I am new to RC electric flying. I am particularly interested in WW I type of aircraft. I saw your Jenny listed and I was wondering if you had any others especially for beginners.

From : Don Stackhouse

There are two models in the Roadkill Series that were designed specifically with beginners in mind, but they all make excellent sport models. One is of course the Piper J-3 "Cub". the other is a relative of the Jenny, the Curtiss-Wright CW-1 "Junior".

Based on your comments, I personally would recommend the Junior in your case. The Junior is particularly stable and gentle in flight, and is also one of the most efficient of the Roadkill Series models. It has a lot of the same "visual personality" as the Jenny, but is easier to build and maintain, as well as being somewhat more durable than the Jenny due to its slightly thicker fuselage, wing and tail skins. The Cub and the Junior are both very comfortable indoors (I've flown the Junior in a space 20' x 60' with a 10' ceiling), but both will also handle a surprising amount of wind (I've flown the Junior in measured winds of 10-12 with gusts to 16, and the Cub in more than that). Of the two, the Junior is slightly easier to fly, but the Cub also has an excellent track record with first-time students. Both can do basic aerobatics if you increase the control travel. The Junior does loops, barrel rolls and hammerheads quite well, but I've never been able to get it to spin. The Cub will do very nice spins if you get the C/G back a little and give it enough control throw. When you're ready for a more aerobatic sport model, both models can be upgraded to one of our twin-motor systems (the MPS-2A for the Cub, and the MPS-2B for the Junior), as well as a 3-cell battery.

Once you've mastered a Cub or a Junior, the Jenny should be a good second model. The construction is very similar, but there is more detail (it even has a scale radiator cap!), and the wood is a little thinner and lighter. There are twice as many wings to build, but the construction is essentially the same as the Cub's or Junior's, and the wing struts are designed to act as jigs to ensure proper alignment when joining the wings to each other and to the fuselage. The Jenny's in-flight handling is similar to the Junior, although it requires more attention to keeping the wings level (due to the Jenny's minimal dihedral), and it will spin if you ask it to (but, like the Cub, ONLY if you ask it to). The Jenny is a delightful airplane, very scale-like in flight. Probably its biggest shortcoming is that it's so doggone beautiful to the eye that you just want to sit there and look at it, rather than go out and fly it!

Don Stackhouse
DJ Aerotech