| The cheap planes I'm flying perform pretty well. And they do turn. | As for what else they can do, it's more than just fly in circles. I can | soar
At the simplest level, soar means to fly without losing altitude. And that's probably exactly what the box means.
Or perhaps you mean it can ride thermals, but so can a $1 balsa wood glider.
| bank
It's what leads up to a turn!
Ultimately, when a plane says `soars! banks! zooms!' on the box, you know they're probably not setting their sights very high.
| do figure eights
Two turns in a row in opposite directions! When they say crazy stunts, this is what they mean! Well, either that or a figure nine ...
Actually, I don't mean to put down figure eights -- they can be remarkably difficult to do _right_ (round, symmetrical, maintaining altitude exactly), but easy enough to do not so perfectly. They're a great thing to do to get the hang of any plane.
| - once I even did a loop, although, that was unintentional, and | ended up only 75% completed, because the ground got in the way. ;-)
They call that a figure nine maneuver.
| > | Because they could [n't] get the planes to turn without crashing | > | into the ground.
| > Actually, somebody familiar with R/C already will have a far better | > time with them than a complete newbie ... | Who said anything about experienced RC fliers vs complete newbies?
You seemed to think that the reviewers weren't being fair to these planes because they couldn't fly them. Or at least that's how I read it -- perhaps I misinterpreted you.
| My point was that people who learn on these planes can often do more | with them than people who are used to having control surfaces. Obviously | they have to practice a bit, first.
You need to fly some better planes!
It sounds like you've learned to deal with, and even take advantage of, the quirks of your planes. Try something with an elevator and a rudder or ailerons next! They'll still have quirks, but they'll be less extreme.
| From what I've seen of RC flight videos, most RC planes need a | little lead time to turn, as do most full-sized aircraft.
Of course. But the thrust vector planes generally need a lot more than most planes.
| My planes have twin inboard motors, and the "control authority"
No need to put it in quotes -- it's a commonly used term.
When the motors are close to the fuselage, the plane is generally more stable, but takes longer to turn. When they're far out on the wing, the plane generally is more nimble, but more likely to go into a spin if turned too tightly. In general, especially in the hands of the typical buyer of these planes, the former is better than the latter.
| is still ok: it's more a question of knowing when to back off the | turn input than of not having enough of it.
You need to fly some better planes. With three channels, you generally don't have to back off -- you just let it bank the plane to a certain angle, and pull back on the elevator to do the actual turn.
| I just think that they shouldn't be discounted as beginner planes
They're much harder to fly than higher quality planes, and so they discourage a lot of beginners. A plane that flies better is generally a lot more fun, and you'll crash less.
| especially when you can get a couple of them from a clearance outlet | for $50.
Their price is their primary redeeming feature. They're generally resilient too, because they have to be, but that's a feature they share with other planes.
They're still fun to fly once you've gotten into better planes, but different. Sort of like a moped might still be fun after a night of motorcycle racing :)
| In my case the cheapo powered gliders have been much more durable | than the Hobbyzone Scout that was supposed to be 'perfect for | beginners.'
`Perfect for beginners who just want to pay a small sum to probably get turned off of the hobby forever.' Since when have advertisements told the complete truth?
Actually, the Hobbyzone Scout has a real control surface -- a ruddervator. (Well, it has two, but they're controlled together.) But still no elevator control. For a few dollars more, they could have put in two servos rather than one, added in the needed mixer, and given you three channels, and made a plane that flew much better. Of course, they do sell that plane too -- just under some different names, like the Aerobird Challenger.