Recommendations for entry level rc trainer?

[davegee]

Hi all: I would like to recommend a fairly inexpensive trainer a friend of mine could enjoy with his granddaughters who are 8 and 4 years old. He is pushing 80, but very sharp physically and mentally. Flew F-8s in ‘Nam and retired 747 captain, but no previous rc experience. Any suggestions for him? Although price is no factor, I don’t think he wants to spend a lot of $$ on this. Probably won’t seriously take in the hobby, but you never know!

thanks for any thoughts on this

davegee

[xviper]

My suggestion would be to go to the Horizon Hobby site and take a look at the “airplanes - trainer” section. Stick to “high wing” planes as they tend to be a bit more stable and slower. At 80 years of age, he’s not likely to want a plane that he has to hand launch, so get something that has wheels. Anything you see there can generally be purchased at a local hobby shop so he has somewhere and someone to turn to if he needs assistance with the product.

https://www.horizonhobby.com/category/airplanes/airplanes-14501--1/trainer

Let him find something that suits his needs and focus on those that have AS3X and SAFE. These will help him fly with more ease and chance of success. If he’s not sure if he’ll take to the hobby, consider getting a RTF (Ready to Fly). These come with everything he needs to get started - transmitter, a plane with receiver and usually one battery and a charger. If it takes, he can later progress to a fancier transmitter and target BNF (bind and fly) or PNP (Plug and play). BNF planes come with a receiver but you use your own transmitter. PNP planes have no receiver so he can pick and choose one that suits him.

[Valkpilot]

Hi all: I would like to recommend a fairly inexpensive trainer a friend of mine could enjoy with his granddaughters who are 8 and 4 years old. He is pushing 80, but very sharp physically and mentally. Flew F-8s in ‘Nam and retired 747 captain, but no previous rc experience. Any suggestions for him? Although price is no factor, I don’t think he wants to spend a lot of $$ on this. Probably won’t seriously take in the hobby, but you never know!

thanks for any thoughts on this

davegee

How computer savvy is he? If he can do it, I'd start him out with RealFlight, that way he can try several aircraft and get used to using a transmitter. And if you are going to mentor him, make sure that whatever he starts with, the TX has a "buddy box" option compatible with your equipment. And right now, I'm kind of partial to the HobbyZone Scout, since it's Horizon's version of the Esky Eagle. Easy to assemble, has tricycle landing gear(which he's used to) and the landing gear is very robust, and has big wheels, good for either grass or pavement.

[MrVoyagerx]

May sound crazy, but when on the simulator, if possible that once in a while he practices standing up and not comfortable in the chair, put some sunglasses to make it slightly more difficult. Watch YT videos, the ones that are recorded w the plane far away and he has the controller in his hand and copy the input of the airplane seen on the clip. The landing crash compilation, and analyze what the pilot did wrong, too hot, too slow, torque roll, not too much rudder etc.

It is not intuitive, will take some time, easily 6 months.

An airplane I would highly recommend, no landing gear, long flying times, wide envelope; Bixler 2. With a 22000 3S I can fly 15 to 20 minutes, from a crawl to a somewhat anemic speeds, and inverted all day.

good luck

[axerhand1976]

just my 2c, get him an eflite apprentice the bigger version(easier to see) it also has trcycle gear. long flite times and really easy to fly. it comes with everything. where I fly we have had atleast 4 people learn to fly on them with no help.

[BRGT350]

I also second the Apprentice and agree with the larger on that is easier to see. I loved mine and it really got me into 4-channel flying and increased my confidence. The plane is also pretty stout too. I had a few landings that weren't great and the plane was perfect after. The older style SAFE is also pretty good to use and progress with. I use the Apprentice SAFE receiver in a few planes because I find it to be perfect. Flight sims do help with learning the controls and getting used to seeing the plane coming at you and how to react. I do find they give you a false sense of confidence as I have no problem flying a giant turbine powered plane in high winds. Although I had somebody who couldn't figure out the simulator, yet seemed to do really well with an actual plane. A buddy-box will greatly help with learning and I did not do that when I was learning and wish I would have.

[MrVoyagerx]

The Bixler 2 PNP w coupon code is about 80 dollars shipped, put a cheap Corona or Orange Rx and ready.

The price of one Apprentice, you can almost buy three Bixlers, am just saying good things about this push plane, mostly if not sure if rc flying will be your thing.

Prop is in the back, so if crashing it, no big deal trying to reglue to make sure its lined correctly etc, no landing gear, belly land it.

The Bixler w flaps, the Apprentice is no match to fly to almost a crawl, people at the field call it, hanging by strings on how slow it can be flown. No need for a 30C 2200, a 20C is more than enough.
And w the Bixler you can glide and almost do thermals...
and want to get crazy, fpv it, je je

I have flown the Apprentice, its a good plane, but for someone who is testing waters and looking for simplicity and not break the bank, the HK Bixler line is the way to go, but thats just me. I fly Gee Bees, P51s and EDFs, and still bring my humble Bixler to have a worry free relaxed flight.

good luck on whatever you choose

[davegee]

Thanks for all the great ideas, guys! We live 1000 miles apart, so I can't really help him directly, but can offer suggestions. Is there anyone out there familiar with good hobby shops in the Dallas Love Field area that I could tell him to visit who might outfit him with an easy to get into and fly trainer? I doubt he'll really get into this very much, but the main purpose is to positively influence his grand daughters to flight. He works as a volunteer docent at the air and space museum around Love Field and gets to talk to school groups frequently. He thoroughly enjoys doing this and I would think getting into a simple trainer he might actually do demos for those kids, too.

[Zardoz]

I vote for the Aeroscout RTF version. It is completely ready to go with transmitter and is very easy to fly. It is readily available in the US at 199$ The Timber is also very easy to fly and also available but runs around 100$ more.