FHHuber

That depends on your previous building experience and which kit you choose.

If you've built a couple of Guillows rubber power models, and gotten them to fly, you should have no problems building an R/C kit.

Bill L

FHH gave a good assignment. For less than $20 you can build a Guillow scale kit, and it teaches MANY building skills. (I've built 2 in 2 years, and 2 or 3 20 years ago for control line flying) Kits with "slab" type sides will be stronger but heavier. Converting a 24" wingspan Guillow kit to a 4 channel RC aircraft will take planning ahead.
The worst that could happen is you decide to complete it as a static display model. They look good![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

Exactly!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Go with a gullow kit first off.

Having built a Fundango, I would reccomend soemthing a little larger for your first build. The tail feathers build very light and can easily be broken. Not to mention you are leaning how to 'laminate' the lovely curvers of teh tail feathers. It is easy to build in unwanted twist in the wing, not to menton getting the wrong incedence when drilling that 1/4" hole through the wing. And you're playing with a carbon fiber rod.

IO would reccomend one of the smaller 'park flyer' kits that actually resemble a plane.

FHHuber

For a first R/C kit, without building some FF rubber models to practice... you should look at something that isn't as sensitive to imperfections than a P-51. In general a P-51 is a difficult aircraft to fly. Add a warped wing or some other building error and it will be very unpleasant to try to keep it intact.

00hex

How about a Four Star?
I built a 40 size one after I learned to fly my Duraplane. It's not that hard even if you're not used to working with balsa; all I'd built before that was the trainer and a foam sailplane. It also flies a lot nicer than the Duraplane.

00hex

Well, I dunno about that... it's a bit quick for a trainer but not that fast. The Four Star lands slow and flies a lot smoother, especially inverted (not constantly fighting with dihedral).

00hex

Well, mine has a cheap 40 on it, so it's not that overpowered! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
If you want to hover it, you might need to enlarge the control surfaces a bit and/or increase the throw, especially on the rudder. It's easy since they're bolted on. Just be careful with those plastic pushrods - they aren't supported well enough to take much force.
Get the plane up high enough to recover from a mistake but not so high you can't see what it's doing. Point it straight up like you're doing a hammerhead but don't throttle back. Try going to full throttle just before it stops moving - if it starts to climb you've got more than enough power. To hover you will need to keep the throttle set right so that it doesn't go up or down. Throttle isn't that hard; the tricky part is using the rudder & elevator to stop it from tipping to either side. Leave the ailerons alone, they won't do much anyway.
You've flown a Spectrum right? The 4 star flies more like that - it just goes wherever you point it. The Duraplane is more inclined to just go wherever [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Dzlstunter

If you are looking for wood electric kits, check out Mountain Models. Doug Binder offers kits that are unbelievable in their fit. The parts are simply held together and glued--no cutting or fitting required. And the planes fly well! If you are a beginner, the Dandy. Need an aileron trainer, the Dandy Sport. Fly intermediate, the Switchback Sport. Ready for full house, get the Switchback 3D. No joke. The biggest job is covering. I recommend ordering some Solite covering when you get the kit. A little harder to apply than moneykote, but it shrinks up great. Doug will also provide accessories at a reasonable price. Mountain Models.com will handle it for you. He will take calls in the evening, too (I think). He answers his email promptly. Good luck, Dzl (Oh, did I say I have had good experiences with Mountain Models?)

Bill L

Nathan, given these perameters:
(1) 1 year building and flying experience,
(2) flying .40 powered duraplane,
(3) questioning the construction skills of a balsa plane, and
(4) being on a limited budget,
I am curious; Why do you want to go to electric powered planes, in 4-channel?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] Especially low wing, fast, scale type aircraft?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]