newbee

I've been thinking bout buying a r/c airplane but want to get a kit that has all the stuff I need to fly it (engine/plane/remote/servos/etc. All I want is something to get started with. I bought one at Walmart and it flew about 4 feet and hit the dirt. Is there any out there that I could buy that I can put together some (ARF) that I could buy for less than $200 ?

thanks bigpopp

Reply to
bigpopp
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Check out

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they have all kinds of combo deals.

Reply to
HomeBrewer

Be sure to stop by

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- they have a great selection of electric foam ARF planes, and offer packages that include _everything_ you need, including a charger in most cases. Most of them seem to hover a little bit over $200, but if you find a way to charge your own batteries, I think you can swing it!

Dan.

Reply to
BykrDan

Here's what I think is a good idea, although I never see this advice here on the newsgroup:

Go to your local flying field and find the guy who always buys everybody else's used planes. Every field has at least one guy like this, and these are usually really nice folks. These people almost always will be willing to sell you a plane for dirt cheap, usually with a radio and engine to go along with it.

I know that at least half a dozen people are leaping toward the keyboard right now to tell you that this is a BAD IDEA!!! because you need a brand new plane and radio that you can trust. But any competent RC flier should be able to check out any plane and radio that you bring to the field and tell you if it is airworthy. Here are two good examples:

A few years ago, a friend and I bought a load of old junk from a guy out in Salina Kansas to re-sell on ebay. We sold off the planes locally because we didn't feel like shipping them. I came across an old Kadet Mk I from about 20 years ago and I thought I'd like to fly it. The nosewheel was pretty well screwed up, so I stuck on a swiveling nosewheel and put on my trusty OS 40FP. The controls had obviously been installed by somebody who was not very familiar with proper control installation, so I fixed everything. After a month or so I sold it (naturally) to Jim, the guy who buys everything. He put a proper nosewheel on, flew it for a while and then gave it to a kid who needed something to learn on. The funny thing about this story is that I saw Jim out there a year later with the old yellow Kadet, and he told me that the kid had mastered it and given it back to him. He still flies it a couple of times a week. I've flown hundreds of airplanes, but that old beat-up Kadet is one of the best flying airplanes I've ever had. Jim wants me to re-cover it for him this fall.

My most recent story is about a couple of planes that I got in another giant collection that I acquired. I sold off all the good planes at the big swap meet in January, but I had a few left that nobody had wanted. One was a Goldberg Eagle trainer that had obviously been built by a first timer with no help. The control rods were an absolute nightmare. Everything was wrong with them. Not only that, but there was severe interference between the aileron rods and the rubberband dowels. I didn't feel like messing with it, so I hung it up at the hobby store and asked for $40. Next I heard, good old Jim had bought it and then passed it along to another guy, who says he fixed it and flies it all the time. I did the same thing with a halfway decent looking but somewhat heavy piper cherokee with a molded fuselage and foam wings. It had an OS 32 on it that looked like junk. I got $37 for it at the store. When I went in to get my money, I ran into the guys who had bought it. The one guy told me that he had put a Thunder Tiger GP42 on it and then his little brother had soloed on it and was currently flying the hell out of it. He was contemplating buying a nice looking ARF, but he was concerned about the emotional attachment that he would have if he were to spend over a hundred bucks on something. Between the plane and the engine they had about $50 or so in the Piper, and that seems like a good deal to me!

Reply to
Robbie and Laura Reynolds

On 8/24/2003 1:03 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

I have to second Fubar's suggestion - Sky Scooter Pro II. It is a good little plane that is next to impossible to kill. The whole setup (including transmitter, receiver,charger, ect.) is $159.99 at Tower. One modification I would make is to pick up an 8 cell AAA battery pack. A piece of 1/4" foam on one side and it will fit right in the opening for the 7 cell AA pack. That extra cell provides some extra ommph without damaging the esc or motor. Don't forget to get some extra props.

Reply to
Ted Campanelli

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