How fun is flying RC planes? I hear it can be addictive and expensive.





Any suggestions for beginner kits?


How long can you fly on a normal battery charge?





Update:  I got the Champ RTF for Christmas.  It was way too windy yesterday after a cold front blew in.  Today seemed better so I tried it out with relatively minimal wind.  Pretty trick to keep control and I decided that the gusts were going to cause me to keep crashing and possibly lose the plane.  



I was disappointed it wont roll for takeoff in grass with the standard wheels.  Is there anything I can do for this?  I'd prefer to have a softer place to crash than the middle of a parking lot.




 

Get the RC pc simulator first. They are so extensive now that they have just about every RC plane made in the program that acts like the real thing.





Crash it...who gives a shit, reset it and try again
http://www.realflight.com/training.html

 

I hate to admit it but I wrecked around 3 planes before I actually successfully landed a plane - A Sig Kadet Senorita (Stick built from balsa there was no way I wanted to wreck that!).  That is one heck of a sweet flying trainer and I still have it after many, many flights, but you asked about electric.  I don't know much about the electrics so I can't make a suggestion there, but I can give you a couple pieces of advice to consider.

1)  When you are first starting out, and especially if you are flying without an instructor, fly only when there is no wind or almost no wind.  You build/assemble that plane and be aching to make your first flight, and if you take it out in the wind it is wrecked for sure.

2)  Either plan on using an instructor or plan on wrecking a couple planes.

A buddy of mine learned to fly with an inexpensive glider kit with an .049 power pod strapped to the top of the wing.  I assume they still sell those, and it actually turned out to be a cheap and effective trainer, so that is another option to consider.

I disagree. Those simulators are harder than flying the real thing.


Just get an electric RTF trainer from parkzone. Go to the park and fly. It's not hard.

Hobbyzone supercub. I had never flown a rc plane before, I bought one of these and its a piece of cake. Its a 3ch. So all you have is rudder and elevator. So easy even my dad can fly it.

Get a sim.  It will help you learn orientations, which will be a little weird at first.

Get someone to help.  This will make a big difference.  Find a club in your area.  

Look at the Hobby Zone planes or some of the Multiplex RTFs.  Avoid the cheapo chinese stuff.  Just too many things wrong to work through in the beginning.  The HobbyZone Cub is hard to beat.  

How long depends on the plane and pilot.  I have had over 1hr flights on a plane with a small battery, but it was a sailplane.  

I agree they're pretty hard...but here in the Denver area, they are not hard enough!  The wind here is insane sometimes.

I think that is the one I found while doing a little googling.  



My hope is that the RC plane will help with my interests in flying real planes until I can better afford to get back in the cockpit.



 

Definitely give the Super Cub a chance if you are going to go it on your own.


You can crash it and 75% of the time it will be undamaged due to slow flying speed, and foam construction. (the foam does not compress, but it does pull apart)


Parts are readily available and cheap, both online, and at your local hobby store (LHS)

Here's a good video of it flying (and a few hard landings that you can see don't damage it) It is loud because it uses a geared motor system. I kind of like it.  Sounds a bit like a motor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwKrZZrRJ_w&feature=related





I started in July and am now flying a covered balsa plane that is very enjoyable. (E-Flite T-34 Mentor)


Thing is, I still fly the Super Cub almost as often because I have a small area to fly in, and a large, fast plane doesn't work well there.



Here's my HobbyZone Super Cub and T-34 Mentor









I strongly suggest that you look at this forum, if you are interested in a Super Cub, it is a forum completely dedicated to the HZ Super Cub.

http://supercubclub.proboards.com/index.cgi



Here's a big drawback of the Super Cub: 3 channel, it has no ailerons.  It works by having a lot of dihedral in the high wing that allows the plane to self-level on it's own.  So it turns with just rudder.  IT works very well, but is not very "prototypical".  Almost everyone who flies the Super Cub for any length of time converts it to a better radio receiver and transmitter, which allows you to add ailerons, and change to a better motor, too.  For more info on these, go to youtube and search "Super Cub aileron mod"  "Super Cub



Here's a good "What's in the box" youtube video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC-l0zUKrcM&feature=related

Keep one thing in mind - ACT or Anti Crash Technology is nothing but two light detectors that assume the plane should be oriented for light on top and dark toward ground.  It simply turns off the throttle and servos, to allow the plane to settle into a smooth glide and then you regain control.  If you use the ACT switch, and you fly sideways, or do a loop too near the ground, it will activate ACT and you will lose control without time to recover.  Better yet, unplug the ACT sensors, and never use it!





Here's the "fork in the road"

What do you hope to accomplish with this plane?

1. learn to fly an R/C plane, have fun, fly it for a little while and move on to something else.



You will be able to take it out of the box, charge the battery, and fly it within 2 hours.  You can crash it a bunch of times, replace parts, and keep flying.



Unfortunately, this plane doesn't really lend itself to upgrading as all the electronics must be discarded with the exception of the motor (but that's another story, because if you are upgrading everything and adding ailerons, you will want to get a brushless motor for approx $20 more because they are more powerful, more efficient, and better than the old fashioned brushed motors.  If you upgrade, it costs approx $150-200 more.  But, you can buy all the parts separately as funds become available, and after you decide you like the plane and want to keep flying it.



At this point, I've added flaps, ailerons, navigation LED lights, larger wheels, rebuilt my wing with no dihedral, repainted the plane, strengthened the battery box, and use larger batteries.  I am pretty attached to the plane.  It is a good slow flier, but with the upgraded motor, can fly fast, and is still unbelievably stable and easily recoverable in bad situations.



If you do decide to buy one, feel free to IM me, and I will gladly explain anything you wish to know about upgrades or mods.





 

They make some soft foam ones that look indestructible

Either the Hobbyzone Super Cub or the Parkzone J3 Cub are great electric trainers.
My buddy has the Hobbyzone, I have the Parkzone (we have both flown each others) - both of us agree that the Parkzone J3 is more stable and easier to fly.



Then upgrade to something like the Parkzone T-28:



If you are a total newbie try the Parkzone Ember 2, a very slow indoor gym trainer, but can be flown outside in NO WIND:

Go buy an expensive war bird or 3d kit. Spend a couple weeks building it,setting it up and when it ready set it on the ground and smash it.

This is the type i crashed. I sold it cheap afterwards and several others learned to fly with it and crashed it many more times. I don't know if you can get the kit anymore but if you can find the wing a hardware or hobby store has the rest.



http://manuals.hobbico.com/dur/dura1111-manual.pdf

Thanks for all the replies.

Got boring quick for me.
Fly RC heli's.

Stay away.....far, far away......It's addictive as crack. I finally had to just walk away and sell everything off. Got over $12K for all my radios, planes, kits and engines.  The sad part? I never really had time to learn to fly proficiently enough to fly a realy nice expensive aircraft.  I had the big Balsa USA Steerman, 3W twin engines, OS 300 twin, OS 160 twin, big Chipmunks, Weeks Solution with a 92" wingspan, 1/4 scale triplane. I had it BAD!  I was more of a collector/builder and not a flyer due to family commitments.

Harborfreight has a nice $50 trainer airplanes to crash at first..I got two of them..Then the $100 mustang. Then move up to the $170 WWII planes from bannanhobby.

Go to rcgroups.

Lipo batteries and brushless motors have made electrics outperform gas (especially in smaller planes).  Only thing gas really wins on is duration of flight (and the smell of nitro in the morning).  That said, gas 40-60 trainers do rock, and that size plane is a hoot to fly as well.  Small electrics get out of site fast.

Honestly, I think the best thing to learn on is diy foamies.  Airframes for $5 is hard to beat.  Wait till you know what you are doing before investing in something pretty.  Likewise most "sexy" planes are not the easiest to learn on - performance often requires a plane to be less stable.

Finally - I like the newer concept of bind and fly.  It allows you to use a single decent transmitter on several planes, and cuts the cost of rtf a bit (again, I don't really like rtf anyway - but...)  The newest 4 channel birds for 120 seem like a great deal (micro's from parkzone).  
––––
most fun I have ever had flying was with a 20" warbird dog fighting swallows.  It was a very, very heavily modified Cox Micro Warbird.  Cox had a great idea - terrible execution (unless you got the $20 airframe and put all quality parts in it - and doing that right was a HUGE challenge).  Parkzone looks like they got the execution right - but their plains are not nearly as good looking as the cox micros were.

Are there typically laws/ regulations about where you can fly them? I know where a local club flies, but can you fly in parks or football fields?

Any suggestions for those?



 

blade cx2 or cx3. Coaxial choppers that are both easy to fly.

Fly RC Helis. Plankers are wankers. I fly 3D with a Raptor 50 Titan and a Trex 700. Let me know if you want more info on helis bud!

Less than you'd think.



It isn't an issue that would come up often, so many cities don't pay attention.



Mainly large cities have some ordinances.



Don't fly in a congested area.  The people in the area get no say in
whether they are subjected to the danger of a plane or helicopter flying
overhead.




The biggest concern you would likely find is noise issues with nitro powered planes.  If you think leaf blowers or gas trimmers are annoying, imagine an airplane flying across the stree from your home.
Electric Foam planes (called Park Fliers) are slower, lighter, and quiet.



If a foam plane hits someone, the odds of injury are much, much lower.



Understand, there is still the real possibility of damage from a propeller, or just from an object moving relatively fast, even though it is light weight.
Many, many modelers fly in school football fields, or soccer fields, or baseball fields.



Bigger is better.



I fly in the field behind my house when there are no crops planted, or an industrial park that never got developed. The industrial park is great because it has several intersecting, paved roads, and is all flat with mowed grass or crops planted in the unused areas.
Join the AMA.  It is $58/year.  You get $1 million liability protection with membership.


But, it doesn't cover careless flying.  If you were flying a gas plane over a High School football game, that would probably not be covered.






This is behind my house. The soy beans were just cut down the previous week that this was taken. Very flat. I can take off and land on the field.



 

+1 electrics are quite enough for you to sneak in and fly without annoying people.  Gas is almost exclusively flown of of privately owned property or club fields.  I have flown electric 3D in front of my house - traffic was not bad.  some small electrics can be flown indoors (gym) - cool if you live in the land of snow.
––––
oh as you are learning - here is one fact of life.  Trees suck.  They are plane magnets.

any opinion on the Mini Supercub RTF from Hobbyzone for a starter?

Helos are great..especially when they crash...

Yep, crashing a kilo buck heli sucks.

I flew both Helicopters and Planes.
In the end I actually likes the planes More.

I Sold out of the Helicopters, only kept the radio.
If I start back up it will be with airplanes again

This. When I started flying it was on beginner kits. That was fine since they were under $200 and not that big of a loss.



When I started flying air ducted planes and jets. Yea... better to crash in a hard to fly sim than eat 5K in a motor alone



 

Let's address "expensive".  I don't smoke, but I can tell you flying R/C is a helluva lot cheaper than a 1 pack a day habit.

I don't own a boat.  A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money.  Flying R/C is a helluva lot cheaper than owning a boat.

You worked, you earned your money.  Spend it how you want.  Don't let others criticize you for having an "expensive" hobby.

I haven't flown R/C for the last few years, other things taking up my time.  But I have flown long enough that I didn't crash very often, and had to sell planes to make room for new ones.  

I was also one of the club designated instructors.

So, take this to heart... the advice to start small and move up... BS.  The bigger the plane, the easier it is to fly.  I would not begin to teach a beginner with anything under 50" wingspan.  And 60" - 70" would be better.  

My opinion, based on nearly 40 years of flying R/C.

Go with the Champ.  Has the same radio, but is complete for about $80.  You can use the Bind-N-Fly radio for others once you get flying down.

This is what I did, It might not have been the best idea , but I like to learn the hard way. For  $97.00 delivered I bought the 800mm P40 warhawk  Nitroplanes.com, It came with a radio, battery and charger. Most likely not the best choice for a beginner but I have no regrets. I can now keep the plane in the air and not get the shakes. I crashed the shit out of it ( this is a tough little plane) fixed it 2 or 3 time with super glue and packing tape but the last crash finished her off.

   Good news is I was able to savage all the electronics from the P40 and transplant them in a  BF109 Kit  that cost $50.00 , Im goning to put her in the air tomorrow If weather permits.

having been both `routes,  you are a FOOL if you don't get a sim, just get a used one, and don't pay a lot. It will go MILES towards helping you enjoy the sport. it gets your thumbs thinking the right way, lets you practice stuff before you try it real and lets you fly when your weather is crap.


I fly my sims more than my reals cause you can do it in less time than loading up, finding a park flying etc.

Bigger aircraft is easiest to fly, in general.





 

are those cheap Harbor Freight planes any good for a beginner?
my goal is to be able to soon gain enough skill to fly a Predator replica such as a
PROJET MQ-9 Reaper with built in video camera



how long would it take a beginner to learn to fly such a thing?

This wouldn't be a horrible plane for $69.  It is 3 channel, meaning no rudder.




http://www.harborfreight.com/remote-controlled-airplane-92906.html









 

this.

My first was the HZ SC...  and I've NEVER crashed it.

I got one of those 7weeks ago.  It was my first RC plane.  I had never flown one before and with only some minor verbal instruction from my brother-in-law, I was off into the wild blue yonder.  They are not easy to fly when you don't know jack shit about planes in general.  I damn near destroyed it the first day but half a roll of packing tape and generous amounts of Gorilla Glue later, I was back in the air.  Just a few weeks later and I am now a badass in the sky.  You can call me Maverick.  It just takes practice.

I got bored quick and bought a ParkZone Micro P-51D a couple of days ago.  I want to be able to fly in my yard so the micro was the way to go.  I've only flown it once and it was windy so I couldn't really control it very well due to it's size and extremely light weight.  The bigger planes are definately easier to fly in less than perfect conditions.  I can't wait until tomorrow to get back out and fly it.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to get the plane high enough so that you can recover before you get near the ground.  I didn't do that and I broke the wing in half twice in an hour.  Get way up in the air and fly in slow big circles to get a feel for the controls.  To land, line it up, cut the power and glide it in.  The Super Cub glides very well and almost lands itself.  My wife flew it in a few circles with very basic instructions after I got it up high for her.  I think it's a great beginner plane from my experience with it.  Spare parts are cheap too!

Get one of the simulators for your PC.  A guy at work had one on his work computer, and he let me try it out during lunch.  It goes a long way toward getting you used to the controls and the concept of control reversal (when the plane is coming back toward you, there is a tendancy to move the rudder or ailerons in the opposite direction that you need to move them).  Even an older simulator program will help you with the basics (I think the one I used is so outdated that it's hasn't been sold in quite a while).

Get a 2.4GHz radio.  My first radio was a 5 channel FM.  It was far less glitchy than the AM radios, but the glitch problems disappeared when I upgraded to my 2.4GHz radio.  With my 2.4GHz, the receivers are "bonded" to the transmitter, so I don't have to worry about whether or not the channel I am using is clear (no more crashes because somebody turned on their radio on the same channel).

My first trainer was a Sky Scooter.  Broke a lot of props, but it used cheap props, and the plane was made of expanded polypropylene foam (more rubbery than styrofoam, so it was more likely to "bounce back" from a crash).  When I would walk out the door to go fly it (or try to fly it) I would plug in a hot glue gun.  If I damaged it enough that the foam was actually torn, the hot glue gun allowed repairing it and getting back into the air within a few minutes.  Unfortunately, the Sky Scooter was discontinued, a couple years after I started flying.

Cheapest way to fly: After you buy the radio gear (transmitter, receiver, and servoes), a motor and speed controller, and a battery pack, go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy a bundle of BlueCor foam insulation.  Other than the modified Pibros and Zagnuts planes I usually made from BlueCor, there are a lot of good designs available on the internet that are fairly easy to make with BlueCor.  People have even gotten a bit carried away with it and built some pretty darn good scale planes using BlueCor foam.
ETA: If I can salvage the radio gear, motor, and battery pack from a crashed BlueCor plane, I'm usually only out a couple bucks for the foam and packing tape that I built the plane from (the broken prop usually cost me more than the materials I built the plane from).


-JPN (or JustPlaneNuts, when I was posting on RCGroups).

True, but too hard for a new pilot to learn how to set-up the power system from scratch, and where to buy, etc...



 

That would depend on the individual's ability to pick up on how the electric systems are wired.  A kit usually has instructions that are easy to follow, but there have been people who crashed their store bought trainer, robbed every bit off of it that they could, then used that to build a BlueCor plane for two or three dollars.  I've seen planes put together by using the cheap (maybe $4) styrofoam gliders that you can find every spring in the Walmart toy department.  Just add some control surfaces to the tail, install the servoes, put a motor on the nose, then use the radio, speed controller, and battery pack (mainly the battery pack) to balance the CG.  Cheap and easy to build slowflyer with a 4 foot wingspan.

Or you could get a little crazy and take one of the "Turbojet 2000" 24 inch wingspan gliders that look like a businessjet, and build a 3 channel (elevators, ailerons, throttle) speed demon.  I did it, back before brushless motors and the tiny receivers (two HS-55 servoes, 555 receiver, 6volt speed400 mounted as a pusher, 7cell 600AE nicad pack).  With all that weight on it, I had to beef it up (first one came apart in the air, on the first flight), which made it even heavier.  The stall speed was right around the maximum speed we could throw it at, so frequent crashes on launch resulted in a short life for the plane.  But when it flew, it was a bullet.  I've still got a few of the glider kits laying around here, and even have a beefed up wing waiting for me to finish a fuselage with a brushless motor, a tiny 2.4GHz receiver, and a LiPo battery pack.  The lighter gear should solve the problem with stalling the plane on launch.

I started (haven't flown in a few years)learning with a sailplane and 72" wing span, very easy to control especially when the aircraft was way up high catching thermals and even down low not a problem.  Tried the training sim before flying and it was certainly worth the trial.

I built 3, 61" wingspan trainer planes from coroplast (elections signage), yardsticks, cutting board & aluminum tubing. The first 3 planes were powered by the Towerhobbies .46 ABC engine, and the final 4th airplane with a Super-Tiger ringed G51. Now I own a Greatplanes flex-foam LiPo plane & the big trainer.

The first one I wrecked and repaired it, wrecked it again and broke the motor mount & bent the frame. The second on its maiden voyage had an electronics failure and slammed into the rocks on our north runway it too bent the frame busting rivets and motor mount, that design was never built again.  

3rd one had 3 tanks of fuel threw it before the Tower hobbies ABC engine froze, causing a dead stick landing with too much airspeed and not enough runway, lost the wing that day but we had a laugh because it hit the twin boulders and left the cockpit wedged between them with no wing, I had to replace that servo, quick way to bust $50.  

I think the total amount invested in the aircraft minus electronics was $30-40, I bought pushrods & accessories, wheels, front steering components, gas tanks and nylon bolts, CA glue, duct tape for field repairs. I made just about all of the parts that I could including battery packs that I'd buy in pieces from walmart,  

It was fun, go electric, carb tuning can be a bitch for new comers.

+1 on the SuperCub.  I've got 5 of them, and they're GREAT little planes.  You can learn on them, but they're also very, VERY expandable with minimal effort.



I disagree with the above statement.  I've lifted this from one of my posts in another forum.  This is a great way to take your RTF SuperCub to the next level (standardized RC gear) when you're ready, for less than $30 or so.  The list below assumes you're running 2.4 Spektrum gear.  If you're running 72mhz, then get one of the $15 Corona receivers.  FASST guys get one of the $30 HobbyKing FASST receivers, or you can opt for a complete FrSky setup. I'm running the setup below in one of my SuperCubs right now (my original, which now serves as trainer duty for others via BuddyBox).



"Use this radio gear, and don't worry about it, then!  Here's the Brushed ESC you need:





$5 for 20A





http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9090





or $8 for 30A



http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6468
and here are the servos you need for $3 each:





http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=662





You may as well buy a half dozen or so servos, for spares, ailerons, etc.    





If you've already got a good radio (and 72mhz is just fine), then you can convert for $20 or so plus shipping..."



As mentioned above, once you're comfortable with the stock plane, you can start adding / expanding.  Float kit for $25, opens all kinds of fun.  Brushless motor, ailerons, flattened wing, flaps, parachute drops, clipped wing, etc.  The versatility of the HZ SuperCub is one of the best aspects of the plane, as well as the inexpensive availability of parts.



Here's a thread (and site, for that matter) that you MUST check out:



http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1338787





FWIW, if you have -0- RC experience, and you insist on learning on your own, I highly recommend the HobbyZone Champ ultra micro.  It cost about 1/2 of the SuperCub, and as long as you fly over grass and avoid hard objects (buildings, trees, posts, fences, etc) it's nearly indestructable.  GREAT plane to learn with, and lots of fun with it, too (I think I've got 6 or so of 'em).  The downside to the plane is that it must be flown with little-to-no wind.  Leaves moving on the trees = ok to fly.  LIMBS moving on the trees = a beginner needs to stay on the ground.  If you have a gym, sports arena, warehouse, etc where it can be flown inside, you are GOLDEN.









 

A pair of FREE sims that work great:



FMS:  http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html



RC DeskPilot (RCDP):  http://rcdeskpilot.com/



Forum for active input / help / assistance / models for RCDP, where the programmer is active:  http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1102829



$15-$20 USB controllers for above sims:  



4-channel for $19.95  http://www.hobbypartz.com/e4chflsitrki.html



6-channel for $15 (this is what I have):  http://www.hobbypartz.com/60p-dyu-1002.html



Practice all you want, with thousands of models (FMS) or a crapload of models (RCDP) for $20...



 

One more reason the sims are nice...if you can fly with it, you shouldn't have -any- trouble with the real thing.  ;)



I agree, though.  Pick up a HobbyZone (same as ParkZone) Champ for a trainer, and go fly!  If you will have to fly in windy conditions, or feel you "must have" a bigger plane, pick up the SuperCub.  It'll be a bit more versatile, but it'll require a LOT more room to fly, and it'll be more prone to being damaged (due to the speed and mass).  I fly my Champ in my yard and cul-de-sac all the time...





 

You, my friend, need to look into FPV flying...



Be sure to hang out until at least the 2:00 minute mark...things get "fun" then.  ;)







Remember the $90 HobbyZone Champ I mention above?  Well, here's a thread about a $130 way to be flying "pilot's view" from that plane...



http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1316265





 

Yep.  Even if you are flying in a huge open field, there will be one small tree near the edge of the field that is waiting to grab any plane that gets too close to it.

Then there are the times when your depth perception lies to you, and tells you that the tree is farther away from you than your plane is, and you fly right into the top of the tree (when you were trying to make a nice gentle turn to bring the plane back to you, and away from the tree).

Rolls of hay can also be hazardous.  Had a hot little BlueCor Pibros with a longcan 400, 3 cell LiPo, and 4.7x4.7 CAM Speed Prop.  Came out of a dive and was going to make a high speed slalom run through the rolls of hay, going from my left to my right, and smacked dead center on the second roll of hay.  Walked out to the crash site, straightened the worst of the wrinkles on the nose, checked everything over, then launched it again.  It didn't fly quite as fast after that (extra drag from the damaged nose).

Building planes from BlueCor might make you a little more willing to take chances with your plane.

I strongly, STRONGLY recommend AGAINST the HF planes.  If you want their "WildHawk":



http://www.harborfreight.com/easy-to-fly-wild-hawk-rc-airplane-94774.html







then save a -little- more money, and get the MPX EasyStar that it's based on:



http://www.hobby-lobby.com/easystar.htm







MultiPlex Elapor is some of the best, most durable foam out there.  The airframe itself is worth the difference in price with the HarborFreight model, and the HarborFreight models are usually woefully underpowered, and overweight compared to the "hobby grade" versions.



If you MUST get the HF Mustang:



http://www.harborfreight.com/radio-controlled-p51-mustang-airplane-97393.html







then you'll DEFINITELY want to read this thread, to see all the work people have had to do to make it flyable.  It is NOT flyable from the box!  If you insist on trying it, you should be prepared to wad it fairly quickly...



http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=923688&highlight=harbor+freight



Personally, with all the modding necessary to the Harbor Freight P51, I think I'd rather just start off with an AirField or GWS plane instead.  You pretty much have to pitch -all- the electrics in the Harbor Freight model, and start from scratch anyway...



http://www.nitroplanes.com/93a275-800p51-blue-kit.html







Although, to be fair:



1)  You should NOT be considering a warbird as your first plane

2)  DO YOUR RESEARCH before you choose to order from Nitroplanes or Banana Hobbies.  Lots of people have had success with them, lots of people wish they would burn to the ground.  Either way, customer service does not seem to be their strongest suit.
 

Depends on your local municipality.  I fly my foam planes in the park behind a local community center.  The park has a large, paved walking / bicycling area on one side, pavillion, playground set for kids, etc.  On the other side is just a big, open field.  A park or good sized football field is GREAT for the micro sized planes, but depending on the facility in question, may be a bit small for something larger like the SuperCub.  As a general rule, the more your skills as a pilot progress, the less room you'll need to fly.



 

best starter plane



http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=HBZ7100





best plane once you want to start trying more than average flying.



http://www.hobbyzone.com/rc_planes_parkzone_typhoon.htm





both are easy and cheap to fix when you crash.    you WILL crash.  

I can't speak from experience, but it seems like the recommendations seem to be for the Champ (for a small foam plane) or the SuperCub (for a larger foam plane).  I know they both have large followings.  I don't seem to see as much about the MSC (Mini SuperCub).



Here's a thread discussing the virtues of the Champ vs the Mini Super Cub:



http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1285019&highlight=champ+mini+super+cub



 

I would not recommend that a beginner convert a "chuck glider".  Not that they can't...but I think this is less likely to result in an actual flight occurring, much less a successful one.  They'd have to learn about motors, props, esc's, thrust angles, how to find (and maintain) CG, how big the control surfaces need to be, and how much throw is necessary, etc.  There's a lot of fun stuff to play with if you're familiar with the hobby, but I can see how it could be overwhelming to someone that's new.  Hell, I've got 11 of the Airhogs Titan airframes in my loft that I purchased with the intent of converting...and I haven't gotten around to it yet!  Imagine someone who doesn't know the difference between brushed and brushless?



Should one choose to go down this path, however, here are a couple of useful threads:



http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=832717



http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1246101



 

I was looking into getting an EDF jet. Where's the best place to get one? Banana Hobbies has some really nice planes but I have heard bad things about them, any suggestions?