Hello gang,

I have decided to enter the world of RC aircraft, but was wondering if I should start with fixed wing or rotor? I know that I should start cheap and master the art before moving on to the good stuff, but was wondering about the choice between planes and copters. Is it like Racquetball and Tennis, i.e. pick one only, because the one will tank your ability to play the other?

Also, once I choose where to begin, what equipment recommendations would you have?

Thanks for the advice. I have always wanted to do this, but really have no idea where to start.

I would go fixed wing. get a good electric fly foam, theya re very durable and easy to repair if they take to much dmage as well as being cheaper then most. I use tower hobbies in the states for all my needs. they also have micro rotary wings that are relatively cheap and they come ready to fly, as do some of the foamies.
I would find a good hobbie store and such to check everything out. Just my opinions .


Bullet

Mate the cheapest and probably quickest way to success would be to join a club, find out what the nebies on the flightline are flying including radio gear, most clubs seem to have a predominant trainer and radio system, make for quick and easy setup, and knowledge. Go fixed wing first, get some spatial awareness, and orientation skills, choppers take no prisoners, where as a decent fixed wing trainer setup shouldn't punish you so hard if you have a bit of a balls up!


Hope this helps
Craig

I'm in the same boat and attempting to justify my purchase of a beginner R/C plane by suggesting my 6-year-old daughter will fly it! Things have moved on amazingly from when I was a kid, electric motors, batteries and plastic/foam have revolutionised model flying.

I have my eyes on this: http://www.modelflight.com.au/support/phpkb/question.php?ID=161

The Hobbyzone champ. Cheap, got everything you need in the box, and small and easy to fly.

smith

I wouldn't exactly say fixed vs rotor is like raquetball vs tennis, but I will say this - rotor is nothing like fixed-wing, so don't think learning one will make learning the other any easier. A very general rule of thumb is rotor flight is more difficult, but this is a very, very general rule....there are plenty of rotor-heads who would say different. I'd suggest picking whichever one you find more interesting and then starting with that one.

If rotor is your choice, I'd strongly suggest starting with coaxial, as coaxials are substantially easier to fly than tail-rotor. As far as starting cheap, I'd advise against starting too cheap as there are alot of what I refer to as gimmicks out there and a good number of those gimmicks are more frustrating than fun. If $100-$200 is your price range, E-flite offers some very good starter helis that pretty much fly right out of the box and are small enough to fly indoors.

If fixed-wing is your choice, I don't know if there are any gimmicks, but there might be. You should be able to find something in the same price range.

I'm assuming you'll be starting with electric as opposed to fuel so the only other advice I'd offer is - choose rotor If you start slow and get a good starter heli, RC helis are a blast!!

My suggestion is to first download one of the free http://rcdeskpilot.com/ or http://www.rc-flight-simulator.com/ or http://www.heliguy.com/nexus/fms.html rc-simulators to get used to flying before white knuckling your new rc aircraft into the ground. Get that old, Thumb-eye, little plane is flying off and becoming a dot, cordination working.

I started about two years ago from scratch. Never did RC anything, just flight sims on the PC. I assume both of you know the basics of flight in a flight sim, my suggestion would be to get a Ready to Fly (RTF) park flyer. I would stay away from those mini planes or micro planes because those become difficult to fly with any sort of breeze. I started out on a three channel (throttle, rudder, elevator) J-3 cub.

http://www.parkzone.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=PKZ4500

Super easy to fly, tons of power when needed (you can do loops and even a barrel roll when you get advancd). Super durable too, most parts for repair are 2-3 bucks unless you need the whole wing which I think costs 5 or 10. Very rare to need an expensive repair though and I crashed the crap out of mine....just make sure to have some extra props on hand, you can get them for 2 bucks (took me a three or four before I figured out how to land without busting one).

After that I moved on to a T-28d Trojan 4 channel (Throttle, rudder, elevator and ailerons). Took me about 3-6 months of flying to get comfortable to move up.

Wonderful tips, thanks so much gents. I'm very excited to get going on this. I think I'm going to start with the J-3 Cub right out of the box and pick up a mini copter for some indoor rotor fun in the house.

I'm also going to look into joining a local club.

Thanks again for being so helpful.

JCathcart, seems that you have a good handle on what you want to do, well done. I too have a couple of E-flight planes (T28 and another I forget the name of right now) and find them extremely easy and fun to fly. They are very relaxing to fly compared to my 1/4 and 1/3 scale planes

I also second the notion to find a club to fly with. Most have a designated training officer who will walk you through everything you need to know on the ground and then put you on a buddy box so he can control the plane if you get out of control in the air. The best way I know of to help a new pilot earn his wings.

I would say:

(1) JOIN A CLUB. This is how you learn, anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Flying planes can be dangerous, start under the experienced eye of a skilled club pilot.

(2) Do not buy a three channel foamie. Buy a decent sized 4 channel trainer. They don't get pushed around by the wind, they are easier to control. I'd recommend the Sig Kadet LT-40.