Electric airplane for raging amateur.

[jimmy]

as a follow up, but wholly unconnected to, my mini helicopter thread. Does anyone know owt about rc electric airplanes? Vicky (mrs.oople - wife of jimmy) is mental (!) for airplanes and it's her birthday soon and I think she deserves to have some sort of electric plane that she can crash dramatically into the ground.
I can't see her being able to actually fly it, so one thats made of rubber would be perfect. But failing that, something relatively cheap and that can be flown outdoors (we don't own a barn, unfortunately) in good calm weather. Size isn't that important but it needs to be relatively cheap and RTR.
I know less about airplanes than helicopters (and I know very little about those) so I hope there's some airplane boys on here.

[Mrs oOple]

I know what I'm getting for my birthday! YAY!

I'd like an inflatable aeroplane that I can ride in please.

[jimmy]

NOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo o


you daft bugger, you weren't supposed to read this!!!!!!! right you're not having owt now - only cold chips!

[Darren Boyle]

Jimmy (and Vicky) best budget brands to look at are Parkzone and Hobbyzone ranges. They do a great range of entry level aircraft ranging from £45 up to £120, aimed at entry level through to advanced pilots.....

See the Parkzone ones from our website as guide HERE

See the more basic Hobbyzone ones HERE

Or if you want even more basic look at the Venom Park Fighters HERE

And lastly the most basic of all the Silverlit X-Twins HERE

Any more basic than that and you probably need o go to Toys R Us!!!!

HTH,Darren

Edit, sorry I just noticed I put the Parkzone and Hobbyzone links in the wrong places, I am sure you will work it out though

[jimmy]

Thanks Darren. Is something like the Hobbyzone 'supercub' ok to fly outdoors? I don't think vicky would be impressed with something that doesn't look like a real plane, but something like the cub would fit the bill I think.

[Mrs oOple]

I didn't see anything!

[Darren Boyle]

Yes mate the Cub is ideal for outdoors, I also forgot to mention (must be getting tired) the "Top Gun Aero" range from CML. We only have their Cessna in at the moment but there are a couple of new ones due soon (Cub and a German Focke WWII thingy). They are great value at under £90 AND they include a FREE Flight Simulator for the PC too, to practice on before flying the real thing.......

The Cessna can be seen HERE (at the bottom)

[glypo]

I have to say I'm a keen flyer, it's great fun. A couple of my mates got into the hobby with the Hobbyzone Cub. It's foam.... so can be glued back together easily. They fly well and have reasonable duration. They can fly quite happily in winds up to 8mph. They are tough too, one of my mates managed to "land" his in the top of a tree. About 30 mins of kicking footballs at it and poking it with sticks, it came down and lived to fly another day.

For anyone new to flight, it has to be high wing.... much more stable. Therefore I would ignore warbirds etc. So the cub ticks the box on being high wing anyway. The big downside I think of the Cub is it's only elevator and rudder, no aileron. Personally I find when flying that I rarely use the rudder, and only use aileron. It's easier in my opinion. Many people have different tastes though, so Vicky might actually prefer rudder for control. The problem is, she'd only know once she's flown both. So that really doesn't help!

Also the cub only comes with a three channel transmitter, so not great for any future prospects. Minus those two points, it's great. And, to be fair everything has its downsides. The Hobbyzone is very good despite these points.

Other stuff I have found, one of my favourite online plane shops has this:

http://robotbirds.com/catalog/produc...oducts_id=1433

Has aileron and rudder control, 4 channel radio etc. I've never had any personal experience with one though, has a 5 star review score on the site though.

And well there are loads of planes on Sussex Models (http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk - check out electric, then RTF with radio). They are a massive, massive shop for plane stuff. Seriously more planes then you could point a very large stick at.

They do the same cub, and it's on special off at the moment:

http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk...d.asp?id=20561

I noticed this one (another cub) comes with LiPo and Brushless, + free sim cheap too:
http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk...d.asp?id=25109

Yet another cub, Thunder Tiger:

http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk...xd.asp?id=5156

Basically they have loads. Best bet with Sussex is to phone them. They have always given me honest, really good advice and sometimes manage to save some money on the way. Cheap and fast postage too.

[drinternat]

Jimmy,

Have you considered giving Vicky flying lessons (in real planes) for her birthday. I know up here there are a few places you can get lessons. Glasgow airport have a flying club and one also at Cumbernauld but I am sure there are places near you. Just a thought.!!!

p.s. Where did you buy your helicopter??

[franki]

[quote=drinternat;111447]Jimmy,

Have you considered giving Vicky flying lessons (in real planes) for her birthday. I know up here there are a few places you can get lessons. Glasgow airport have a flying club and one also at Cumbernauld but I am sure there are places near you. Just a thought.!!!

He is going to love you LOL£££££££££££££££££££

[MRD]

Ive got the Hobbyzone Firebird Commander 2, the Hobbyzone Super Cub and the Parkzone Spitfire.

The Commander is 2ch and great for beginners but can be pretty limited and poor in anything more than a very light breeze

The Spitfire/Mustang/FW190 is 3ch (Elevator, Ailerons) and very good but deffinately not for the beginner

The Best is the Cub, Its 3ch (Elevator, Rudder), Its big enough to use in a breeze and its high wing so its stable.

To be honest the best thing to get is the Realflight G4 simulator for PC. Its got an 8ch USB controler, tons of planes and hellies ranging from beginner to expert and loads of training stuff. Its about £130 but its well worth it and if you get good and decide to take it further you can go out and buy a good plane and fly it perfect first time.