. He did a thorough job of training us. I quickly learned to fly nose in, rotate a bird 360, fly in any direction, and so on.

I continued helo RC for a number of years after retiring from DOD in late 96, then got into other businesses and interests. Finally sold my personal collection of Xcell 60s, Concepts, and so on. I still get the urge from time to time but manage to resist it.

As I learned early on, you will crash one once in a while. When the crashed helo does 'the dying chicken thing' by beating itself to pieces as it lays there and you have no throttle control, my oh my is that expensive! At such times you can just see in your mind the local dealer's cash register spinning as you buy repair parts. Yep, been there, done that. Also spent lots of hours crawling around in the grass/weeds/brush trying to find missing parts.

Thats cool that you got excellent training. It sure would help the learning curve... The dying chicken really cracked me up. I can see the image in my head

If you want to see some crazy stuff, do a search on RC submarines...ballast tanks, trim tanks, torpedoes, missiles, hydrophones. Insanity! if I had the time and the money...

Thanks Winter. I'l do a little searchin tonight when I get home tonight and check that out.

 

[Kbrasmodeler]

I hope it's okay to post this, but RCGROUPS.com is like the bladeforums of the RC world. Give it a look, and you will see all those vehicles. I suggest checking out the giant DC-9 model. Full retractable gear, deployable thrust reversers, fully functional fowler flaps (alliteration), this thing is beautiful.

 

[338375]

I hope it's okay to post this, but RCGROUPS.com is like the bladeforums of the RC world. Give it a look, and you will see all those vehicles. I suggest checking out the giant DC-9 model. Full retractable gear, deployable thrust reversers, fully functional fowler flaps (alliteration), this thing is beautiful.

Thanks. I was going to search fro an RC Forum. That will be very helpful...

Do you know who makes the DC-9 ?

 

[338375]

I hope it's okay to post this, but RCGROUPS.com is like the bladeforums of the RC world. Give it a look, and you will see all those vehicles. I suggest checking out the giant DC-9 model. Full retractable gear, deployable thrust reversers, fully functional fowler flaps (alliteration), this thing is beautiful.

I just went and registered on RCGROUPS,com. That is a huge forum :thumbup: