Any Suggestions for RC Gliders or Planes For Fun? (Affordable, please).

[Just Mark]

Does anyone have any suggestions for any inexpensive, easy-to-fly RC Gliders or planes or something that would be (relatively) quiet and fun to fly?

There are only a few places to fly around here legally, and they are a bit of a trek to get to. I only have two batteries for my P3A. So, maybe I could invest around $100 or so in a glider or ??? just so I don't spend an hour-and-a-half driving out to a beautiful location and be limited to just about 20 to 30 minutes of flight time. Or I could have something for my son to fly (he's 11... does he have to be a certain age to fly an RC glider / plane?)

Maybe there is some RC glider / plane that has a longish flight time? Or that the batteries or affordable and easily charged that I could buy a boatload of batteries for not that much money?

Also, since the motor sounds on the P3A (and I am assuming most drones) are kind of grating, the quieter the better.

Oh, one other thing: my understanding is there are some planes that are "bind and fly" where they don't come with a remote, but you can bind the playing to a remote control. Is there any third party planes / gliders that can bind with the Phantom 3 remote controllers???

Thanks in advance.

 

[Just Mark]

No one here also flies gliders???

 

[Newbieguy]

Can't help you out on the gliders. I might suggest getting a car charger for your quad.

 

[Traveler]

Try visiting any local AMA field on a Saturday. The old timers I have met at my location are always friendly and full of fixed wing knowledge and they love talking about their toys.

 

[Just Mark]

Can't help you out on the gliders. I might suggest getting a car charger for your quad.

thank you.

 

[Just Mark]

Try visiting any local AMA field on a Saturday. The old timers I have met at my location are always friendly and full of fixed wing knowledge and they love talking about their toys.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Mxh666]

Try the Phoenix 2000 glider. 6 foot wingspan.

I purchased one about 6 months ago. Flies well and can glide for quitea while.
The whole kit, excluding batter cost me around $160.00 (AUD).

 

[BigAl07]

What size aircraft are you looking for? How many channels are you wanting/

I've got several planes & gliders. Some of my funnest to fly are the small ones. They are relatively cheap and the batteries are very cheap. This one is a BLAST and I fly it from my deck and hand catch it. I've had flights over 1hr when the thermals are just right (be careful you can get into too much of a thermal with such a light and small airframe)

UMX Radian BNF with AS3X (EFLU2980) $89.99

 

[KentA]

Try the Phoenix 2000 glider. 6 foot wingspan.

I purchased one about 6 months ago. Flies well and can glide for quitea while.
The whole kit, excluding batter cost me around $160.00 (AUD).

Mxh666,
I'm a quad guy who has never flown a fixed wing RC.
Is it hard to learn?
What cameras can it carry?

 

[BigAl07]

Mxh666,
I'm a quad guy who has never flown a fixed wing RC.
Is it hard to learn?
What cameras can it carry?

While that's an easy to fly airplane it's still an airplane and night/day different than a Gyro Stabilized quad rotor. You actually have to FLY the airplane or it reunites with Terra Firma at a high rate of speed.

That particular aircraft requires you to be able to fly a 4 (or 5 if you want to use FLAPS) channel radio. It's not really set up for photography but you could easily attach a small action cam onto this airframe but it would need to be timer/auto triggered. We use a similar one for extended Search & Rescue flights using what I think is called a J-Cam.

For anyone who is interested in flying something a little different I highly suggest you check out the Phoenix Flight Sim (just a coincidence it has the same name as the aircraft noted above). I've had students who spent a few weeks (dedicated flying) on this flight sim and on the first day at our flying club able to SOLO with their airplane. While there is no replacing a flight instructor and hands on training this flight sim does help a LOT and helps to reduce the potential for crashing your aircraft during training a LOT.

 

[Just Mark]

What size aircraft are you looking for? How many channels are you wanting/

I've got several planes & gliders. Some of my funnest to fly are the small ones. They are relatively cheap and the batteries are very cheap. This one is a BLAST and I fly it from my deck and hand catch it. I've had flights over 1hr when the thermals are just right (be careful you can get into too much of a thermal with such a light and small airframe)

UMX Radian BNF with AS3X (EFLU2980) $89.99

That Mini Radian yoiu linked to is the one I am leaning towards.

 

[BigAl07]

That Mini Radian yoiu linked to is the one I am leaning towards.

It's so much fun to fly. I'd guess I have about 500 flight hours on mine LOL. It even spent a few weeks in to the top of a VERY old (aka tall) Oak tree 2 years ago. I've got the Big Brother version (6' wingspan) and the Mini is much more fun to fly. Fly up get into a thermal and kill the motor. When it's almost out of site fly out of the thermal and glide down to tree tops. Climb...repeat... climb...repeat...

 

[BigAl07]

Oh, one other thing: my understanding is there are some planes that are "bind and fly" where they don't come with a remote, but you can bind the playing to a remote control. Is there any third party planes / gliders that can bind with the Phantom 3 remote controllers???

Thanks in advance.

Negative (at least as far as I know). I've never seen anyone be able to bind a DJI Phantom Tx to anything but a DJI Phantom.

Get yourself a nice, dependable, and multi-aircraft member Tx and you then buy Bind-n-Fly and just use the same one for all your planes and heli. My DX8 is connected to over a dozen airplanes, 5 heli, and 2 QuadCopters. A single radio flies everything except my DJI aircraft.

 

[KentA]

BigAl07,
Can you recommend a good entry level, universal controller for someone who doesn't know what drone they will end up with?

 

[Just Mark]

Negative (at least as far as I know). I've never seen anyone be able to bind a DJI Phantom Tx to anything but a DJI Phantom.

Get yourself a nice, dependable, and multi-aircraft member Tx and you then buy Bind-n-Fly and just use the same one for all your planes and heli. My DX8 is connected to over a dozen airplanes, 5 heli, and 2 QuadCopters. A single radio flies everything except my DJI aircraft.

Thanks for the explanation!

 

[Just Mark]

It's so much fun to fly. I'd guess I have about 500 flight hours on mine LOL. It even spent a few weeks in to the top of a VERY old (aka tall) Oak tree 2 years ago. I've got the Big Brother version (6' wingspan) and the Mini is much more fun to fly. Fly up get into a thermal and kill the motor. When it's almost out of site fly out of the thermal and glide down to tree tops. Climb...repeat... climb...repeat...

Thank you again for the input.

Since I am a noob to fix wing aircraft, my thoughts might be in error, so you have been forewarned.

My only concern is going to be WHERE I can fly. It looks like the only places around here are on slopes overlooking the sea. Would the Mini Radian be ok for slopes??? Or will it get tossed around due to its small size?

And am I correct in thinking that there are basically TWO types of gliders: one for thermals, and one for slopes?

Or am I mistaken again?

 

[Mxh666]

Mxh666,
I'm a quad guy who has never flown a fixed wing RC.
Is it hard to learn?
What cameras can it carry?

To be honest, I haven't done much flying with it (Winter & windy). I have taken it up a few times and not really hard to learn.

I joined a Model Aircraft Club and was mentored by a few of the long timers there.

Have not put a camera on, but there is a guy on youtube who has put a camera on one.

 

[Older_Man]

Just Mark,I suggest you get a good flight sim and put it on your computer and fly it a lot.Visit a few flying clubs in your area if possible and talk to those folks for some great advice.RC planes are different than a drone because a drone will stay basically in one place if you don't touch the controls.A rc plane will keep on flying if you don't keep your fingers on the sticks and guide it ALL the time when in the air.
Good luck.

 

[BigAl07]

BigAl07,
Can you recommend a good entry level, universal controller for someone who doesn't know what drone they will end up with?

I'm very partial to DJI in terms of Multi-Rotors. They have some of the best bang for your buck around.

In terms of "universal" controller I really like my Spektrum DX8 (not sure what the latest and greatest is but check out Horizon Hobby for more up to date info) or DX6. Just keep in mind that these controllers do NOT work with Phantom3 or above, Mavic, or Inspire series of UAS.

 

[BigAl07]

Thank you again for the input.

Since I am a noob to fix wing aircraft, my thoughts might be in error, so you have been forewarned.

My only concern is going to be WHERE I can fly. It looks like the only places around here are on slopes overlooking the sea. Would the Mini Radian be ok for slopes??? Or will it get tossed around due to its small size?

And am I correct in thinking that there are basically TWO types of gliders: one for thermals, and one for slopes?

Or am I mistaken again?

Slope soaring is a fairly special type of flying. It takes the right aircraft as well as some skill to be able to ride the updrafts while avoiding downdrafts. It's not rocket science but it's also not something natural/intuitive. It's VERY suggested that if you're going to try slope soaring get with someone local who is experienced and learn from them. See what aircraft they use and go fly with them.

In your most simplistic terms that is mostly correct but I stress "simplistic". The MiniRadion is a great performer but it is very light and unable to penetrate strong winds which is why I cautioned about getting into thermals that are too strong for the aircraft. The fact that it is a POWER glider means you can fly it almost anywhere without having to have thermals. Thermal chasing can be an art in and of it's own and some people just never get the feel for it. I happen to live in a rural area where we have large crops and tons of thermals on a bright clear day. I literally walk out the door on my deck and toss the MiniRadion into the air and away we go. I sit in my deck chair and fly for hours on end usually sipping some good southern Iced Tea.

I highly suggest getting the Phoenix Flight sim I linked above. You'll have so many different airccraft to chose from and from there you might have a better idea of which direction you want to go going forward from here.