Best RC Electric Planes Compared – Reviewed

Which are the best RC planes? After five months in the making, it’s a world first review of this type as we have compared 21 planes:  E Flite Apprentice 15E, Hobbyzone Champ, Parkzone Trojan T28D, Hobbyzone Mini Super Cub, Art-Tech Cessna 182, Art-Tech Class 500 Cessna 182, ST Cessna 182 350 Corvalis, Hobbyking FMS Alpha Dassault Jet, Hobbyking Euro fighter Jet EF2000, Parkzone Stinson Reliant, Parkzone Corsair, Parkzone Ultra Micro Trojan, Parkzone BF109 Messesmitt, Dynam Cub, Great Planes Super Sportster, Great Planes Reactor Bipe 3D EP, Parkzone Ultra Micro P51 Mustang, ST MX 2, ST Piper J3 Cub, 2010 Hobbyzone Super Cub LP and a Parkzone Micro Sukhoi SU-26XP.

Using 21 RC planes, we have endeavoured to supply all the information that anyone wishing to buy the best Beginner’s plane, or best Intermediate/Expert plane or to just fly remote controlled planes, would wish to know. Read on to find out how all of these planes were assessed against one another over all our tests to arrive at a best RC plane selection of “Best RC Plane of the Year” for each class.

About the Reviewers
Joe – Absolute beginner who first attempted flying 5 June 2010 – first “big time crash” was experienced 7 June 2010.

George Tadd – Absolute expert. Started flying when model ‘planes had twisted rubber bands for rudder control and throttle position was fixed. A regular model club attendee flying all sorts of new planes and is constantly requested to check and adjust the maiden flights of club planes. My (Joe’s) transition from a “constant crasher” to now being about “intermediate”, has been solely due to George’s patience and constant positive advice. His input to all of my previous reviews on this site has been absolutely invaluable and I seriously doubt that the reviews could have been done so successfully without his assistance. We will provide his valuable tips in point form towards the end of this article.

Why have we offered up the comparison grid?
Just like the concept that “oils ain’t just oils”, we have found many surprises during these reviews, mainly coming to the fore because I AM a beginner and George IS an expert. The following items have become evident:

• In most cases you appear to get what you pay for – if it’s cheap then there’s a reason. We found that most brands that were not well known, had considerable difficulty in flying properly. If you were an expert, sure, you could get it up there and maybe down again and then change i.e. COG, or motor mountings to combat torque roll or while you are up there adjust throw rates or tune up so it flies straight etc. If you were a beginner, however, these were usually suicide missions as this skill level usually has enough to contend with and the concentration overload will usually cause you to crash. – see Build Quality & Readiness for flight

• The unknown brand names seemed, in most cases, to need significant alteration and we doubt that the constructor ever test flew the plane at all. In one case such as the Dynan Cub, it actually flew better upside down rather than the correct way up. George, however, said the dihedral was wrong so he bought it down to “terra firma” and we then propped the wings up with sticks and it flew great. But a beginner would not know this – he would crash and then believe he was not capable of flying – see Build Quality & Readiness for flight

• Many of the planes’ Top brands and unknown brands have been reported to take-off and land on grass, but by what skill level, and what height is the grass? – see Flight capability

• The writings you find on the web and accompanying the planes’ write ups say “Park Flyer” but this can be misleading. At what skill level do you need to be and what size is the Park? – see ½ oval size & oval size (see Flight suitability)

• Another condition that concerned me in selecting a beginner’s plane is, what sort of wind strength should I be able to fly in and which is a good plane to suit my skill level and the strength of the wind I shall usually be flying in (as it varies with the geographic location)? – see Wind max (Flight capability)

• We also found that with some planes there were advantages using a different transmitter rather than the one supplied. This is simply so that you have more programmable settings such as in the Spektrum DX6i and DX8 to make flying a LOT easier for the beginner/intermediate. We found that some planes had radio systems other than 2.4 Ghz which are often far more likely to fail with interference ie FM or AM are a “NO, NO”. Our suggestion here is to go with a GOOD Transmitter from the onset, using as an absolute minimum, Spektrum DX5i. The DX6i and DX8 are recommended. You may pay more initially, but it will significantly reduce crashes and frustration as you can programme out individual plane flight peculiarities in flight. – see Supplied Tx See (Flight Suitability)

• We found that build quality varied immensely, although some top name brands were consistently better which led to less breakages and subsequently also ensured that the maiden flights were a lot easier. If you are buying a Beginners’ plane, make sure that you either pick a plane on our grid OR use a top brand name or you will usually find on the maiden flight, too much aileron throw, torque pull, wrong COG or motor mount incorrect and you will crash trying to get it down. Linkage sloppiness or movement caused by easily bendable materials in the rudder, ailerons, and elevators cause significant control problems in even slight wind situations and so we have endeavoured to take points off where we saw this evident in the plane and where our suspicions were substantiated when we flew the plane. After replacing the elliptical wheels on the EF2000, for example, before it would taxi at all, the COG was so far out that the plane had to be flown with full up-elevator, the under powered motor made sure it could not take off on grass and on a bitumen pad, it took over 100 metres and needed to hit a bump to take off. Is this indicative of buying from a major chain store where people don’t know the individual planes personally? We suspect it is.  – see Build Quality & Readiness for flight

About the Grid
Whilst we have put the total points in on each field, it may be misleading in some cases if you only look at the total as the highest points may be allocated due to the plane being more aptly suited across a range but it still may not be the best plane for a specific suitability to yourself. Look at the factors on the grid as applying to yourself in order of importance and select the plane accordingly. We have awarded the Winning planes to the classes into which we believe the planes fit, with the most versatile plane across differing fields picking up the most points for the best plane.

About the Planes
Many of the planes listed on this grid have had a previously written detailed in-depth reviews posted on this site, evaluated as we compiled the Grid. Those that have not been previously reviewed in-depth on this site have still all been reviewed in the same way that the other written reviews were done and so all 21 planes have been judged on the same basis in the grid.

All COG’s have been set as per specifications and where a battery was not supplied, we used batteries supplied by HEI Hobby Express International which were Intellect batteries of the specified discharge rate, weight, size and capacity that were stipulated for the plane.

Why these Suppliers
The plane suppliers have been given so that you may click on the link to the retail store that can and WILL supply exactly the same plane that we have reviewed. We wanted a supplier that we could use throughout the construction of the Grid and the evaluation of planes that would and could supply pretty much any plane we chose. They had to be big enough to have a supply of parts on hand so that we did not suffer undue repair delays after crashing. We also wanted to check out a MAJOR on-line bulk store and see how the similar products stacked up against your “street hobby shop” once we received them.

The Best Planes
We have made four Best RC Planes of the Year Classes for electric foam.
These are –

•     Best Beginner plane           — Most portable – Ultra Micro Trojan

                                                           — Best oval flier ST Piper J3 Cub

•    Best Intermediate/Expert     – Relaxed flying plane ST Cessna 182 350  Corvalis– calm     conditions
•    Best Intermediate/Expert    –  Relaxed flying plane Stinson Reliant – windy     and semi calm conditions
•    Best Intermediate/Expert    –  Sports plane – Trojan T28D

For us, the selection has NOT been made with price being a factor! But we have put the RRP in the grid as you may wish to let price be a determining factor of any selection you make, particularly when the suitability for what you want is close.

•     Always check plane through all control movements before getting into the air as most times if you are up there you may not be able to fix it i.e. reversed throws on elevators etc.
•     Do not use “elevator up” until plane has reached its’ “leave the ground speed” or the plane will tend to stall and be difficult to control.
•     Always fly and land directly into the wind, if at all possible.
•     Always try to keep the plane in level flight, even when turning as wind may catch and tip the plane.
•     Use descending straight legs when coming in to land.
•     Trim plane level and straight flight at half throttle high up to avoid accidents.
•     Avoid flying into the sun but should you get into difficulty use the transmitter as a sun shield.

DX8 Transmitter
This is a truly revolutionary transmitter which we simply could not fault and we selected it for use because even without a memory card, we could programme 30 planes into it. This capability allowed us to fly a number of planes within a few minutes of each other and by linking beginner (me) and expert George Tadd together, allowed us to swap back and forth at will, using the same conditions for both of us to fly in. This is a truly magnificent unit and the three rate switches, coupled with programme lock outs that we could put in, gave us the ability to tailor the planes for George and I for optimal flying for both of us at the flick of a switch. As per usual from the “guys who can supply anything”, the Spektrum DX8 transmitter was supplied to us by www.rchobbies.com.au. 

CONCLUSION
We hope that by rating the planes using both a “true beginner” and an “expert”, that we have assisted you in selecting the best RC plane. The Parkzone Stinson Reliant and the ST Cessna 182, 350 Corvalis were the closest to call. But maybe you could let the price decide. Our special thanks goes to RC Hobbies for letting us run rampant in their shop of more than 80 planes and select anything we wanted from their store which we believe has the largest selection of tested planes and parts in Australia.