RC Planes Harder to Fly Than RC Heli's?

[Rookiepilot83]

Hey HeliFreak's,

My brother is trying to say that RC planes are harder to fly than RC heli's. I know that he is wrong so could someone please chime in here and back me on this? Please give your opinion on which is harder and why? Thank you.

[gill4321]

Give him a sim and tell him go for it. Unless he knows how to fly heli's then he's full of it.

[John Cook]

lol

[backburner1955]

The owner of a small local shop told me once... "The difference between planes and helicopters is, that planes WANT to fly and helicopters WANT to crash..."

If he thinks helis are easier, let him buy one and see how many times he crashes...

Planes are what heli pilots use to relax, thats how much easier planes are...

[1BADAIR]

no way. i fly both
planes fly forward, left and right
heli's-left, right, forward, sideways, right, backwards, wrongway's (sometimes) upside down backwards, forward LOL.

[TheBum]

You can actually fly a plane quite well without using rudder by just doing aileron-elevator turns. With a heli, you have to use rudder for most maneuvers unless you're flying in rate mode, in which case it can be a challenge to get the tail to stay put when you want it to.

You generally don't have to worry about a plane instantaneously changing altitude like you do with a heli.

IMO, the only things that are easier with a helicopter are takeoffs and landings...and hovering and backward flight, of course.

[755 robert]

I have been flying planks for 15 years or so.An airplane wants to fly, you just have to point it where you want it to go .I could fly a plank with a beer in one hand the controller in the other and a cig in my mouth ...On the other hand the heli does not want to fly,in fact the heli spends every moment trying not to stay in the air they have instability built in to the design.A heli will travel in all dimensions but you as a pilot have to give every command ,to keep it in the air..Or just ask your friend if he knows the glide rate for a helicopter...I am very much in the learning stages of heli ,but having tried about every rc toy known to man the heli is by far the most chalenging..just my .02cents

[fixnfly70]

Originally Posted by Rookiepilot83

Hey HeliFreak's,

My brother is trying to say that RC planes are harder to fly than RC heli's. I know that he is wrong so could someone please chime in here and back me on this? Please give your opinion on which is harder and why? Thank you.

If your brother can stand on the beach, he can fly a plane. If he can stand on a beachball in the ocean with 6ft swells, he can fly a heli.

[sansone]

Originally Posted by gill4321

Give him a sim and tell him go for it. Unless he knows how to fly heli's then he's full of it.

this is the answer right here

[backburner1955]

Originally Posted by 1BADAIR

no way. i fly both
planes fly forward, left and right
heli's-left, right, forward, sideways, right, backwards, wrongway's (sometimes) upside down backwards, forward LOL.

but the Wonkavator can go sideways, and slantways, and longways, and backways...

...and squareways, and front ways, and backways and any other ways that you can think of.

hahahaha

[sansone]

bb'55... that's my year

[backburner1955]

Originally Posted by sansone

bb'55... that's my year

Year of your birth?

Thats the year of the 1955 Ford F100 sitting in my garage in pieces, that project keeps getting put on the Back Burner... Get it? Thats the origin of the name...

Year of my birth, 1973

[sansone]

oh god I feel old

[JackdaWack]

HELL NO. You can learn to fly a plane in one day..... it could take you years to really learn how to fly a heli.

[nighthawkron]

If your brother want to prove his theory he can come out to the house and fly my planes and heli's !

Be forewarned his has to pay for all repairs and damage.

Is he game for this ?

[griffsred]

Originally Posted by TheBum

IMO, the only things that are easier with a helicopter are takeoffs and landings...and hovering and backward flight, of course.

I definately agree with what you said Bum, the fact that planes want to fly is what makes them hard to land. Everytime I've ever takenoff or landed it's been a clincher.

Other than that there is no real comparison between helis or planes, just my 2 cents.

[cudaboy_71]

i fly both.

to be good at either requires a lot of time and skill. one is not easier than the other. performing a torque roll on a plane is just about the same skill set as hovering a mode-1 helicopter. there are just as many, if not more complex maneuvers for a plane that require tons of practice to get right. i'll still stop and watch a plane perform a smooth rolling circuit down on the deck.

however, learning the basics of flight a heli is WAY harder. i learned to fly a plane without the aid of a sim or a buddy box in the early 80s simply by taking the sticks while it was in the air. sure, you can get out of shape easily...there is an orientation issue to get over. but, basically any rube walking off the street can grab the controls and fly a circuit within 20 minutes.

with over 15 years of plane experience it still took me +80 hours of sim time to get all the orientations of a hover down.

[DirtyDan92]

I believe one of the members here has a sig that explains it best:

"Planes are like feel-good buddy movies and helis are like horror films... you just have to like being scared!"

[JasonJ]

Helicopters are much more difficult than planes initially. Now, when it comes to complex aerobatics with planes, I am finding that pretty challenging. The helicopter has helped me greatly, but now that I am trying things with the planes like hovering, knife edges, snaprolls and stuff like that, it has it's own challenges. I will say that my 3D plank is hyper enough that it is definitely challenging. A trainer plank, easy as pie. Once you get into something more performance oriented, the gap narrows. That is my experience anyway.

[Blade~400~er]

Originally Posted by Rookiepilot83

Hey HeliFreak's,

My brother is trying to say that RC planes are harder to fly than RC heli's. I know that he is wrong so could someone please chime in here and back me on this? Please give your opinion on which is harder and why? Thank you.

i own 3x's as many planks as helis, i can tell you planes are easier to FLY, now taking off and landing is a totally diff story, helis are much easier in that department but for the most part if you can get a plank in the air the wing does alot of the work and your not juggling the sticks like you would be hovering a heli....however it takes alot of finess and a keen eye to bring a plane back in one peice, making it look pretty is optional..lol..i however pride myself on my plank landing abilities and have been dubbed "the wheel landing master" by some of my clubmates