How to get started as a delta wing RC plane geek…?
I work at a company that makes unmanned aerial vehicles, and as a result many of the engineers here are RC geeks. While many of them are mostly fixed wing flyers, practically all the RC pilots here own a Blade CX or Blade CP (which is more advanced). I just bought a Blade CX, and couldn’t be happier with it. You can fly it indoors and it’s an inherently stable design, and you can literally fly it right out of the box. I higly reccomend trying it out, as you get to do full 3 dimensional flight, and it’s quite cheap (I think the CX in $200 new). Regardless of which plane you get, remember that you will crash it frequently (espescially if you are a n00b like me). Initial cost is unimportant compared to how much replacement parts cost. Do not buy a plane with expensive or hard to find parts. Do not b
The cannonical delta wing RC plane is the Zagi. They’re made of relatively sturdy foam and plastic with balsa control surfaces, and are quick and easy to assemble for flight, particularly in comparison to ARFs and kit-built models, which can take hundreds of hours to prepare. I’ve flown a couple of different acrobatic and intro-level Zagis, and they have generally pleasant flight characteristics. Launching can be a bit of a pain (you’ll want a friend who trusts you not to start the prop too soon, to toss it), but they’re great fun. I’m not familiar with the current models, but the beginner-level wing should get you started. Expect to spend a few hundred dollars, though, for a good radio system, servos, motor, battery, etc.
My brother used to fly a lot of RC planes and you don’t have to crash at all if you do it right. Most of the moderately priced radio units have a device which allows for two of them to be linked so a more experienced pilot can take over in the event that you get yourself into trouble. You can find a more experienced pilot at any of the thousand of local radio controlled plane groups. I can also tell you that the most stable and simplest to fly versions have their wings mounted above their center of gravity and have them bent, when you look at the plane head on, in a wide V shape. If you do absolutely nothing to the controls of these planes, they fly stably. Something like this is going to be a lot easier to fly than an unstable delta wing.
