Parkzone Spitfire IX
Discussion
Evening all,
Fairly quick and to the point question I guess....
The OH has offered to buy me one of the above for my impending birthday. The model she has looked at is the park flyer as opposed to the micro, and I think she has sourced it for around £100 RTF.
Is this about the right price point? and also, would it be suitable for a complete novice to flying RC stuff?
Thanks in advance,
GS
Fairly quick and to the point question I guess....
The OH has offered to buy me one of the above for my impending birthday. The model she has looked at is the park flyer as opposed to the micro, and I think she has sourced it for around £100 RTF.
Is this about the right price point? and also, would it be suitable for a complete novice to flying RC stuff?
Thanks in advance,
GS
Gene Simmons said:
The OH has offered to buy me one of the above for my impending birthday. The model she has looked at is the park flyer as opposed to the micro, and I think she has sourced it for around £100 RTF.
Is this about the right price point?
Ish. Is this about the right price point?
I think I paid about 90 quid each for a Spitfire and a Focke Wulf 190 (couple of years back though)
Gene Simmons said:
...and also, would it be suitable for a complete novice to flying RC stuff?
...
Nope. Hence why I had two and now have neither ...
They are very good planes, and quite evidently have plenty of potential. But not to overcome schoolboy errors.
I'd start with something much slower. Or make sure you get someone to teach you to fly it before you touch the controls.
It might be worth taking a look at the Hobbyzone Super Cub?
I keep looking myself - it has some gizmo to get you out of trouble while you learn.
http://www.horizonhobby.co.uk/aeroonline/e4hobbyzo...
I keep looking myself - it has some gizmo to get you out of trouble while you learn.
http://www.horizonhobby.co.uk/aeroonline/e4hobbyzo...
My first plane was a Parkzone P51 Mustang. I thought oh what the heck it cant be that hard (coming from various other RC Toys).
I found a cornfield near by, corn was about 3ft high (perfect cushioning for impending crash!)
Sent her up, probably had 1 minute of glorious but scrappy flying, I felt like a god.
Next thing I know I was picking up the pieces.
As said above its too fast and too maneuverable for a beginner. Get yourself a Piper Cub or Cessna to learn with.
I found a cornfield near by, corn was about 3ft high (perfect cushioning for impending crash!)
Sent her up, probably had 1 minute of glorious but scrappy flying, I felt like a god.
Next thing I know I was picking up the pieces.
As said above its too fast and too maneuverable for a beginner. Get yourself a Piper Cub or Cessna to learn with.
russy01 said:
My first plane was a Parkzone P51 Mustang. I thought oh what the heck it cant be that hard (coming from various other RC Toys).
I found a cornfield near by, corn was about 3ft high (perfect cushioning for impending crash!)
Sent her up, probably had 1 minute of glorious but scrappy flying, I felt like a god.
Next thing I know I was picking up the pieces.
As said above its too fast and too maneuverable for a beginner. Get yourself a Piper Cub or Cessna to learn with.
On the plus side my experience has provided hours of mirth for my wife, parents and in laws. And taught me that my spatial awareness probably isn't what it was 20yrs ago :-) I found a cornfield near by, corn was about 3ft high (perfect cushioning for impending crash!)
Sent her up, probably had 1 minute of glorious but scrappy flying, I felt like a god.
Next thing I know I was picking up the pieces.
As said above its too fast and too maneuverable for a beginner. Get yourself a Piper Cub or Cessna to learn with.
I was bought a more suitable training aircraft last year but haven't had chance to try it yet.
Thanks for your replies everyone.
I have deliberated and cogitated and taken on board what you have all said, and come to the following conclusion.
I will bin it on the first flight, probably irreperably. With this in mind I have decided to buy the supercub trainer or whatever the correct term is and then move onto the spitfire. In man maths this means I will then have two aircraft to play with rather than a smashed and broken one, and i can then hand down the cub to my young nephew who is mad about planes.
everybody wins.
Although... what about a glasair sportsman?
I have deliberated and cogitated and taken on board what you have all said, and come to the following conclusion.
I will bin it on the first flight, probably irreperably. With this in mind I have decided to buy the supercub trainer or whatever the correct term is and then move onto the spitfire. In man maths this means I will then have two aircraft to play with rather than a smashed and broken one, and i can then hand down the cub to my young nephew who is mad about planes.
everybody wins.
Although... what about a glasair sportsman?
Edited by Gene Simmons on Wednesday 16th January 20:41
Get yourself over to a good r/c forum such as RCMF (my personal favourite - far less political than some others I wont mention).
In general - for a trainer you want something as large as practicable, with a high wing and dihedral. You want a draggy airframe and modest power. You need a low stall speed and a low top speed. Finally, you need fairly sedate control response.
Nobody wants a dedicated trainer, and you'll always get someone who managed to learn on something sportier, but they are the exception that proves the rule. You will crash. You need to crash - because a lot of lessons can only be learned by crashing (and self critiquing rather than blaming it on radio interference).
If you invest the time and money upfront on a proper trainer you will learn much faster and get far more comfortable and confident earlier. With a sensible step-up in performance, you can soon be building or buying whatever you fancy without worrying about whether you'll be able to fly it. Crashing is always a risk, but it's more of an occupational hazard than an inevitability if you go about learning the right way!
You'd do well to spend one-on-one time with someone who can already fly - perhaps look into a club near you? When learning especially it's invaluable to have someone who knows what they're doing test fly it and confirm it's all trimmed out properly in the first instance. Ongoing, it's handy for them to test the weather for you until you're comfortable in gusty conditions yourself
HTH
In general - for a trainer you want something as large as practicable, with a high wing and dihedral. You want a draggy airframe and modest power. You need a low stall speed and a low top speed. Finally, you need fairly sedate control response.
Nobody wants a dedicated trainer, and you'll always get someone who managed to learn on something sportier, but they are the exception that proves the rule. You will crash. You need to crash - because a lot of lessons can only be learned by crashing (and self critiquing rather than blaming it on radio interference).
If you invest the time and money upfront on a proper trainer you will learn much faster and get far more comfortable and confident earlier. With a sensible step-up in performance, you can soon be building or buying whatever you fancy without worrying about whether you'll be able to fly it. Crashing is always a risk, but it's more of an occupational hazard than an inevitability if you go about learning the right way!
You'd do well to spend one-on-one time with someone who can already fly - perhaps look into a club near you? When learning especially it's invaluable to have someone who knows what they're doing test fly it and confirm it's all trimmed out properly in the first instance. Ongoing, it's handy for them to test the weather for you until you're comfortable in gusty conditions yourself
HTH
Either get the eflite / parkzone Supercub (comes with everything you need to get flying) or get a Multiplex Easystar 2 (or a Hobbyking Bixler) and a DX6i.
The multiplex is a hybrid plane / glider. It is very easy to fly, has enough power to enjoy and will teach you the basics. you can get 40mins of flight out of a 3s 2200 lipo battery; Once you've mastered that you will be able to get the PZ spitfire and not send it into the floor on the first flight.
I took this route:
Multiplex Easystar 2 -> PZ P51BL Mustang -> Durafly T28 -> Phase 3 EF16
I'd definatley recommend a Parkzone T28 Trojan as a first 'proper' plane. it is an excellent plane that is very easy to fly and glides forever.
The multiplex is a hybrid plane / glider. It is very easy to fly, has enough power to enjoy and will teach you the basics. you can get 40mins of flight out of a 3s 2200 lipo battery; Once you've mastered that you will be able to get the PZ spitfire and not send it into the floor on the first flight.
I took this route:
Multiplex Easystar 2 -> PZ P51BL Mustang -> Durafly T28 -> Phase 3 EF16
I'd definatley recommend a Parkzone T28 Trojan as a first 'proper' plane. it is an excellent plane that is very easy to fly and glides forever.
jamieduff1981 said:
Get yourself over to a good r/c forum such as RCMF (my personal favourite - far less political than some others I wont mention).
In general - for a trainer you want something as large as practicable, with a high wing and dihedral. You want a draggy airframe and modest power. You need a low stall speed and a low top speed. Finally, you need fairly sedate control response.
Nobody wants a dedicated trainer, and you'll always get someone who managed to learn on something sportier, but they are the exception that proves the rule. You will crash. You need to crash - because a lot of lessons can only be learned by crashing (and self critiquing rather than blaming it on radio interference).
If you invest the time and money upfront on a proper trainer you will learn much faster and get far more comfortable and confident earlier. With a sensible step-up in performance, you can soon be building or buying whatever you fancy without worrying about whether you'll be able to fly it. Crashing is always a risk, but it's more of an occupational hazard than an inevitability if you go about learning the right way!
You'd do well to spend one-on-one time with someone who can already fly - perhaps look into a club near you? When learning especially it's invaluable to have someone who knows what they're doing test fly it and confirm it's all trimmed out properly in the first instance. Ongoing, it's handy for them to test the weather for you until you're comfortable in gusty conditions yourself
HTH
Absolutly this. Or buy yourself a reasonable simulator such as http://www.phoenix-sim.com/ Can crash as much as you like then with no costs involved.In general - for a trainer you want something as large as practicable, with a high wing and dihedral. You want a draggy airframe and modest power. You need a low stall speed and a low top speed. Finally, you need fairly sedate control response.
Nobody wants a dedicated trainer, and you'll always get someone who managed to learn on something sportier, but they are the exception that proves the rule. You will crash. You need to crash - because a lot of lessons can only be learned by crashing (and self critiquing rather than blaming it on radio interference).
If you invest the time and money upfront on a proper trainer you will learn much faster and get far more comfortable and confident earlier. With a sensible step-up in performance, you can soon be building or buying whatever you fancy without worrying about whether you'll be able to fly it. Crashing is always a risk, but it's more of an occupational hazard than an inevitability if you go about learning the right way!
You'd do well to spend one-on-one time with someone who can already fly - perhaps look into a club near you? When learning especially it's invaluable to have someone who knows what they're doing test fly it and confirm it's all trimmed out properly in the first instance. Ongoing, it's handy for them to test the weather for you until you're comfortable in gusty conditions yourself
HTH
Also be aware that you need to be insured to fly.
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