RC model for my 4 year old?

My mother gave my son a little RC plane from WalMart (it looked kind of like a stealth fighter). I brought it back wanting to get one that is better since it seemed like its flight time was minimal and I didn't exactly think the flying wing would be the most stable.

I've been out of electric RC for a while. What is currently the cheapest setup (radio, plane, etc) electric plane that is very stable and easy to fly yet gives decent flight performance? I would like something around the $50 mark if possible.

Thanks!

Joa

| I've been out of electric RC for a while. What is currently the | cheapest setup (radio, plane, etc) electric plane that is very | stable and easy to fly yet gives decent flight performance? I would | like something around the $50 mark if possible.

Stable. Easy to fly. Decent flight performance. Cheap.

Pick any two :)

(Actually, Easy to Fly implies stable, though Stable doesn't always imply Easy to Fly.)

In any event, what you want doesn't exist.

However, if cost is the #1 consideration, I'd suggest this --

The `Yellow Bee'. It's $30 at Harbor Freight Tools stores right now until the end of the month, at least in Austin.

It comes with everything you need, and since they're not really in the business of selling R/C planes, they'll probably even do an exchange if you say `it broke' when it's obvious that _you_ crashed it.

It is relatively stable. Flight peformance sucks, as it always does when you have a two channel plane with only differential thrust for control. It's about as cheap as you'll ever get for a new plane.

It's not that easy to fly. You do have limited controls, and that's good for ease of flight, but you have to think a few seconds ahead, as it can't do what you tell it right away, so that can be tricky. But it is stable ...

But it does fly, and it flies better than some other similar planes that I've seen. I even bought one myself for playing around ...

As for it being appropriate for a four year old, my daughter is four and a half, and she loves daddy's R/C stuff. However, she doesn't have the coordination for anything but a slow R/C car. An airplane? No way. Maybe if you fly and he just watches ...

If you want a `serious' setup, you'll need at least three channels -- rudder or ailerons, elevator and throttle. But you're not likely to get that for much under $150, unless it's used. Two channels can work OK for a glider, but not many people really want unpowered gliders.

It's awfully tough to find anything that a 4-year old won't destroy within 5 minutes. Even a single stick radio control plane like an Air Hogs Defender (about $30 at your local Wal or K Mart) would be challenging for a four-year old to keep in the air.

Hobbico has a new Micro Ultrix Biplane that might be worth a peek:

There is the previously mentioned Air Hog that isn't a stealth bomber flying wing:

My local Toys R Us had a clearance on Tyco Sky Scorcher airplanes. I bought one just for fun for about $20 a couple of weeks ago. Very short flight times and difficult controls probably aren't what you're looking for. My four year old nephew had fun chasing it for me when we flew it at a local ball diamond, though.

You might seriously consider sticking with free flight models instead of radio controlled planes to start out with. There are plenty of good choices from $10 to $15, and even the rubber band powered planes for $3 to $5 should keep a four-year old busy for a while. I just haven't seen too many four year olds with the hand-to-eye coordination to manage a radio controlled airplane.

Start the little rascal on a computer simulator program. If he/she can master that, they won't have any trouble with the real thing later on. And it will save you many hours of repairs and frustration.

The cheapest simulator available would work just fine, in this instance.

Ed Cregger

I would try the Aerobird Scout.

These are all great suggestions, thanks so much!

I think I'm going to bite the bullet and just design him a plane from Depron and buy the stuff needed for a little brushless lipo setup. It's getting pretty cheap now anyway. If I set the dual rates right he should be able to fly it a little and that will be fun for him.

One thing I was considering was adding one or two gyros to make it really stable. I think there's one that you mount and it senses which way is right-side-up and returns the plane to that condition when the sticks are released?

Like I mentioned before, I've been out of this for quite a while.

Thanks again.

Joa

| These are all great suggestions, thanks so much! | | I think I'm going to bite the bullet and just design him a plane from | Depron and buy the stuff needed for a little brushless lipo setup. | It's getting pretty cheap now anyway. If I set the dual rates right he | should be able to fly it a little and that will be fun for him.

Your son must be way more coordinated than my daughter if he can fly a plane of any sort :)

In any event, put the motor in back. Make it a pusher plane, so the motor and prop aren't broken in every crash. And put a fuse on the battery pack so that if the throttle goes on while on the ground, the fuses blows before the ESC or motor does.

| One thing I was considering was adding one or two gyros to make it | really stable.

Lots of dihedral will give you lateral stability. Front/back stability, that's a bit more tricky.

| I think there's one that you mount and it senses which way is | right-side-up and returns the plane to that condition when the | sticks are released?

The FMA Co-Pilot is one of those.

That might actually work well for your purposes ...