Guinea pig good first plane?

Draftman1

Active member
unfortunately joining a club is not an option due to the fact that the clubs around me an expensive fee that would be pointless to pay due to me moving across country in a few months
I’m not saying join a club and have a bunch of lessons, Most clubs will let you show up once or twice, have a good pilot check and test fly your plan, have them show you a few things, just to get the feel of it.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
unfortunately joining a club is not an option due to the fact that the clubs around me an expensive fee...
It would still be worth checking out a local club.

Most clubs I'm aware of offers free flying lessons. They provide everything, the plane, the transmitter, the instructor. Everything is free. Having someone show you the basics will save you a lot of repairs.
 

Draftman1

Active member
It would still be worth checking out a local club.

Most clubs I'm aware of offers free flying lessons. They provide everything, the plane, the transmitter, the instructor. Everything is free. Having someone show you the basics will save you a lot of repairs.
Amen, you save a lot of frustration and rebuild.

Maidening a new plane when you don’t know how to fly is a recipe for disaster. Most pilots I know will have more experienced pilots maiden a new plane
 
I’m not saying join a club and have a bunch of lessons, Most clubs will let you show up once or twice, have a good pilot check and test fly your plan, have them show you a few things, just to get the feel of it.
I’ll probably call a few fields around me see if thy hav anything like that.
Another concern of mine is a lot of fields are requiring a AMA certification. Which if I’m being honest I don’t really want to spend the $80 annual fee but if it’s absolutely necessary I will.
I suppose mainly what I’m asking is are rc flying clubs super serious about the AMA certification Or is it more highly suggested?
 
I’m not saying join a club and have a bunch of lessons, Most clubs will let you show up once or twice, have a good pilot check and test fly your plan, have them show you a few things, just to get the feel of it.
I’ll probably call a few fields around me see if thy hav anything like that.
Another concern of mine is a lot of fields are requiring a AMA certification. Which if I’m being honest I don’t really want to spend the $80 annual fee but if it’s absolutely necessary I will.
I suppose mainly what I’m asking is are rc flying clubs super serious about the AMA certification Or is it more highly suggested
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
...I suppose mainly what I’m asking is are rc flying clubs super serious about the AMA certification Or is it more highly suggested?
AMA clubs are serious abut AMA membership, you can't fly there without one.
But the AMA used to have a beginner program for newbies. You could "learn" for something like 3 months, flying on a buddy box using your instructors AMA membership. I'm not sure if the still do that, it was a way of getting people over the hump.
 
AMA clubs are serious abut AMA membership, you can't fly there without one.
But the AMA used to have a beginner program for newbies. You could "learn" for something like 3 months, flying on a buddy box using your instructors AMA membership. I'm not sure if the still do that, it was a way of getting people over the hump.
I believe I saw the 3 month trial certification which is $20 every 3 months which still comes out to basically even to the $80 a year
 

asher@caddo

New member
i had my eyes on the XL scout for a second
Why are you going so big, I understand you think you will be able to see the orientation better, but just the same you will be needing a larger field where you'll fly farther away. Landing and everything will need more space. Also the cost, and size of the planes are much more then the minis. The Mighty Minis use same thickness foam and are significantly smaller and lighter, therefore when you crash its usually an easy fix rather then something like the guinea pig which has so much more intertia. The foam thickness is the same and much more damage can happen. I totally understand why a big plane seems fun, and it is, but start smaller is my recomendation.
Just an opinion from a little high school kid. Have fun, good luck, fly safe and responsibly!
 

Shurik-1960

Well-known member
The number of batteries in the aircraft model is determined by the CG of the model and the specific load on the wing. You can have a desire to load a large battery capacity, get into the desired CG, with a powerful motor -get a flying brick, the flight time of which will be quickly eaten by a powerful motor. Therefore, with an increase in capacity (weight) batteries to increase the flight time follow the path of reducing the weight of the airframe itself, increasing the load capacity due to a different profile and wing area...The result: increased battery + lightweight airframe = increased flight time with a normal specific load on the wing.
 

The Fopster

Master member
I think it would be a good idea to use a simulator first. There are some free ones - for example https://www.heli-x.info/cms/
If you have a computer you can connect to your transmitter you can practice until you can take off, fly a couple of circuits and then land again. A few hours doing that before trying it in the real world could save you a lot of grief.
Whatever you decide to do - good luck!
 

joelspangler

Active member
I did a TON of crashing when I first started a few years ago. Spent A LOT of time rebuilding and not much time flying. I eventually got sick of it, and did two things. I bought a super small and light "toy" plane that was almost indestructible. There are a lot of different options now, but the one I got was a wltoys F949. I wouldn't suggest the planes with two props that don't have an elevator, those get boring too fast, but a 3 channel (throttle, elevator, rudder) or 4 channel (adds aelerons) plane with EPP foam is a great trainer. The second thing I did was to buy some kits from https://www.crashtesthobby.com/ - specifically the Albatross and Assassin. It wasn't available back then, but the smaller Pelican plane seems like a great option... I've recommended it to a few people that seem to be happy with it. And I'd just go with the option with both wings so the plane can "grow" with you as your skills increase.
 

Flying Monkey fab

Elite member
If lessons are out of the question, spend a few bucks on a RC sim and fly the daylights out of it. You can crash over and over without ever having to rebuild.
 

Kralisshela

New member
I've checked out a couple of simulators, and they're really cool. It would be awesome to find one that supports VR. You can still get good practice even if you don't have the opportunity to take several lessons yet.

I'm in the process of designing my model. It’s not for nothing that I took engineering classes at school. I remember then https://edubirdie.com/engineering-help helped me out several times. Now all this knowledge is starting to bear fruit.
 
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