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Discussion
Difficulty to Fly Rating System (v2.0)
The reason for a second 'rating system' thread is because the old one hasnt been updated in over a year by the previous owner. I suggested a new one in the original thread and got support for it so I'm starting a new one, carrying over all rated planes. I've also backlogged planes that werent put on the list in the original thread.
*** *** *** *** *** Part of understanding the ratings is how they are based - its not just how the thing flies that makes it a 2 instead of a 6, for example. 1: Toughness - Will it shrug off a nose over or stall, or will it need a greased landing? 2: Ease of control - 2ch, 3ch, 4ch? Parkflier or 3D? Start on easy, predictable rates & 2~3ch. 3: Speed - fast models get away quickly and require you to 'fly ahead' more than slow ones. 4: Size - small models get away quickly, too, and also tend to get thrown around by wind. By following the TESS guide you'll easily be able to figure out (once familiar) if a model is within your (or somone else's) grasp. The 'speed' and 'size' are of particular importance as they will both affect orientation, and if you lose orientation in any way you are bound to lose control. This is particularly important for beginners. *** *** *** *** *** Rating system is as follows: 0 -- Safe to give to a young child 1 -- 2 -- Beginner can fly with assistance 3 -- 4 -- Beginner can solo with flight instruction 5 -- 6 -- Good 2nd plane 7 -- 8 -- Good 3rd plane 9 -- 10 -- Requires experienced flyer The above includes the ability to take off/launch, maneuver, and land the plane in the conditions for which they were intended. Not the ability to do aerobatics or 3D maneuvers; just fly it without crashing and land again safely. I should also add that all RC planes are best flown for the first time on a simulator if you can! This way you will get a 'feel' for them before you even order them. Turn the 'wind' and any other 'realism' settings up as far as you can if your simulator has them. This can be especially helpful for new flyers who are not experienced with flying an aircraft from the third perspective - turning is reversed when flying towards yourself, for example, and often a major stumbling block for new flyers. *** *** *** *** *** When rating a plane, please try to put the rating on its own line so that I don't miss it in the middle of a paragraph. Also try to put the make and model of the plane (E-Flite Mini Edge, for example, rather than just Mini Edge). Try not to abbreviate. Here's the list. Multiple entries for the same plane are averaged (closest 1/4). 0 Aero Ace Bipe 0 Airhogs Havoc Swarm 0 Air Hogs Sport Flyer 0 Brookstone MicroHeli 0 Motorhead's EZ-Fly 0 Multiplex Fox glider 0.5 Foamtastic Models Park Shark 1 E-Flite Blade mCX 1 Foamfly Frog 1 Slowbipe 1 Stevens Aero Gym-E 1.5 Hobbyzone Firebird Stratos 1.5 Parkzone Vapor 1.5 Stevens Aero Diddle Bug 1.5 Stevens Aero Diddle Rod 1.5 Stevens Aero Lil'SQuiRT 1.5 Stuart Little BiPlane (scratch) 2 Clancy Aviation Laxy Bee Classic 2 E-Flite Blade CX 2 2 Exceed-RC Accipiter Badius 2 Flyzone Micro Albatros 2 Gene Bond's EPPiper 2 GPW Trainer One (scratch built) 2 GWS Slow Stik 2 Flyzone Playmate 2 Gymallo 2 Hobbyzone Commander 2 2 Hobbyzone Firebird 2 Hobbyzone Super Cub 2 Hobbyzone Super Mini Cub 2 Miss Stiks Jr. 2 Miss Stiks Sr. 2 Mountain Models Dandy 2 Mountain Models Dusk Stick 2 Mountain Models Magpie Slow Flyer 2 Multiplex Easystar 2 Multiplex Mini Magister 2 RCM Q Tee (Electric Conversion) 2 Stevens Aero 1919 White Mono Plane 2 Stevens Aero Mud Bug 2 Stevens Aero QuickOats 100 2 Parkzone Ember 2.5 Parkzone Micro Cessna 210 2.5 Aerobird Phantom 2.5 Flyzone Micro Albatros 2.5 GWS DHC2 Beaver 2.5 Hobby Lobby Miss2 2.5 Hobbyzone Champ 2.5 Hobbyzone Slo-V 2.5 MS Composite Citabria 2.5 Parkzone Micro Citabria 2.75 Kyosho Micro Flybaby 2.75 Parkzone Radian 3 3D Hobby Shop EBT 3 3D Hobby Shop Extra 300SC (57") 3 Art Tech Wing Dragon HL 3 Dynam Hawksky/Easyhawk 3 E-Flite DHC-2 Beaver 25e ARF 3 Gloal Wattage Cessna 180 3 Great Planes Yard Stik 3 GWS Pico Tiger Moth 3 Hobbico SuperStarEP w/ailerons 3 Hobby Lobby Cobweb 3 Hobby Lobby Senior Telemaster 3 Hobbyzone Aerobird Extreme 3 Hobbyzone Freedom 3 Kyosho Micro Edge 3 Kyosho/Hype ASW-17 3 Multiplex FunCub 3 Parkzone UM J-3 Cub 3 Ripmax Reflection 3 Skyartec Skyfun 3.25 Stevens Aero Stik 3.25 Stevens Aero SQuiRT 400 3.5 AeroHobby T-Hawk 3.5 GWS Estarter 3.5 GWS Pico Stick-F 3.5 GWS Tiger Moth 400 3.5 Hobby People Simple Stick 3.5 Mountain Models Magpie Sport Flyer 3.5 Mountain Models Tyro 100 3.5 MS Composite S2 Bulldog Biplane 3.5 Stevens Aero SoarStik 3.5 Stevens Aero SQuiRT 700 3.75 Art Tech Wing Dragon 4 3.75 Mountain Models Tyro 150 4 6mmFlyRC Profile F-22 4 Avistars (?) 4 Easy Glider Elektro 4 E-Flite UMX Carbon Cub SS 4 E-Flite Jenny JN-4 Slow Flyer 250 4 Flyzone Calypso 4 HobbyKing Canary Glider 4 HobbyKing J3 Green/Red/Blue 4 HobbyKing Decathlon Brushless PNF 4 Great Planes Fun Force Fokke Wulf 4 Great Planes Fun Force Mustang 4 Mountain Models C170 4 Mountain Models Dandy Sport 4 Mountain Models Magpie AP 4 Mountain Models Switchback Sport 4 Multiplex Easy Glider Electric 4 Multiplex Magister 4 Multiplex FunCub 4 Nextar EP Mini 4 Sig Kadet EP-42 4 Sig Kadet LT-25 4 Sig Riser 100 4 Wattage F22 Raptor 4 Parkflyers.com BeginAir 4.5 E-Flite Apprentice 15e 4.5 FMS/Airfield Mini P-40 4.5 GWS Tiger Moth 400 4.5 Hobbico Nexstar EP 4.5 Hobby Lobby Profile P-38 4.5 Hobby Lobby Telemaster Electro 4.5 ParkZone Slo-V 4.5 Parkzone T-28 4.5 Parkzone Wildcat 4.5 Skyartec Cessna 182 4.5 Hobbyzone Phantom 4.75 Multiplex Acromaster 4.75 Multiplex EasyGlider 5 Combat Wings XE2 5 E-Fliite PT-19 5 E-flite P-47 5 Electrifly SE5 5 Estes (in general with pulse pulse steering) 5 Fox Lite SNOTLiner 5 Great Planes Slinger 5 Hobbico ElectriStar 5 Hobbyzone Aerobird Swift 5 Hyperion EPP "Rare Bear" 5 Lanier Stinger 80" Electric 5 Lanyu Barracuda (3-Ch) 5 Lazertoyz Lazer 5 Lightflite Bug (original) 5 Model Tech Fledgling EP 5 Mountain Models EZ Scout 5 Mountain Models EZ Sport 5 Mountain Models EZ Cub 5 Multiplex Twinstar 2 5 Parkzone Stryker B (stock) 5 Parkzone Corsair 5 Parkzone P-51 BL 5 Parkzone P-47 5 Sig Raskal 110" Electric 5 UMX Mig-15 5 Mountain Models Dandy GT 5 E-Flite Sea Fury 5.5 Carl Goldberg Tiger 400 5.5 E-Flite Jenny 5.5 ElectroFlying Designs eSKA 5.5 Mountain Models SmoothE SP 5.5 Parkzone Spitfire 5.5 SIG Four Star 5.5 Superfly RC Superfly 5.5 Stevens Aero Shaft 5.75 E-Flite Mini Ultra Stick 5.75 Art Tech Cessna 5.75 Multiplex Gemini 5.75 E-flite P-38 5.75 3D Hobby Shop Extra 300 SHP (47") 6 3D Hobby Shop Extra 300 SHP (87") 6 Alfa P-47 6 Copperhead Extra Stiffy 6 DMZ Decathalon 6 Durafly Monocoupe 'Little Butch' 6 Dynam Grand Cruiser 6 E-Flite Funtana 300 6 E-Flite T-34 Mentor 6 Freewing F6F Hellcat 6 Gary Wright E3D 6 Great Planes Hellcat 6 Great Planes Super Sportster 6 GWS PT-17 6 GWS Zero 6 Hangar 9 Twist 40 6 Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 6 Hobby Lobby Firebird EDF 6 Hobby Lobby JAS 39 Gripen 6 Hobby Lobby Yak 55 6 HobbyKing Phoenix 2000 Glider 6 Lazertoyz Edge 540 Profile 6 Lazertoyz Mini Arrow 6 Leadfeather's 32" Edge 6 Lightflite Bug 6 MaxJet F-18 6 MaxJet F-35 6 Millenium SSX 6 Mountain Models EVA Bipe 6 MS Composite Blade Dancer 6 Nitro Planes Predator 6 Parkzone Stinson Reliant 6 Parkzone Ultra Micro T-28 6 Parkzone Vizionaire 6 Starmax F9F Panther 6 Stevens Aero DoubleSHOT 6 Stevens Aero E-Spresso 6 Stevens Aero Shaft 25e 6 Stevens Aero Shaft 400 6 Stevens Aero Tiny-X 6 Superfly Hyperflea 6 Tower Hobbies Vista EP 6 Ultrafly Cessna 182 6 Ultrafly Super Decathalon 6 E-Flite Taylorcraft 450 6.25 MS Composite Swift II 6.25 Parkzone Stryker C 6.25 Fly Zone Cessna 182 6.5 Art Tech Spitfire 6.5 E-Flite Mini Pulse XT 6.5 E-Flite Ultra Stick 25EP 6.5 Flash EPP 6.5 Flyzone Select Scale Super Cub 6.5 GWS F4U 6.5 Hobby Lobby Super Zoom 6.5 Multiplex Blizzard 6.5 Multiplex FunJet 6.5 Rainbow F3A A388 6.5 Venom F-86 MicroJet 6.75 GWS FW-190 6.75 GWS Spitfire 6.75 YardBird YB-22 7 Arc Tech Eurofighter EDF 7 Art Tech Pitts Special 7 CerMark Fantasy Racer 7 Cox Christen Eagle 7 Dreamflight Alula 7 Electrifly XPD-8 7 Exceed-RC Pitts 7 Extreme Flight Yak-54 47" 7 Flyzone Select Scale Super Cub 7 Hangar 9 RV-8 7 Hangar 9 P-51 "40 Sport" 7 Hobby Lobby Cessna 337 MIXMASTER 7 Hobby Lobby Pitts 2s 7 Mountain Models Switchback 3D 7 MS Composite Maxi Swift Wing 7 New Power Fury 3D 7 Parkzone Habu 7 Parkzone P-51 7 Phase 3 Fidget 3D 7 SportFliers Quick-1 7 Typhoon 2 3d 7 UMX Beast 3D (v2) 7 VQ Models 1500 Stick 7 Wild Wing Boomer (Scratch?) 7 Wildrc IFO 7 Yardbird F-15 7 Yardbird F-18 7 Hyperion Bird-Dog 25e 7.25 Parkzone Sukhoi-26M 7.5 3D Hobby Shop Yak-54 55" 7.5 Alfa F86 Sabre 7.5 Grayson Sukoi 7.5 Great Planes Flat Out Reflection 7.5 GWS Formosa 7.5 GWS Formosa II 7.5 Wattage Cap 232 7.5 Art Tech (Hobby Lobby) P51D Mustang 7.5 Multiplex Twister 7.5 Tufflight Stingray 7.5 World Models Texan 8 3D Hobby Shop Extra 300 SHP (55") 8 3D Hobby Shop Katana 85 8 6mmFly RC F4D Skyray 8 AirFoilz Extra 260 8 Alfa P-51 8 Art Tech Christian Eagle 8 Brushless Miglet 8 Durafly P-51D Mustang (1100mm) 8 E-Flite Bonanza (conventional tail) 8 E-Flite Extra 260 (480) 8 E-Flite Extra 260 3D 8 E-Flite Mini Funtana X 8 E-Flite Mini Showtime 8 Electrifly L-39 8 ElectriFly Sopwith Camel 8 Fancy Foam Vrolet Freestyle V2 8 Flinton Edge 540 8 Great Planes Lancair ES 8 Great Planes U-Can-Do 3D FlightFlex 8 Great PlanesŪ RC Universe Biplane 8 GWS A-10 8 GWS BN2F (EDF Version) 8 GWS Magician 8 GWS P-38 8 GWS P-40 8 Hangar 9 Gee Bee Sportster 8 Hangar 9 Pulse XT .20 8 Hangar 9 rv-8 8 Herr Little Extra 8 HL SU-27 8 Hobby Lobby F/A-18 EDF 8 Hobby Lobby Mini Gee Bee Senior Sportster 8 Hobby Lobby Thunderbird/Firebird 8 Hobby Lobby Waco YKS-6 8 Lanier SE5a 8 Lynx XF 8 Mefisto electric sailplane 8 Millenium Micro SSX 8 Multiplex DogFighter 8 Multiplex Parkmaster 8 New Directions VecJet 8 Nitro Planes OV-10 8 Precision Aerobatics Extra 260 8 Parkzone Ultra Micro P-51 8 Precision Aerobatics Addiction 8 RCFoamFighters.com FF-15 8 RCFoamFighters.com FF-22 8 Riccs TB-20 8 SAPAC F-22 8 SAPAC Fox Hawk 8 Seagull Edge 540 .60 8 SEPAC F16 8 Shulman Zip Stik 8 Sig Rascal .40 8 SkyAngel F9F Panther 8 Stevens Aero Adrenaline Rush 8 Stevens Aero CAP 232 .40e 8 Stevens Aero CAP 232 S300 8 Stevens Aero Dystraction 8 Stevens Aero G300 G-Ride 8 Stevens Aero G400 Stella 8 Stevens Aero G480 Groove 8 Stevens Aero RV-4 S300 8 Tim McDonough Ministreak 8 Ultrafly P-51 8 Venom MicroJet series (excluding F-86) 8 World Models Spitfire 8.25 Alfa Mig-15 8.5 E-Flite Blade 400 8.5 FlyFLy Mirage 2000 8.5 GWS Funny Park 8.5 Mountain Models Tantrum 8.5 MS Composite Mini Swift Wing 8.5 Phase 3 F-16 8.5 Stevens Aero Edge 540 8.5 Ultrafly T-45 8.5 Will Hobby .60 Sea Fury 8.5 World Models Voodoo Mustang 8.75 Harbor Freight P51 (*Modified) 9 Aero-Works BD-5B. 9 Alfa A-4 9 E-Flite Bonanza (V tail) 9 E-Flite Brio 9 E-Flite Ultimate 20-300 10e 9 E-Flite UMX Sbach 9 E-Flite UMX Beast 9 Electra Extra 330s 9 ElectriFly Synapse 9 Great Planes Miglet 9 GWS F-15 9 GWS ME 109 9 GWS ME 262 9 Hangar 9 J-3 Cub PnP 9 Hobbico Flyzone Piper J-3 Cub 9 Hobbyking Rarebear Funfighter (4s operation, 8 on 3s operation) 9 Hyperion P51 25e 9 Model Aero Polaris Seaplane 9 Multiplex Picojet Combat 9 Powerline Yak 54 Extreme 9 QQ 102 Yak 9 QQ 49 inch Yak 9 Stevens Aero CAP 232 Micro 9 Ultrafly Extra 330s 9 Ultrafly PC-9 9 World Models Uni-Jet 9 World Models Jeff Troy Tame Cat DF 9 3D Hobby Shop Velox 9.25 Sebart Sukhoi 29 30E 9.5 3D Hobby Shop Sukhoi 29 30E 9.5 Electrifly SPAD 9.5 Hobby Lobby Tiger hotliner F5B 9.5 Kyosho A-6 9.5 SAPAC F22 10 E-Flite AT-6 Texan .25 10 E-Flite Mini Edge 10 E-Flite Piper Pawnee 10 Electrifly Rifle 10 Great Planes Ultimate Biplane 10 Hobby Peoples Wild Wing 10 Kyosho F-16 10 Kyosho Mirage 10 Long EZ 10 Powerline Hobbies/Green RC Sopwith Camel 10 Precision Ultimate AMR 10 RCPowers Mig29 10 Parkzone UM Stryker 180 10 Wattage Cessna 195 Thats it! Make sure to follow up the thread with any and all suggestions for model ratings. Also make sure it is using the guide provided! A 4ch sports aerobatics plane might be a 4 for you, but if you gave it to a newbie they'd almost certainly crash it... please use the guide provided. |
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Last edited by boingk; Feb 20, 2014 at 11:17 AM.
Reason: Updated ratings.
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All of the venom Micro Jets should be rated an 8, with the exception of the F-86, which is possibly as easy as a 6.
Bill |
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Thanks for the Ranking!
Yes, thanks for the list. As a small company we cannot always fly everyones plane, but you list will give us an unbiased opinion of our planes and others.
It will also help many pilots pick that second plane, with out a lot of worry. Thanks again! Diane www.lazertoyz.com |
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Thanks for doing this again Funny, my second plane ever was a 7 and it's still in one piece!
EDIT: I stand corrected. I just crashed it- it either stalled or browned-out. |
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Last edited by Endlesslag; May 30, 2011 at 05:50 PM.
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Since you have some helicopters there, the 3Ch coax with gyro should go as a 1. There are LOTS of 3Ch coax with gyro helicopters out there. The Syma S107 being the most popular but they should be lumped into one catagory cause the 3Ch coax (with gyro) are definitly good for the 4-8 year old and easy to fly the first time.
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You can add the Electrifly XPD-8 as a soid 7 on the scale.
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Cheers for all the replies guys, and yeah I realise this is going to be a more or less permenant position. I can't guarantee that I'll always update every day or even every week, but I'll do my best to keep up with what people are rating.
I'll have several ratings myself soon, as I've got 4 models that I haven't flown yet. One is my first EDF, two are commercial balsa kits, and another a biplane built from plans here in this site. The EDF will most likely get rated today As you're reading this I'm updating the models rated in this thread so far. Keep up the good stuff guys! Cheers - boingk |
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Maidened my F9F Panther EDF today and it went alright. Crashed at first because it had way too much uptrim on the elevator, had to reglue the tail. Compensated manually and it still needed 6 clicks of downtrim on the controller to fly level. After that it flew very well indeed!
Elevator was reasonably touchy and ailerons were lightning, despite being on sedate control horn settings. I flew at 70% throws via the controller and this was more than enough for hard pullouts, sharp turns and super-quick rolls. I'd rate this SkyAngel F9F Panther EDF as an 8 - good for a third plane. Its combination of touchy flight characteristics and EDF power system make it unsuitable for green pilots, although it is a lot of fun to fly for those with a bit more experience. Cheers - boingk |
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Suggestions
Nice one boingk
I always liked the idea of the original ratings thread, but for several reasons I found it less useful than it could have been: - The ratings are perhaps too granular in the 4-9 range, and not granular enough in the 1-4 segment, which is where it really counts for true "beginners". - I found some of the ratings to be quite odd. For example, an Acromaster is easier for a beginner to fly than a TwinStar? Really?!? - There's a natural human tendency to "sandbag" these types of subjective ratings. Someone with 37 planes in the garage may no longer be able to tell whether a plane is a "2" or a "5", and their skill causes them to underestimate the degree of difficulty that newbies will encounter. - In my personal opinion, virtually all of those "2" ratings are overly optimistic. "Beginner can solo" implies that the plane has a good chance of coming back home in one piece, even though its pilot has never been instructed and never touched a sim. I'm far from an expert, but I simply cannot imagine that most (say) MiniMags in that situation are so fortunate as to land intact. Hence, I've got a few suggestions for this v2.0 ratings system thread: A) Consider revising the scale to make it more detailed at the lower end. Something like: 0. Unpowered freeflight model which is virtually indestructible.Beyond that, I don't think it really matters as much. Everyone will tend to look for something different in their second or third planes, but by then they are no longer "beginners" in the absolute sense. B) Quietly disqualify, if necessary by executive decision, all those ratings which are statistical outliers. An EasyStar cannot be called an "8", but neither is an Acromaster a 4.x. That's sandbagging |
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Good post H2SO4 (can I call you Mr. Sulphuric? ), you raise some good points.
I don't mind the rating system thats here, its a good guide for beginners, as well as those beginners that are looking at things they shouldn't be... and those not-so-beginners that are legitimately looking for something more exciting, but also something within their capabilities. On the 'sandbagging', I definitely know what you mean. I'm getting my ratings from still being very new - I've only been flying 3 months or so. Nothing before that but rubber powered balsa kits 15 years ago. My point is that I can still keep that 'newbie' perspective. For example, the F9F may be pretty easy to fly for me now, but I reckon it'd be shattered over a good area in 5 seconds flat were I to hand over to a starter mid flight. IMPORTANT BIT: On planes being rated on something they shouldn't be... call them out! The list isn't set in stone, I can change whatever people see fit. I might ask that at least one person seconds a revised rating though, or the list could quickly disintegrate and become meaningless. Cheers - boingk |
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IMPORTANT BIT:
On planes being rated on something they shouldn't be... call them out! The list isn't set in stone, I can change whatever people see fit. I might ask that at least one person seconds a revised rating though, or the list could quickly disintegrate and become meaningless. Cheers - boingk[/QUOTE] I'm all for that idea because I have seen some planes that I feel are not rated correctly at all like someone rated the 'Stryker B' a 5. 5 is "an easy 2nd plane" and I just don't see any Stryker being an 'easy' 2nd plane. A good second plane (IMHO) should have ailerons, preferably a high wing still with some dihedral and not too fast. |
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