A good second plane

piisceiss

Junior Member
Hello I've been flying for some time now spending most of my time with the E-flite apprentice se15 and am to the point of doing basic aerobatics with it. I'm looking to step up and can't really seem to come to a good conclusion for a second plane. Anyone got any good second plane suggestions.
 
The Apprentice will indeed take you through your basic aerobatics. We would need to know what you're really looking for to recommend a good plane for you. What do you want it to do?
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
how much expert mode flying are you doing? what kind of budget do you have? Does anything strike your fancy? 3D? Warbirds? Gliders?
 

mrwzrd59

Old Guy Geek
I'd go with a Visionaire. It flies very easily and will do most any wild to mild maneuver you can dream up. I had never hovered before and on my very first flight with mine, I hovered, did waterfalls, and slow rolling harriers! The thing is amazing and you can grow into all the moves you see in the videos with the pros. Money well spent in my book!
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
good recommendation, did you get the Visionaire of the Night Visionaire? I saw the Night V fly at Thude Park today along with a HH P-51 with retracts, they were both impressive planes.
 

piisceiss

Junior Member
Yeah I was really considering getting the hh p51, and the visionarie looks like an awesome 3d plane. Probably end up gettin both eventually. Is the visionaire that much better than say like the Sukhoi though?
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
FT liked the Sukhoi but they said the that Night Visionaire was a little better/easier to fly. The Sukhoi is on my list though. They guy flying the P-51 was relatively new to the hobby. He had one bad crash that tore off the wing and bent the nose but it repaired nicely. He belly landed it pretty hard on a low pass and also landed it pretty hard but it didn't seem to mind. It tracked really well and looked smooth in the air.
 

ZoomNBoom

Senior Member
A warbird and a 3D plane will both be relatively big steps from the apprentice. But very different ones, for a warbird you will need to learn to handle the higher speeds, energy management and if its one with retracts or undercarriage, be able to pull off more difficult landings. Those light 3D planes will open a very different window on the hobby, but they remain slow and fairly forgiving, in that sense, easier perhaps. I guess it depends what interests you most, personally, but a warbird may be a more natural progression. It makes more sense to move to 3D once you are comfortable doing regular aerobatics, including things like inverted flight.

But like you said, you'll probably end up getting both :).

afterthought: you may want to consider something like a bixler or an AXN too. It has the speed, but remains very forgiving, allows you to improve your skills and fly in more wind. Also allows you to try FPV and the like should you want to one day. And you may get a taste of soaring.
 
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piisceiss

Junior Member
Yeah I'm just waiting to get really good at flying before I do fpv, I really don't feel like going out and replacing a gopro quite yet. I've been doin it with multi rotors and fpv on fixed wing seems like a really fun experience
 
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mrwzrd59

Old Guy Geek
Daylight only

No, I got mine shortly after they were newly released. Had it a couple of years now. The Night Visionaire is equally as cool is my guess. Very easy to fly and you'll feel like you can do no wrong. Just don't go wide-open unless you're going straight up! It gets squirrely in level flight at top speed. the thing will roll in milliseconds yee haw!.
 

AkimboGlueGuns

Biplane Guy
Mentor
I'd go with a spitifire (of the FT variety) because...

1. it's cheap
2. it's fun
3. it's stable
4. Because Spitfire!

It'll be a good step up and most likely you'll keep one around for a while just because it's fun to fly.