Noob Question - First Build

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Thanks for the help; orders placed today on banggood and Amazon. Included a 2212 1400kV and a 40A ESC. Will be proping with a 9 x 4.5. Did everything I could to keep things cheap but the Tx and charger are push the setup cost up. Won't be here before christmas but it will likely be a slow father / daughter build. Fair warning, it may end up pink with unicorns or LOL dolls :)

Whats wrong with lots of colors heheh My beard changes regularly and If I use rubber bands to compact it in a neat straight line its Kinda like an inverted unicorn.. The only difference is Unicorns have luck.. I have Bills Law. :ROFLMAO:
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Simple Scout is a good choice. :) The Cub is a good build too, but it can be a little bit of a handful to get trimmed out properly, so be careful with it.

As for painting, you can certainly do just that. Be careful using poster paints or acrylics on the foam board; the paper tends to absorb the liquid and it acts like a giant sponge. Too much, and the paper will lift right off of the foamboard, and you'll end up with warping wings or fuselage.
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
Paint for visibility and orientation so painting your plane light blue, maybe not. Putting stripes on the port side wing so you can tell left from right, brilliant! :)

Of course, they can be rainbow stripes so long as you can see them in the sky at a distance.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Paint for visibility and orientation so painting your plane light blue, maybe not. Putting stripes on the port side wing so you can tell left from right, brilliant! :)

Of course, they can be rainbow stripes so long as you can see them in the sky at a distance.

We actually have some S-15 Apprentices (trainer planes) at our field that have some sparkly/holographic mylar tape on the top portion of the wing, so you can spot it as it's coming in and see that you're on a good approach and know that the plane is headed down, at a a distance.
 

mach1 rc

Master member
Good choice with the Simple Scout, I scratch built one and was blown away with how smooth and nice it flew. May I ask, what charger did you get? I'm still using a "dumb" 3s charger that came with a RTF HorizonHobby Super Cub.
The scout sure is a smooth and good flying plane! It was my first real 4 channel plane.
3 cheers for the scout 😄 if anyone asked me what was the best trainer scratch built I would probably say the simple scout.
 

whackflyer

Master member
Good choice with the Simple Scout, I scratch built one and was blown away with how smooth and nice it flew. May I ask, what charger did you get? I'm still using a "dumb" 3s charger that came with a RTF HorizonHobby Super Cub.
Looks like no one answering so I'll recommend the Turnigy Accucell 6 50W! 2-6s capable. You'll need to purchase a power supply separately tho.
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
There you go @FL_Engineer. The forum would love to see you and your daughter build a unicorn adorned, rainbow-striped plane using "sparkly/holographic mylar tape"! :D

Chargers and radios are expensive but for a reason. Those two bits of kit will impact every thing you fly from a $5 foamie to a $700 jet. These are personal decisions. Take longer to choose your radio and charger than you did your first plane. :)

+1 on the Turnigy charger per @whackflyer. Like he states, you also need a power supply with it.

If you create a build thread with photos as you build and if you film the maiden voyage, we will be happy to assist as you work your way through the learning curves. Documentation of your build will help you if there are problems and will help other newbies who are still screwing up the courage to try.

If during the maiden voyage, your plane doesn't exactly fly, we will be able to help you make adjustments to make your next build better. If your plane flies we will all be able cheer with you. The motto of our hobby is build, fly, crash, repeat. Don't be surprised when you crash. That's part of the fun!

Anyway you slice it, you have found a group of folks who love building and flying as a family. Welcome to yours from ours. :)
 
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Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
I fell down the rabbit hole of FT youtube vids and after some research I'm about ready to commit to my first build. I think I'm going to narrow it down to 2 or 3 options and let my daughter make the final choice. I'm smart enough to know not to jump into something over my head but I've got a reasonable amount of confidence in my abilities and willing to learn from mistakes. That said, I'm leaning towards the Simple Cub given the cubs ubiquitous history and ease of flight / build; I'm also considering the Explorer and the Storch but open to suggestions. I ultimately want to do scratch builds but I'm not sure if a kit would be better for a first go or not. I'm a pretty handy guy (read engineer) but don't have foam build experience. I've got lots of other questions that I may get around to asking but this post is already getting too long ;)

TLDR:

What is the best first build plane?

Kit or scratch for a noob?

I think that I can't recommend the storch as a first or even second build because it takes longer and costs more in electronics. It is a great plane though. If you are looking for a second plane to build after this the Explorer could be a good plane for after you master the scout. It is also a good platform to start designing your own wings, tails, ETC. For the Scout, or for any plane that isn't a glider, I prefer to always have ailerons. It seems like an anomaly for my local area because we all seem to dislike 3 channel. My field also requires a barrel roll to become a pilot, so that makes any new pilot have to fly a plane with ailerons. I know that there are strong opinions, but I think if you are willing to spend the money on a plane an extra few bucks for a servo doesn't make much of a dent.
 

Jackson T

Elite member
I think that I can't recommend the storch as a first or even second build because it takes longer and costs more in electronics. It is a great plane though. If you are looking for a second plane to build after this the Explorer could be a good plane for after you master the scout. It is also a good platform to start designing your own wings, tails, ETC. For the Scout, or for any plane that isn't a glider, I prefer to always have ailerons. It seems like an anomaly for my local area because we all seem to dislike 3 channel. My field also requires a barrel roll to become a pilot, so that makes any new pilot have to fly a plane with ailerons. I know that there are strong opinions, but I think if you are willing to spend the money on a plane an extra few bucks for a servo doesn't make much of a dent.
I agree, my friend built a 3 channel simple scout, and it didn't turn as well as I'd expect. But, in saying that, I have built many successful 3 channel planes from FT, like the mini scout and the tiny trainer, and my HH super cub was only 3 channel.
 

FL_Engineer

Elite member
We sketched out some draft plans and I think we've simplified the unicorn design in favor of pink stars in place of the standard iron cross. Thinking pink for the turtle deck and possibly pink leading wing edge. I'm sure she could be persuaded to throw in a unicorn sticker for good luck.

I went with the IMAX B6 charger on banggood based on price and the overwhelming positive reviews. I was hesitant to pull the trigger on a cheaper charger but people seem to have good luck with this one. Also went with the Flysky fs-i6x based on cost and what you get at that price.

Also for reference, I'm a civil engineer with experience in fluid dynamics / bernoulli's equation from school so I am pretty confident I can get it to fly, it's just a matter of how much effort it takes. I've always have a passion for flight, having grown up watching the space shuttle from my front porch.

Will do my best to log our progress, not sure when we will start.

I think I agree on going 4 channel out of the gate based on my limited experience with so e mobile rc Sims and years of PC flight Sims.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
We sketched out some draft plans and I think we've simplified the unicorn design in favor of pink stars in place of the standard iron cross. Thinking pink for the turtle deck and possibly pink leading wing edge. I'm sure she could be persuaded to throw in a unicorn sticker for good luck.

I went with the IMAX B6 charger on banggood based on price and the overwhelming positive reviews. I was hesitant to pull the trigger on a cheaper charger but people seem to have good luck with this one. Also went with the Flysky fs-i6x based on cost and what you get at that price.

Also for reference, I'm a civil engineer with experience in fluid dynamics / bernoulli's equation from school so I am pretty confident I can get it to fly, it's just a matter of how much effort it takes. I've always have a passion for flight, having grown up watching the space shuttle from my front porch.

Will do my best to log our progress, not sure when we will start.

I think I agree on going 4 channel out of the gate based on my limited experience with so e mobile rc Sims and years of PC flight Sims.

I saw a FlySky FS-i6X at my club meeting a few months ago that ended up being given away; nobody wanted it because of issues they'd had trying to program it. That's not to say it's necessarily bad, but when compared to the Spektrums that most of the club is familiar with, it wasn't an easy thing to instinctively pick up on using. That's also what you pay more for when it comes to the more expensive radios - ease of use, more features, more model storage, more channels, more switches/toggles/dials, better ergonomics, higher quality controls and antennas - in short, you get what you pay for. Do you need it? Not necessarily, but it does make a difference.

As for chargers, I personally spent a bit more and bought a Hitec charger. For one, they're local to me (they have a service center in Poway, which is about 30 min. from where I live), and another major reason is that I can charge using either AC or DC power (just hook up the supplied connector cables for DC, or hook up the AC cord). Again, paying more for my charger gave me more features and functionality. I bought the AC X2 Black edition, which has a really cool Bluetooth app that allows me to program it with a QR code: I simply tape the code to each battery pack, plug in the battery and balance board, and scan it with my smartphone. It then sets up the charger automatically for me based on that code. Was it more expensive than the IMAX? Yes, but I feel it was worth it, because I can charge two different types of batteries at the same time - say, a 2S battery on one channel, and a 3S battery on the other channel. And if I'm out at my field where we have a solar panel that we can hook up our chargers to and use DC power, it's VERY handy. Is it something you need? Probably not - at least, not at this stage - but if you're charging multiple battery types for various planes (say, a 3S for a Simple Cub, and a 4S for a quadcopter, or a couple of 2S batteries for a glider) it can be a boon. All in all, it really just depends on your needs.
 

FL_Engineer

Elite member
I saw a FlySky FS-i6X at my club meeting a few months ago that ended up being given away; nobody wanted it because of issues they'd had trying to program it. That's not to say it's necessarily bad, but when compared to the Spektrums that most of the club is familiar with, it wasn't an easy thing to instinctively pick up on using. That's also what you pay more for when it comes to the more expensive radios - ease of use, more features, more model storage, more channels, more switches/toggles/dials, better ergonomics, higher quality controls and antennas - in short, you get what you pay for. Do you need it? Not necessarily, but it does make a difference.

As for chargers, I personally spent a bit more and bought a Hitec charger. For one, they're local to me (they have a service center in Poway, which is about 30 min. from where I live), and another major reason is that I can charge using either AC or DC power (just hook up the supplied connector cables for DC, or hook up the AC cord). Again, paying more for my charger gave me more features and functionality. I bought the AC X2 Black edition, which has a really cool Bluetooth app that allows me to program it with a QR code: I simply tape the code to each battery pack, plug in the battery and balance board, and scan it with my smartphone. It then sets up the charger automatically for me based on that code. Was it more expensive than the IMAX? Yes, but I feel it was worth it, because I can charge two different types of batteries at the same time - say, a 2S battery on one channel, and a 3S battery on the other channel. And if I'm out at my field where we have a solar panel that we can hook up our chargers to and use DC power, it's VERY handy. Is it something you need? Probably not - at least, not at this stage - but if you're charging multiple battery types for various planes (say, a 3S for a Simple Cub, and a 4S for a quadcopter, or a couple of 2S batteries for a glider) it can be a boon. All in all, it really just depends on your needs.
10-4, I figured the IMAX would work for now and if I stick with the hobby I would probably invest in a better one at some point. As for the Flysky, I could be wrong but it seems similar to Apple vs Android in that everyone develops a preference but each has strengths. Either way, at $50 it's worth starting with and leaves me room to grow into something else if I want to switch oneday. Thanks again
 

Wildthing

Legendary member
I saw a FlySky FS-i6X at my club meeting a few months ago that ended up being given away; nobody wanted it because of issues they'd had trying to program it. That's not to say it's necessarily bad, but when compared to the Spektrums that most of the club is familiar with, it wasn't an easy thing to instinctively pick up on using. That's also what you pay more for when it comes to the more expensive radios - ease of use, more features, more model storage, more channels, more switches/toggles/dials, better ergonomics, higher quality controls and antennas - in short, you get what you pay for. Do you need it? Not necessarily, but it does make a difference.

As for chargers, I personally spent a bit more and bought a Hitec charger. For one, they're local to me (they have a service center in Poway, which is about 30 min. from where I live), and another major reason is that I can charge using either AC or DC power (just hook up the supplied connector cables for DC, or hook up the AC cord). Again, paying more for my charger gave me more features and functionality. I bought the AC X2 Black edition, which has a really cool Bluetooth app that allows me to program it with a QR code: I simply tape the code to each battery pack, plug in the battery and balance board, and scan it with my smartphone. It then sets up the charger automatically for me based on that code. Was it more expensive than the IMAX? Yes, but I feel it was worth it, because I can charge two different types of batteries at the same time - say, a 2S battery on one channel, and a 3S battery on the other channel. And if I'm out at my field where we have a solar panel that we can hook up our chargers to and use DC power, it's VERY handy. Is it something you need? Probably not - at least, not at this stage - but if you're charging multiple battery types for various planes (say, a 3S for a Simple Cub, and a 4S for a quadcopter, or a couple of 2S batteries for a glider) it can be a boon. All in all, it really just depends on your needs.

Mine doesn't have the fancy Bluetooth and that sounds cool but I have the Hitek 4 bank model, 2S to 6S .
 

Jackson T

Elite member
We sketched out some draft plans and I think we've simplified the unicorn design in favor of pink stars in place of the standard iron cross. Thinking pink for the turtle deck and possibly pink leading wing edge. I'm sure she could be persuaded to throw in a unicorn sticker for good luck.

I went with the IMAX B6 charger on banggood based on price and the overwhelming positive reviews. I was hesitant to pull the trigger on a cheaper charger but people seem to have good luck with this one. Also went with the Flysky fs-i6x based on cost and what you get at that price.

Also for reference, I'm a civil engineer with experience in fluid dynamics / bernoulli's equation from school so I am pretty confident I can get it to fly, it's just a matter of how much effort it takes. I've always have a passion for flight, having grown up watching the space shuttle from my front porch.

Will do my best to log our progress, not sure when we will start.

I think I agree on going 4 channel out of the gate based on my limited experience with so e mobile rc Sims and years of PC flight Sims.
You watched the space shuttle from your front porch? Now THAT is cool!!! I've got a TGY i6 (which is pretty much a fs i6 with a different sticker), and it's ok. It is better then my 4 channel non-programmable tx I had, but you will likely out grow it in time. Also, it doesn't have a timer. It is still probably the best bang for your buck when starting out though, considering the price. For comparison, a DX6e 6 channel Spektrum radio costs around $200 (with a receiver). It did take a bit of figuring out to program it, but it's not too bad. I can't wait to see how you project goes!
 
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sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
10-4, I figured the IMAX would work for now and if I stick with the hobby I would probably invest in a better one at some point. As for the Flysky, I could be wrong but it seems similar to Apple vs Android in that everyone develops a preference but each has strengths. Either way, at $50 it's worth starting with and leaves me room to grow into something else if I want to switch oneday. Thanks again

EXACTLY!!! Someone who gets it. The transmitters all have different bells and whistles, different quality, etc. The question YOU have to answer is how much you plan to get into it, and how much you want to sink into the hobby. My biggest issue with the FlySky radios are trying to find compatible receivers around here (the local hobby shops stock mostly Spektrum and to a lesser degree, FrSky; if you need a FlySky receiver, you're usually having to order from mail order and wait for it to show up in a couple of weeks).

You use what you use - my only feeling on it is if you KNOW you're going to get sucked in, spend the money right from the beginning, and don't buy the "I'll buy a better one later," because that $50-$100 you spend could be applied towards the $200-$300 transmitter instead. But that can be applied to anything, whether it's a car, a fridge, a computer, a TV - you get the picture. :)

And as @Jackson T pointed out, there are some features that are nice to have with other transmitters, such as the timer that the TGY i6 is lacking, or my favorite that the nicer Spektrum radios have (FrSky might have this too, I'm not sure), but the transmitters will talk to you and tell you things like "High rate", or "Low Rate" or count down from 10 to 1 when you have 10 seconds left, as opposed to a beep. Is it absolutely necessary? No, but it DOES make life a lot easier when you don't want to look down to see how much time you have left on your battery, or whether you're on the correct settings for a high speed pass (Low rate - high rates will make that plane SUPER twitchy at higher speeds, but react more normally at lower speeds).

At any rate, feel free to ask questions. Most of us have been there and we'd rather help than have someone else suffer through our same mistakes. :)