Originally Posted by turboparker

Kaano,

Congrats on teaching yourself to fly! However, I also agree with the others. Do yourself a huge favor & pick up a DX6i. Your Champ will even fly much better! You will thank yourself many times over.

The Beast is designed to fly well - not crash well. 'Crashability' is not even on the list when designing an unlimited aerobatic plane. The Beast is intended for intermediate pilots & above. Intermediate pilots have at least one or two 4-channel aerobatic planes under their belts, and they are well-beyond the 'crashing stage', where the plane 'just crashed' & they don't know why. They are also beyond the point where 'crashability' is important when choosing a plane.

Unlike the Champ, the Beast does not have any self-righting characteristics at all. Rather, it simply goes where you point it & keeps on doing that until it runs out of power or altitude, or until you tell it to do something else. Put it into a bank or dive & let go of the sticks, and it will stay there until it hits the ground. It also requires you to use rudder and ailerons to do coordinated turns, and it is over twice as fast as the Champ at WOT.

If your hobby budget is tight, you would be much better off moving up to a 4-channel trainer such as the UM T-28, then moving up to an aerobatic plane such as the Sukhoi XP before, and then the Beast. If you have a decent sim, you could probably go right from the T-28 to the Beast without having to do too many repairs. Otherwise, you will most likely destroy at least one Beast 3D just trying to learn how to fly 4-channel. BTW - a decent sim usually pays for itself in short order.

Joel

+100 ... great advice here and from others ... LOVE my Beast 3D, but NO WAY is it a good step from the Champ, especially on that Champ Tx ... DX6i's can be had cheap used if you keep an eye on the for sale threads or Ebay. T-28 is a great 4 channel trainer, also another Ebay deal potential if you keep an eye open.

You WILL NOT regret a sim. Clearview is a cheap downloadable sim, and for less than $20 off ebay you can pick up a cheap USB Tx sim to go with it and it will save you HUNDREDS of dollars or more in damaged planes / helis.

Good luck,

Marlin

Originally Posted by shastamike

I've been working on my flat spin. Found that it's a bit easier for me to do an inverted one. So...I climb as high. Hit down elevator and flip the plane on it's back. It goes into the most beautiful, flattest spin I've ever seen! Even better then videos! I'm so impressed with myself! Then I try to pull out. Nothing. Plane stays in the most perfect inverted flat spin ever. Ground is coming up. I try to rearm the esc, maybe I hit LVC. No response from any channels except throttle. I cut throttle and watch my Beast slowly and perfectly flat spin into the deck.
When I flipped the plane after it's climb the battery came loose and flopped it's way in the the extreme back of the fuse as far as the wires would let it go. It lodged itself between the rudder and elevator control rods thus no control.
I learned a lot on that flight. Mostly that I need to move my CG way back for a better flat spin!
Mike

Mike,

That post brought back a flood of memories...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...ostcount=15166

rc

Originally Posted by RCBABBEL

Mike,

That post brought back a flood of memories...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...ostcount=15166

rc

I remember that post because I had problems with the batt sliding back even on my bench test before first flight. Should have changed the Velcro then, but didn't. I use a small piece of Styrofoam plate as a shim to hold the batt firmly to the Velcro. Didn't do that on my flat spin adventure. Pilot error really pisses me off.
Did learn a very good thing from this though. Now I put the batt all the way back a far as possible and I can not recreate my "perfect flat spin". Inverted only. Real proud of myself and all it took was a couple of creases in my new wings and a crease is the vert. stab.
Mike

flew beast today,,,NO WIND NO WIND NO WIND,,,,got critter to ,,hover 5 to 30 seconds......booo yaaaa....................

+1,000 on everybody's advice regarding the Champ, 3DBeast, and progressions.

Bad News = this is not an "instant gratification" hobby.
It takes time, patience, practice, progression, experience, and growth!

Good News = this is not an "instant gratification" hobby.
It's a hobby you can grow with for years! You can keep raising the bar, improving your skills, fly more advanced planes as you grow, and never outgrow it!

And other pilots who have been in it for awhile are eager to help...'cause the only one you're really in competition with...is yourself!

Man, if I wasn't sold on this hobby already, I think I just sold myself!

Tom

couldnt agree more. its a great challenge to fly my beast and know one wrong move and its big time drama with her fragile frame. keeps me on my toes. i still find myself wot most of the time though. guess im a speed guy deep down. i do like how she lands so slow and stable. the gyro has really impressed me coming from the micro t28. totally different experience. i love this hobby and i have only been in it for about 6 months give or take.

Walt,

I brought my 3S powered B3D along on my Edge 540QQ maiden today.
She never gets left behind.

Winds were 12~15mph right down the runway. aka...parking lot.
People with questions, cars and dogs kept showing up during my flight.
I pulled off one of those sweet Beast parachute landings right at my feet.
She rolled all of 12 inches.
Picked her up quick before the dogs arrived.
What a plane!!

rc

RC,

Which plane was smoother in the wind?

Joel

Originally Posted by turboparker

RC,

Which plane was smoother in the wind?

Joel

Joel,

That's a good one.

They are surprising similar in 10~15 mph winds.

rc

Dogs and joggers make me crash.
Mike

aliens and Sasquatch messed me up.

when i fly the beast i can not be bothered to talk or look at people. lol. well.. i guess i can talk.

Originally Posted by walter3rd

when i fly the beast i can not be bothered to talk or look at people. lol. well.. i guess i can talk.

I can kind of talk now. "no I didn't build it" "about $149" "electric, 7volts" "no you can't fly it"
I can't even look down to see if my shoelaces are untied. Helicopters even worst. Just a fraction of a second and I'm off for the bushes or the fence.
Mike

Originally Posted by shastamike

I can kind of talk now. "no I didn't build it" "about $149" "electric, 7volts" "no you can't fly it"
I can't even look down to see if my shoelaces are untied. Helicopters even worst. Just a fraction of a second and I'm off for the bushes or the fence.
Mike

Or, "well you could, if I let you, for a few seconds." Only I get to say "11 volts"!

I have no trouble talking to people while I'm flying - unless it's a maiden, or I'm flight-trimming, or the a/c is acting up. Back when I flew at the high school parking lot near my old place, I nearly always had at least a few kids hanging around. It started out with a couple of regulars who would hang out. Pretty soon, I had a regular group of neighborhood kids who would stop by & hang out for awhile whenever they'd see me flying. Sometimes, the kids would call out maneuvers & then I'd do them. That was actually a lot of fun!

On sports practice days, I'd often end up with a crowd of kids after practice was over - along with quite a few of their parents. I often answered questions pretty much throughout my flights. The only thing that made me nervous was trying to maintain at least some semblance of a flight-line & attempting to keep everyone behind it. Most of the kids were pretty good about staying behind me, but there were often a couple of kids who needed to be constantly told to stay out of my landing area. The interesting part is that a few of the regulars started taking care of that for me by ushering them back behind the imaginary line.

That's one thing I really miss when flying by myself out here in the sticks. I find that I prefer flying with an audience and/or with other pilots.

Joel