Best Beginner Plane (list provided)

[AlexLosada]

Hey, guys now that i have started the this hobby my friend has become interested in learning to fly an rc airplane. He has found couple trainers that he likes but recently asked me which one would be best. Since, I just started the hobby couple months ago i figured I would turn to you guys for some more advise!
The planes that he is really interested in are:

Dynam Hawk Sky
Mini Apprentice s
Freewing Pandora
HobbyZone champ s+
HobbyZone sport cub s
FMS Easy Trainer

I know these are a lot of planes to look at, but he would really like to know which ones are worth looking at and which ones are worth the extra money over the others. He is also curious how much space is required to fly the larger aircraft in this list. Lastly, keep in mind that his end goal is to be able to fly a war bird as cost effectively as possible and is curious which plane will best prepare him at the lowest cost!! Thanks for your help!

 

[rockyboy]

I'd love to give you some help on this, but I'm not familiar with and haven't flown any of the planes on the list. I'd recommend starting out with an FT Simple Cub, and then moving into something more expensive once the first dozen crashes are out of the way :black_eyed:

 

[AlexLosada]

Thank you very much for the advise!

 

[Winglet]

Yep, FT Simple Cub.

 

[AlexLosada]

Yep, FT Simple Cub.

Ill take a look at it

 

[cranialrectosis]

The smaller the plane, the harder it will be to see and control. Smaller is more advanced.

Warbirds tend to be pretty fast and twitchy and small. You work up to them.

Trainer planes tend to be very stable and slow. They accomplish this with dihedral or polyhedral and having big, floaty wings on top of the fuselage.

HobbyZone likes to call any plane with a robot (SAFE tech) a trainer. The problem is the robot gets you in the air but doesn't require skill. When you turn the robot off, you haven't learned to fly and if you bought a small plane like the sport cub s you don't really have a suitable trainer for learning to fly without the robot.

Look hard at the FT simple cub or the FT tiny trainer (with two wings one for training and one for sport once you learn the training wing). These planes are easier to repair, cheaper to own and repair and don't have the robot so you actually learn to fly. With one of these, you will spend less and learn more.

It will be harder to get in the air, but you will have accomplished so much more when you do.

 

[AlexLosada]

The smaller the plane, the harder it will be to see and control. Smaller is more advanced.

Warbirds tend to be pretty fast and twitchy and small. You work up to them.

Trainer planes tend to be very stable and slow. They accomplish this with dihedral or polyhedral and having big, floaty wings on top of the fuselage.

HobbyZone likes to call any plane with a robot (SAFE tech) a trainer. The problem is the robot gets you in the air but doesn't require skill. When you turn the robot off, you haven't learned to fly and if you bought a small plane like the sport cub s you don't really have a suitable trainer for learning to fly without the robot.

Look hard at the FT simple cub or the FT tiny trainer (with two wings one for training and one for sport once you learn the training wing). These planes are easier to repair, cheaper to own and repair and don't have the robot so you actually learn to fly. With one of these, you will spend less and learn more.

It will be harder to get in the air, but you will have accomplished so much more when you do.

Thank you very much for your advise!! It really helps!!

 

[Winglet]

Impressive reply cranialrectosis. Well stated and I agree 100 percent.

 

[Bayboos]

Very well said, . I'd just like to add one thing to the quote below:

The smaller the plane, the harder it will be to see and control. Smaller is more advanced.

(...)

Trainer planes tend to be very stable and slow. They accomplish this with dihedral or polyhedral and having big, floaty wings on top of the fuselage.

(...)

Look hard at the FT simple cub or the FT tiny trainer (with two wings one for training and one for sport once you learn the training wing). These planes are easier to repair, cheaper to own and repair and don't have the robot so you actually learn to fly. With one of these, you will spend less and learn more.

Everything above is true; but I believe there are two more "competitors" to the "perfect trainer" title: FT Simple Soarer and FT Simple Storch. Both are definitely larger than the two you mentioned, and thus are even more "slow and stable". Both are more difficult to build (Soarer just a tiny bit, Storch noticeably), but definitely in range of anyone who doesn't cut his hand every time he or she have a knife in the same room.

In my humble opinion, the Storch is a winner: it has all the advantages of the other 3 planes (in terms of serving a role of cheap trainer), is slightly more difficult (or rather time consuming) to build, but looks way better than any other. And as we all know, having a good looking first plane is the Holy Grail of RC aviation. With the light power setup it's just as good as you can get:

And yes, this plane can get you far beyond the very first flights: it's enough to check other of my videos to see what the Storch is capable of.

Having that said, I agree that the Storch and the Soarer are pretty big planes and some may opt for something smaller - in such case both Tiny Trainer and the Cub are perfect choice. But if the size is not the limit, I'd strongly recommend going big - it's still cheap, almost indestructible (unless you nose-dive into the ground) and way easier to observe and fly.

Good luck, and Have Fun!

 

[rockyboy]

Bayboos just likes to recommend the Storch cause they can fly really well and he has built a whole fleet of incredible looking Storches including ones with skis, floats, and several different paint schemes.

 

[Bayboos]

Nope; I love to recommend the Storch because even though I fly this beauty as often as I can, doing all the stupid things you see on the videos (and tons of even more stupid things you don't see) I ever built only 2,5 (yes, two and a half) of them. So far I lost:
- one full plane to the time (built from the original, non-waterproof DTFB; warped after winter flying beyond repair, but... still hanging on the wall in my living room!); and
- one fuselage to hungry and angry "SU-ish" 3d aerobatic monster (mid-air collision just after take-off).

Yes, rockyboy: most of the skis/floats/wheels/paint schemes are literally the same plane! Thanks for the kind words; yes, I truly love this plane. And to be entirely clear: it wasn't my first plane (that was the Baby Blender, and I built 5 of them before I learned how to fly) but definitely can be the last one.

Good luck, and Have Fun!

 

[cranialrectosis]

I would call the Storch a close second as a trainer to the TT for these reasons.
1. Size. The TT is smaller. I have bashed almost as many planes in my car door as I have crashed. I can do a Storch but the TT is just simpler to handle in the car and on the line.

2. Two wings. The TT speedbuild kit comes with a glider style wing with dihedral for learning 3 channel. It's the simplest way to learn. Once that wing becomes boring you have the sport wing with ailerons to learn 4 channel. This wing is very simple to build yet is an impressive upgrade in speed and maneuverability.

I think the Storch is larger and easier to see and can be built to be floatier. I think it is simpler to mod and add skis/floats/wheels. But both of these are, IMO, for someone ready to progress past the TT.

Thoughts??

 

[rockyboy]

You reminded me of the very first day I flew my Tiny Trainer - I bout had a heat attack when I lost control, pulled out of a figure 9 at the last moment, and went zooming straight towards some lady's car door. Luckily I was able to ram into the ground with full down elevator and chopping the throttle. :black_eyed:

I think the Tiny Trainer, Storch, and Tubby Cubby are all going to be great trainers, and the decision should probably be heavily based on the size of the vehicle and flying field. It is rather nice that FT has a trainer style airplane for their three main power pack sizes now

 

[randyrls]

When you turn the robot off, you haven't learned to fly and if you bought a small plane like the sport cub s you don't really have a suitable trainer for learning to fly without the robot.

To join the thread; My trainer is a Champ S+ I can switch from beginner to intermediate, to expert and back down if I get in trouble. When I started flying this, I flew in beginner mode, then started switching to intermediate and if I got into trouble, back to beginner. Now I spend most time in intermediate, and unrestricted mode for longer and longer periods of time. By summers end I should be able to fly in unrestricted mode all the time.

Note IMHO the auto-land is not very good. The first and only time I tried it, it took the plane into the trees behind the flight line. AAAGGHH! Fortunately I got it back from the tree gremlins. I turned off the GPS functions (indoor mode) and just use the three flight modes.

There is nothing like having an experienced pilot launch for you the first time and trim the plane out.

The way to get better at flying is to FLY, FLY, FLY, and FLY again. I have 7 batteries for my Champ S+ and drain them all in a flying session. Some of the guys a the field grumble because they just sit, but I fly, fly, and fly again.

 

[Bricks]

I have to agree with randylrs I started back in with the Cub S and have nothing but praise for the way Horizon have these planes set up. When you have flown enough in beginner, intermediate then when you can fly unrestricted continually you will have much better luck moving on to other planes. The down side of the Cub S is flying on windy days once you get good with it, it can be a hoot to fly in windy conditions.

I have been back into RC about 2 years now and I still get my Cub out and have fun flying it even thou I am flying more and more 50- 80 inch gassers.

 

[jack10525]

I'd like to add a couple of planes that really helped me learn to fly. I do enjoy building FT planes but sometimes you just want an out of the box set up you can just throw a radio on.

HK Tuff Trainer II: This plane is perfect as a trainer. Tough and forgiving. Small enought (800mm) to fit in most cars. It comes reciever ready. I beat the hell out of one for at least 6 months. It's gone now but I may just get another.

Bixler 1: I found this on special for about $80 bucks shipped. Again it was reciever ready. This plane is a great soaring and can be set up as FPV since the prop is in the back. Also makes it very crash resistant. I've nose dived it hard quite a few times and it keeps flying. Right now I need to glue one of the wings back on.

I did not see the simple cub. I may have to build this one. Looks good.

 

[Hai-Lee]

If considering an FT build I recommend the TT of course. It has so many possibilities for reconfiguration to continue the learning experience it is incredible.

I bought an old supercub to learn on and eventually got bored with it and then needed to upgrade to continue my growth in the sport/hobby. Being short of cash I decided to try a TT build after a lot of research and since then I have built many and still have 2. I gave the supercub away!

When I got bored with the performance of the TT I just reconfigured it to a new plane. Whats available? Just about everything or anything you can conceive. Different wings/Fuselages/undercarriages/larger motor, pusher type nose, canard and even a tailless version.

No other plane offers quite so much learning possibilities as the FT TT. I swear by them, (and often at them)

As for a retail recommendation it has to be the Sports Cub S.

Have fun!

 

[tomlogan1]

DHC Beaver

This is a small plane that comes with everything needed to get into the sport. In its default configuration, it is very easy to fly, and if you get in a jam, it will autolevel.

Once you get comfortable with it, you can make a simple change by pushing down on the right stick and the plane can be flown with very aggressive acrobatics. There are even videos of it hovering on the prop like the 3D planes you see at the field.

The plane is not a "big name" but I've had a lot of fun with it.

https://www.banggood.com/XK-DHC-2-A...NE36n0PVe6C8N89aR9yCE_r8-FanRb6AaApCqEALw_wcB

 

[Paul!]

I bought this WLtoys Cessna 182 from banggood. It's amazingly cheap and great as anyone's very first plane. It flies well right out of the box, if you buy the transmitter that goes with it.

https://www.banggood.com/WLtoys-F94...Without-Transmitter-p-975914.html?zf=12654281

It does need a wind still day, as it's super light and will be thrown around with a bit of wind. It's a fun plane to learn on, especially with the wheels it's fun to try take-off and landings.