First Plane, which of these?

J&J

New member
Hello all. New to RC and first time posting here.
I am thinking of getting a plane for both my son (10) and I to learn on. We were looking at either building the Simple Scout or getting a Horizon Sport Cub S. Any suggestions as to which would be a better beginner plane?

Thanks!
 

FL_Engineer

Elite member
Having built the scout as my first plane after time of recommendations my vote is the Sport Cub S if you don't mind the investment and potential for damage, repair. I personally found it more difficult to setup the scout for stable flight than my store bought Timber X and it's my opinion that if you are learning to fly you should start with a stable platform. That said, the motto of FT is build it yourself and fly it yourself so you know how to fix
 

Indy durtdigger

Elite member
My last store bought airplane is sitting in the basement crashed after 3 flights and not fixable. I'm out 140 bucks and the electronics in it are all proprietary and not able to be readily switched to another model. For me the Flight Test planes were the way to go. You don't need much to make one yourself, the plans are available free in the store under the resources tab, and the biggest bonus is they are cheap to make. After not flying anything for a while I built the Simple Cub and found my skills too rusty to keep it in the air, got lucky and only busted the motor mount on the power pod and tore up the wing. Regrouped and built an Explorer as a 3 channel plane, swapped the needed electronics from the Cub over too it and have been flying it successfully for a few weeks now and it is easy to fly and stable. I'm currently waiting on servos to build the sport wing for the explorer and finish the wing repair on the Cub. The repairs on the Cub since I didn't tear up any electronics is something like 2 bucks.
 

moke

Well-known member
Hello all. New to RC and first time posting here.
I am thinking of getting a plane for both my son (10) and I to learn on. We were looking at either building the Simple Scout or getting a Horizon Sport Cub S. Any suggestions as to which would be a better beginner plane?

Thanks!
I started with an E Flite bind N fly cub. But recently built the scout. The Scout is less expensive, flies like an out of the box ready to fly...and you get the added satisfaction of building one and that was fun. I recommend the build and fly experience with the Scout
 

Bricks

Master member
As you can tell everyone has there own ideas and opinions. First thing I would do decide how far do you want to get into this addiction ( rabbit hole ). If not sure then I would go with something like the Horizon Sport Cub S it comes set up charge battery and ready to go. If you could find or get a Flight simulator to run on your PC it saves a lot of repair down the road and get used to using the controls to fly your plane and build some muscle memory. Many ways to go about this hobby you need to decide for yourself how much you want to put into it time and money.
 

J&J

New member
Thank you all for the responses. You all make valid points! Which makes it harder ! Lol!

As far as the inevitable rabbit hole, I don't want to fall in too deep...just yet. At least not until I'm sure we enjoy the hobby.

I do have a transmitter & receiver on the way thanks to a friend. So that works if I decide to build one.
 

CustomRCMods

Elite member
The beauty of flitetest Planes is that once it is completely totaled, you only have to spend a buck or two in foam to build another. If and when you crash, your storebought airplane is going to rely on expensive parts likely found only online, whereas the foamboard airplanes can usually be fixed with foam, tape, glue, and some elbow grease, and if worst comes to worst can simply be rebuilt. Most of us experienced FT Pilots have a stash of foam at home and are pretty much on standby to build more planes, so overall you can get up and flying again in less than a day, vs spending money and waiting for shipping... just my 2 cents.
 

Captain Jay

Elite member
Hello all. New to RC and first time posting here.
I am thinking of getting a plane for both my son (10) and I to learn on. We were looking at either building the Simple Scout or getting a Horizon Sport Cub S. Any suggestions as to which would be a better beginner plane?

Thanks!
Welcome!!!
 
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Figure9

Elite member
Building a Flight Test Sped Build Kit to start with was good for me. You can pick an easy one to build & fly, like the Flite Test Mini Trainer:

https://store.flitetest.com/flite-t...electric-airplane-kit-940mm-flt-1071/p1175441

I built my first plane with the Flite Test build video playing in the background, step by step. Great for kids to learn too. The Mini Trainer has a glider option so you can see how it flys before installing a motor.
After building one kit I turned to scratch building with Dollar Tree Foam Board. Now I like building from the free plans as much as flying the models.
 
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BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
I have to say welcome to the hobby and welcome to the forums. As you have seen there is a lot of differing opinions on the Simple subject of which plane to start with. I like how you narrowed it down to two planes, both of which I started with. The cool part is when I started with the Sport Cub S i did so because it has the SAFE system so it is a fly right out of the box instant gratification kinda experience. It is fun but after the first few flights it got boring because it doesn't teach you anything. It flies for you. Your son will enjoy it right away but soon get bored as well. Here is where I lean towards the Scout and I will tell you why.
1. Building the Scout will be a great bonding experience for you and your son
2. Once built you will know how to fix it
3. It will be a way cheaper plane to crash (you will crash... a lot!)
4. You can get a cheap flight controller on amazon that you can use in the Scout to work just like the SAFE system
5. Once the Scout is done,, you can easily move the electronics into a new plane whether you choose to directly replace the Scout or upgrade to a more advanced flyer that your skill set will grow into. At this point refer back to step #1

You and your son get to share this hobby on many levels, just like it was fishing or cow tipping, whatever floats your boat :p:LOL:
 

K3V0

Elite member
Welcome to the forum! I also build with my son and I had a whole spiel ready after I saw your first post but then @BATTLEAXE went and said it all! Have fun with your son and don’t sweat the crashes too much. You’ll get better together!
 

Geronimo

Active member
Welcome!

I started in this hobby a long time ago, and started with trainers. I build the wrong ones at first (very fragile) and crashed them. Then I built a nearly indestructible trainer that I heavily reinforced and I got help at the club field. After I got the basics figured out, I rarely had any trouble except for a problematic radio.

If I had it to do over again, I'd start with a flight simulator. I just got back into the hobby after a long break, and bought the Clear View sim for $40, plus the receiver dongle for my PC which was another $40. I know that $80 sounds like a lot, but compared to the hours of building and subsequent losses, it's nothing. The flight sim will help you immensely! I used mine back in the mid 90's for several years and eventually used it to master a rolling circle. Almost no one does that in RC because it's just so difficult (and potentially costly). If you get a sim, spend as much time as you need to master taking off and shooting landings. It becomes a sort of zen experience that you'll likely incorporate into your routine life.

Also, spend a lot of time watching videos of experts that post helpful info about the hobby. Flitetest has their beginner series on Youtube. It's an excellent resource
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ft+beginner+series

For the first plane, I highly recommend a build-it-yourself kit. Get a slow, stable and readily repairable plane as many others have described. I can't help you with which one... but I see many others have done that. Put about a million hours on that plane, and you'll be having a ton of fun while learning the hard knocks of an unforgiving learning curve. After that, you can do anything you want! You'll become a fanatic about knowing the weather forecast in great detail. That's when you'll know you've become one of us

Good luck!
 

J&J

New member
Thanks again everyone for all the excellent info!
After much thought and input from my son, we decided to go for the Simple Scout.

My son and I both like the idea of building it together and then going out and crashing, I mean flying it! I ordered the parts and speed build kit from FT. I got the kit to see how it should be before I try to scratch build one! While we wait for them to arrive, I'm planning on printing out the plans and getting some foam boards, so I have them handy for the inevitable repairs.

And so the journey begins...

Thank you all again.
 

Figure9

Elite member
Thanks again everyone for all the excellent info!
After much thought and input from my son, we decided to go for the Simple Scout.

My son and I both like the idea of building it together and then going out and crashing, I mean flying it! I ordered the parts and speed build kit from FT. I got the kit to see how it should be before I try to scratch build one! While we wait for them to arrive, I'm planning on printing out the plans and getting some foam boards, so I have them handy for the inevitable repairs.

And so the journey begins...

Thank you all again.

That’s great! Have fun, looking forward to hearing the story as it unfolds. :)(y)
 

GrolarBear

New member
4. You can get a cheap flight controller on amazon that you can use in the Scout to work just like the SAFE system

Any recommendations here? Especially stuff available on Amazon?

I know that FT just got their own Aura flight controller, but it's borderline not cheap (or maybe it is for what you're getting). I've run across a few others but I have no idea what works and doesn't and what is worth messing with.
 

FL_Engineer

Elite member
Any recommendations here? Especially stuff available on Amazon?

I know that FT just got their own Aura flight controller, but it's borderline not cheap (or maybe it is for what you're getting). I've run across a few others but I have no idea what works and doesn't and what is worth messing with.
Depends on what you want to accomplish and what your setup is... Their is nothing wrong with the Aura but if you just want gyro stabilization with similar SAFE features look into Hobby Eagle or an NX3. You can get a Hobby Eagle Super II or A3 Pro w/ 6 axis stabilization for around $40 to $30 or stay with a simpler 3 axis setup with less features under $20 in the Hobby Eagle A3 v2 or NX3.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Any recommendations here? Especially stuff available on Amazon?

I know that FT just got their own Aura flight controller, but it's borderline not cheap (or maybe it is for what you're getting). I've run across a few others but I have no idea what works and doesn't and what is worth messing with.
This is the one I will be picking up when I am ready, comes highly recommended,
https://usa.banggood.com/ZOHD-Kopil...-all-1108&ad_id=395572890419&cur_warehouse=CN
 

Figure9

Elite member
This is the one I will be picking up when I am ready, comes highly recommended,
https://usa.banggood.com/ZOHD-Kopil...-all-1108&ad_id=395572890419&cur_warehouse=CN

@BATTLEAXE Hard for me to imagine you using a controller after watching excellent flying on your UToob videos. Not having an option for buddy box help gives me thought to using the helper electronics. Maybe just a gyro, I’m not too savvy about that miniature electronic stuff but I did work on full scale all my life as an aircraft electronics tech so I understand the radio, autopilot, flight director, gyro & electronic compass science & such. Quite sure the miniature flight controllers are as simple to install & operated as all the other RC gear, doesn’t seem to be rocket surgery at the hobby level. My initial sense of purity in the hobby was to learn to fly without outside assistance & so far that’s turned out to be in 20 second segments without a buddy box. The flight controller option might help my flight skill improvement if I don’t use it as a full time crutch. Electronics will not necessarily teach a person to fly RC, but electronics might enhance the learning & maybe make the learning experience more fun. Thanks for posting this option, I see it as a tool more than a crutch. Might give it a try.