firebird xl
rckip17
I find your comments interesting. I have not found the need for regular extreme stick movement with the Aerobird. My experience with the Firebird XL is very limited, so I won't comment there.
I am more of a relaxed cruiser, but one guy who has spent a lot of time practicing, can do loops with it at 30 feet and has achieved inverted flight several times, however only for short periods. The under camber wing is not intended for inverted flight. He has almost rolled it and is working on that. He does tight figure 8s, I think he does outside loops, tail slides and lots of other manauvers. After his flights he just flys it back to himself, slowly, then cuts to a glide and catches it in his hand. Every time! That sounds like pretty good control to me. I have never done it, but this is his standard routine and he is not afraid to fly in wind either.
Clearly this plane is intended for mild behavior out of the box. Of course if you move the control lines down to the bottom hole on the control horns you can get more response from the elevator and rudder functions. Change over to the X tail and the plane becomes fairly aerobatic within the confines of a rudder/elevator only plane. The limitations are primarily in the pilot and their abilty to manage the plane.
As for wind, I regularly fly mine in 10 MPH winds and have flown it in 15 MPH winds. The only advice I give is that the wing should be undamaged as any weakness in the wing from a crash, combined with the forces exerted by the wind can cause the wing to fail. Of course flying with a damage wing on any plane is asking for trouble.
I have not needed to do this, but I am told that if you put a mild shim, like a popsickle stick, under the back of the wing, she penetrates even better into a strong wind.
dpw567
I rarely find I use full throw on any position on the Aerobird except, perhaps, when at very slow speed or in pure glide. Then, the Aerobird, like any plane, has less flow over the tail feathers, so more throw is needed.
Actually I glide my Aerobird a lot though I have never thermaled with it. Several of the the guys in the club like to thermal Aerobirds and T-Hawks, a similar plane with a standard tail. They climb, catch a thermal and ride the warm updrafts along with the gliders, to stay aloft a long time with no motor at all. I have even read posts of people slope soaring them with very good results.
Anyway, any plane that flies is fun. The XL flies. Power on the left stick and directional control on the right. Just like any mode two dual stick radio.
The Aerobird uses a single stick radio so it is attitude and direction ( pitch and yaw) on the right and throttle under the left thumb, just like other single stick radios. ( some put throttle under the left index finger)
Most planes will climb on increased throttle unless you trim this out. You can't trim it out of an XL or it can't climb, but you can trim it out of an Aerobird. I do it all the time, when that is how I want the plane to fly.
Frankly I find this whole discussion great. All sorts of views coming out. Good stuff.
Net net, we all like the planes we like. We like them for different reasons. Of course satisfaction will be determined by the pilot and their goals and objectives. As there are many different pilots, different flying situaitons and different levels of experience, there are different expectations.
I thoroughly enjoy my Aerobird. It has been a great first plane. I would readily recommend it for someone with similar goals to myself.
The Aerobird is completely different from my 2 meter sail plane, my second plane, which is also three channel blane flown with a single stick Hitec radio. This plane has a traditional tail with elevator/rudder and I will soon be enabling spoilers in the wings for the third channel.
My third plane, the electrajet, that I plan to start buliding today. This one is a flying delta wing, elevon controled plane. This will give me a chance to work with aileron functions, inverted flight and the flying that these features enable. This will be on a two stick Hitec Prism 7X radio. throttle on the left and attitude/roll on the right. Since there is not rudder, direction is a combo of roll and attitude.
Three planes, all different, yet all using the same flight principals to teach me, to thrill me, to add to my enjoyment. I am having a ball flying RC planes and I hope all of you are as well.