Introduction

Electron

Methodology used for this comparison

Bernard and I decided to first build a methodology which could be applied, regardless of the plane tested, and that would rate the plane fairly, regardless how unique it is. Then, it needed to be simple, clear, practical and scalable.

How did we select the planes for this comparison

The list of planes that you hear could be good as a 1st plane is important ! The one that actually would, is much lower.

Still, many manufacturers work to provide very good 1st planes, planes that respect what's important in this category, and we can certainly applaud some of progress made in the last few years.

So many times have someone heard recommendations for a plane, and so many times was it disappointing. Not necessarily even intentional bad advises, sometimes, people just don't know there is something better, other times, they are attached so much to their plane, that they don't see anything else around. Like blind love.

We selected planes mainly due to their popularities within Electric Forums. Since Bernard and I also had some other planes which were not as popular, but would help to differentiate within the table, we also added them.
For the Grades: For the planes we owned, it was pretty easy as we challenged each other and came to a conclusion. For the planes we did not have, we consulted pilots who owned them and if we would get enough people per plane, we would then moderate the results received, then average the results.
Then, and finally, we would again modulate and compare all the results, plane per plane, and then plane against all the other planes, per criteria.

We really tried hard to stay out of all these considerations, and just go for the FACTS.

Criteria's Explanation

Misunderstanding and mistakes happen because everyone agrees on a word or sentence, while actually, everyone understood the words differently. No bad intention, just lack of shared definitions. We will try here to define our criteria as well as possible, to make sure they are clear.

Some comments

Nothing is perfect, but we tried our best. Time and feedback will help to adjust here and there few details, so we believe that this table will be like a good wine, only better with time.
The notation used is not absolute, but more like a plane to plane comparison which automatically, and naturally, pushed us to adjust the notes accordingly. Meaning if a plane was rated 10 in a category, then another comes and is better, so it means that the first 1 and all the others, need to be downgraded.
The Ranking was done on Recommended setups, using what is written in the User Manual. Some planes would be rated better, with some customization
We did not rate the Plane Packing Box, meaning how well it would ship and arrive as many people buy their plane at their Local Hobby Shop, but it has to be noted that some manufacturers also put efforts in this, and it will certainly show, on the short term, as many planes are bought over the INTERNET.
Some planes did not make it in the actual table, but we are already working on them. New planes will be added with time.