My better half has a birthday on the same day as the Easter Bunny...

I'd like to buy him a Piper Cub RC plane (it has to be a j-3 cub).

Where can I get one in chch?

I'd prefer something that didn't need much building..he's not one for reading instructions and dealing with bits and pieces!!

Anything else to look out for? He's never owned an RC plane before but we have 10 acres here that he can fly it around for practice

Not quite all the info you want but this thread might be of some interest.

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/1-vt28 ... sc&start=0

If he's never even flown an RC plane then you don't want to get him a piper cub, you'll want something less fragile than that.

Here's an auction that would be perfect: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Toys-models/Radio-control/Planes/auction-145888186.htm

Except the stickers, oh no not the star stickers! :evil:

Thanks Ira.. I ended up buying him some good quality tools...

he's very stubborn...and mostly he wants a Cub cause he's a cub 'enthusiast' (he's part owner of one being restored as we speak.. I think its a '56 model J3. He brought it back as a project from the US some years ago!)

So I'm not really sure what to do with him He wants one.. but knows its likely to break....but then he doesn't' want some other RC plane just for the sake of an RC plane.. GAAAA!!!! Men!!! I said he can buy a trainer and sell it when he's ready for a cub... but he just shrugs!!

Thanks for the suggestion though.. I showed it to him.. he sees the sense in it

Does any real world flying experience make up for lack of RC skills ??

Does any real world flying experience make up for lack of RC skills ??

Sure, in about the same way that driving a car in Auckland traffic makes you a rally car driver.

Meaning, No. Two completely different skillsets...Actually, the most demolished RC plane I've ever seen was an Extra 300 crashed by a professional aerobatics pilot who flies full scale Extra 300s.

Slightly OT but my uncle is a helicopter pilot of many years experience. When he bought his computer he promptly went and bought a helicopter flight simulator game. He never did manage to fly the copter on screen :lol:

Could manage small planes but not the choppers. :-?

Perhapes you could save up for the Cub and he could have it as strictly a display and hang it from to ceiling? Means you dont need to pay out for the motor and servo/transmitter etc. And then he can gawk at it to his hearts content

oh and also for a little extra $$ (sometimes just a box of beer or the like) there are folks out there who get real kicks out of building aircraft and may do it for other people too. Could be a good idea if

he's not one for reading instructions and dealing with bits and pieces

:lol:

A quick look has shown me that a few NZ model sites have cubs for sale

http://www.toprc.co.nz/piper48.htm

http://www.greatplanes.com/airplanes/gpma0160.html

Hey, Stop that! Stop posting links to Top RC, you'll make me look and then I'll want to buy somet...Oops, too late...Mmmm...Unijet... :lol:

Sure, in about the same way that driving a car in Auckland traffic makes you a rally car driver.

heee hee!!! Ok.... I was expecting that.. was just trying to work out a way to 'enable' him

Thanks for the links loopy. I did suggest we buy one for display purposes.. I even offered it a proud spot in the living room.. he said nah....

There's also one for sale currently on TM.. needs a prop and tx/rx.

What's a servo? :oops: :oops: :oops:

And how would one go bout choosing an appropriate receiver/transmitter set?

I may just buy one regardless... and then he may decide to buy himself a trainer when he gets tired of seeing the cub sitting up in the living room and decides he needs to learn how to fly it.

How about the RC flight simulator software? Is that much help?

From what i have gathered about learning to fly and flight sims and stuff (and i am no expert at all) You have to get the brain trained to push a little stick in the right direction at the right time. It is a lot like learning to play a playstation very quickly and a bit more complex. This is the sim we have got but a newer version and it comes with the special transmitter which plugs to the PC and the software (can download tonnes of planes too!) My preschool girls like playing around with it even!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Toys-models/Radio-control/Planes/auction-142592318.htm

I have even had a play with the sim myself and once i got the hang of turning in a circle (a controlled circle not random flying spaztically round all over) i realised that it is very difficult for me. And i have a huge respect for the fact that my hubby can throw planes round in the sky as natually as blinking as eye. He has just started advanced aerobatics.

What's a servo?

The tx (transmitter) has the sticks/controls which you manouver and it sends your instructions to the plane ie "go up", "go left",etc.

The rx (reciever) picks up the instruction and unscrambles it to tell the various parts of the plane what to do to acheive your request. The servos are the things that make those parts move.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servomechanism

Thanks again.. i knew what the rx/tx was and actually just after I posted to ask what a servo was the 'offending party' entered the room here so I asked him... he looked at me like I was an eeeeeediot and explained what a servo was So much for trying to help him out eh !!

I was looking at this rx/tx set: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =146399454

and not knowing anything about it I didn't know if it was decent or not..any opinions? Then I saw the freeware flightsim software and USB cable so I wondered if that would be a good starting point.

the cub I spotted for sale was this one:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =146399454 and it seems like a reasonable price. Any idea if its respectable one? keeping in mind he only wants to buzz it around the paddocks for wee while and then probably hang or shelve it somewhere as a novelty!!!

I personally wouldn't touch anything apart from Futaba and JR. These are the main 2 makes. Both do entry level starting at about $300 through to $3K. Planes are planes but the radiogear is the lifeline of the plane.

Come out to CMAC and I'll get him up on the club trainer to see if he likes it.

www.modelaeroclub.com

(the power flight section)

One of the guys I fly with when in Dunners

http://www.flyinggiants.com/gallery/sho ... ppuser=689

Mr L

any of you aero guys using dsm yet??? if so how are you finding it?? Im looking into a 2 channel set for my car, but i think i will wait, as alot of guys at racing are getting really bad glitching :-?

i used spektrum 3.0 in my truggy for about a year and have just now upgraded to airtronics m11 with spektrum pro module and i havent had any problems

Why would I? There's very few people on 35 mhz and none that I know of on 35.04.

can someone just go and buy a controller, go where people are flying and take controll off what used to be theres

Most likely what will happen if you turn on a radio on the same frequency someone else is on is that their plane will go nuts and crash. Then they'll find you and depending on who it is they'll either break all you fingers and then take you to court for $500+ damages and have you charged with something like destruction of property, or if you're really lucky they won't break your fingers.

OIC got to find you first tho