Where to start - Beginners guide
So, you want to dip your toes into the great hobby of RC flight but don't know where to start? We've got you covered!
There are some basic components you will need to get you into the air:
- An airframe, suited for your skill level and experience.
- Some electronics to make the airframe control able, and to provide it with forward thrust.
- A power source to provide power to the above mentioned electronics in the form of a rechargeable battery.
- A charger to charge the power source or battery mentioned above, and last but not least,
- A way to control the airplane remotely using controls - these have a built- in transmitter and a receiver system in the plane to provide control commands to the airplane form the remote control.
If you already have some of the components above, or nothing at all, we will provide you with some info from our store and what we recommend to ensure you have the best possible build and first flight experience!
So lets jump in and look at the recommendations for the above mentioned topics that you can consider form our store:
1. Airframe
We highly recommend the Speedbuild kits of the Simple Scout or Tutor as your first airframe to start off with. Both these airframes have fantastic, docile and easy to fly flight characteristics, and grow with your skill level. It can be configured to be a 3 channel (elevator, rudder and throttle) to start with , until your skills are honed to then move onto 4 channel by adding ailerons, giving you the ability to do a little bit more precise flying and even some aerobatics. Both these frames can take a beating, with the Tutor being the more robust with its removable wing, that can give way during a hard crash or landing, to absorb some of the energy.
Here are the links to the airframes mentioned above:
2. Electronics
Your airframe would need some electronics to make the control surfaces move and to provide the airframe with forward thrust to move it through the air. The control surfaces (ailerons, elevator and rudder) are moved by using servos, and the forward thrust is provided with an electrical or nitro powered engine with a matched propeller to provide optimum thrust and efficiency. Our airframes are designed for electrical motors, and these are controlled through electronic speed controls (ESC) to provide variable power output to the electrical motor.
Our Speedbuild kits have been designed to be matched with Power Pack kits available from our store. These kits include all the servos, motor, ESC and propellers you would need in a single kit, which will provide you with a great flight experience and first flight. In the descriptions of each of our Speedbuild kit airframes, you will find the recommendation for motor, esc and prop for each frame or which Power Pack is perfectly matched for the kit.
For the above mentioned airframe, we recommend the Power Pack B in our store which can be found by clicking on the link below:
3. Power source
To get all the electronics to work, requires a power source in the form of a battery. Batteries can have multiple cells and are classified as such. The more cells in a battery, the higher the voltage and current it can provide, which in turns means more power to motor and ESC. However more cells means more weight that needs to be added to the airframe. Battery capacity (measured in mAh) indicates how much energy is stored in the battery and this will determine flight times. Again the higher the capacity the larger the battery and weight.
The batteries we recommend for our electronic kits and airframes are LiPo (lithium polymer) batteries as they provide the best power to weight ratio. We recommend 3 cell (3S) batteries to start with, and if you need more speed and power as your skills develop, you can move on to 4 cell (4S). Lipos however should not be stored in fully charged or discharged states as this damages the batteries and deteriorates their performance. They should be charged for in storage mode (around 60% of its capacity) when not used for long periods of time.
Lipos however require specific chargers to charge which we will cover in the next section
Each of our airframes have recommended size of battery indicated in the descriptions of the airframe which will include the size/capacity of the battery in milliamp hours (mAh) and the cell count as either 3S or 4S (which determines the voltage of the battery)
Currently we do not have any batteries in our store as yet, but will soon be able to provide this as part of our offerings. However we can recommend some reputable shops who can provide batteries for your build until our batteries are available in store - links to these store and specifically their 3S batteries can be found here:
4. Charger
LiPo batteries and other rechargeable batteries require a charger to recharge the batteries once it has been used. LiPo batteries require specific chargers , to control the charge very closely as not to overcharge or discharge a battery, as this can cause damage or even setting the battery alight and cause fire. The right settings should be used on the charger to balance the cells in a battery pack to prevent the above from occurring and to give your batteries the best battery life.
Currently we do not have any battery chargers in our store as yet, but will soon be able to provide this as part of our offerings. However we can recommend some reputable shops who can provide chargers for your build until our chargers are available in store - links to these store and specifically their 3S batteries can be found here:
5. Remote Controls
To remotely control the airframe and its electronics, one needs a remote control system , which includes the controls or radio the pilot uses to provide inputs to what the plane should do, and a receiver , which is installed on the plane, to receive these input signals form the pilot and telling the motor and servos what to do. There are multiple types and makes of controls , each with their own type of communication "language" or protocol between the Radio (also known as the transmitter) and the receiver.
Its very important to match the transmitter (also called the radio) with the right receiver using the same protocol , otherwise control link would not be established. Examples of these languages or protocols are DSMX, DSM2 (Spektrum) or FrSky, FlySky to name but a few
We have some radio controls (transmitters) and different variances of receivers in stock and they can be found here:
Armed with the above items you should be able to get in the air and experience flight using our FT speedbuild kits and mentioned electronics.
Some tools you will need to build:
a flat building surface, where you are not afraid to mess some hot glue on is escential
GlueGun - preferably one that takes the 1mm sticks as some build require quite a bit of glue
Glue sticks - we found you can comfortably build with about 3x long (300mm ) sticks
Packaging tape - We prefer the 70mm clear tape as this blends in nicely with the foam and can be painted over
Some very sharp utility knife blades (also known as Stanley blades) here in SA and available at most hardware stores. This is used for bevel cuts, but can also be replaced with 80 grit sandpaper if blades are to risky for young ones. One then simply sands down the bevel cuts
Don't through away our scrap pieces of foam - use this to smear hot glue during the build
Some screws to mount the motor onto the firewall. this usually comes with motor once you purchase it
The rest of the items are provided in the speedbuild kit!
Below is a playlist of 10 videos of some excellent resources in video format to get you going if you are very new to the hobby. The playlist will automatically advance through the videos or by clicking the Next button on the video