Day 5: Buy your airplane

If you have a local hobby shop, ask the geek behind the counter what plane he would recommend for the location you chose to fly. If you don’t have a hobby shop nearby, order a plane online. There are hundreds of planes to choose from. To make life easy, I’ll give you two choices:

• GWS Slow Stick (also known as the “SS”). This is by far the most popular RC aircraft. It’s super cheap, very easy to fly, easy to put together, easy to fix, slow enough to fly in small spaces, and it can grow with you as your skills improve. You’ll need the main kit, an Electronic Speed Control (ESC), a battery, a charger, and a transmitter (which will include a receiver and the two servos you need). You’ll learn what each of these components dos in a few times. For now, just buy the accessories listed at the bottom of the Tower Hobbies page, which should add up to about $190. While you’re at it, buy five extra propellers (you’ll need them).

• EasyStar. This plane is a little faster than the slow stick, so it requires a little bigger flying space. Buy this if you have at least a 600×600 space (think four football or soccer fields). While the speed is a disadvantage over the GWS Slow Stick, but it’s a Ready To Fly (RTF) model, which means it’s already built. The Slow Stick is a Almost-ready To Fly (ARF) model, which means you have to buy the different components and build it yourself. Also, the EasyStar has the prop above and behind it, so you won’t break it when you fly into something or land nose-first.