Well, I finally made it! I've been hovering around flitetest for a while now, inspired by you guys and the fabulous job you do in getting people into the hobby. I'm completely new to this - other than my childhood memories with a friend, butilding a balsa glider..which subsequently crashed and broke into a million pieces..and my friend was in tears...
First lesson learned: From what I can tell from my local hobbyshop, it appears that many RC flyers think that it is the priveledge of the elite to do this. One comment to me was: "You have to committ if you want to try this!" - This after a lecture of how I had to buy a $200+ simulator, a $200+ transmitter, and insurance, and club membership, and, and, and...
Well, I fell back on flitetest and the simple and cheap method. This and my fascination of the proliferation of accessible technology coming out of China - watched a bunch of reviews and ordered myself an OrangeRx T-Six with a couple of receivers from HobbyKing. Prior to that, I actually ordered a WLToys v959 quadcopter with a video camera from www.banggood.com (free shipping!) for $67 as I really want to get into quadcopter FPV flying.
I've actually become quite proficient at flying the little thing and so far it has survived many a crash without leaving me stranded...which leads me to my FT Flyer experience!
Now, I downloaded the plans, got the foamboard, sealed it with Minwax, proceeded to cutting out the parts, and ordered the powerpod electronics from www.lazertoyz.com. Along the way, I cut my finger with the exacto knife and figured out that sanding the hinges down with sandpaper was easier and cleaner.
So, this last weekend, I finally made it out to the local park. I handlaunched..and it flew! A horrible right turn tendency, which I couldn't trim out fast enough..and I 'landed' - breaking the prop in the process. I did that again..this time a bigger loop and crashed it softly to the ground...breaking the prop yet again. So, next lesson learned: buy DOZENS of props until I get to learning the landing part! Oh yes, and that little black rubber for the 'prop saver' - well you can get dozens of those at Lowe's in plumbing under rubber gaskets ($2.78 for a dozen) - because I've lost that also a few times now.
Also - I recommend to those of us who are complete newbies in flying, to re-inforce the FT Flyer fuselage (not the power pod) with those wooden tongue depressors/ice cream sticks. As I repeatedly crashed my plane (albeit softly) into the ground, the wooden stick holding the powerpod on tore into the fuselage, pushing the entire plane into the firewall. Gluing those wooden ice cream/tongue depressors into the inside of the inner fuselage fixed that. Now, all I've got to wait for is more props!
Other than that: Excellent plane to learn on..and quite crash resistant. Just remember: buy MANY spare props! It might be counterintuitive, but landing is low on my priority list with this plane. I'll be happy to cruise around a few times for a sustained time! Landing will come - one way or another!
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