First Warbird

[rmatt]

I agree with all the advice as to the progression of aircraft and your abilities. That being said when the jump is made my vote is for the Bearcat.

[dahawk]

A classic second plane is the park zone T-28 . You'll be moving up to low wing with higher performance. Has LG but not retractable. I hand launch and belly land.

Parts are readily available. In fact you can practically build a new one from spare parts for about $100.00

Not a tail dragger if that's where you want to go. Maybe even check the swap meets in your area and classifieds like Craigslist for a really good used warbird. Bigger usually fly's easier.

I'd stay clear of the known tip stallers like the T-6 Texan .The Corsair is another that is not an easy plane to fly. Want to go tail dragger but stay with a high wing? Look at the eflight Timber. Not a warbird but you can learn warbird maneuvers on anything. Unless you want an actual warbird replica.

I recently sold my 1700mm FMS Big Beautiful doll P-51 for $150.00 Was in good shape too. My point ? There are deals out there if you look hard enough.

Are you in a club ? Sometimes guys clean out their hangar . I do from time to time. Maybe get something where someone more experienced could buddy box with you. Help you get her trimmed.

Grass or pavement?

Good luck and stick with it !

Hawk

[wrongroad]

G'day all,
From my experience, I find the FMS 1450mm P-51D Mustang to be a very docile warbird. It is benign enough to let you learn rudder control for take off and kind enough with its CG limits. And the Mustang has the widest CG margin of any of the FMS models.
I think it is even better than the FMS 1400mm T-28 Trojan and the P-51 is much, much kinder to its landing gear. Much.
The Mustang lets you build up speed with the tail down so the tail wheel is active in the first part of the take off roll and the rudder takes over as the speed builds up. There is a very short period where there is the dead zone of control.
The Trojan is a good airplane but it is a bit heavier in feel and can sink very quickly if you pull the power off. And for a pilot new to heavier models, the nose gear will take a pounding if your landing technique is off even just a little bit. Any landing that puts the nose gear on the ground will result in a fold and broken props and nose gear doors.
The Mustang is a well behaved airframe and IS easier to fly than all of the other FMS 1400mm series models. And I have all but the P-47. {and I am reliably informed that the Jug is a dream to fly as well}
The Mustang lends itself to being modified with 'faster' motors and bits and pieces but is also very nice out of the box.
Mind you, fly the Mustang outside of her envelope and she can and will bite you. Keep the speed up and she will love you back.
Regards and respect
Daryl

[BRGT350]

I was in the same situation a few years ago. I had been flying the Apprentice, mostly in experienced mode and was ready for a low wing bird to start getting into the warbirds that I wanted to fly when I started this hobby. The cost of a larger warbird was still a little much for somebody who might just ball it up into a pile of foam bits on the first flight, so I decided to pick up a UMX 1S Corsair. Countless posts were made on different forums that going from the Apprentice to the UMX Corsair would be bad and how I would destroy the plane while learning. I flew the UMX Corsair for 9 months without a single crash before stepping into a Parkzone Archer with a SAFE Rx installed. After a few flights, I moved that into experienced mode and felt comfortable enough to get into a warbird. The Corsair S was the perfect next plane for me. I started it in beginner mode for a few flights, then intermediate, and then experienced after about 10 flights. I am on my second full year with the Corsair S and just loving the plane. It is very stable, easy to fly, looks stunning in the air (especially after weathering and a gloss coat), and has the warbird look without being scary to fly.

Hobbyzone F4U Corsair S "Arrow 167" by Bryan Redeker, on Flickr

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

you can't go wrong with the parkzone T28 (now sold as the eflite t28 1100mm bnf basic, not to be confused with the 1.2m t28). I got it as my first warbird and i now have 13 warbirds but i still fly my vietnam war schemed trojan regularly (at least i did until i crashed it into a tree whilst not paying attention :) ). SAFE is good but you can't beat a well designed aircraft, the SAFE + planes are still quick, fragile warbirds which is not great for a first warbird. and the t28 flies like a trainer, but it nimble and a ton of fun to fly.

Its not the most aerobatic plane but it will do loops, rolls etc. and looks decent too. Also with a decent paint job it can be made to look great. It has a very light stall, and just gently drops its nose and picks up speed whilst still being controllable. It can glide forever but is still reasonably quick. My motor is wearing out so it is a little underpowered but it still can go vertical for about 40m. It may not look as nice as the modern warbirds but despite its not super scale design but they still sell it 10 years on from release because it is just a excellent flyer. The aforementioned corsair S is also good and i flew one once and it is basically the same as the T28 but a little harder to belly land and is a bit quicker.

I know you said you didn't like the look of the trojan but you really can't beat them for flight characteristics and you grow to love them after a while.