Hobbico FlyZone Cessna 182 4-Channel RTF ???

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

The 182 is a nice plane, BUT IT IS NOT A TRAINER.

I realize that you can fly the plane on the simulator, but the simulator is not the real world. On a sim the plane is ALWAYS perfectly balanced. The wind (if any ) is always constant (no gusts ) and the plane never malfunctions.

Unfortunately this is not so in the real world.

A trainer is just that. It is designed to fly slower than a "real/scale" plane and is "more forgiving". It is designed to allow the student to be one step ahead of the plane and "self righting".

An instructor (clubs provide them at no charge ) and a trainer type plane will allow you to learn HOW TO FLY without crashing the plane. On a sim you just press a button and the plane is whole again, it would be nice if this were the way it was in life.

As for a Piper Cub, unless it is one SPECIFICALLY modified to be a trainer (most are not ) it is a nice 2nd or 3rd plane.

I realize this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I hope this is of some help.

I appreciate it... one of the problems I'm encountering is exactly what you mention... some cubs are very clearly not beginner planes as they are huge! And a lot of the pages about the cessna talk about it being a good beginner plane too. Heh.

What would you recommend for a beginner plane (electric?)

Thanks!

A couple of questions I have are:

Will you be joining a club ?

This is actually the best and, overall, the least expensive way to learn how to fly. Clubs provide instructors at no charge. An instructor (besides keeping you from learning bad habits) can usually "save" your plane from a disastrous move on your part.

Are you going to try to learn how to fly on your own ?

People have taught themselves how to fly, however it is a steep (and expensive ) learning curve. When teaching yourself how to fly, plan on going through several planes before you have the basics down.

If you are going to try to teach yourself, I can suggest a plane. If you decide to join a club, I suggest asking your instructor what he recommends.

We're going to head over to a local club this weekend and check things out and am definitely going to talk to them about it, but let's say I wanted to teach myself... what would you recommend?

Thanks!

You won't regret joining a club. Besides the instructors, there is a lot of knowledge available from the various members.

The most forgiving electric planes I have found are:

The Easy Star

Telemaster The Telemaster comes in varying sizes all the way up to a

12' (yes 12 foot) wingspan. The link is for a RTF Mini Telemaster. The Telemaster is more expensive than the Easy Star.

I have witnessed a person flying a Telemaster 40 size do the following:

Line the plane up on final approach. Reduce the throttle to idle. Put the transmitter on the ground and watch the plane land itself !!! It was dead calm when the person did this.

I would not suggest doing anything like this though. What this person did (as a laugh I think ) was extremely dangerous and irresponsible as ANYTHING could have happened and he would have had absolutely no control over the plane. If something had happened someone could have easily been injured.

Campy

wrote

Some have succeeded in teaching themselves to fly, but that is the exception, rather than the usual. By yourself, you need a really slow, stable plane. Even then, it is hard to get enough air time between crashes to learn what you are doing wrong. Many people get frustrated and quit before learning.

Morgan,

A good way to start, even before you ask for the help of an instructor, go to this website

and buy this video, then watch it over and over and over until you have it set in your mind. You'll have a much better chance of success.

Earl of Troy AMA#40329

"Earl Scherzinger" wrote

I have no doubt that there are ways, including this video and simulators, that increase the odds of teaching yourself.

I will also contend that any other method than a teacher is a second best choice, and should be avoided if a teacher is available.

Get a teacher, enjoy making a bunch of great new friends, (that really can be a major part of the joy for many people) and learn to fly. It will be much less expensive than teaching yourself to fly, by a bunch! (that's a technical term :) )

I'm teaching myself to fly, not with a trainer but the other way. Th

much more expensive way. I bought the flyzone cessna as a starte because I REALLY wanted a four channel plane (Well I really wante rudder, alirons and elevator, but however you want to say it)

The cessna really isn't a great flyer. It's under powered and on crash smashes it up really bad. The main wing is made from one o those really tough foams, but the body is just plain old stryofoam. And the rudder and elevator is really thin. On my first landing broke the elevator, the next landing I cracked the body, the next broke the rudder. None of these where really hard landings. Oh an the cowl is really brittle so it shashes up pretty good too.

I've sort of made it my mission in life to make that plane fly well. So I ordered a bunch of parts and while I waited for them to arrive bought an easier plane. I looked for something with a more powerful motor, big wings and plenty of dihedral. But I still really wante Alirons.

I settled on the Hobby Zone Aerobird Swift. I've crashed it a fe times, bought one new set of wings ($20) but other then that it's doin great. And I can use the cessna's battery in it. Anyway, that's what did. YMMV

I keep a flight log, I list what happened each time I fly. I love al the times in the last few weeks I've been able to write down, "Fle three packs, no crashes, all landings gentle"

Oh yea, if you do get the aerobird swift, you might want to do like did. I took all the landing gear off it and I hand launch it in a bi field full off long grass, then belly land it into that nice soft stuf when I'm done.

If I had it all to do again I'd but an Easy Star I think. SO man people say that's what to learn with. 50 million Elvis fans can't b wrong

-- HuweyI

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HuweyII,

I had to register, just so I could tell you how much I enjoyed you flight diary. I have an old cessna I bought off ebay that is more "hol the foam", then original. After 5 yrs, it still flies great and it wa my first plane. I would tell you the name of it, but not sure at thi point it ever had a brand name, lol. It was 3 channel, easily converte to 4, which is why i believe it was the best choice for a starter craft I recieved my Hobbico FlyZone Cessna 182 4-Channel RTF just today, and look forward to upgrading it to brushless. I also have an eflight cessn

370, and an orion thermal glider. Absolutly more fun then any helli ever owned....Welcome to the fixed wing world my friend

-- crashi

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How is it going on your new plane? Did you fly it in stock configuration? Have you upgraded it? Results

-- mike earl

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This is a bit off subject, but I can't refrain any longer.

--------- Has this country changed the English language, or is it my imagination?

Is our younger generation, (and some from the 60s and 70s) NOT paying attention in school, or is it they just don't give a damn when they compose a paragraph or sentence.

Examples:

They consistently mis-use the word your for you're

I had went to my friend's house.

Do you want your picture tooken?

Do they understand the difference between: Past, Present & Future tense verbs?

The word 'then' is consistently being mis-used for 'than'. A couple proper examples using these words: I went to my friend's house 'then' I went home. I used a paint sprayer rather 'than' a brush.

I can always tell when a young person sends me an email. They don't believe in punctuation or capital letters to begin a sentence and they use NO periods at the end. It's VERY difficult to read their 'rambling'.

And some of these people are 'suppose to be' college students.

If this is the way of our future, we're in BIG trouble.

I could go on and on, but this message will stir up enough controversy. For sure!

EarlOfTroy

Glad you had a place to vent. In my humble opinion, you are just now exposed to what you see because of the internet. What you observe has always been there in every age group. You can blame a generation but I think that's misplaced. That type of stuff is the least of my worries. :) mk (47 years old)

| This is a bit off subject, but I can't refrain any longer.

A bit? Please, next time, refrain.

| They consistently mis-use the word your for you're

You could have at least talked about `your model' or `you're a danger to anybody within two miles of where you fly!'

| The word 'then' is consistently being mis-used for 'than'. | A couple proper examples using these words:

My plane hit the tree, then it smacked into my foot. Ouch!

| I used a paint sprayer rather 'than' a brush.

I'd rather fly electric than glow. But I'd rather fly a glider than either one!

| I could go on and on, but this message will stir up enough controversy.

Indeed. You knew it was utterly off-topic, and you posted anyways!

Interesting observation...

I am a native Spanish speaker, and have noticed the same effect that you mention among spanish speakers. Maybe it is the Internet effect, but I believe that the Internet did not start the problem, just made it worse.

Happy flying,

Angel

Alas...these posts are not updates at all...

-- mike earl

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"Bob Cowell" wrote

Riiiight Oooonnn, maaan.

On??? ON? Wait a minute, you're on *what* channel?

"MJKolodziej" wrote

Yep, you can lose clarity by getting too far out, fer sure, man!

One of my favorite things to do is get my .15 powered Lazy Bee as far up as I can control it, then let it climb (trimmed up and to circle) up higher yet. Much higher.

Then shove the rudder and elevator into the bottom left or right corner, and let it spin all the way down!

Loads of fun!

You know, every time I read these kinds of writings by one of these characters I think about how these are the same kinds things we (baby boomers) did in our youth. I cringe just a little to think of the reflections of the older generation about us, but realize that the more thoughtful among them were also reflecting on their own younger days, and what the generation before _them_ thought of their generation. I think this kind of thing has gone on forever. I think kids rebel for a while until they get tired of trying to fight the system and just buy into it, and become (hopefully) responsible citizens. It took me a while to realize that the "way things are"* has a to do with: 1. this is the way they work best, and/or: 2. they provide the biggest degree of fairness and "social justice." But I digress- your bro- Paul

• also known as social and legal norms

Angel Abusleme wrote: