Getting into RC Flying and foam builds

FDS

Elite member
Yeah, I have nothing but respect for people who learnt on glow or gas trainers. Especially when it took hours to build and seconds to turn to matchwood.
Edited my post too, I see what OP means abit more on second reading.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Firewalls are $12 a strip, twice what you pay. Having said that they are super easy to make.

Don't pay $12 for a strip of firewalls! Just get the plywood or even old gift cards and make your own. I 3D print my own firewalls, but it's not necessary to do that...
 
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Vimana89

Legendary member
Welcome, and best of luck with getting into the hobby. I wouldn't recommend picking up a glow plane. If you want a ready to fly, fully assembled trainer that will cost you about as much as your first foam build, I would recommend the Hobby Zone Champ, as it is working great for my training needs. I hear nothing but good about the tiny trainer and cub, both are excellent choices for a first foam trainer. A third option is the scout, either the simple scout or mighty mini will work well. I order all of my electronic and small parts online because local rc shops in my area have outrageous prices and very poor selection, and seem more geared towards rc cars and expensive electric helicopters. The cheapest transmitter they sell is like $100, and they never have props and batteries in the sizes and specs I need.
 

FDS

Elite member
@sprzout My son laser cuts ours at school or prints them on his 3d printe. If he doesn’t get time I cut them from ply stock. $12 price was for markup illustration. It’s a square with a hole in the middle, even I can manage that!
 

Bricks

Master member
For your electronics supplies try Aliexpress.com I have bought a bunch of stuff from there, usually free shipping, just takes awhile to get to the states.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
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@sprzout My son laser cuts ours at school or prints them on his 3d printe. If he doesn’t get time I cut them from ply stock. $12 price was for markup illustration. It’s a square with a hole in the middle, even I can manage that!

LOL figured as much. There's a guy at my field that has made a couple of firewalls out of old credit cards that he had lying around; only problem he's had is that the credit cards warped in the heat of his car. Of course, the glue ALSO started melting (it's what happens when you leave a foam build in the interior of a car on a 98 degrees Fahrenheit day in Southern California)...Just a word of warning. :)
 

mayan

Legendary member
I use AliExpress to get my electronics with free shipping and decent prices. If any one wants I can share links to the sellers I purchased stuff from and got good products. I’ll be sharing only sellers that have actually delivered the correct product. PM me if you want links.
 
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messyhead

Well-known member
There's a few flying clubs near me, and I was looking on them yesterday, then went on eBay and saw quite a few used balsa trainers. So that peaked my interest. When I was a lot younger, like 25 years ago, I had a crashed balso trainer with a glow engine given to me. I didn't have the skills or time or money to fix it up.

I'll build a foam one first, and go from there. No pointing trying to run etc etc :D
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
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There's a few flying clubs near me, and I was looking on them yesterday, then went on eBay and saw quite a few used balsa trainers. So that peaked my interest. When I was a lot younger, like 25 years ago, I had a crashed balso trainer with a glow engine given to me. I didn't have the skills or time or money to fix it up.

I'll build a foam one first, and go from there. No pointing trying to run etc etc :D

One of the things I would suggest is to check out the local clubs and see if they offer lessons. Accept that you ARE going to crash, and you're going to kill a couple of planes. That said, if you can get lessons in on a buddy box with people who can help you to NOT crash, DO it. Take them up on any assistance they can give you; most of these guys flying do NOT want to see a crash either and will be MORE than willing to help. I know that's how I am when we have a newbie at our field. :)
 

messyhead

Well-known member
One of the things I would suggest is to check out the local clubs and see if they offer lessons. Accept that you ARE going to crash, and you're going to kill a couple of planes. That said, if you can get lessons in on a buddy box with people who can help you to NOT crash, DO it. Take them up on any assistance they can give you; most of these guys flying do NOT want to see a crash either and will be MORE than willing to help. I know that's how I am when we have a newbie at our field. :)

Yeah, I think I will do that. I've been reading up on the rules regarding flying in the UK. Not sure how it compares with the US. But it seems to be mainly a question of being insured, so being part of an Association that then has you covered. Which makes sense to me, as Archery is another hobby, you need to be in the archery association to be able to shoot.

So I'll build a TT as a chuck glider, then maybe add some controls to it, and then join a club before it gets too serious and learn properly.
 

FDS

Elite member
Until June you can fly without any registration provided you obey rule #0 (don’t be a dick) and stay 5km away from airports.
You don’t need insurance to fly either, I generally like to be well away from people too. If there’s nobody where you are flying, nobody can sue you! You are very unlikely to have trouble from plod with planes, they are so focused on drones we are pretty safe. Come June you are supposed to register and a load of other twaddle but unless you fly right in the middle of towns I can’t see there being enough police spare to bother the average model pilot.
Club membership and training are useful, learning on your own is more costly in crashes.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
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Yeah, I think I will do that. I've been reading up on the rules regarding flying in the UK. Not sure how it compares with the US. But it seems to be mainly a question of being insured, so being part of an Association that then has you covered. Which makes sense to me, as Archery is another hobby, you need to be in the archery association to be able to shoot.

So I'll build a TT as a chuck glider, then maybe add some controls to it, and then join a club before it gets too serious and learn properly.

It's pretty much the same across the Pond. Here, you're either supposed to be certified with the FAA to fly, or be a member of a community based organization. Currently, the only one recognized is the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics), but there are some people who want to get another organization started because they don't like the AMA. My attitude with that is, "Ok, fine, whatever,"; I myself don't have an issue with the AMA. I think that having AMA coverage for insurance, in case you have an incident with a runaway plane/helicopter/quad/whatever flying object, is a good thing, which the AMA provides.

At any rate, if you aren't a jerk, and you fly nicely (i.e., don't try charging in around people with whirling blades of death on a quad, or point a camera on a drone right at a bunch of girls in bikinis), most people are ok with it.
 

mayan

Legendary member
Here in Israel you are also technically need to be registered under RATA, which is like the AMA but I honestly am not. I just fly away from where there are people and if people do happen to pass by I avoid flying near them. Most important is just don't fly in a place or a way that might cause damage or hurt to others and I assume you'll be fine.
 

Piotrsko

Master member
[QUOTE="evranch, post: 463006, member: honestly don't know how anyone got their first airplane into the sky back in the balsa and glow days. Buddy boxing, I guess - something that is almost irrelevant now with foam trainers.[/QUOTE]

We crashed A LOT.that is why airplanes are put together with rubber bands. Buddy boxes didn't come along until the late 70's and second generation proportional gear. Generally your big slow plane was trimmed for straight and level with a bit of climb, and you didn't add unnecessary controller inputs. The "Trainer" took your radio away to fix the issue at hand, Hence 3 mistakes high. The other issue was reverse controls comming back at you causing the famous SPIRAL OF DEATH.

I of course preferred .049 powered hot rods, so I made a couple of hundred bags of balsa.
 
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