Helis & Planes Compared

[19000rpm]

The Super Cub is a great choice. You absolutely can't go wrong with it for a first plane.

When you get bored you can mod it for ailerons, brushless motor and spektrum radio. I did that, and after flying it a year, I'm moding it into a Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing.

Happy landings

[BTCat]

So educate me a little. How much difference do the ailerons make on the Super Cub?

RC, I have been using the sim. Its fun to play around with and pretty easy to get the hang of. The planes are much more forgiving if you loose orientation.

As far as flying space, one of the reasons I originally went with helis was it was pretty easy to find an open spot for flying. How much more room do you need for the planes as far as take off and landing?

[elkmaster01]

BT,,,,I built a runway that is 10 yards wide and 100 yards long,,,,it is big enough for most near anything RC,,,perfect for my edf jets.

For the smaller planes,,,half that is what you need. And a flying area about the size of a track & field track or a footbal field.

[BTCat]

How much wind can the Super Cub handle?

[19000rpm]

A Hobbyzone Super Cub will take off in 10'. You'll need more than that to land it, counting the approach, but it flies well slow so you can float it into a tight landing zone. At first, you'll need an area about the size of a soccer field to comfortably fly from. If there are trees, wires etc., you want to get above them quickly, which you can do with the SC's great climb rate, and then your flying area expands to line of sight.

If you're flying off grass get the 2 1/2" Dubro wheels. The stock wheels are too small.

Ths SC will handle 15 mph winds it just bucks around a bit. The main issue is power. If you fly in 5-10 you have plenty of power to fly into the wind. Above that it really helps to have a bigger brushless motor and a more aggressive prop for flying into the wind.

The ailerons make the handling very nice, tighter turns etc., but because of the wing design it can't be turned it into a real stunt plane without, at a minimum, clipping the wing. You probably don't need, or want, that in a first aileron plane anyway. You can do banking turns (coordinated turns using the ailerons and elevator), barrel rolls, half Cubans and most other aerobatics that don't require too abrupt a change in direction.

If you add ailerons make them near the entire length of the wing to get enough aileron area to make the plane as nimble as the large wing area and asymmetrical airfoil will allow.

You'll have a bunch of fun with planes BT. You won't crash as much as with the helis and you can build an unlimited amount of very neat and unusual planes from scratch cheaply if the hobby appeals to you. Or, just buy the ARF ones that appeal to you and slap in your own electronics. And that's another point. You can take everything out of one plane and put it in another in about half an hour average. That can help keep the costs down.

Happy landings

[Gabe]

Hey BT, if you have a decent Radio like a Spektrum, you can always get the ailerons on there right away and set dual rates. I started with the Dynam Super Cub - not the best choice cause its really not durable (bad brand for rc stuff), but it had ailerons on there. If you can fly an aileron plane on the sim, its the same thing with the real one.

Set your DR to 65% on the ailerons and I think you will be happy.

Oh, btw you can hand launch the cub too. Just hold the TX in your right hand, throttle up, and toss with the left. A little back elevator right away and you are flyin high!

[BTCat]

Are there any Super Cub kits, or some comperable kit available that would allow me to start out with a brushless and my own RX? I wouldn't mind starting out with the 2.4ghz.

[Solitaire]

Can't advise on any Cub kits as I've not been at this that long. 19k would likely know.

I think this is the plane everyone is suggesting...
secure.hobbyzone.com/search/HBZ7300.html
It has A.C.T. aimed at beginners and also comes in a BNF where you could just remove the Rx and put in a Futaba compatible. Still expensive, IMO.

An alternative is this... www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10323&Product_Name=HobbyKing_Decathlon_Brushless_Plug-n-Fly

Not quite a kit, but better suited to those that have Tx and Rx. I bought the Pitts (made by the same company) and it's tremendous for a foamy. Very well made. I paid less for that shipped than anything I could get in the US, but shipping will be different for you.

[19000rpm]

Jan 30, 2010 10:27:08 GMT -6 BTCat said:

Are there any Super Cub kits, or some comperable kit available that would allow me to start out with a brushless and my own RX? I wouldn't mind starting out with the 2.4ghz.

Hobbyzone used to sell an airframe only kit for the SC. If you call them, 763 551-1159, they might be able to put one together for you if they don't have it in stock anymore. Or you can just buy the pieces seperately; Bare fuselage, wing, tail section, landing gears, wheels and accessories like cowling, decals and control rods.

You'll need two 9g servos for rudder and elevator, an ESC and 900 Watt + or - motor. A 30A ESC is right for most motors. Turnigy makes a 35-30 motor that should be perfect for about 15 bucks. Depending on the motor you'll need to rig a motor mount, plastic or metal, and a firewall adapter out of ply. You probably already have an ESC and servos laying around. All in all, it would be pretty cheap.

Your own 2.4 radio system is a good choice.

Putting in the Ailerons is faily easy. You can do this on the original build or later. For that all you'll need is a couple of long lead servos, or servo lead extensions, and some hardware and hinge tape. You can cut the Ailerons out of the original wing.

Let me know if you need any advice on putting this together.

Happy landings

[BTCat]

Well, here is where I'm at. First, I do have to collect a little extra $$, so it is all talk at the moment. I wouldn't mind building some foamies after a while, but the high wing seems like something I would really enjoy as a starter.

Sol, I looked at the Hobby City link. A very good price, but the shipping would be almost as much as the heli so it would end up well over $100. Still less than the Super Cub RTF and still a bargain for brushless, though. I'll have to think about that.

My other thought is something I have seen on Ebay. There are some Super Cubs being sold for parts. Look like store returns. Most have burnt up ESC/RXs. Possibly I could pick one of those up rather cheaply, make the brushless mod and possibly the aileron mod and add my own RX. That would come out to about the price of a new RTF but without the AIM system. I would have to pick on Gabe on some of his TX setup, And I could pick on 19k for a lot of it, too.

19K 900watts? I was looking at something like a 480 with between 900 and 1000 kv. I would probably need a lot of help with this. I did find several motor mounts from different models that might work.

Now my head hurts

[Solitaire]

I think 19k meant 900kv as that's about the norm for that size and weight of plane.

This isn't supposed to give you a headache, BT. The biggest thing to ponder is what size and pitch of prop to use with various planes. It's very interesting to see the different outputs with combinations of motor/LiPo and prop type, size and pitch. The rest is simply ESC size (easy after being into helis), servo sizing, figuring out CG and some basic construction procedures.

Of course I got into this like I did my helis...all wrong. I started with a large covered balsa/ply since that's what I remembered from my junior days. Then I realized I had better learn on something cheap to crash. Thus the foamies. The balsa planes are on the shelf til I become a better pilot...much better.

The rainy season here isn't helping my progression.

[akent]

I guess I didn't properly answer the question above.
I agree with everyone here that planks are much easier to fly. If you have never flown a plane before and have trouble with some of the simulator planes, then a non-aileron trainer is in order. These will self center if you let go of the sticks. Kind of like a coax heli.

If you can fly a plane with ailerons on the simulator and get it down in one piece, then by all means get one with ailerons. These will NOT self center, but will stay in whatever attitude you put them in. Kind of like a CCPM heli.

I have a benifit in that I flew planks quite a bit about 25 years ago. It's like riding a bicycle, in that you never forget the basics.

Landing is the trickiest part. The plane will be coming at you and the controls are backwards. Same as with a heli, only with the plane, you don't have hovering to worry about. It's much easier to do 'nose in'.
====
With my homemade foamies, I found the plans all over the web. Here are a couple of links:
This one is mostly planks:
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=851608

This one is for jets:
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=476657

You can get foam from your local Home Depot or Lowes. It's the blue foam that is about 3/8" thick. I picked up a pile for $35, enough to make probably 15+ planes.
I did order some EPP foam (this stuff is indestructable!) from www.graysonhobby.com . Normal is the 9mm EPP. If you want to build from depron, it is around $6 per sheet there. You want the 6mm depron. It is stiffer than the EPP.

Motors, carbon fiber rods, small ESC's and the like are all available super cheap from www.hobbycity.com .

Here is a list of what I've been flying and very happy with:
1. Motor - $8.00 www.hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2069
2. 18amp ESC - $11.00 www.hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=4312
3. GWS props - $4.00 for 6 of them www.hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10047
4. HXT900 servos - $3.20 each www.hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=662

I run 3s batteries between 500ma and 1,000ma. These run from $5 to $8. The 1,000ma batteries will fly the Yaks for well over 10 minutes.

The power above will enable most any average sized foamie to have unlimited vertical.

In the picture is a Yak-54 (white/yellow), Delta Dart, Yak-55 (blue with checkers on one wing), and the P-51 from parkzone (not home made). The Yaks are 3d. I'm just learning how to do that a little.
Not pictured are the flying tables, and an EDF jet... Those were totalled! Only the foam was totalled. The electronics were all fine. I think the net loss from those was about $3.

Oh, and when I build a foamie now, I keep the templates. That way, if I want to build another one later, it will take very little time.

Best,
Kent

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[akent]

One more thing!!
Unless you have some pavement to fly off of, you are better off without landing gear on your planes. You need enough power to be able to just toss them in the air. You then land them in the grass. Then you truly can fly anywhere there is space to fly.
Grass landings are sure a lot softer!
Kent

[19000rpm]

Yep, sol's right, I mean't 900kv. 900Watts would fold the wing up big time, but it would have unlimited vertical after that. ;D

BTW, a typical 1300mAh battery fits snuggly into the SC battery compartment and will give you 10-20 mins. of flight.

If you can find the parts on ebay that could be the cheapest route to go. I prefer dealing with people I trust in case there's a problem.

Yeah, and don't sweat this decision. This is supposed to be a stress free way to enjoy R/C.

Happy landings

[mimir]

I started out as a plane flyer long before I got into helicopters. I still have a couple, but they are in need of repair. High wing planes with a little dihedral will also self right even with ailerons. If you want an even more beginner type plane, look for a high wing one with a flat bottom airfoil as that will also help it self correct back to level flight.