Going from Quads to Planes!

[matau1003]

Hi there everyone! I'm new to both the FT Forums as well as fixed wing flying! We have a lot of experience flying Quadcopters, both LOS and FPV, but my girlfriend and I are getting into fixed wing together and wondered what we should be expecting.

1. What are some of the major differences in flight between planes and quads?
2. Should we scrap everything we know about flying and learn again from scratch?
3. We both love the idea of the Strix Stratosurfer, because of the plastic fuselage, but should we be wary of this plane?

Thank you all so much!

 

[French]

The major difference is that you can’t fly backwards or hover

Seriously though, welcome to fixed wings. The key to planes is to maintain enough forward momentum to create lift and avoid stalls. The best way to learn is getting out there and putting one in the air. You’ll want to start in a wide open space.

 

[Ray K]

The major difference is that you can’t fly backwards or hover

Seriously though, welcome to fixed wings. The key to planes is to maintain enough forward momentum to create lift and avoid stalls. The best way to learn is getting out there and putting one in the air. You’ll want to start in a wide open space.

LOL! French obviously forgot about the 3D planes. Those things have enough power to both hover and fly backwards. Heck, I've seen videos of Peter Sripol hover his big FT Guinea Pig. Other than a couple of toys I have here somewhere, I've never flown the quads. Strictly a fixed-wing pilot, but they are a ton of fun. I've got 5 of them right now, including the big Arcus motor glider I got a few weeks ago. I'd suggest you start with something slow and not too small until you get the hang of it. Won't take you long, but larger and slower gives you time to get your eyes adjusted and your fingers trained. Enjoy!!!

Edit: Just watched a couple of videos on the Stratosurfer and it looks like it could be a good first plane for you. Wide speed envelope, and fairly aerobatic. Whoever was flying it was rough on the stick, but that's not the plane's fault. Uses 3S batteries, so at least they're cheaper than the bigger ones (something I have to pay attention to). Just my opinion, but I'd say go for it.

 

[PsyBorg]

I am in the middle or trying to get a plank in the air for a full pack myself. I will say this.. if you are coming from quads make sure what ever you fly has a rudder and not just bank n yank. You will try to break your rudder stick off before realizing you ain't turning hehe.

 

[Ray K]

I am in the middle or trying to get a plank in the air for a full pack myself. I will say this.. if you are coming from quads make sure what ever you fly has a rudder and not just bank n yank. You will try to break your rudder stick off before realizing you ain't turning hehe.

Methinks you need a bigger plane, Bill. That thing is too twitchy!

 

[foamtest]

I would recommend using a flight sim so you don't have the same problem as PsyBorg, get down the bank and yank muscle movement down, they try something like at FT Arrow. It uses the same motor and esc as most mini quads so you should have some lying around. Or if you are comfortable with getting some more electronics I would highly recommend the cub or the simple scout.

Good luck!

 

[epsilon]

I went from flying a cheapish dromida to fixed wing. Personally i feel that orientation is 90% of the battle for flying... once you got that down it's learning the specific characteristics of the particular air-frame you're flying. As mentioned, a larger plane is easier on the eyes to see which helps tremendously with orientation and they tend to handle better in my experience as well. Certainly want to start with something that has a large flying envelope and start small and work your way up. I personally prefer taking off from the ground as apposed to hand launching, although with two of you this may make things a bit easier as i had to learn solo... Don't be afraid of it! If you're concerned about crashing and the money spent i'd highly suggest one of the FT designs. I'm a huge fan of the storch but there are many great first fliers. These things can take a bit of a beating and when they do fail... just rebuild. Hard to beat a $5 airframe!

 

[sprzout]

So, let me give my $0.02 on this, as I'd started flying quads and went to fixed wings:

1) Giving it throttle does not necessarily equate to lift.

2) 3 channel planes (i.e., those without rudders), do not "pivot" around a yaw angle. It's all about roll and an angled turn. If you go 4 channel (one with a rudder) you can get the plane to turn faster, but I've yet to get one to turn on a dime like I can with a quad...

3) Bigger wingspan = more stable flight and less susceptible to wind, for the most part. I went through training at my field with an Apprentice S15, which is a GREAT trainer plane - very stable, great glide path, VERY easy to fly, and it'll do aerobatics when you want to move up. That was my father's plane, which I used to get qualified and get my club's "pilot license" to fly solo at the field. My own personal first plane was the FT Sea Duck, which flies WONDERFULLY. It's got a great glide path as well, and I can get it to do some decent aerobatics, albeit not as nicely as the 3D pilots at my field. It's just a great, fun plane that the people at my club LOVE seeing, because they're so amazed that something that big can do some of the stuff I do with it (I don't know how to describe it, but I've got a bit where I kind of do a twisting loop, where I start it up into a climb, roll it to the right or left right as it's hitting the top of the loop, and it just kinda gently rolls over and comes back down).

I'd highly recommend the Apprentice for a starter plane and as something to grow into; you can still get yourself into trouble with it and kill it, but it's a plane that's relatively forgiving at lower rates, will still give you the rudder feel that you're used to from quads, and will still give you smiles when you just want to put something reliable in the air.

 

[Fyathyrio]

The Stix Stratosurfer has a horrible wing retention that's as thin as 2 or 3mm in some spots. One bad landing where you catch the wings and it's broken. Not a good choice for a 1st plane, but a decent design in general. The Dynam Hawksky is just a little smaller, a little more manuverable, much lighter due to foam fuse, and has proven quite durable in my experience. The PNP version can be found on sale for less than $100 too, so it's not as big an investment. The landing gear is weak, so just make it a belly lander with a layer of tape. Hawksky will fly for ~15 minutes on a standard 2200 3S battery, and can fly slow and gentle or hit over 100kph if you want. Can carry a decent load too, so when you're ready to strap on the FPV gear, "Hawky" will be too.

 

[Edwardchew]

I still remember it was a totally different world for me. Keep crashing. And people always yeild "pull the elevator" at me. You have to pull the elevator at corner. It was quite nervous. My Skysurfer took a lot beating. But once i got the hang of it, i couldnt stop buying many different new planes. I like that it doesnt fall out of sky straight like a multicopter.

 

[teddydbest]

I too started with a quad then found love for fixed wings, heres my recommendation.

I Learned to fly on a hobby zone sport cub s. I highly recommend unless you are interested in scratch building.

The Sportcub s has 3 modes. In beginner mode aileron turns are coordinated with the rudder and when you release the sticks the plane self levels. Its a breeze to fly in beginner mode, My girlfriend and I both were able to fly it fine on the very first flight. intermediate mode has bigger throws and more roll and elevator authority. advanced allows full throws and basic aerobatics. It is a great plane to start with and grow your skills. After a month or so I had no problem flying in advanced mode doing all kinds of basic aerobatics.

tons of people have used this as their first plane and all will tell you the same.

my biggest recommendation for starting out in general is to get in the largest open area you possibly can. multi rotors are precision aircraft, they are much less effected by wind, and you have immense control of where it goes, so you need less room to fly them (depending on the size of course). the input you give will do exactly as you expect. Planes can be very heavily effected by wind and don't always do exactly what you expect them to.

Another thing to note is that all planes fly differently than others depending on the airframe. My friends quad flies very similar to mine apart from a few minor differences, but with planes you have different airfoils, wing types, wing placement, rudder size etc. even small changes to these variables will have the plane flying completely different, so getting used to one plane doesn't mean you can fly all planes.

with all that said, glad you decided to give fixed wings a try! let us know how you and your gf's first flights go!

Cheers!

 

[donalson]

I started on quads and shortly moved to fixed wing... I've found fixed wing much easier to fly... keeping orientation is much easier... that being said I haven't moved to FPV on the quad still... still working on acro LOS..

I would suggest starting with a sim... there are a few freebies... I've enjoyed RC desk pilot... you can get a number of FT planes to boot

for planes... if you are in the US I'd suggest starting with a FT model... i got the 3 pack, easy to build and they've been fun to fly (well the flyer and nutball)... just don't fly the nutball on too windy of a day... mine sort of landed in a lake ... i'm going out tomm with the flyer and delta... I have a few other plans ready for cutting and building and I'm excited ... so many options... so little time.

oh the other BIG thing that I consider an issue is SPACE... i've got 3 relatively small planes so far and they take up so much more room than my drone (220mm racer, a hubsan h501s and a dji phantom)... the drone/quads store in a corner... the planes are a bit more of a PITA...

 

[Forster]

If your quad radio can also be used for planes (i.e. a spektrum with multiple modes) I'd start with a BNF model with SAFE. I started with the Champ S+ and it was an easy transition to a high wing trainer like the simple cub.