Tell me about remote control planes

December 15, 2023 8:36 AM

I've been told that two of my grandchildren would love remote-control planes for Christmas, and I've overwhelmed by the choices. Please help me out.

Kids are 13 and 10. Space is a problem for this household, so their Mom would rather I not get something "huge" - I realize "huge" is vague. Kids have never flown remote control planes before, so something easy for beginners would be best. This doesn't strictly have to be a plane - a helicopter would be fine too.

I'd like to keep this roughly under $100 each, but if the Absolute Best Plane in the Universe is a little more than that, feel free to suggest it.

If planes that require a phone is a thing that exists, I want to avoid that.

Looking at online reviews, I'm just not sure what sites I can trust. If there is one you do trust, that's useful information too.

Thanks for help with this.

posted by FencingGal to Shopping (9 answers total)

$100 isn't going to get you very far in RC, especially because they will crash things (and need to buy spare parts to fix them) while they're learning. That said, it's an awesome hobby!

You mentioned planes so I'll start there (it's also what I'm most into these days).

The cheapest RTF (that's "ready to fly," as in, everything you need is in the box, very little assembly required) I know right now is a Horizon Sport Cub, currently retailing for $159. The transmitter (that's the bit you hold with the joysticks) it comes with is a bit crap, but it'll get the job done. It, and most of the other Horizon models, includes "SAFE" (their trade name for electronic stabilization systems that make it easier to fly). Practically speaking there's a switch on the controller that lets you switch from "the plane levels itself if you let go" to "you have full control." Something like the Sport Cub is pretty small and you could totally fly it around a moderately sized back yard, no problem.

One unfortunate consequence of physics is that smaller/lighter planes are more challenging to fly. They're more easily pushed around by wind, and lack the inertia/power to push through. When my wife had a go at learning to fly, the folks at the field I flew at recommended we get her an Apprentice S ($350), which has a 1.5 meter wingspan and is heavier/more stable. It also needs a much larger area to fly -- I wouldn't try to fly it anywhere but a dedicated model aviation field, or maybe an empty soccer/football field.

The other 800 pound gorilla in this space is Flite Test, which does a lot of community stuff and sells Getting Started kits. We bought a family friend the Fun Pack Starter Bundle ($169) as well as the STEM Ez Nature Pack ($65 after you add the battery/remote pack). My wife and I have built a few of their Tiny Trainers, but I can't quote you a price because we used electronics we already had on-hand. Note that the Flite Test models do not come pre-assembled. You'll need to punch out pre-cut foam board sheets and use hot glue guns to glue things together. This is either fun (if you like building things, like us) or frustrating (if you just want to fly). Do note that unlike the Horizon stuff, the Flite Test models don't come with electronic stabilization. This is either fun, or frustrating, depending on how good your hand-eye coordination is, how fast you learn, and how much you like building vs. flying.

I think I remember you being in the US, so I should mention RemoteID -- this is a new law that's going into effect as we speak (exact rollout has been a bit rocky, I believe the FAA is currently planning to start enforcing in March). IANAL, but the gist is "if it's under 250g all-up weight, you're fine to fly anywhere. If it weighs more than 250g, and want to fly at unregulated sites, you need to buy a RemoteID transceiver, register it, and install it in your model (this is basically a "license plate" and allows anyone with a receiver to look up an ID number and report it to the FAA). Your other option is to fly at an FAA-registered FRIA (federally registered identification area) -- mostly model flying fields, and there aren't that many. This is really obnoxious, but a consequence of the broad spread of relatively cheap RC gear and people doing dumb things with it.

Then again, learning to fly RC planes isn't easy and it might be worth identifying a club in your area to go hang out at anyway, to learn with people! Clubs are widely variable, but often hobby people want to help each other out. The field I flew at in LA (Apollo XI, up in Van Nuys) had a very active "kids and their parents flying stuff" scene, and a local hobby shop guy gave lessons on weekend mornings (though demand was high).
posted by Alterscape at 9:10 AM on December 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

And I typed all that and blanked on helicopters and drones. You're probably looking at $150 for a RTF helicopter (something like the Blade Nano is a decent place to start), but I think I'd be more cautious giving that to a younger child due to rapidly-spinning-rotor-blades and that it COULD fly inside (I hover my MCP-X around my living room), so blade + face proximity could happen.

Maybe the "safest" and "easiest" option is a ducted-fan quadcopter. These have a plastic ring around the rotors (good for finger/face safety) and electronic stabilization so they're relatively easier to fly. The Blade Inductrix was the go-to for a while, but I think they're not very available right now. Hubsan used to make similar toys for even less, but they've gone very far down the "control it with your phone" route, and I'm not sure what to recommend these days.
posted by Alterscape at 9:18 AM on December 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

I would think about drones, which I suspect is what is being called a "helicopter" in the message that was passed to you. Drones (i.e., quad-rotors) are much easier to learn to fly than an RC plane or helicopter, and cheaper.
posted by Mid at 9:23 AM on December 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

Cosigning the quadcopter recommendation. I'd the kids don't have these yet, start there. Planes are just really hard to fly. Taking off is one of the hardest bits, so they may never even get to experience flying at all. Drones can be had so cheap, and are so easy to fly, that they are the obvious starting point.
posted by agentofselection at 9:44 AM on December 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks. It does look like drones might be the way to go (though I'm intrigued by the idea of local clubs for remote control planes - maybe something to look into later). Their mom's issue with drones was about cameras and privacy - we didn't know there are non-camera drones until we looked at the page Mid sent.

Thanks everyone for help so far. Would be happy to hear any other thoughts.
posted by FencingGal at 12:02 PM on December 15, 2023

I'd like to challenge the idea that FPV quads are inherently privacy-violating. The next step up from the toys we're all linking here is some kind of Tiny Whoop, which people mostly use for flying around inside. The gear you need to do this gets well out of $100 buy-in (the $210 Mobula 6 is a common entry point, and that still needs goggles, which are anywhere from $100 to $1000, depending on how fancy you want to get). You can spend a lot more, and that level of fly-crash-build probably is beyond what a 13-year-old would be into, but by the time they're 16-18? Heck yeah. It's a lot of fun and please take a look at the video before you throw it all out as privacy violating awfulness!
posted by Alterscape at 2:21 PM on December 15, 2023

The Syma S107 is a good cheap RC mini helicopter (not a drone) that is pretty easy to fly. About $30 on Amazon and it's easy to get extra parts. They work pretty well indoors since they're so small.
posted by mmoncur at 3:19 PM on December 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

We got the sport cub for my son. He loved it for as long as it lasted till a mild “gust” of 8mph wind pushed it out of controller transmit/receive range and we watched it fly away completely helpless to do anything. We ended up getting another and he did love it but a few harsh landings and it was done. So just be prepared it may not last long and that lightweight == fragile.

At this age drone is probably best. I agree to revisit at age 16.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:30 PM on December 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Some Costco's may have drones in your price range, saw a display last week.
posted by Sophont at 1:20 PM on December 16, 2023