Help! To RC or not to RC

[SkyEye]

Hi Everyone. It's been about 4 years since I've posted anything on this forum or have been active in RC at all. I had a Parkzone T-28 Trojan, An RTF CHAMP and a Micro P-51D. All controlled by my DX6i. Oh and I had a Nano QX quad copter (loved those little things). I'm sure it's common, but the labor and cost of repairs after each brown out crash and each rough landing became too much and I just stopped. I know I still want to fly but that's for another time. I need some help from those of you who are good at salvaging destroyed planes and just good at managing an RC collection in general. What do I do with everything I have? The foam body of the T-28 is shredded after a nose dive. The tail section of the P-51D is destroyed from clipping a tree. The Champ is intact, but with every micro plane I've ever owned, the motor seems to wear quickly over time. And I have several puffy lipos for their respective aircraft.

I know I haven't made much sense thus far. I just want some advice on what to do. Should I salvage electronics and perhaps put it into a future DIY plane? Or would it be cheaper to buy the proper parts to restore each plane. Ultimately, I want to downsize my collection to one plane. I have yet to look into that. I also have components of two gas planes that were generously donated to me by my dad's old co worker. A 6ft wide Piper Cub and some stunt plane. Back in 2016 I had plans to build those planes. But now the thought of that Cub with its intricate and fragile wooden struts and parts crashing into the ground frightens me. I believe I will sell the two gas planes with their engines and servos and receivers.

Bit of a long ramble, please let me know if you have any questions or need help deciphering my ramble. Thank you. Any help is appreciated!

 

[quorneng]

SkyEye
The first thing you will need is confidence in your flying abilities and you can only get by practice, practice and more practice.
The next is to practice on a plane that a) is cheap and simple and b) easy to repair. The 'looks' of such a plane are immaterial.
I fly mostly from a rough grass field so my simple planes are hand launch and belly land.
This is my 'go to' plane.

It looks like a "toy plane" but is a bit more sophisticated than it looks. The wings (40" span) and tail are foam, the fuselage is a moulding with a carbon tail boom. It is now nearly 10 years old and I still fly it regularly when weather conditions and the time available make flying the bigger and far more fragile scale planes too risky.
That of course is another skill to be learned. To quote a Dirty Harry movie "A man has got to know his limitations".
It works for me.

 

[mrjdstewart]

part the planes, salvage the parts. if you don't think they can be rescued, then take them for what they have. next step is looking at the FT collection and seeing which plane could use that power system. rinse, repeat.

good luck,

me

 

[Tench745]

Hi Everyone. It's been about 4 years since I've posted anything on this forum or have been active in RC at all. I had a Parkzone T-28 Trojan, An RTF CHAMP and a Micro P-51D. All controlled by my DX6i. Oh and I had a Nano QX quad copter (loved those little things). I'm sure it's common, but the labor and cost of repairs after each brown out crash and each rough landing became too much and I just stopped. I know I still want to fly but that's for another time. I need some help from those of you who are good at salvaging destroyed planes and just good at managing an RC collection in general. What do I do with everything I have? The foam body of the T-28 is shredded after a nose dive. The tail section of the P-51D is destroyed from clipping a tree. The Champ is intact, but with every micro plane I've ever owned, the motor seems to wear quickly over time. And I have several puffy lipos for their respective aircraft.

This is a bit of a subjective question, you know you better than any of us. For some, having a cool balsa plane stored away to "work up to" is really helpful for motivation whether you get there or not. Others would just feel guilty or pressured.
I've been feeling like I should part-out my whole collection lately because I don't fly much anymore and they're taking up a lot of space. Mine are almost all still flyable, so I won't do that.

As for parting out/repairing yours, pictures may help us assess how far gone everything is. Again, you know your abilities and comfort level for these repairs; the best we can do is offer guidance.
Generally speaking, is it cheaper to buy repair parts? Not usually. Is it easier? Heck yes.
Motor replacements on a UMX Champ are common and relatively straightforward.
LiPos are a consumable but will last a number of years if cared for. If you over-draw them, don't keep them at storage charge, leave them in the heat, crash their aircraft hard, etc they'll go quicker.

Personally, I agree with mrjdstewart; part out the ones you can't save and put the bits into an FT plane. Crashes become a lot less devastating when the fuselage costs less than 5 dollars and a few hours to replace.
The ultimate solution is practice and the right mindset. Flying with friends can help even a bad day at the field feel like time well spent. Your mileage my vary.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Hi Everyone. It's been about 4 years since I've posted anything on this forum or have been active in RC at all. I had a Parkzone T-28 Trojan, An RTF CHAMP and a Micro P-51D. All controlled by my DX6i. Oh and I had a Nano QX quad copter (loved those little things). I'm sure it's common, but the labor and cost of repairs after each brown out crash and each rough landing became too much and I just stopped. I know I still want to fly but that's for another time. I need some help from those of you who are good at salvaging destroyed planes and just good at managing an RC collection in general. What do I do with everything I have? The foam body of the T-28 is shredded after a nose dive. The tail section of the P-51D is destroyed from clipping a tree. The Champ is intact, but with every micro plane I've ever owned, the motor seems to wear quickly over time. And I have several puffy lipos for their respective aircraft.

I know I haven't made much sense thus far. I just want some advice on what to do. Should I salvage electronics and perhaps put it into a future DIY plane? Or would it be cheaper to buy the proper parts to restore each plane. Ultimately, I want to downsize my collection to one plane. I have yet to look into that. I also have components of two gas planes that were generously donated to me by my dad's old co worker. A 6ft wide Piper Cub and some stunt plane. Back in 2016 I had plans to build those planes. But now the thought of that Cub with its intricate and fragile wooden struts and parts crashing into the ground frightens me. I believe I will sell the two gas planes with their engines and servos and receivers.

Bit of a long ramble, please let me know if you have any questions or need help deciphering my ramble. Thank you. Any help is appreciated!

I started a a year before you and have spent most of that time learning to repair, fly, teach, design and build. I also have a Champ RTF that I started on and mine has been rebuilt using all genuine parts, (the electrics had survived and so were reused).

As for what to do I would make a totally suggestion than most. I would quarantine all of them for repair or stripping at a later date! I would sell the gas engines and the huge planes to fund either building or buying 2 decent planes. One would be a motor glider for those days when a calm and slow flight would suit my mood and another would be a more rugged pusher bird similar to a Bixler but with flight stabilisation for those days when you need to fly regardless of the wind strength, (within reason).

I would definitely do something about the "Brownouts" as I looked into radio performance a few years ago and now I can boast that I have not had a plane destroying crash due to radio issues for over two years. Currently I am learning to fly and land off/on water and it has given me something to look forward to each day, regardless of the wind velocity.

In addition you could try to find a local mentor, Buy a sim that can use your controller and get lots of stick time. As for the plane/s you get I would pick something that has parts available AND I would learn to glue the foam crumbs back together after a crash.

The only way you can move forward is to learn how to get the most out of your radio and planes.

We live half a world apart but had you been a neighbour you would be buddy boxed now so that I could show you how to forget the crashing and to really begin to enjoy the flying!

Have fun!

 

[Piotrsko]

What they ^^^^^^ all said.
BTDT, that is how I learned but I don't reccomend that method, I estimate I could have bought a car for what I spent learning not to crash as often. I still crash but now it's because of "Hey, watch this, or, Hold my beer". Btw: Low inverted limbo passes with a T tail just don't work.

 

[JasonK]

I will second the buddy box for learning... I went through multiple planes learning to fly myself (thankfully all Tiny Trainers and only a few $ and a few hours to replace). My 2nd youngest has already managed 2 circuits on a 3 Channel Tiny trainer with no crashes on his second or third battery thanks to buddy box learning, every time he goes out of control, I can put him back in the sky under control and we don't loose a plane from [nearly] every mistake like when I was learning.

 

[SkyEye]

Thank you all for you replies and your help. I think I will spend a few months on the Phoenix flight sim (which I've had) and start scrapping the planes. I think the electronics from the trojan will go into a great scrap build and after I feel proficient with the simulator I will start finding recommendation on a new plane. I'm still looking for specs on the two gas planes but what is the market like for gas planes? Will I be able to sell them easily?

Also, the Flitetest power packs have always been a little confusing to me. What plane would support the power setup of the large Parkzone T-28 trojan (30A ESC, 960kv brushless outrunner).

One of the gas planes is a Great Planes 76" Piper J-3 Cub
the other is a Hobbico Starfire

I also have a Webra 61 motor and a "Satio 50 sized motor"

 

[Timmy]

Thank you all for you replies and your help. I think I will spend a few months on the Phoenix flight sim (which I've had) and start scrapping the planes. I think the electronics from the trojan will go into a great scrap build and after I feel proficient with the simulator I will start finding recommendation on a new plane. I'm still looking for specs on the two gas planes but what is the market like for gas planes? Will I be able to sell them easily?

Also, the Flitetest power packs have always been a little confusing to me. What plane would support the power setup of the large Parkzone T-28 trojan (30A ESC, 960kv brushless outrunner).

One of the gas planes is a Great Planes 76" Piper J-3 Cub
the other is a Hobbico Starfire

I also have a Webra 61 motor and a "Satio 50 sized motor"

I believe the closest FT power pack to your Trojan electronics would be the C pack.