First plane (and its a glider) - Help on what to buy

DeepSky22

New member
Hi all,

So I'm getting into this hobby and was looking for some advice. I've been in touch with people from a local club, and had a great time with them. At the moment I'm doing some flight lessons with an Easy Glider that they borrow for learning, and I'm really enjoying it - so I'm thinking of what to buy for myself.

Most of the people from the club are flying advanced gliders that they build, mostly with Futaba or Jeti radio equipment.
As I am just starting out, I was thinking of going with something cheaper, and as I grow into the hobby to upgrade my set-up.

Here is what I have in mind to start:

Plane
Volantex Phoenix 2000 v2 (PNP)
--> seems to be a great Plane for it's price, and apparently not difficult to fly. Also, has flaps (important, as our runway is short).
~140 Eur at Hobby King

TX
FlySky i6x
--> inexpensive, and from what I see it's a good gateway to learn theory and practice on basic mixing, setting flaps etc.
~40 Eur. The idea is to upgrade to a Jumper T16 Pro in the future.

RX
FS-iA6B
--> I'm assuming that 6 ch are sufficient for starting with this glider.
~10 Eur from HK or banggood

Battery & Charger
3s 2.200 mha LiPo, probably GensAce 25C
ISDT 608a


So, this is where I wanted to get some feedback.
1. What would you say, is this a decent set-up for a beginner?
2. Should I have sufficient range with this RX/TX for some thermals?
3. Any reason I should go for a 10ch receiver (FS-iA10B) instead of the 6ch?
4. Is there another accessible plane you would rather recommend as first plane instead of the Phoenix 2000 v2 (in Europe)?

Thank you so much
 

FDS

Elite member
All 2.4ghz radios with the receiver antennae well located should give great signal out to 1000m, more than enough to exceed the legal limits of most countries.
If you are having a glider with flaps then 6 ch will be more than enough. You can also hack the 6 channel TX to 10ch with firmware if you need more later. Chat to the guys at your club, they will tell you what works for the local conditions, especially which planes are good for where they fly.
 

Piotrsko

Master member
If you cant see it, you can't fly it unless you go fpv. 1000 meters is farther than you can see what the plane is doing. Technically you can catch a big thermal at 50 ft agl ride it until the plane is a speck, repeat for 4 hours until the flight batteries start to die.

Most of my stuff is 2 channel, works fine for me including the fast slopers, the floater, contests, whatever. Landing is just circling around with a couple clicks downtrim until it gets close enough to catch or land. Flaps are nice, but extra stuff is heavy and complicated. Save that for when you need the extra performance. BTW it is really fun when you outperform the rich guy and his $3,000 glider in a contest with your $50 foamy. And just for kicks I did it inverted with a flat bottom wing.

You have access to a club. Nice. Information and help close at hand. Worry less fly more.
 

DeepSky22

New member
Thanks so much for the advice, guys!
Will for sure check what might be available at the local club, and keep it simple :)
Looking forward to some days of good weather now to just fly!