life long enthusiast, never actually piloted

[tinkergrunt]

I have always been fascinated with aviation since i was a child. Now, 30yrs later, I am a disabled combat veteran man-child with nothing better to do in my free time-- i take that back, I am in school for AAS in ADV Manufacturing and Design, but this fascination with the simplicity of construction and the broad capabilities of what the awesome crew at FliteTest have been consistently proving, has compelled me to post.

At the moment, I am this year old to the world of FliteTest and their world. I have been dabbling in balsa wood kits before, and most recently acquired 2 3d printers. One is a desktop Wanhao i3 Mini, and the other a Tevo Tarantula Pro. I enjoy the concept of printing my own parts, but I am also intrigued by simplicity of the foam board construction, as well as the finished quality of the kits they use in their videos. Hopefully soon I will be able to get my hands on one of their Master Series build kits... like the Corsair!

 

[Grifflyer]

Welcome to the forums!!

 

[sprzout]

I have always been fascinated with aviation since i was a child. Now, 30yrs later, I am a disabled combat veteran man-child with nothing better to do in my free time-- i take that back, I am in school for AAS in ADV Manufacturing and Design, but this fascination with the simplicity of construction and the broad capabilities of what the awesome crew at FliteTest have been consistently proving, has compelled me to post.

At the moment, I am this year old to the world of FliteTest and their world. I have been dabbling in balsa wood kits before, and most recently acquired 2 3d printers. One is a desktop Wanhao i3 Mini, and the other a Tevo Tarantula Pro. I enjoy the concept of printing my own parts, but I am also intrigued by simplicity of the foam board construction, as well as the finished quality of the kits they use in their videos. Hopefully soon I will be able to get my hands on one of their Master Series build kits... like the Corsair!

Their Master Series stuff is gorgeous, but if you've never built a foamboard aircraft, I'd recommend starting off with something simpler, like a Tiny Trainer or Simple Cub, so that you get the basics of some techniques down first. And while some may say it's not the easiest thing to learn to fly, I think one of the easiest and quickest builds you can do that has the potential to fly well is the Versa Wing. Really simple to build, can be done with 2 sheets of foam, and they actually glide really well when balanced. Only "issue" with them is being able to tell top from bottom when you're flying them, but most guys solve that problem by putting a pattern of colored tape or paint on one side that's different from the other. My wife put triangles on the bottom and bullseyes on top (the bullseyes were a joke, since our club uses the Versa Wings for combat events where people are trying to hit each other in midair).

I definitely don't want to discourage you from building that Spitfire, as it's a great plane, but I'd suggest building something else first to get some of the basic building techniques so you don't accidentally ruin the Spitfire build, and so that you have something to fly (and likely crash and repair, which is half the fun when you're starting out!) before you start flying a bottom/low wing warbird. Most warbirds want more speed to land and don't like slower stalls like the Tiny Trainer or other top/high wing planes.

 

[Merv]

I agree with @sprzout, you would be better of starting with one of the simpler planes. Learning to fly is a process, everyone goes through several planes in that process. The tiny trainer or simple cub are great choices.