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Electric Remote Control Airplane Information

The ability to pilot an airplane isn't necessarily for everyone. It's an expensive and very complicated hobby. By comparison, flying an electric model airplane is cheaper and easier. Despite being comparatively simpler, there are still a few things that an aspiring model pilot might want to bear in mind before heading out to the airfield.

Types
- Electric remote control planes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some of them are easier to use, making them ideal for beginners, while others are more complicated for experts. An RTF (ready to fly) plane is likely to be easier to fly, but not necessarily. The design of your plane will also impact it. For example, a high wing design will be a lot simpler to fly than a lower design.
  
  The material the plane is made of is another significant factor: balsa wood is lighter and pound-for-pound stronger than foam, but foam is cheaper and durable. There are also a host of options regarding the motor and batteries, but the longest-lasting combination seems to be brushless motors and lithium polymer batteries.
Size
- Full-scale airplanes come in a huge variety of sizes, and so do electronically controlled model ones. If you're learning, a plane around 30 to 50 inches is probably ideal. Larger planes require more forethought when controlling, and smaller planes are harder to spot from the ground--meaning neither is perfect for someone who lacks a lot of experience.
Location Considerations
- A wide-open space with as few people as possible is ideal for a flight.
  
  When you're flying a remote-controlled airplane, the location is really important. Not all spaces are ideal for flight; indoors is a fairly obviously nonideal location, but there are others. One of the benefits of an electric-powered plane is that many areas have regulations around gas-powered airplanes, but few have rules regarding their electric kin. Consult the rules of any area before flying a plane. Go for a park, a parking lot or any other wide-open area where crashes are less likely. If there's an RC plane club in the area, you should speak to a member before flying; he might have a recommendation.
Insurance
- R/C plane insurance is actually available if you're concerned about the safety of your airplane or others. Because you may hurt someone, one type of insurance will cover potential damage to injuries or damage to someone else's property. There is another type that covers the actual plane against any damage to it in case it crashes.
Takeoff and Landing
- Takeoff is usually fairly automatic, especially on high-winged RTF planes.
  
  Ready-to-fly electric planes are better for first-timers because they're easier to launch and land. Takeoff is mostly a question of increasing the speed until it leaves the ground, and landing is predominantly about decreasing the throttle until the plane glides gently to the ground. However, more complicated electric planes--like their gas-powered cousins--need a little bit more finesse when flying; the landing gear will need to be dropped and flaps extended, as on a real plane.

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