Looking for a new adventure in life
- Thread starter NavyGuy
- Start date
Splatwillicrash
New member
Come on, your a Squid, Scrounge like one..... lol
Watch for RC swap meets in your local area, find a couple clubs to go and hang out. Keep watching on Craigslist. The whole FT thing is really pretty cheap if you follow their plans, the kits from Lazer Toys are pretty affordable and Cheap radios are ALL over the place including the Orange series. With the new Spektrum DX6i coming out shortly, lots of folks are going to want to unload their old ones and LHS's are gonna get aggressive to unload thier stock.
This hobby can be anything you want, I was stunned and amazed at FliteFest when somebody was flying an inflatable Pool Toy and doing pretty dang well with it. It was awesome to watch. They had a few servos and foam control surfaces added to it and built a small motor mount and ESC holder and away they went. I did not get to see what sized battery they had, but I have to admit it flew better than my first FT Flyer.... (course my build skills needed serious improving).
As another member of "Uncle Sams Canoe Club", I welcome you to the hobby shipmate.
Watch for RC swap meets in your local area, find a couple clubs to go and hang out. Keep watching on Craigslist. The whole FT thing is really pretty cheap if you follow their plans, the kits from Lazer Toys are pretty affordable and Cheap radios are ALL over the place including the Orange series. With the new Spektrum DX6i coming out shortly, lots of folks are going to want to unload their old ones and LHS's are gonna get aggressive to unload thier stock.
This hobby can be anything you want, I was stunned and amazed at FliteFest when somebody was flying an inflatable Pool Toy and doing pretty dang well with it. It was awesome to watch. They had a few servos and foam control surfaces added to it and built a small motor mount and ESC holder and away they went. I did not get to see what sized battery they had, but I have to admit it flew better than my first FT Flyer.... (course my build skills needed serious improving).
As another member of "Uncle Sams Canoe Club", I welcome you to the hobby shipmate.
rcspaceflight
creator of virtual planes
I recommend building your first plane. The problem with buying something is that it's going to cost about as much as scratch building, but you have no idea how it's put together. If you can build it, you can fix it. Worst case scenario, build a new one!
And definitely, most definitely, start with a simulator. www.rcdeskpilot.com is free and is pretty good. It's only planes and one heli, no multirotors, but it's a great RC simulator for planes. You'll have a much better first flight if you spend about 20 hours flying in the simulator. As long as you take the simulator seriously. I like to try new things on the simulator first before I try them in real life.
And definitely, most definitely, start with a simulator. www.rcdeskpilot.com is free and is pretty good. It's only planes and one heli, no multirotors, but it's a great RC simulator for planes. You'll have a much better first flight if you spend about 20 hours flying in the simulator. As long as you take the simulator seriously. I like to try new things on the simulator first before I try them in real life.
Where to start
After watching tons of FT vids the questions is where to start? The thing I know for sure is I want to get into FPV watching the plane POV seems legit. So im guessing the transmitter FPV setup is where to start? I am interested in building my first plane just need to learn the electronics side. any recommendations transmitter? receiver FPV rig?
After watching tons of FT vids the questions is where to start? The thing I know for sure is I want to get into FPV watching the plane POV seems legit. So im guessing the transmitter FPV setup is where to start? I am interested in building my first plane just need to learn the electronics side. any recommendations transmitter? receiver FPV rig?
Tactical Ex
Senior Member
Hold on there, have you flown LOS yet? I got into the hobby for FPV in January of this year and only in the last month or so did I fly FPV and its not as easy as you'd hope. I'm not trying to shatter your dreams but I highly recommend learning to crawl before you run. I didn't even build a plane until I could perform 3 consecutive, successful flights in RC desk pilot in simulated conditions typical of my area. After that I was dumb and built a flying wing from scrap parts that didn't work AT ALL then build a versa wing that was so intimidating to fly I could hardly have fun with it, then, I built the FT flyer and slowly worked my way up to FPV.
Not only is it going to be hard for you if you try to jump right into FPV but is also dangerous to yourself and others. Have you checkout the beginner series from Flite Test?
http://flitetest.com/articles#/textSearch=Series:%20beginner%20series
Not only is it going to be hard for you if you try to jump right into FPV but is also dangerous to yourself and others. Have you checkout the beginner series from Flite Test?
http://flitetest.com/articles#/textSearch=Series:%20beginner%20series
rcspaceflight
creator of virtual planes
I've been thinking about getting into FPV, all I really want to do is fly Line Of Sight and check the FPV screen once in a while.
Definitely fly LOS first. Infact, fly LOS with an on board camera recording aerial footage and watch it until you KNOW your surroundings. You want to be able to instantly recognize where your plane is. Losing $60 worth of plane and gear is one thing, but $200 is another.
It's taken me quite a while of flying before I could comfortably fly my plane over 500 feet. You almost need to do that in order to get a really good view of your surroundings so you can recognize them well enough to fly FPV. It's not something you have to do, but it's a fantastic idea.
Unless you're willing to start with Multirotors and keep it close, very close, to yourself; don't fly FPV until you've flown a lot of LOS.
Definitely fly LOS first. Infact, fly LOS with an on board camera recording aerial footage and watch it until you KNOW your surroundings. You want to be able to instantly recognize where your plane is. Losing $60 worth of plane and gear is one thing, but $200 is another.
It's taken me quite a while of flying before I could comfortably fly my plane over 500 feet. You almost need to do that in order to get a really good view of your surroundings so you can recognize them well enough to fly FPV. It's not something you have to do, but it's a fantastic idea.
Unless you're willing to start with Multirotors and keep it close, very close, to yourself; don't fly FPV until you've flown a lot of LOS.
Last edited:
pscherry78
Junior Member
I live in St Louis too, and just got started in the hobby at the beginning of August. Found a number of AMA clubs in the area, but mostly just fly my little quads around the house.
I recommend the FT Flyer for your first scratch build, it's a great plane to learn on but I don't think it would handle FPV. I suggest getting that one built and fly it until you feel comfortable then step into something that'll carry FPV gear, it'll be cheaper in the long run, trust me. Plus you'll never out grow the FT Flyer, it's one people love to go back to!
rcspaceflight
creator of virtual planes
You don't have to scratch build. But it certainly adds another dynamic to the hobby. The FT Flyer or a Noob Tube is a great place to start. I don't think it actually matters if you start with a 3 channel or a 4 channel as long as you're comfortable with it in the simulator. Go for whatever you found most enjoyable to fly in the sim. It will be a lot better in person.
I don't think there are plans available for that plane unfortunately. But the video where they introduce that plane is here.
