This is the official site of the
R/C Airplane & Helicopter Club in Central Wisconsin
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NEW ELECTRIC FLYERS
You will need 2 basic items to fly, a plane and a radio transmitter. There are several smaller items included in these two but I will cover those as I go along.
Radio Transmitter
This is the item you will use to operate the flight controls on the plane while it is flying. I do not recommend purchasing an expensive radio when just starting out. All you will need is a basic 4 channel radio. You may want to get one with a trainer port. GWS and Futaba both offer a basic entry level radio with this feature at a very reasonable price. These radios are on 72 mhz and are assigned a channel number from 10 - 60 which is determined by a crystal that is installed in the radio. You can purchase a radio complete with battery pack and crystal for about $45-60 depending on the brand. It might also be a good idea to check with the local AMA club membership as someone may have an extra radio they would be willing to sell.
Plane - basic
DO NOT go to your local hobby shop and ask them what they recommend! You will most likely come home with a plane that is more money than you need to spend and more difficult to fly than you will want. You will want a plane that flies fairly slow and is very forgiving and extremely durable. A good starter plane is a GWS Slow Stick or similar. You can purchase one for about $35. The plane is quick to assemble and comes with the motor. The additional items needed that do not come with the plane are, speed control, receiver w/crystal, 2 servos, battery, battery charger and propeller. No plane you will buy comes with any of these items unless you buy a complete system and then you will pay for it or you will end up with a cheap 27mhz system.
Radio $45
Plane $35
Speed control $20-25 Receiver $20-30 + crystal on same channel as radio
2 servos $10-15 ea
Battery, lipoly $20-25, you may want 2
Battery charger, lipo $10-15 for basic low end, $75-100 upper
Battery charger, nicad $10-15 for basic low end, $75-100 upper
The transmitter uses nicad batteries. The upper end chargers will charge both types.
Propeller
$2 ea, you should have a couple spares Total approx: $217
The items listed on the reverse side of this page can be purchased at your local hobby store or ordered on line from any one of several stores. These things are also listed on EBay for anyone who goes there.
Below are web sites for some R/C stores.
www.aeromicro.com
www.balsapr.com
www.hobby-lobby.com
www.radicalrc.com
www.towerhobbies.com
www.microrcflyer.com/airplane.htm
River Valley Flyers web site
www.rivervalleyflyers.com
Academy of Model Aeronautics web site
http://www.modelaircraft.org
The following is a web site link where you can download a free R/C flying simulator that you can use with your radio by buying a simulator cord that fits the trainer port on the back of your radio.
http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html
I have this program on my computer and I have used the program. It’s not bad for a free program. The web host is in the Netherlands so from time to time the web page is down. Just be patient and keep trying it, it will come up sooner or later.
When you decide to start acquiring your equipment and have questions feel free to contact one of us from the River Valley Flyers Club electric flyers group listed below.
Charles Korte cell # 715-213-2346
Charles Benner 715-424-5179
RVF June Electric
Fun Fly and Swap MeetMarshfield Indoor Electric Flying