Plane for my 8 year old daughter

Ok Guys I have a 8 year old girl who really wants to fly she currently has a 1/2 a plane but she needs something bigger I have an old shoestring and a fox .35 would this work are any ideas???

Stephan,

How skilled is she at this point? If she's alread able to fly around in circles, climb and dive and has a basic (can be very basic) understanding of the controls, then I would imagine a CG Shoestring would be fine. If she is still crashing every or most flights, then you want something that will hold up through repeated face plants and something like a Guillow Trainer for that .35 might be a better choice until she only crashes occasionally.

Is there a URL for the Guillow Trainer's?

Guillow's trainers are no longer in production, and when they can be found on E-Bay, are quite pricey. I would recommend the Brodaks streak trainer with a good 15 on it and 52 or so foot lines. The Sig Buster or Shoestring with a sport 15 engine would also be goos choices.

Bigiron

> Guillow's trainers are no longer in production, and when
>they can be found on E-Bay, are quite pricey. I would
>recommend the Brodaks streak trainer with a good 15 on it
>and 52 or so foot lines. The Sig Buster or Shoestring with
>a sport 15 engine would also be goos choices.
>
> Bigiron

I 2nd the opinion for the Brodak Streak Trainer. Easy to build and very tame yet durable.

My son learned on a sheet balsa 1/2A trainer but takeoff & landings are difficult to master for the 1/2As. The Streak Trainer solved that problem, allowed him to fly in more wind and could do simple wingovers.

He's now ready for the U-Key aerobatic offerings (has already flown my U-Key 15).

Where do you get the planes for the guillow she has not been around by her self yet the 1/2a has no line tenison from my experience I learned better with a big plane.

If you want to use that 35 how about a Ukey 35 (not sure of how to get these at the moment):

Or a KISS Stunt stick:

http://www.protech-aero.com/

Or a Gotcha Streak:

http://home.earthlink.net/~philcartier/streak2000kit.html

Tony

Stephen;

If you want to build from plans, Order Plan #CF-807 from Flying Models. A .35 C/L Trainer for a .35 engine.

Flying Models
P.O. Box 700
Newton, NJ 07860

Tom - Duluth, MN

Since you say she has not been around by herself yet, I would go with the Flite Streak Trainer, and a 15; LA, Fp or whatever you may have.
Then, move her up to the Shoestring when she can "solo".
Bill <><

35 sized models can be a little much for kids. The noise, the pull, etc.

But 1/2As are harder to fly, for just about anyone.

So: I like the .15-.19 sized models. They "fly" pretty easily, without the sturm und drang of their larger cousins.

You can't go wrong with a Streak Trainer. Available, at Fine Hobby Shops, everywhere.

The Streak trainer is a good choice. And for an 8 year old, a .15-.19 stized trainer may be a good decision.

Stephen: My 8-year old son, Jake, has been flying a Sig Buster for a couple of years now. It's a good size, and it's tough. Being a sheet wing , though, it's really only good for going around in circles. We tried a FS Jr. but it was just too sensitive, and Jake couldn't control it. Something between the Buster and the FS Jr. would probably be ideal.

Steve,

I think the Streak Trainer is exactly what you are describing.
Can you email me at my home email?

[email protected]

Thanks,
Bill <><

Hey Steve what engine will work in the Buster I have seen Jake fly it I have a Enya .19 I can use,

Steve,
What you are hearing is right on the money by my experience. I just went through the whole thing with my nine year old daughter. We have two 1/2a trainers: a Brodak basic trainer that blew up every time it hit the ground, and a Sig Skyray that is extremely durable and flies pretty well indeed. However, it's tough to get the little .049 planes to fly slow enough to be manageable and not spin around too fast, yet maintain line tension for stability and control. I then built a Training Flight Streak, covered the wings with doped on silkspan for more toughness, epoxied some fiberglass cloth to the sides of the fuselage and painted the whole plane with a couple coats of model spray paint and put her name on it. Put the elevator pushrod in the least sensitive holes, installed an OS LA-S .15 with an 8-3 prop and ran it rich on 52' .015 lines. Sarah soloed from takeoff to landing on her third flight. She noticed the added line tension from the bigger plane, but it's not a big deal if you have the 8-3 prop(vice an 8-4 which is quite a bit faster) and keep the engine from wailing by running it rich. The only thing that could make it a better trainer (besides maybe a slightly more naturally benign engine) would be a better control handle with the line spacing narrowed up to be more appropriate for the little 2" bellcrank (for yet a little less control sensitivity). Oh, and if you have any lite-ply, make the vertical stabilizer out of that instead of the kit balsa. The plane is nose heavy (which is good) but tends to take a tumble when landing in thatched up crabgrass. So buy a few extra props, bring your CA glue to the ballfield and keep flying!

Stephen_ Good for you--you and your daughter have as much fun as you can!!! WE have a gal here in the NW that just gives the guys in the combat circle a real tough match--wonderful to see young people having fun!!!
Dave Shrum

The January 2004 edition of "Flying Models" magazine has a real nice looking trainer that would be a nice step up from a 1/2a plane. It uses a .10 size engine but you might be able to scale it up some and have more engine choices. Check out page 50. Plans from Carstens (page 54) are only $8

I started my 8 year old son out on a Estes Ringmaster Jr. with a Fuji .15 and he caught on real quick. Faster than I did at that age with old Guillows solid trainer. I would agree with Currell (and others) that just about any .15 size plane would serve well as a trainer

I built a Lil Zinger from plans on Aeromaniacs web page. Powered by a Cox 049 with a Davis Diesel Head. Pick an engine thats broke in well and don't forget to change the crank to DD one. The airplane flys well on a Tornado 6-3 three blade on 30 foot lines. The nice thing about the diesel convertion is it can be slowed down through a combination of needle valve setting and compression. It gives good line tension and is durable. I made fuselage doublers from 1\32 plywood and it has held up well. I plan on cutting up another kit for her to build before she builds the Flight Streak Jr. OBTW it will do loops and figure eights.
Steven Adler

Can't beat the Streak Trainer. In the 1980s my wife and then-13-year-old daughter easily learned to fly in one try with one of those powered by a McCoy .19. They even went on to teach their entire Girl Scout Troop to fly in one afternoon...with two of those being solos on their second flight. Just keep the control throws minimal, and build a BEEFY landing gear.