Advice on Next Aircraft

[BrandonTW82]

I have been flying RC for the past 10 years. I mainly flew helicopters and the Parkzone T-28 for a while. I was never a smack 3d heli pilot, just flying laps, some aerobatics, etc. My t-28 is always my go to, get my fix plane lol. I just recently sold off my larger helicopter and bought the 1600mm Spitfire from Motion RC. I love it, its beautiful, great scale plane! I want to add one more aircraft to my fleet. I have been pretty much obsessed with fighter jets my whole life. I want to get into scale EDF jets however, I feel I need to get a good practice jet first. I was thinking about the Freewing Rebel from Motion RC. What are folk's thoughts on this. It seems like a good trainer. I see that it is a few years old and worry it could become obsolete soon. Anyone have any suggestions for a good EDF trainer. The flying club I belong too has a grass airstrip. Its short grass and pretty long, so I don't think that would be an issue. I can fly, land, do aerobatics, etc, with the EDFs on Phoenix with ease if that helps as well.

[Grossman56]

Hey Brandon, first of all welcome to the Squawk and Merry Christmas!!

I was right where you are a few months ago, trying to decide on my first EDF. I finally decided to go with the Freewing Avanti S. The suspension on her is great, I take her off roading every once in awhile at the club, we have rough ground and clumps of weed and sage (Wyoming) and she handles it all with ease. This is the easiest plane to fly and a great first jet, the price is right too!
If you check out the Avanti thread, you'll see she is extremely popular and for good reason.
A few of the guys own the Freewing Rebel RCJetDude (Steve) has one I believe, might want to check with him. Before the Avanti, the go-to first EDF was the Freewing F-86 Sabre, so that's a possibility as well.
The problem with the Sims is that they don't do a great job on simulated landings, keep your nose up!

Good luck in which ever way you go!

Grossman56

[bill34207]

Merry Christmas. I will second the Avanti as a good EDF better suited for grass field operations. than the Rebel. The trailing link suspension and larger than normal tires make a big difference. It's a bit more expensive than the Rebel and needs a 6s battery instead of a 4s but most of the scale warbird jets are running 6s and starting your collection of batteries early on is not a bad idea.
If wanting something inexpensive as a 1st EDF you might consider looking at the 64 mm range models designed for hand launch and belly landing.