After a 15 year hiatus, I'm back and I've never been this excited!

[evensen007]

Hello everyone! I've been lurking here and in RCGroups a bit the last couple of weeks. I'm 41 years old now and have always had the tug of RC throughout my life. I started at 8 years old flying a giant scale piper cub, moved on to some warbirds etc. I dropped out around 16 years old when I got into classic cars (and girls). I re-visited it briefly in my mid 20's and that's when I was running the Somethin Extra. Now, at 41: I have more time, more patience, and more love for this hobby that's been a part of my life for so long. Even 15 years ago, an electric plane wasn't even a serious thought. Imagine my surprise when I started researching again a few weeks ago and e-planes is where it's at. I have no will to get back into nitro and all that it entails. I am shocked how far electric planes and performance have come!

For better or worse, when I started looking HorizonHobby was the site advertised in most searches (I was looking for my old Tower Hobbies that I used throughout my life!). I had found the new 1.5m p-51 by HH and wanted it. Luckily, some wise folks at RCGroups talked me down to get something more reasonable to shake the rust loose. I ended up grabbing the E-flite 2.0m carbonZ t-28 from HH. I was also recommended towards the spektrum line of gear and got the Dx9, 4 spektrum 5000mAh batteries, and the spek dual smart charger. After doing some deeper research and reading some more threads over here, it seems like spektrum receivers and batteries are over-priced for what they are. Live and learn. These foam PNP/BNF's are shockingly simple to 'build'. I didn't know what I was doing and I had the t-28 ready in a little under 2 hours, mostly because I did some things wrong.

The next thing I did was call a contact on our local Asheville flying club's webpage. I explained my situation and how it's been a while since I've flown. He's an incredibly kind older gentleman with lots of knowledge. He met me out at the field and I proudly unloaded my giant t-28 with all the best thoughts and butterflies of FINALLY getting to fly again after such a long time. He helped me slowly walk through all the steps needed to properly get set up, pre-flight check etc. We were just about ready to put her down to taxi her out when he asked me to check the CG with him. It was a bit off, so he had me move the battery up a little further towards the nose. It was at this point that he (thank god) realized I stupidly had NO VELCRO ON THE BATTERY and was just using the straps. Unfortunately it was just him and I and he didn't have any extra velcro. I felt embarrassed and completely deflated. There was really nothing I could safely do to fly it, so we packed it up. He then told me he was going to do something that he never does. He said that he needed to pass me to fly at the field and would hate for me to leave without flying after waiting so long. He offered to let me fly his E-flite ultimate 3d biplane. I was really nervous to fly someone else's plane after being off the sticks for 15 years. He said it was ok and that I would do fine. He told me to 'hand him the controller back if I got in trouble - hah! I have to say, it was a VERY happily uneventful flight! I took off just fine and did some patterns for a few minutes to get my bearings. It really was like getting back on a bike! I did some tricks and then came down to land. He coached me to get a little more speed so I didn't short the runway, but other than that it was a nearly perfect 3 point landing! I was so excited that it's hard to describe. You can say I've been fully and completely bitten by the bug. I should have my key to the field soon and I will be out there ASAP getting some good time in on the t-28. It's so good to be back!

I do have a couple of amateur questions though. I have my mind set on the MotionRC Flightline f4u corsair. I don't want to feel locked into the Spektrum ecosystem, and it's been a bit hard to navigate learning all the different receivers and what's compatible with what, what technology is really important, and what's just nice to have. It appears my t-28 has SAFE (Which I will never use), as3x (which does sound pretty nice!), but not telemetry to send back my battery voltage. From what I can tell Admiral is compatible with the spektrum radio, but they are all sold out. Even then, I don't know if there's special consideration in programming it to the spektrum dx9 radio. I also saw some mentioning Lemon receivers. Same questions there. I want something solid that is reliable and won't lose connection to the tx. I also want to know what people think about the aforementioned features that exists now and whether they are useful. I'm about to order the corsair and join the MotionRC family and honestly that feels pretty good. I really like their personalities on youtube and they seem like genuinely nice people. The only thing left to decide is which trim on the corsair! Anyhow, a long-winded way of saying 'hello', I'm happy to be back, and I'm excited to learn what I've missed in the last 15 years!

[The Sheriff]

evensen007 Welcome back! I jumped back on the "bike" last year after a brief hiatus. It is like riding a bike, it's almost muscle memory. Good choice on the DX9 and the Carbon Z T-28. I like flying a bit heavier and have found the Zeee LiPo 6s batteries to be the best bang for your buck. Amazon sells a 5200 and 6000 that are fantastic. Admiral batteries are my second choice and I use them in many planes.

I'm pretty sure that Admiral and Lemon receivers are identical. I always prefer Admiral receivers that come from Motion RC because they have the best customer service in the business in case there is a problem, which there really isn't. Motion RC doesn't deal in junk. These receivers are excellent. They make a 6 channel with a Gyro that you can program on a switch with your DX9 for like $30 that is similar to AS3X. I have one but don't really use the Gyro, so I've opted for the other Admiral receivers in most planes. I've had good luck with Orange RX receivers as well. Admiral also makes satellite receivers that will get you more range.

I'm probably not the one to comment on the features, such as AS3X. I have a large fleet of planes. The ones that I fly the most are the Freewing Avanti, Freewing AL37, Hanger 9 Mustang PTS (nitro), Hanger 9 Ultra Stick Zenoah G-38, and Flightline OV-10 Bronco... all have Admiral receivers, none have gyros. Some guys at the field think I'm crazy for putting a "cheap" receiver in a gas plane to which I ask, would you feel better if I sent them more money and aren't you still flying on FM? I have experimented with the Eagle A3Super3 gyro and find it intriguing. I plan to put this gyro in my E-flite Splendor with an Admiral in place of the stock AS3X receiver. I think if I like it I will add one to my AL37 as our field gets gusting direct crosswinds regularly.

At our field, we run Orange RX, Admiral/Lemon, and Spektrum. In the last year, we've had 3 rapid unplanned kit disassemblies due to signal loss. All were Spektrum brand receivers. Most of us have Spektrum transmitters and have not had any issues there.

As for compatibility, you won't find any extra steps or troubleshooting. As long as you order the DSMX/DSM2 protocol, it's regular binding procedures. I'm not familiar with the receiver that is included with the T-28. Some Spektrum receivers use a button in place of a bind plug. Admirals and Orange RX use a bind plug. Plug the bind plug into the marked port on the receiver then complete the bind by powering on the receiver then either powering up the transmitter while holding the bind button or selecting "Bind" from the System Setup menu.

Excellent choice on the Corsair. I don't own one, but I've purchased 5 Freewing/Flightline planes in the last year and can say that the quality is top-notch. You'll notice that this brand keeps the same models on the shelf for a while, whereas Horizon will discontinue models just as fast as they release them. I like my E-flite models too, they make some excellent planes but I just don't have the same confidence in that brand.

The Corsair is on my list. I think I'll be opting for the Bird Cage even though I think it'll be harder to see. It's just too sweet and you don't see many of them.

Well there, a long-winded way to say "hello" back and welcome back.