how much to spent on first RC Plane

Placebo

just got a sudden interest in these. Im wondering how much would be an average price, i was checking ebay and shipping is fairly expensive, anywhere else i can pick up these.

odonnell

Well, ive only just started out too, and i kitted myself out with a starter kit from Greene hobby and models - http://www.greenhobbymodel.com/ for around 430 euro. That comes with the starter plane of your choice - i opted for the boomerang, and you get everything you need there and then. You get the model almost ready to fly, which means the wings and fuselage are constructed but you need to piece them all together. You get your engine, prop, radio transmitter and receiver, c/w servos etc etc. (see my plane in the thread at the top of this board)

Placebo

well i was hoping something around the price range of 100, not getting into it as a serious hobby, more of a FAD, but parents were going to america so was hoping they could get it there, any idea where in USA or any american websites?

P.s: think electric would be good for beginner

thanks

coolwings

Placebo wrote:

well i was hoping something around the price range of 100,...

You will find a "plane in a box with everything included" for that kind of price.
But you should be aware that you are getting a toy plane, and not a model plane. In any sort of wind .. it will fly backwards, and crash very easily. Most last for one day.

For myself - I would consider E 100 is too much to throw in the bin when it has a minor bash. Nothing inside it will be reuseable in other models. In other words .. . a very, very expensive "toy".

A model RC plane has adequate power, for continuous flight on half throttle, and a reserve power for climbing vertically, flies faster, with more precise control over it, making it less likely to crash, and is repairable.

A real recent example, the last model plane I wrote off, has made well over 200 flights averaging 15 minutes each, lasted approx five years. It received many bashes over that time, and each time was repairable, and repaired, to fly again. This would have been a "long life".
The cost of such a model (E125 for the airframe, maybe E450 the outfit)when measured per flight, is tiny, compared with those easily broken plastic toys. About 50 cents a flight?
The "innards" which are all fine, are compatible with most models, and have already been installed into a new airframe, and live on.

It is of course, your decision.

workaccount

coolwings wrote: »

You will find a "plane in a box with everything included" for that kind of price.
But you should be aware that you are getting a toy plane, and not a model plane. In any sort of wind .. it will fly backwards, and crash very easily. Most last for one day.

For myself - I would consider E 100 is too much to throw in the bin when it has a minor bash. Nothing inside it will be reuseable in other models. In other words .. . a very, very expensive "toy".

A model RC plane has adequate power, for continuous flight on half throttle, and a reserve power for climbing vertically, flies faster, with more precise control over it, making it less likely to crash, and is repairable.

A real recent example, the last model plane I wrote off, has made well over 200 flights averaging 15 minutes each, lasted approx five years. It received many bashes over that time, and each time was repairable, and repaired, to fly again. This would have been a "long life".
The cost of such a model (E125 for the airframe, maybe E450 the outfit)when measured per flight, is tiny, compared with those easily broken plastic toys. About 50 cents a flight?
The "innards" which are all fine, are compatible with most models, and have already been installed into a new airframe, and live on.

It is of course, your decision.

Dragging up a very old thread here but I have supercub electric? Are these a toy?

loopingfred

Well, that depend ! :rolleyes:
Who is the manufacturer ? Size ?

workaccount

loopingfred wrote: »

Well, that depend ! :rolleyes:
Who is the manufacturer ? Size ?

It's a hobbyzone super cub. http://www.hobbyzone.com/rc_planes_hobbyzone_super_cub.htm

loopingfred

Ok, I see..
I'll put that between toy and models
But close enough to models to be interresting !

Hobby zone are doing some interresting things for some times now...

DennisZ

workaccount wrote: »

It's a hobbyzone super cub.

27MHz ? IMHO, it will not be welcomed by clubs.

workaccount

DennisZ wrote: »

27MHz ? IMHO, it will not be welcomed by clubs.

Hi DennisZ,
I'm new to the hobby. Can you elaborate?

DennisZ

workaccount wrote: »

I'm new to the hobby. Can you elaborate?

Shortly speaking - you have to use 35MHz (or 2.4GHz) equipment to fly models in Ireland (http://www.maci.ie/Public_html/htm/safety.htm).

Many toys sold here are using same frequency - 27MHz ... your plane can be kicked off from the sky by a toddler playing his toy-car/walki-talki/etc nearby.

ps :I'm only second year in this hobby - started with Parkzone FW190 (27MHz)...lying on shelf now....

Donal94

I looked around a good bit in Ireland and they were talking €350 plus for a starter kit, I wasn't willing to spend that much so I've just bought a similar kit from an english shop for less than €200, the kit comprises of a trainer plane, an engine and the all the radio gear, here's the link to it and to a cheaper one from the same site.

http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=19521


http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=19519

DennisZ

Donal94 wrote: »

so I've just bought a similar kit from an english shop for less than €200, the kit comprises of a trainer plane, an engine and the all the radio gear,

These include very basic radios - 4ch, no channel mixes ... range is not great also

loopingfred

Yep, I agree.. A 4ch GWS radio is far from being the best thing to buy ! You will have to buy another one almost straight away !
That's where you find the 100 quids difference over here...
Buy a proper radio from the start !

Donal94

Yeah I was aware that the radio stuff isn't great but they were looking for over €100 here just for the plane, I bought it with a freind so we were going to upgrade no matter what if we enjoy it, I think its a great deal as a first forray into the hobby. Just as a matter of interest have either of you flown with this radio? I read reviews recommending it and saying that its range was as good if not better than a more expensive futaba set.

workaccount

What kind of money should you be spending to get a decent radio?

loopingfred

yep, tested the radio (was pink...:D)
Tested on a small plane, so you don't really fly far from you, so the range was not a real issue...
Cheap plastic, well, really really basic radio (like my first radio in the end of the 80s !)! Sticks are cheap too and the precision was not great, but enough for a trainer.
A bit more money on it, and you have model memory, programs and so on... Make your life much easier !

loopingfred

workaccount wrote: »

What kind of money should you be spending to get a decent radio?

Well, you can get a good decent for 120-150 euros (thinking of the futaba 4exa, Graupner MC/MX 12, Multiplex cockpit, hitec laser... All first price range, but all good radios !)
But in my experience, the best things to do if you know you really are interrested, is to invest in a big radio from the start.. I don't count the number of radios, upgrades and so on I had before I finally invest in a really good one ! I now have the same one for the past 12 years or so... Worth the price I paid at the time !

Donal94

Thanks loopingfred, you wouldn't know if this radio will be compatible with any other brands for buddy training would you? And if not how would I go about learnig to fly in a club? Thanks for your reply and sorry for going off topic

loopingfred

No worries !
Well, on top of my head, no, but the best resource for buddy box setup, tweaks and so on for years is here :

http://users.belgacom.net/TX2TX/index.htm

Buddy box is often an option with Graupner, Futaba... Not with Multiplex for example.
The best thing to do, if you go learn in a club, is before bying anything, to go, have a look, and see what they have or have not for you to learn.
Some clubs have there own plane/radio and buddy box, some not and so on...

No buddy box to learn ? Well, you fly much higher ! But understanding the flight mechanisms on the ground is almost, maybe even more important than flying the thing, with a buddy box or not...
First lesson...


And after 2 hours and a good of understanding of the flying :

coolwings

Donal94 wrote: »

.... if this radio will be compatible with any other brands for buddy training would you?

It will be compatible with another GWS radio. But I would not consider that is a good reason to buy another radio of such cheap make. Consider it a restriction that the low purchase price imposed on the gear in this case.

Donal94 wrote: »

....I read reviews recommending it and saying that its range was as good if not better than a more expensive set ...

So much for the reviews! You get what you pay for. As Fred said we usually use a top radio. They last a long time and save planes. It is very rare to hear of someone crashing and breaking their radio!

Considering that you already have it - you can simply pass the radio you've got over by hand, to the instructor, while learning, and then use your budget to buy another better radio as soon as you can, (instead of plane no 2 the purchase of which can be postponed a bit).

Donal94 wrote: »

.... how would I go about learning to fly in a club? ....

You first need to let us know where in Ireland you are based. There are lots of clubs all over ....
Maybe try here www.maci.ie for a start.

workaccount

loopingfred wrote: »

Well, you can get a good decent for 120-150 euros (thinking of the futaba 4exa, Graupner MC/MX 12, Multiplex cockpit, hitec laser... All first price range, but all good radios !)
But in my experience, the best things to do if you know you really are interrested, is to invest in a big radio from the start.. I don't count the number of radios, upgrades and so on I had before I finally invest in a really good one ! I now have the same one for the past 12 years or so... Worth the price I paid at the time !

So your basically talking about a top end futaba.

If my mate got a supercub could i modify it to operate on a different frequency at low cost so we could both fly together?

coolwings

Those were Graupner JR radios in the photos LoopingFred posted. They have the flat european style case where the user can move the switches into whatever location he likes. I use a Graupner-JR MC-22 10-12channel synthesized frequency selection. Fred has a Graupner-JR MC20 10 channel xtal frequency selection. Both are absolutely great radios. The ease of programming them leaves the rest way behind. They talk to all makes of receiver which is useful.

DennisZ wrote: »

These include very basic radios - 4ch, no channel mixes ... range is not great also

As it happens at a time in the past I had access to equipment for testing the signal power radiated from the antenna of radios. I tested many radios over a period.
DennisZ is absolutely correct in what he says.
The cheap €100 radios were half the power of the standard 4 - 6 channel radios sold by Irish shops.
And they were less than 1/3rd of the power of the GRAUPNER-JR MC radios that I and LoopingFred use with our models.

A good MC JR radio will cost more but interference (when it happens) only affects to people around you, never to you, and your own planes fly straight.

So over time we gravitate to better radio gear, and after crashing becomes more infrequent we then gravitate to bigger, or faster, nicer planes too.


Workaccount: Changing the crystal (xtal) is all that's necessary to change channel so you can fly together. eg one on 35.110FM and the other on 35.120FM.
So long as the plane has a separate receiver (with a removeable xtal) inside the xtal can be changed to your planes can fly together. Good RC flying gear is all separate and modular ... fixable and replaceable one part at a time. When the plane dies we take the parts out for installation in a new airframe.
But some very cheap planes don't have a separate receiver unit. They have a circuit board that does it all, and these cannot be altered, or fixed when they break. So they can't be re-used in later models, and we avoid such stuff.
I don't know which type you have from the description but you will know immediately you take a look inside.

loopingfred

No, no need for a top end radio ! And not necessarely Futaba (I use Graupner for years personaly..)

You mean 1 plane, 2 radios ?
Well, not going to be easy to do ! As each radio have its own "channel" system... (sorry, don't know the English word for that..)But basically, there is big probability for you to have to change the receiver each time one of you want to fly the piper as the "channel exit" on the receiver will certainly not be the same... (ie, in Graupner, in mode 1, ch1 is the throttle, in Multiplex, this is the ailerons...)
If you are talking flying the plane on a buddy box, that doesn't matter, as one of the radio is the master, and the other one is slave (no radio emission...)

workaccount

coolwings wrote: »

Workaccount: Changing the crystal (xtal) is all that's necessary to change channel so you can fly together. eg one on 35.110FM and the other on 35.120FM.
So long as the plane has a separate receiver (with a removeable xtal) inside the xtal can be changed to your planes can fly together. Good RC flying gear is all separate and modular ... fixable and replaceable one part at a time. When the plane dies we take the parts out for installation in a new airframe.
But some very cheap planes don't have a separate receiver unit. They have a circuit board that does it all, and these cannot be altered, or fixed when they break. So they can't be re-used in later models, and we avoid such stuff.
I don't know which type you have from the description but you will know immediately you take a look inside.

I wonder if most crystals are standard. ie. If I got one in Maplin would it work? I'm surprised that such a small frequency jump would be enough.

loopingfred wrote: »

No, no need for a top end radio ! And not necessarely Futaba (I use Graupner for years personaly..)

You mean 1 plane, 2 radios ?
Well, not going to be easy to do ! As each radio have its own "channel" system... (sorry, don't know the English word for that..)But basically, there is big probability for you to have to change the receiver each time one of you want to fly the piper as the "channel exit" on the receiver will certainly not be the same... (ie, in Graupner, in mode 1, ch1 is the throttle, in Multiplex, this is the ailerons...)
If you are talking flying the plane on a buddy box, that doesn't matter, as one of the radio is the master, and the other one is slave (no radio emission...)

Nope. Two planes. Some graupners are 8-900 euro :eek:

coolwings

workaccount wrote: »

.... If I got one in Maplin would it work? I'm surprised that such a small frequency jump would be enough.

I can't speak for Maplins.
I buy my hobby stuff only from hobby suppliers. ( In my case it's www.greenhobbymodel.com There is also www.islandmodels.ie who do good stuff too.)

Regarding the frequency separation I assure you it is more than enough!
Although over the years I have seen crud transmitters and faulty xtals splatter over the channel either side, and also on a channel 10 channels away! The users of such gear get found out very soon by fellow fliers at their local club. It is not tolerated for long by the other fliers.
This caused some clubs where some members had radios that did this, to have a practise where every second channel only was used. eg ch 85, then 87, then 89 and so on. Totally unnecessary. Usually a faulty xtal needed to be replaced to fix it.

workaccount wrote: »

.... Nope. Two planes. Some graupners are 8-900 euro :eek:

Mercedes doesn't come cheap, eh? Maybe a ten function radio is a bit extreme to learn on! (You could be fiddling with all the buttons while a distant "thud" is heard! )
A medium-high JR MX-16S 8 ch computer is under €350.
I myself would prefer the new Graupner-JR MC-19S in the mid €500s, (which is good value for 10 functions and synthesised).
I suggest not going below 4 or preferably 6 functions to get going.
If it is a computer radio it will save the optimised settings for each plane in a separate model file and that is most important.
For "lite" options but still with the stuff that matters inside: maybe a JR MX-12, or Hitec Optic 6? They are in the €200-300 area and reliable with decent software inside.

loopingfred

Yeah, I buy all my stuff here : http://www.islandmodels.ie ... I go there all the time !

As I said, you don't need to spend 8 or 900 euros in a radio ! Check out the short list of radios a few posts before.
One law for the Xtail change... Use the Xtail from the manufacturer of the material ! (ie Graupner Xtail in a graupner receiver/radio).
If you get stuck, the most compatible xtail will be the Hitec ones...
I don't think the Maplin ones will work ! a xtail is not only a channel, but just the one part of the chain to recognise a signal. We used to ask a company to make our own xtails, but just saying "I want a xtail ch 65" is less than enough information !
You have for example, single conversion, dual conversion, SSS, SSM and so on...And the internal xtail frequency...

Anyway, all problems solved with synthese receivers !

Donal94

I've decided that I'm going to join longwood aeromodellres, as I live in Kilcock. Where in Ireland would I get the cheapest viable radio system? I appreciate the advice already given

loopingfred

Well, you have the 2 links on the previous posts

loopingfred

Yep, and ou have your answer 2 or 3 posts up !

superflyguy321

Yes thank you guys I looked at those sites one was very comprehensive and decently priced so before I go wild with my purchasing I will just do a little more browsing. Happy flying, when the wind fecks off.