xxx-t2

What is the best electric airplane you can buy. arf or rtf?

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

The best electric airplane you can buy is glow powered!

NikolayTT

Well, Yes and No ! If you like to compare, there is a clear line to cross, i.e. what amount of money you would like to spend for what performance,
and that is defined by the Dollars-per-Watt(bhp). Even simpler calculation would be to tell that couple years ago it was 50 Watts and now it is
about 200 Watts the power where the prices for Glow and Electric equipment are pretty close. Then it makes the power of about 2.5 - 3.5 cc
glow engine power and associated equipment, i.e. for RC Model which is requiring at least 0.40-0.47 ci engine(7.5 cc) the electric version is
almost twice more expensive and that goes up to about 5-10 times if you want to go electric for planes above 1.2 ci. It is a very nice illustration
of those things at www.hobbylobby.com = same models in two power plants implementation. I stay in glow powered because the Aviation is
about Power in my mind, otherwise better fly a kite or a baloon, unless you like flying indoors where you should use electric.
Cheers,
Nick

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

It was a joke, Nick.

NikolayTT

Sure, I like that joke, but behind the joke there is some real truth anyway indeed.
Also I could add another one semi-joke: ... because Glow sounds better than electric.
I guess many might agree with me, isn't it.

IAMKAOS

i have been in glow for over 20 years but there are some guys in our flying group who are heavy into expensive electrics. i will admit the performance of some of these large electric planes is astounding. but i just can't see buying those $300.00 18 cell lipo and polymer batteries. thats what some of them guys pay for those packs......not me!. but i am considering buying one those park zone electric rtf spitfires. i saw one fly with its stock battery pack and it flew well. that is about is far as i would go with electrics.

stinger40

I'll be the first to actually post ABOUT the topic. Let's see. I've had several. It depends. I LOVE my Ikarus Shockflyer, but the E-Flite Yak 54 flew like a million bucks! Tough call.

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

Best at what?

Doing 3D?
Taking up room in your workshop?
Removing cash from your wallet?
Floating on a light breeze?
Flying knife edge harriers?
Resisting crash damage?
Learning how to fly inverted?

You have to define your terms.

There's no such thing as an all-around best airplane, electric or otherwise. You might as well ask what flavor ice cream is best.

Rick

tIANci

This thread is about a guy who is asking for assistance on EP planes, what the h*ck are some of you doing by taking this into the GLOW vs EP topic? I mean come on ... if you can't give some assitance then do not highjack the thread. Let's lend a hand and not step up to the soap box to preach.

xxx-t2: you need to let us know the size that you want to fly and what sort of flying do you enjoy? You can start with something as simple as a 400 sized plane or go to a 25 sized one and then from 40 sized to 40CC sized EP. You got fun fly planes to 3D planes to scale planes. Best advice is DO NOT buy those so called RTF, most are not worth owning e.g. the Cessna package that some LHS carry. Let us know what you like then we can work out some potential options. Go to Hobby Lobby for a guide, they have classified their products well and that can be somewhere to start to give you an idea of what is out there and how much it costs.

Some manufacturers to look out for (beginner planes):

GWS
Multiplex
Great Planes

Some 370/400 sized planes:

GWS starter planes: E Starter, Beaver, Slow Stick ... all very nice to fly
GWS warbirds: Spit/ME 109/P51/A 10... not for beginners at all
Multiplex Easy Star: very good starter plane
Multiplex: Fun Jet ... very nice intermediate jet like plane, flies well and is easy to launch/land
Shock Flyers - not for beginners as they are way too fragile
GP Flat Outs - not for beginners as they are way too fragile
Hobby Lobby - MIG 15/F 86 totally awesome but not for beginner

Some lavish smaller sized plane manufacturers with a good product line:

Hyperion
Extreme Flight
Fliton
and many more

If you stick with 400 sized plane EP is relatively cheap as you need not use super powered batts and you can still buy very reliable ESC and brushless motors that are made in China. Look for Tower Pro motors/esc at www.unitedhobbies.com or www.himodel.com.

tIANci

Baskin Robbins ... 31 Flavours ...

stinger40

Brusters is the way to go!

ryanofoz

Only electric I have is an Eflite ultra stick 25e. I love that little thing. I am not big into electric planes, but I think having one is fun and I like the float option so it can be flown off the lake behind my house in about 10 minutes. Since its quiet I can fly any time. Expensive though...

gnirwin

My Feedback: (25)

I've owned both RTF & ARF and I prefer the ARF because I like to assemble as well as customize my planes to my liking. The biggest thing is I like to overpower my planes and usually this is not the case with RTF. I was at the Toledo show and I was very impressed with the Fliton planes (now being sold by Horizon). There is a new Extra 260 ARF coming in May that I think I will be getting. very nice. Its always good to be able to compare all the planes , assembled , one after another. This is what I did and the Fliton is my choice.
If you have no experience with flying and want to get started I think the ARF version is still the best way to go . You will learn all the components and how they work as you are assembling it. Most hobby shops as well as on line stores will give you a list of prefered components to finish your plane and this forum is also a great help for learning. If you are a beginner I highly recomend the GWS Slow Stick, cheap, a easy flyer, somewhat rugged and a blast to fly.

tIANci

GWS Slow Stick + Tower Pro 2410 Outrunner + Tower Pro 18A ESC + GWS 9x5 Hyper Drive Prop + Tower Pro Micro Servo + 2,000 mAh 3S lipoly = 60 mins of FUN!

gnirwin

My Feedback: (25)

tianc, your making me miss my slowstick, the first plane I succesfully flew

tIANci

I just ordered a Slow Stick ... my set up will be as mentioned above, I expect about 45-60 mins flight on each pack! The Pico Stick is fun but not when there is wind. Talking about over powering planes ... my Clancy Lazy Bee ARF has a 350W motor in her (she gets tail heavy so I needed a big motor up front) and I fly only on 1/3 throttle. That baby is so nice to fly. Flies better than the glow version.

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Just my 2 cents , if your a newbe all the e-flight from H9 are cool, nice power and battery match ect is easy with there suggestions . ALos they offer a ton of choices and an easy move to warbirds .
2)GWS - personally I think the market has passed them , they were cool , cheap but most were underpowered out of the box and needed major upgrades .
3)Hobby Lobby , they are the blue bloods of E-flight , there history with e-boats goes back to the 80ties when they were so ahead of the industry . If your looking to truely get this question answered be very specific and ask them , you cant go wrong , they are friendly , knowledgable and have over 30 years of proven e-experience .
Just take a look at there jets and play the video -wow is all you will say