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Zack, I have been following your blog for awhile. My friend Bill Hibbler first told me about you. My son Sam is 11 years old and I know he would love to get into remote planes. We have some good open space near to us, but I am not sure which type of plane or brand of plane would be best for him to start out as a first-timer with no good adult or club resource (I am a good adult, but no remote plane experience
\ ). We also do not have a lot of money to spend. What would you recommend? -Wendy
Hi, I am so sorry for not responding sooner. I would first like to welcome Sam to the RC world. Since he is a beginner, there are a lot of planes he could start with, but if you only have so much money to spend, I think Sam’s first plane should be what you call an ultra micro. If you scan the blog you could find lots of information about ultra micros, but this isn’t a treasure hunt. There are many kinds of ultra micros for a beginner, but Sam won’t have a very experienced instructor. There are three planes I would recommend for Sam. I will give you the links to them at the end of my note. I am very happy to tell you that they are at a price range of about $80 to $120. I think Sam is going to love his new hobby. Please tell me your decision asap.
Thanks
Zack
P.S. I will post the links, so everybody in the same position will know what to do.
P.P.S. I will give you free lessons since you are my first costumer:)
Thank you Zack! I will be looking into this as we get closer to his birthday at the end of June. Lessons would be cool, but unless you are coming to Ohio this summer, … probably not going to happen
). I did spot a man flying a large RC over a field near us. I am going to try to stop next time, and I’ll bet the hobby shops around here have some sort of club network. I will definitely let you know which one we pick and try to get some video. I will also encourage my son (Sam, 11) to write to you directly if he does get the RC, but for now–this is still a surprise!
I need to know what plane you pick when you do. The options are in the second post down. Sorry if you already know that. I know that you are off to a good start, because the person with the plane could really give Sam a boost. I f there are any hobby shops that have the planes I showed you, then try to pick it up there. I also think that you should get extra batteries for more fun flying. (I’d go for 2 or 3 extras. If you go to the hobby shops the people should know what kind of battery to give you, but to be sure ask for Eflite’s 150 miliamp batteries. Also ask for a ready to fly package.) If you decide to order the plane then get the RTF version, not the BNF version. Don’t worry about the batteries. I have way too many. I’ll mail them to you. Also if you can try to get a four port Eflite charger than Sam would be completly ready to take on his hobby. Heres a link to the charger. Link
Zack, thanks for all of the info!
I actually met a man who OWNS a RC hobby shop. He brought a small helicopter over two weeks ago and declared our backyard a perfectly good open space to fly in.
He recommended a software package that people can use to practice their flying skills before they wreck their expensive RC planes. He was trying to be nice, because he is dating my friend and wants her to practice on the computer before she wrecks HIS expensive RC planes, ha ha.
After watching him fly for about 10 minutes I can understand why you recommend that we get Sam extra battery packs! You do not want the fun to end after 11 or 12 minutes. I am planning a trip to this guy’s hobby shop soon, since Sam’s birthday is this week.
I will definitely let you know what we decide and I am grateful for all of your advice. I will do my best to get pictures and maybe even video, if possible.
Great! I can’t wait to get started with Sam! He can mainly take his lessons with your friend if he has the time, but I still would love to hear about how much progress Sam is making. Can you tell me what the man recommended? If It isn’t what I have on my mind then I can tell you another good idea. Sam must be looking forward to getting his new plane! I know this, because I am excited whenever I am about to get a new plane or helicopter. Tell Sam that no matter what he gets it will be a good plane. I want you two know also that the Micro Corsair is a little more expensive because it will be a bit more of a challenging plane to Sam since he is a begginer. The reason I am reccomending this plane though, is that it could provide an amazing amount of fun as he progresses through his hobby. I am just in between an intermedeate an advanced pilot, and I have some planes that I had very early, and I still love them today. So the point is, it could make you not have to spend a lot of money for a while. After Sam mastered that plane, he could go straight to a larger plane, unless he wanted to have his fun in the ultra micros area.(Lots and lots of fun!) I just wanted to tell you that that plane is probably his best choice. No matter what you get I can give you lots of tips and tricks about how to tune the plane to Sam’s needs. Tell him that I said happy birthday! Also can you tell me where you live so I can mail you the batteries? Sorry to bother you about that. Also can I see your back yard? It might be big enough to fly the plane in also. You can email it to me if you prefer.
Can’t wait to see what you got!
Zack
Hey Zack,
Sam decided to start with a very inexpensive plane he found at Target. I know, I know, not a truly good plane, but the other planes were so expensive. He has been having a lot of fun learning the terms and how to fly without the worry and expense. He bought an Airhogs F-14 Tomcat. The good thing is that it is easy to put (or glue) back together if it crashes.
I did check out the Micro Corsair. If he decides to continue flying, it would be a very good choice for a first real plane. Your offer to send your extra stuff it very generous! I will let you know how it goes. We live in Ohio near Cleveland, so the snowy season is coming very soon and plane flying might not happen as often.
Thanks for all of your advice and help!
Wendy
That is great! I hope he is having fun flying!
Hi, its Zack! I was wondering how Sam is doing so far in his hobby! Maybe I can give him some tips if he needs them! I want to know how you are doing!
Hey Zack!
Sam has continued to make smaller investments in less expensive RC’s since he actually enjoys crashing them after a while, ha ha. His latest is a very small helicopter that takes much more finesse to operate and he can practice with it inside, since it is so small. Sam is also very interested in LEGOs so he is often making purchasing decisions between expensive LEGO kits and RC’s.
Sam is starting to be able to use email at school and I will probably let him out onto the internet a bit more. As soon as that happens, I am going to introduce you two (probably this summer)! I have shown him your site a few times over the years, but now that he will be turning 13, I think he understands the concepts of the internet much better. I know, it is a bit protective, but that’s what moms do.
I am going to try to learn how to use WordPress, and then see if Sam wants to do a blog about his LEGO and RC stuff this summer.
-Wendy
Oh my! That is great! I would love to help Sam with making a blog this summer! Oh, and I understand about the Internet, my Mom is like that sometimes, too.
I also understand that you are tying to save money by buying inexpensive planes, I had to start out like that to. I will enjoy e-mailing Sam, when he completely learns. I hope he is having fun right now. Plus, Tell him the following: He has gotten so far now, and I can tell from what I am hearing that Sam is going to be very good at his hobby and progress very far. In other words, don’t give up now!