7 year old and $39: HF R/C airplane dilemma

So my son and I were walking through Harbor Freight a year ago, and he sees this r/c airplane for $39. I didn't buy it for him, but said if he saved up his money, he could buy it. A year later, he has $37.50 and has not stopped talking about that airplane. He's 7. This thing is going to crash and break apart. HF R/C Airplane

I'd like to mitigate some of the inevitable disappointment, because I think he's too young to understand the meaning of "quality", and he's saved so diligently over the past year. On the other hand, I don't want to take away his pride by making up the difference on a more expensive (read: better quality, and more beginner friendly) plane.

I suppose I'm asking more for parental advice here.
-Let the kid suffer when the plane breaks right after he buys it (probably the right thing to do, but his $39 is different than mine).
-Find a higher quality plane and make up the difference. -Steer him toward an r/c car to learn the basics of r/c.
-Try to convince him to keep saving for something like a dirtbike and work an r/c car out for his birthday (in June)

I've let him come a long way down the road to the plane- I probably should have had the "quality" talk a while ago, but honestly didn't think he was going to save the cash- I think it's a little disingenuous to make the dollar amount a moving target for him. I'm trying to do unto him as I would have done. Fair, but realistic.

What do you think? R/c guys have any advice? He doesn't have a video game machine and hasn't developed those types of skills yet.

In my previous personal accounts with anything R/C has ended up in failure, but damn did it feel cool to have one! I would go ahead and purchase it for him, let him read the directions and put it together, will give him pride that he put something together. Let him try it out.

I still remember when I was around that age, i wanted a R/C Spitfire, too expensive and my dad did the same: didnt buy it. Still remember it to this day. If i were you, i would do it, just because its ALOT cheaper than my Spitfire dream...

those ones really don't do much other than fly in a straight line anyways, and they are fairly tough. when you turn they tend to drop out of the sky. then again, this might be the chance to steer him towards something a little less likely to crash and burn every time he makes a mistake. 7 was when i got my first "really fast" r/c car. but then i had been playing with anything that moved under its own power as much as i could as soon as i figured out that there was such a thing.

i'd say see if you can steer him towards something that will build his skills rather than be broken in a week, tops

edit: just noticed you can get replacement wing and tail pieces for it, and they're on sale for 5.97. if you let him get it, stock up on those. the plane says it comes with two extra props so you'll have a couple spares of those. sounds like this thing is made to be crashed

Do the car. Find a kit you can build with him and become half owners in it.

Been there. My daughter received one as a gift, and yes, it will fly just fine, but it takes a pretty deft hand at the controls. My daughter at 8 did not have the light touch it took to ease off the throttles, and the plane would shoot straight up, stall, and crash to the ground. I replaced the props, taped up the wings a few times, but in the end, she just couldn't fly it.

The plane can take a bit of a beating, but falling from a great height obviously will take its toll. My advice is to go for it, but go out when there is ZERO wind, and you have plenty of space, and perhaps over an uncut field (helps cushion the landings). Practice driving around on the ground (no wings) to get the feel of the throttles and steering first. Then take short flights: takeoff, 5 feet up, then land. Trying to soar like an eagle on the first try will lead to disappointment.

Also, try out the Air Hogs Copters. Easier to fly, and if he can get the hang of those, he can handle the plane.

When my brother was probably 10 he got one of those string planes for Christmas. He and dad spent all day on Christmas putting it together. Right before dark it was finally done and they went out to the culdesac for it's maiden flight. The engine went WOT for whatever reason, it took about 20' to get airborn, immediately went up and over my brother instead of around him, and hit the ground head on at full speed and exploded into eleventy pieces. He got a solid 5 seconds of run time. That was kind of heartbreaking to watch.

I dunno, from what I've seen over the years of reviews of that plane, it's not junk. It's not going to fall apart as soon as you get home, flies reasonably well, is mildly tough, and has replacement parts available.

Far more important than the plane is your role here. Are you just going to toss the kid and the plane into the back yard? In which case he'll have it stuck in a tree in under five minutes. Or are you going to go with him to a good flying area, with good weather conditions, and teach him how to fly it. Even if you don't know how, learning together with him, with your adult perspective, will go a long way towards him learning.

...now im looking at R/C planes. Thanks guys!

Datsun1500 wrote: This: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002B0N5R2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002YP3TDY&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0BQ5QXJY4CM37EVNSQAG That will last longer and you can show him that it was $80 and is now $30, it's never to early to teach the value of a dollar or the value of quailty... or this if the above one is gone. http://www.amazon.com/Megatech-Police-Airplane-Helicopter-MTC9614/dp/B002YP3TDY

i bought one of those first ones once for S&G, it can be found pretty regularly for that price, so i don't think the quality is there. it was pretty durable, but it basically has two speeds for climbing/cruising, but just barely climbs at top speed, drops pretty rapidly at low speed. it worked, but was tough to keep in the air. i ended up trying to put a bigger battery in it but screwed up the c/g and it was not long for this world. the megatech is styrofoam which means one good crash and its done.

we played with these out at my granparents land a lot, tons of fun for $, and will teach him a bit how planes work, and what happens when they run into things. http://www.amazon.com/6309-Ultra-Flyer-4-5/dp/B0006O1Y7I/ref=sr_1_4?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1299594178&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.com/Hobbyzone-Mini-Super-Cub-RTF/dp/B001IF3XVY/ref=pd_sim_dbs_t_34

this one claims to have an anti-crash control system on it, and hobbyzone is a decent company that you should be able to get replacement parts for.

I'd steer him towards the Airhogs line of stuff. Extremely durable, pretty cool looking, and they typically had a fairly limited range, so you really can't lose it.

I think the last time we went into Target, they had a pretty cool UAV Predator model that was out. Probably about the same price point and will survive a bunch of crash action.

Racer1ab wrote: I'd steer him towards the Airhogs line of stuff. Extremely durable, pretty cool looking, and they typically had a fairly limited range, so you really can't lose it. I think the last time we went into Target, they had a pretty cool UAV Predator model that was out. Probably about the same price point and will survive a bunch of crash action.

This.

The inevitable crash will wreck the airplane not the quality of the construction. The $80 airplane may be easier to repair but $41 buys alot of glue,dowels and tape. It will be heartbreaking to crash it, but it is not the end of the world. Perhaps you should go to the local hobbyshop and find out where the R/C airfield is in your area. Once jr sees that it is not easy he will understand the crashing is part of learning. By the way I can fly anything with wings but have destroyed every R/C airplane that I have ever laid hands on.

pilotbraden wrote: By the way I can fly anything with wings but have destroyed every R/C airplane that I have ever laid hands on.

Even the best R/C pilots do. R/C planes are born to die, it's just the nature of the beast. Ditto on the recommendation that you spend a Sunday at the local R/C field. And maybe think about buying the plane itself from the local hobby shop.

Duke wrote:

pilotbraden wrote: By the way I can fly anything with wings but have destroyed every R/C airplane that I have ever laid hands on.

Even the best R/C pilots do. R/C planes are born to die, it's just the nature of the beast. Ditto on the recommendation that you spend a Sunday at the local R/C field. And maybe think about buying the plane itself from the local hobby shop.

And this is why I stick to R/C trucks. My last build was a full carbon race ready, hardcore world champ class R/C truck. I didn't even have the body put together yet, and I had managed to blast the front end apart on a dry run. Fortunately for me, 15$ and a trip to the hobby store had that crash erased. I can't say that planes have fared as well in my hands.

I'll check on some of these suggestions. He's worked hard for this and I wanted to manage his expectations. I didn't realize there were spares you could buy. I'll likely sneak them into my basket when we go to get it. He saved the money, so he gets to spend it how he wants. We'll check into the air hogs as well.

I'm a pilot by trade, so I'm arrogant enough to think that I can fly an r/c plane (how many times have you heard "real" pilots say that?), so hopefully we can get it up and running, and hopefully he'll have the patience to keep trying.

I can empathize with you on this. My oldest, a boy, turns 7 this month. He's never seen the HF plane, but we went through the Air Hogs copter, and a few other similar cheap toys he really wanted.

The Air Hogs are pretty darn tough. This thing has hit the hard tile kitchen floor countless times. It did break one of the propellers once, but they're easy to replace. We spoke to him about the potential for breaking, and he understood. But at the end of the day, it's his money. Yes, we'd be heartbroken to see the thing fall apart the very first time he used it, but he does need to learn to make choices. At the same time, if it totally comes apart the very first day, I'm sure you could get a refund if you scream loud enough.

We're going through the same thing now with model rockets. Built our first one at the end of summer last year. Talk about "blowing up" on first flight...well, that's happened. But he has a great time with them, and it's great father/son time.

I'd get him a $10 RC car first to learn the steering from R/C perspective---ie: when the car is coming towards you , L isn't really "Left" as you need to think about it from the car's perspective. This is something that takes a few tries to figure out--and better to do in 2d than 3d.

I do think a car is a better choice if he's never played with an R/C anything before. It takes a little while to get the hang of it. My kids have had cheapo R/C cars since they were like 3. They've flown a few of the air hogs planes they got as gifts. They will fare reasonably well if you have a big open space.

39 bucks is probably cheaper than these cheesy air hogs things, which must have about a 10000% markup. Sounds like a cool plane. Get it. Prepare him for the inevitable and be there to help steer him out of trouble and pick up the pieces. And go someplace that's wide open to make your first flight. No sense in dooming him to failure by flying around trees and houses.

And what seems like a little wind to a kid is actually a LOT of wind to a model airplane. Good luck finding a calm day in March.

Good luck!

Looking back at my youth I remember the day that the rocket got in a tree, the frame on the bicycle got bent, we blew up dad's propane grill, etc.... The days that it all worked were never as interesting. I have seen one of those Harbor Freight airplanes flying in a warehouse, it seemed pretty durable. It still flew after flying into a forklift.

Your son was given the incentive to save his money and he deserves the opportunity to spend it on the plane. You have an opportunity to instill the trust a son always needs for his Dad; don't take that away from him.

Picking up some spare parts is a great idea; you'll be ready to fix the damage right away. And buy yourself an r/c car while you're there. The cars are cheaper but still fun and you might be able to steer him away from flying long enough to learn the contols with your car. Once he's mastered that, the car is all yours!

Have fun!

pilotbraden wrote: By the way I can fly anything with wings but have destroyed every R/C airplane that I have ever laid hands on.

Prove it!

Well, might not work, but any chance you could interest him in Estes rockets? They're a TON of fun and they usually work pretty well if you build them reasonably well. An Alpha III is tough to break. Shoot, maybe impossible. Great starting point and about the same price.

http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-III-E2X-Starter-Set/dp/B002SX1XMG

Go for it.

Model rockets are also a lot of fun. Build it right and your biggest worry will be how far the wind take it on it's way down. And then limbing 50' up into a tree to get it.

In reply to Osterkraut:

Touche!