Buying Used Hobby Aircraft to Start Out

Buying Used Hobby Aircraft to Start Out

How do you fly if the very idea of flying fills you with anxiety and stress? It can be done - vicariously. That's what remote control hobby aircraft are there for. Hobby stores stock some pretty thoroughly specified remote-controlled aircraft in fully built form for the newbie, and in kit form for the inveterate DIY enthusiast. Deciding on your first hobby aircraft can be a little challenging at first. There are so many kinds out there. The first thing you probably worry about getting a hobby aircraft is that they are so easy to wreck. That's hardly how you want to see your first venture into remote-controlled flying go. There are beginners' aircraft they make these days that fly especially slowly. That said, you would probably do yourself a real favor taking the edge off your stress, if you invested your money in buying a used plane to start out.

Most people go about buying their used remote-controlled airplanes in the same way they would buy new ones - they go for visual appeal over ease of use or anything else. You're buying a used remote-controlled plane for the simple reason that you expect that it will take the pressure off your mind as you try to learn. People who learn, make mistakes, and you want a plane that makes it easy for you to make them and recover from them. Your first rule buying a used plane would be to find out how easy the designers of the model made it to repair. You want something that you can find spare parts for should you clip a wing or something. The best material to pick for a plane when you're trying to earn your wings is foam or wood. Sure, plastic can be tougher; but for the kind of impact that you expect a plane to experience when it crashes, plastic can be a lot harder to put back together. With wood or foam, you just glue it back together and off you go. Make sure that the model you buy is popular enough that you can get spare parts for it. Some models come with spare parts supplied. Get those, and you should be able to fly worry-free for a while.

When you're learning to fly, you want a plane that's not overly complicated to control. Buy a plane that follows the dihedral design - that's where the wings are angled slightly upwards. A dihedral that has a long tail should pretty much control itself and make it easy for you to fly it. Once you get your kit together, you can go join a remote-controlled aircraft flying club. They probably have stimulators where you can do a little bit of rudimentary training before you lift off.