Paintball

[sniper97]

Hey, any RC plane experts on MCB? My son (12) wants one. I think we have it mostly picked out, need advise on a battery charger and on a 6 channel receiver. Thanks!

[blackrain]

I would start with this type. Cheap repairs and I'm sure the shop will reccommend it. Should come with everything from plane to charger.

HOBBY ZONE - RC Planes - Electric Park Flyers Ready-to-Fly - Firebird Commander 2 RTF Electric

Later,
Blackrain

[THE-SHOOTIST]

Originally Posted by blackrain

I would start with this type. Cheap repairs and I'm sure the shop will reccommend it. Should come with everything from plane to charger.

HOBBY ZONE - RC Planes - Electric Park Flyers Ready-to-Fly - Firebird Commander 2 RTF Electric

Later,
Blackrain

Ditto. These things are AWESOME! Despite the fact you'll have the immediate desire for a P-51 or an F-22 as I did, try to resist and get a "Trainer" bird and fly it for a year. Then move up into the cool stuff. I wrecked an F-15 that set me back $150.00 due to my inexperience and inpatience.

[darthmoo]

Been flying fixed wing and helos off and on for 16 years.

What's your budget?

ETA: Post links to what you've picked out thus far.

[sniper97]

Will check out the Firebird Commander 2...

We were looking at the Floater Jet:

Floater-Jet EPO with Motor (ARF)

or the Champ RTF:

HOBBY ZONE - Hobby Zone - Champ RTF

There is a really good 3 parts series on the Floater Jet and how to assemble....if we go with the floater jet, need advise on battery charger and radio. Looking at this battery:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._3S1P_25C.html

Need advise on battery charger & radio for Floater-Jet...

Thanks Guys! Oh...trying to stay around $100, $150 max!

[esperto96]

I also recommend you consider getting an RC simulator like RealFlight. That can give you good practice time when the weather's bad and save you $$$s through simulated crashes instead of expensive real ones. I would have gone through a lot more planes than I did thanks to RealFlight.

Just remember to try to fly it as if you were flying a real one (ie trying not to crash) otherwise you just end up dinking around and trying all kinds of absurd flight maneuvers that end up in spectacular virtual wrecks but don't improve your skills.

[GoatBoy]

Under no circumstances should you buy a "Champ". Those plane designs fly poorly and you will be replacing props/cowls on nose-ins.

I would not recommend the Firebird Commander 2 either. Tends to fly too fast (NiMH battery pack is a dead giveaway) and uses proprietary electronics.

The Floater-Jet is the best out of the three. If you go this route, go light on the battery pack to lighten up the wing loading.

Personally I'd go straight for a lightweight flying wing. They're usually the most durable and deal with wind the best (and bear in mind that wind is the biggest limiting factor on what days you will be able to fly, unless you're flying indoors or something).

The transmitter/receiver is where you have to make a hard decision. Opinions are going to vary, but if you want to stay in this, you'll want a 2.4GHz set, of which there are multiple manufacturers. Might want to go for DSM2 as that's supported by a number of bind-n-fly manufacturers. Also check to see if your transmitter might be compatible with the aforementioned flight simulator software if you're going that route so you don't have to buy the same thing twice.

[Panda]

I started off flying with a 3 ch pusher prop plane like this
Hobby People Superfly X Receiver Ready - Bl Motor/Lipo/Ailerons No Tx - RTF & RR Electric Plane - Aircraft - RC Aircraft
You cant go wrong with something like this, they glide very well and stand up well in crashes

[ogti9g9]

Parkzone super cub rtf with dx4, I know there over used, and the cowling is a major let down, but this is what I started with, it's a simple flier, pretty sturdy and reliable, it will allow him to quickly learn the basic fundamentals and move on to something more intense.

I've built many different rc aircraft, my last being a bomber, and when everything is under construction, I always went back to fly this.

If you decide not to get it, I'd recommend something that has a large surface area and some dihedral, it will make the aircraft slower and grant it more inflight stability, if you would like, I can get you plans for the bomber I made, it has mixed control surfaces, it's very simple to fly and it's a slow flier, it has enough power to gain altitude and manuver around, yet docile enough to make smooth slow banks and fly at lower power ratings.

[Toad]

Talk to Rcjunky on here, he works at an RC store and should be able to help you out.