When I first started watching RCPowers videos on youtube and going to their forums, I was looking dreamily at everything thinking I'd never get into RC planes. I helped fix friends planes from time to time because I like to tinker, often with 2 or 3 planes sitting around the house after an "eventful day" for the guys down the field. Some had trainers they threw me on occasionally in the previous 4 months to give me a chance to fly but for YEARS I never thought I'd ever have my own.
Finally, after a guy handed me a bunch of parts from a crashed RTF foamy, I went to RCPowers looking to buy a plan and they had this thing called the "Ultimate RC Course" go up for sale. It was a lot more than I intended on spending but I picked it up anyway. 60 day money-back guarantee so I couldn't lose but you know what? I never once considered using that guarantee.
Up front the course didn't really save me much money because I was building from cannibalized parts, Radio and all. Over time though it certainly has, but that's not the reason I didn't use the guarantee.
The BEST thing this course ever saved me was hours upon hours of my life. As a complete beginner I didn't even know how to ask questions in a way that would get me the answers I needed! Even when I got lucky, the answers included stuff like "RTF", "ARF" and a bunch of other words and abbreviations I didn't really understand. From the time I recieved the parts to the time I went to RCPowers to buy a plan I'd spent hours during the week going to forums, running searches and reading a LOT of stuff.
Of course I had to wade through what was relevant, what wasn't and skip over stuff that in hindsight WAS relevant but I just wasn't able to understand it at the time. I was sometimes having to piece together info from multiple forums to arrive at the answers I needed.
The Ultimate Audio Course had almost EVERYTHING I needed to know to get my first plane in the air and the incessant forum trolling was over. It was simple, step by step, and if I needed to know what "RTF" meant, it explained it to me! I didn't have to go running bunches of searches for answers anymore either because I now had enough information to ask relevant questions AND understand the answers. I could also avoid all those noob questions that no-one likes to answer.
Less than a week after I got my first plans:
Keep in mind I'd flown planes before and was to the point where I could keep them in the air more often than not though by no means am I an advanced pilot! At this stage big lazy circles were about all I was capable of and although you can't really see it, that video ends with me hitting a tree! Over the next month or 2 this plane copped a beating, sometimes looking like a jigsaw puzzle after it hit the ground! With the help from the Audio Course and it's repair kit this plane is actually still in the air months later. It's probably more hot glue and tape than foam, and it's sort of bent like a banana, but I've kept it going!
If you are looking at getting into RC planes, do yourself a favour and buy AT LEAST the basic version of this course (the "Start Right" section). Even if you are buying a Ready-to-Fly plane it will help you choose the one you need to get started and help you keep it flying as long as humanly possible. It will explain what everything is, what it does, and help you understand what's going on if something starts going wrong.
Not once have I ever regretted spending the $47 bucks for the whole thing. Bucketloads of information, 4 sets of RCPowers plans for their V2 style planes and a whole heap of my life back that I would have had to spend in forums trying to wrap my head around it all.
The biggest testament to it's value? 4 months after that first video I have 5 scratchbuilt planes and now I'm the guy helping my friends to build theirs! The quality of my planes and my skill level have graduated to this:
THAT is why I recommend the RCPowers Ultimate RC eCourse. A short 4 months, including winter and a lot of bad weather where I couldn't fly, but taking their advice I was able to hone my building and flying skills to a point where it's now all fun instead of some of it being hard work.
Now it's almost a year later (11 months give or take) and where am I at?
And it all started with that one purchase. IMO you're only slowing your own progression into the RC plane hobby by not buying this eCourse!
http://www.rcpowers.com/index2.php. I seriously recommend checking it out whether you are a complete beginner or looking at getting into scratchbuilding.
Some of you will be thinking I'm plugging this eCourse and, I want this completely understood, that's EXACTLY what I'm doing! I don't work for RCPowers and although they run an affiliate program I have avoided it so I make no money from sales of the eCourse. I want you to have every confidence that the reason I'm trying to make a sale is because it's the best thing for you!
Get it. Learn it. Buy or build the right plane, go out and have FUN. That's exactly what I did!
