getting started

Plug

Im half thinking about getting a model plane and was woundering if 72mhz is illeagle. Does anyone know anywhere around Kilkenny to fly planes, is the airfield closed on sundays?.

Fobia

Hi Plug,
I don't know about the legality of it, but here we fly on 35Mhz (channels 60 to 85), so you should definitely get equipment to suit that requirement (mainly for use of the "buddy lead" system).

Don't know anything about Kilkenny myself, hopefully someone else will be able to help you with that one....

techguy

Hi plug , glad to see your taking an interest in planes..
AFAIK 72Mhz is illegal to use in this country for R/C It is the freq. used for cranes here I think. I this country:
35Mhz is for planes/helicopters etc...
40Mhz is for all ground vehicles i.e Cars,Boats etc..
27Mhz can be used for all r/c although this equipment is usually cheaper and you are more prone to interference because all the toy cars you see in toy shops run on this frequency.
I see your thinking of getting a Hobbico Nexstar trainer from the US. I think that you would be better off getting a trainer locally because you will get loads of advice from the guys at the shop which is great for a beginner. For glowplanes I started off with a Seagull Jumper 25 fitted with an OS 40LA and it is a brilliant machine. Very lively, but saying that I found it very easy to learn on.
Check it out here
Also as far as radio gear is concerned I use Futaba and find it great. I recommed that you start of with the 6EXA . Only unless money is tight go for a an analogue radio because if you have two planes it gets very trick without a computer radio..

Hope this helps you
Hakko

Plug

Roughly speaking how much would a plane cost with everything like the field box to the fuel.

coolwings

I use JR radio gear myself and find it the best I have ever used, and I have used many makes. But any make is good enough while you are learning (JR, Sanwa, Futaba, Hitec, Multiplex are all good). Hitec is the best value for features in return for money spent.

Regarding frequencies FM35/FM72/FM490 etc ....If your transmitter is on any frequency other than 35FM no aeromodelling club will EVER let you fly on their patch. (and they WILL check your frequency many times! )
This is because they know they are negligent if they allow you to continue flying in a dangerous fashion, since they know better, and you flying on a waveband not exclusively for flying means that your plane can be shot down by a genuine user of other equipment anywhere within 3 miles or so.
If that were to happen, you cannot choose will not be able to choose where it willl land - lost in a tree, on a house, a road, a BMW, a child? :eek: Just don't use illegal frequencies, people sue. That liability isn't worth 10 euros "savings".

Don't worry about field boxes and the like right now, that is just a distraction which stops you putting the right budget into things that really matter. In other words, if you buy a nice ground gear set, and at the same time get a cheap plane to learn on, you will pay for a second plane later as a direct result of your bad judgment.

There are lots of crud planes and crud engines around, and their brochures say that they fly as well as the good ones....seek advice, and not from sales/web literature/magazine reviews. Roughly speaking you get what you pay for (but not always - there are a few expensive sucker traps too, usually the sale/reduced item targeted for beginners! ).

People with their own planes in the sky tell it more reliably, because they remember their own mistakes and will want you to avoid making those mistakes too. On this forum, Fobia, myself/coolwings, wings&things and Hakko are flyers that I know of.
That personal contact is the key to learning model flying without wiping out your budget. Good instructors teach you for free.

There is a guy called Peter Bull in Kilkenny (possibly on the Callan Road?) who sells RC planes, I don't know him personally, but he is there many years... Have you seen him yet?

I regularly go to Kilkenny myself to visit family, (I used to live there). I go to the Castlecomer Road, and also the Talbot's Inch areas. If you would like to see me fly nice models and maybe get a first flight, send me a PM. It takes about 4 minutes to learn to fly, ten minutes to learn to do turns. With good electric you can do landings & takeoffs at 5 flights, but with glowfuel planes that is at about 20 flights.

There is a group of model flyers in Kilkenny, and another group in Thomastown, as well as other nearby areas, but those two groups are the nearest to Kilkenny City. I know people who fly planes in all those places (because they come to me in Dublin where I work in the Green Hobby model shop ).

I hope this helps you get going successfully Plug.

Fobia

coolwings wrote:

but with glowfuel planes that is at about 20 flights.

...or about 50 if you're me.

Plug

yeah I kind of know "bull" he,s not the friendlest of people so I dont go out to him for fuel. He got pissed off couse I didnt buy a T maxx off him for 850euro :eek: ,got one for 450 :cool: and he then told my father that it was illagil over in Ireland. He wont sell me or goldwing anything, sure he,s the one losing out not us :rolleyes:
By the way I live around the castlecomer road in glendine, near the golfcourse. Do you bring your planes to Kilkenny?
Thanks for the advice.

coolwings

Fobia wrote:

...or about 50 if you're me.

Heh Heh ....
We all make a fool of ourselves doing funny landings, don't we?

Nothing gets an audience quite so quick as a wheel falling off during takeoff, word gets round and you can count on EVERYONE watching by the time it comes to putting it down again ...

I suppose it needs to be said for the beginners, that these mistakes get fixed with suitable amounts of epoxy glue. Planes are generally speaking, tough, and are usually able to be repaired quickly.

I would count as the airframe as being for 1 to 2 years, the rubber-packed receiver good for as many as maybe 3 airframes, and the other internal gear is with me for many years.


mmmmmm .... epoxy ......

Fobia

Hehe, indeed, epoxy fixes all

Plug

I saw a nice plane on tower hobbies its a trainer good price etc._____ http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMU53**&P=7

coolwings

Plug wrote:

I saw a nice plane on tower hobbies its a trainer good price etc._____ http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMU53**&P=7

Well for a start .....

balsa wood model shipped half way round the planet uncontainerised but in a cardboard box is likely to have an interesting number of cracks in it's structure when it finally gets to the shamrock isle, all of them invisible until after you fly, warranty void by then.......

imperial fittings will be fascinating to fix/replace/join onto the 2mm system commonly used here ....

US radio system ....

Niggle ....metal/nylon wing joining system .... if the joining brace is not glued in, it may finally cut the top of it's retaining box with a certain amount of wing flexing during flying, how many flights it takes to do this is impossible to predict. I had this happen to me with a Pluton high wing.
Might be OK but we usually use epoxy/other glue, tried and tested for this.

2 hours build ... HAH

When U walk into your local shop (Peter Bull?Waterford?Wexford?whatever) to ask why it doesn't fly for you/how to fix a cracked wing / undercarraige / disable the steering noseleg supplied with the model (and the brochure says you will probably not be able to fly without help) and then U say U got it on the internet, he is really going to want to help U , or maybe he became a registered charity .....might be a nice guy who helps strangers.

OS40LA engine not exactly the most powerful, (good make tho) it swings a 10 x 6" prop. the yank flyers have tarmac runway, but U will be trying to motor through grass of any length up to 3" which takes plenty more power, U need an 11 x 6" prop for this preferably=more power needed.

Niggle ....Solid tail .... flyers will wonder where the CG is when they read that, but no problem if U add lead to the nose to balance the model.

He asked for opinions guys ....am I being being depressingly cynical here, or making realistic suggestions as to how-RCflight-is?

Can someone else post their view of the model life expectancy of a-newbie-who-tries-it-with-a glowfuel-airplace-with-no-instructor.
(My suggestion is 12 seconds)

coolwings

Plug wrote:

yeah I kind of know "bull" he,s not the friendlest of people so I dont go out to him for fuel. He got pissed off couse I didnt buy a T maxx off him

Remember he's the nearest help U have, not to be sniffed at lightly when U want parts/fuel.

Plug wrote:

he then told my father that it was illagil over in Ireland.

Is it? either 27AM or 40FM are legal.

Plug wrote:

sure he,s the one losing out not us :rolleyes: .

Not arguing, but if U have to go 2000miles to buy something thats down the road, then you're losing something too...convenience. The corner shop is handy when I want a newspaper/breakfast cerial, I don't always go to Tescos.

Plug wrote:

By the way I live around the castlecomer road in glendine, near the golfcourse. Do you bring your planes to Kilkenny?
Thanks for the advice.

castlecomer road - That's handy, I drive by U when I arrive. I sometimes bring smaller models, HLG glider, Discus launch glider, Skyraider (currently under repair), Daisy, sometimes fishing rods instread car has to fit family in it as well

Don't take me up wrong in this thread, Plug. It is very easy to get cross with someone who has different views when using email/text. But why make enemies with local hobby guy? You don't have to. Be neutral instead. Keep your options open. Much handier if U know what I mean. Make friends-open doors. Follow Japanese tradition of giving respect to each in due measure. Better for long run. Esp if U need some little parts.

But if U get glowfuel model, PLS DON'T FLY IT FOR MAIDEN FLIGHT or U won't have it long. 1st flight with any plane should be by most experienced guy available. Funny things happen on 1st flights, and the best guy gets it down in 1 piece for adjustment and later flights. Alternatives all involve epoxy glue.

Have fun flying
:cool: :cool: :cool:

Fobia

You're getting cynical in your old age, Coolwings.

coolwings

Fobia wrote:

You're getting cynical in your old age, Coolwings.

I was afraid of that !

techguy

I think Plug should go back and "make up" with the "Bull" and do some sort of a deal with him for a complete flight package. I would do anything to have a model shop down the road from me. You will really appreciate it too when begin to want small parts/tools etc..
Also,When you get hooked on flying you wont want to have to be ordering more planes on tower cause they'll take ages to arrive and the cost will be brougth up by shipping those huge boxes.
I'd say stick local until your a compitent flier and then buy the odd things from the states if you must insist!But don't forget to keep the "Bull" sweet!
And fromt the looks of things you will have to buy your radio gear here anyway cause I dont think you get 35Mhz stuff in the US...

Hakko

Plug

How much would a 35mhz radio system including batterys for the transmitter and for the servos and a charger. I have a tight bujget couse I have to get a plane as well as all the flight equpiment.

techguy

I'm not really to sure about the prices of radio goods in Ireland at the mo.
I bought my Futaba FF7 from Al's Hobbies and it was good enough value at the time for what I was being offered over here and it arrives the same week if you order it on a monday
The hitec laser 4 is a very basic radio and is good value if you are on a really tight budget. I would go for the Hitec optic 6. I know it is more expensive but you should try to stretch to it,trust me.
Also im afraid to say that your brand of radio should be chosen with care because you will need to have something that is compatable with your instructors gear.
Also you dont need to buy all the ground equipment at the beginning,put this money into your radio.
When you are starting you will not need any of the fancy field boxes,starters elec pumps, power panels etc.
For starting the plane all you need is a rechargeable glo-start,hand crank fuel pump and a stick to turn the engine.. It will be easy to start the engines with that in the summer but when it gets to winter you might need a 12v starter to save you the frustration.

What did you think of the Jumper 25 ?

Hakko

Plug

What are the consequences if cought with 72mhz radio. Could someone have a look on tower hobbies and find a 4 channel radio thats leagle here, a list of frequences apear on the screen but i cant make heads or tales of them.
Any will be greatly appreseated

coolwings

Plug wrote:

What are the consequences if cought with 72mhz radio. ...Any will be greatly appreseated

Plug - this is Ireland, people sue if you look at them sideways.
Now you have an aircraft that can do over 100mph, it has the power of a heavy calibre bullet, much more power than a .22 bullet.
Model planes can kill, and have already done so. (A little girl was killed last year in the UK by a model aircraft.)
Sooner or later that will be done to your model by a perfectly legal user of the frequency you are illegally on. You will not be able to stop it, and cannot choose the time or place.
Next there is the damage you can do with your transmitter to their equipment.....if it be cranes remote operation (I think it is), and you interfere with a jib 100' up carrying a steel girder/couple of tons of concrete ..........

Other idiots have done it in the past, I know, but you should not go there.

Be mature, take the view that this is what good stuff costs, forget the tantalising ideas of cheating the system, robbing the post office, mugging small kids, printing counterfeit cash, etc, and just save up for a little longer like we all do.

It IS worth it.

(By the way ... the most costly mistake in aeromodelling ..... the flyers will confirm this .... buying wrong, ditching/destroying the stuff, and having to buy twice.)

Plug

Yeah thanks for that coolwings I rang up bull about a plane and radio gear. He thinks Im from carlow, I want to stay nutrel so I wont say nothing
By the way do you think a 4 channel radio system for 220euro is worth it , couse if its a good price I might get a plane.

techguy

what brand of radio was it and model,if you can find that out and tell me i'll try and find out if its worth it..

Hakko

Plug

It was just the radio system on its own for 220euro, Its Hitec.
Thanks

coolwings

Plug,

I sent U a PM.

I will look up local flyer contact info later and PM that to U as well

Coolwings

Plug

Yeah thanks for the help, appreciate it

techguy

Plug,
hows the flying scene looking for you,are you still considering purchasing?

Plug

Yeah Im still thinking about it, more than likely ill get one

coolwings

Plug
Did U ever meet up with those guys in your area ?

Plug

no, I,ll wait until I get the plane first and then I,ll give them a ring.