Frequently Asked Questions

It will cost between $100 and $1000 to get yourself started, depending on the brands and quality that you buy and whether you go electric or nitro. What you pay for is what you get and some of the cheaper electric plug & play aircraft are nothing more than TOYS. A decent nitro Trainer is around $120, engine $180, R/C set $350, and some extra's like Club Fees $220, a starter $50, fuel, a Flight Box and some tools will be needed. Club Fees are an important and necessary part of flying because that is where your insurance is paid from and insurance is a "must have" these days. 

By joining a club, you can usually find someone to teach you to fly - free of charge. More important is that you are covered by insurance should something go wrong and believe me, things do go wrong. Clubs also provide a safe place to fly, companionship, competition for those who want it, and some good friendly advice from other fliers. 

It can take around 3 months or 8 hours of "hands on time" for a young student to learn to fly solo with confidence and maybe up to 2 years for the older generation. Everyone is different and some pick it up quicker than others. A lot also depends on the type of model you learn on. Fast is usually ok for the young, and slow is best for the older learners. We have had 2 teenagers who went solo on their second day out but this is a very, very rare scenario. We have also had older members who have taken over 3 years and several models before going solo! 

It is personal choice but electrics are becoming very popular because they are quite often cheaper and they are much cleaner than models that use an oily fuel. The main thing against electrics is the time you can fly for which is governed by the battery capacity and if you are not careful, the battery can run down too far and the model may fall out of the sky. You usually only get one chance at landing. Electric is clean and easy to get into the air, whereas nitro can be messy with oily fuel and engines can give lots of trouble starting and running. 

We don't want to turn people away from this hobby but our estimate on this question is that there is only a 10% chance that you will still be flying your first model undamaged when you go solo, there is a 80% chance that you will still go solo with your first model but you will have had to make some repairs (maybe minor or major) to it, and there is a 10% chance that you will need a second model to go solo. This is with the assistance of an instructor so if you go it alone you probably won’t make it!

If you try to fly unassisted there is a 95% chance that the model will not survive day 1 without major repairs required.

"If you are not prepared to lose your model, you shouldn't fly it." 

There are a lot of Trainers on the market in ARF (almost ready-to-fly) and kit form and most of them are quite satisfactory to learn with. Younger pilots learn fast and are suited to faster trainer types. Older pilots need trainers that are slow and forgiving.  Something like a Red Zephyr is an excellent trainer for anyone over 60 years old but has to be built, either from plans or a kit. Some of the smaller electric gliders would also make a good, cheap trainer, just to get you started but my advice is to talk to your local club before you buy anything. 

When you buy your Trainer, it will have on the box the size engine that it needs. If you are young, it probably won't matter if you overpower the model but if you are old, don't overpower the model too much, because it will be too fast for you. 

This is a hard one to answer! We recommend Tail Draggers to our students because we fly on rough grass that is sometimes a little long, but the best answer here is to talk to people at our club before you buy anything and they can advise you what is best for our flying site. Whatever way you go, do not have too much steering control or you will be zig zagging all over the strip. We recommend no more than 10mm rudder throw each way and a flexible, steerable tailwheel. 

We firmly believe that you need to fly your trainer to absolute death. It may look scruffy and get heavier but we have seen many people go from a Trainer to something that is totally different and before long it is a pile of bits & pieces, purely because they haven't got the experience to fly such a model. Until you can fly touch & go's without a problem in any conditions you should not progress beyond a Trainer.

When you do go for your 2nd model, buy something that you have seen fly and know that you will be able to handle it. An Extra 300, P-51 Mustang, or an Ultimate Biplane are not good choices for 2nd models. A low wing Trainer, another type of trainer or a Stik type model may be the go! Be guided by our instructors or club members.

Until you are a very competent flier and builder, we suggest you DO NOT BUILD FROM PLANS, unless you have seen the model fly successfully and have some building experience. Many aircraft built from plans are quite tricky to fly and you can be very disappointed with the result. Having failures in your early days can set you back a lot and destroy your confidence.

"Our advice is never build a model that you haven't seen fly until you have some building & flying experience and expertise."

Local council by-laws in your area will determine whether you can fly in your local park but if you want some real good advice "don't even think about it". The facts are that model aircraft DO crash and flying in an unsafe place like your local park is asking for disaster. Your local Club Field is the place to fly because it will be a safe environment and away from the interference that may come from a populated area. Insurance will not cover you if you are flying in your local park and of course as soon as you start the nitro engine, kids will come from everywhere. How would you feel if you crashed into someone and caused a permanent injury? Don't risk it! Join a club and fly at that Clubs' flying site.

Noise is also a problem with model aircraft in built up areas and this is another reason to do the right thing and fly at club flying sites. Most engines these days have mufflers but some are still very noisy.