Dyehard

For Christmas my son bought me a Fancyfoam Excaliber, we had heard it was a great flying plane, much better than any Flatout. This is the third or forth plane we have built using hinge tape. Given a choise, I would rather have the Flatout clip hinges any time. The clip hinges are several times free-er than any tape I have used, including blenderm, when you are using 60 degrees of throw. Between my son and myself, we have built six or seven Reflections, four Turmoils, and one Flatana. We have never boiled the plastic and have never broken a hinge on assembly. In the dozens of crashes we have had with the Flatouts, we have broken one hinge clip and two control horn clips. I can't count the times that a clip has popped off in a crash, without breaking. Just pop it back on and go back to flying. Oh BTW, the Excaliber didn't turn out to be that great a flyer. It is lighter than a Reflection, so it will fly a touch slower, but it flexes more and is less stable. It will still break when you hit the ground. In a hover there is no comparison, the aileron actually work on the Reflection, on the Excaliber they don't. When it is calm, I can hold the Reflection in a dead still hover two foot in front of my face, indiffently, and reach out and catch it out of the air easily. The Reflection is simply the best hovering and best flying foamie I have flown so far. For $25 it is a steal.

goff101

great planes just made the flatouts smaller. I guess that if they did use the extra hardware that it would be too heavy to fly. one thing iv found out its that the flatouts are pretty weak. you cant crash them or they will break.[&o]but they fly well for doing 3d. I just barely started flying these flat foamies and am building a second so I wouldnt know. but the second is off some plans online not a flatout. its allot stronger and will fly better. its just what works for me

hobbydude214

My Feedback: (13)

ya they dont fly 3d very well, usually its to the pilots ability but in the case of the flatouts they arent very good at all

goff101

in my case, I wouldnt know how well it flies. I just know how durable it is. imagine (dude, oh crap! CRUNCH!) im new to 3d and have been flying for three years. not to bad for someone under 20 right?

goff101

by the way, dyehard, your right, the hinge clips are allot stronger. but the foam they use should be thicker. it is way to thin and easy to break. on the foamie im building I made it with carbon rods through the wing and elevator. all I needed was three rods and it is allot stronger than the flatouts carbon rod system

linkadrip

Well i can see buy all the post i have read were my Matt Chapman 580 Flatout build went down the tubes i was almost finished too. and wouldnt you know it the rudder tube got glue in the joint and busted off. the plane has been broken in so many points that its basically just good for parts now. Good thing it was cheap. And at least i learned a thing or two about building foamy planes. should have let my son put it together. He was right i was rushing the job and screwed it all up.
[:@]
So as said many times before proper equipment building techniques and patience. Mainly patience after i broke the rudder i got so frustrated with it just threw it in the corner and said to heck with it but my little toss sent the plane to its grave. But even though i didnt finish the build and the plane is beyond repair. Now i'm more determined then ever to build a flatout foamy and fly it.

There has to be a better engineered flatout foam plane out there somewere.

calendar

I'm a beginner. I've had 2 Flatouts. The first one was a Flatana. It was my first foam plane and took me a long time to build. I think the hinges move nice, but they do take a lot longer to put together. I don't know how to do 3d yet, but I thought it flew nice. I landed it in the grass on my second flight, and it looked like a nice landing, but the landing gear broke and ripped the foam all apart. I took the landing gear off and next time I flew, it fell apart and crashed, so it must have been damaged more than I thought.

I built a cap and it went together a lot faster due to my experience and finding out about glue accelerator. I put a TON of glue around the landing gear hoping it would hold up better. It flew nice also in my opinion. I landed it for my second flight, and it looked like a nice landing, but the landing gear broke and ripped the foam all apart. The next time I flew it, it fell apart in the air and crashed. Rats.

It might be an OK plane, but it's definitely not for a beginner like me. I think if you get one, the landing gear needs to be reinforced. Don't ever land in grass. Accelerator is a must. The clips definitely need to be warmed up or they break. You already know that if your read everyone's gripes here right? At least I got a motor out of the deal.

I'm now almost done building "The Nasty" from scratch. I find that it goes together much faster and easier than flatouts and I don't break the foam just by building it. By looking at some of the videos, I'm hopeful that it can handle a landing without falling apart.

Anyway, my opinion is that flatouts aren't a good first plane. Maybe they are a good plane after becoming and expert builder and an expert pilot. For those that have success with Flatouts, I'm happy for you. I'm a beginner, so it's obvious that it's my problem and the plane is good - all I needed to do is know about all of the mods and fixes some have figured out. If I'm ever given one as a present though, I'm going to STOMP on it!

Mike

goff101

I dont have good luck with flatouts, but home builts work well

map1177

I have the extra 300s and I am no expert builder but to my suprise every thing went smooth if you first read through the directions,and what helped me the most is reading you guys replys on the flat outs and your explanations on how to's.I flew mine for the first time yesterday and it flew great I love it.The only thing that happend when i landed in grass it kinda tore the foam back where the landing gear goes through but a little epoxy fixed it and is alot stronger now.

donkey doctor

Hello; I have the cap 580, I built it carefully, took 5 days of spare time. Balanced propperly, correct throws. Toss it into the air at half throttle. It rolls left as it leaves my hand. i get my thumb on the right stick and give it right aileron, and wait to see it react and fly out of it. Nope it scrapes a left wing tip and folds up like a castle of cards. Okay, I know I had a too big motor in it, but I balanced it out, and never got over half throttle. I took the wreckage home and left it on my building board.

Three days later, a fellow flyer offers me a Extra 330 shock flyer. I take that home and build the wing, hmmm, this might work.

I have been flying a park zone gee bee since they came out and having a lot of fun with it, I was dissappointed with the flat out, but I might still glue the wreckage back together and give it another chance.

Daryl Martel

My Feedback: (3)

Flew my "Red Bull" Edge 540 Flatout today for the 1st time. Mine is built pretty much stock, but with the Rimfire motor/speed controller combo and suggested 3 cell 640 mah Lipo pack. It flew great, and it was even a little windy. I had a blast - I'm hooked! I've read through this entire thread and am dissapointed in those responses where people are calling the kits junk. I did have to trim a few plastic pieces to get them to fit properly (hinge pieces), but overal found the quality very good. It takes hobby skills to do a good job putting a kit like this together... it's much like building a plastic display model in that regard. Flys good if done right though :^)

wedgewing

I have a RCU Bipe, and I did not build it for 3D, but can do it if I want. LHS wouldn't come out and rip on it, but they politely tried to steer me away from any flatout based on what some of the other posters have put up. Going into it you know the thing is more fragile, and I like to fly it outside so I expect it to get banged up. I have foregone the illusion that the plane should weigh as much as a paper clip, and used low temp hot glue for much of the planes construction. It works great and I am not cursing when the CA separates from the carbon rod and foam. I also have cut the links off of zip ties, and have glued them along the outside leading edges of the wings not covered with the carbon rod. I have never had a wing snap and it has not degraded performance. I have also used the zip ties (cut off the link) and run them along the vertical edges to provide some additional support and to reduce flex. For the landing gear, I cut out 3 one-inch square biscuits of left over foam and slid them up the landing gear and glued them to the bottom of the wing with low temp glue. My plane lands pretty hard on the grass and I have not incurred a landing gear/wing tearout. I also flew this as a newbie, and learned how to fly using the RCU Bipe. The slow speed potential, plus its ability to handle some pretty stiff winds (provided you stop worrying about 3D weight) makes it a favorite.

If you build them to be the fragile nymph they want you to, you are going to be repairing things a lot. put a little armor on it, and it flies great. Truth be told I have even flown it with a 3C 2100 lipo on it for some ballast in the wind. flew great and I enjoyed the extra time.

wildhog

My Feedback: (5)

Just finished building the GP Flatana. It was quite a challenge for a first time foam build. I followed the manual with the only exception was I boiled the plastic parts as earlier mentioned in this forum. Plane went together very nice and I had NO broken parts.

I did go with the brushless set up. Have not flown yet, just waiting for the weather to warm up a tad. So far I would recommend this plane, can't beat it for the price.

hobbydude214

My Feedback: (13)

Im really suprised that a lot of people out there are still making the flatout mistake, and building anything with hot glue, foam safe ca and activator? you cant get any easier. I'd say if you cant handle some ca and accelerator you probably shouldnt be building foamys. Im not saying that the flatouts are a total failure, but with so many other planes out there at equal or lesser price that are about 100x better, why still go with them?

wildhog

My Feedback: (5)

Since this is the only one I've owned and don't know much about foam planes, just what is the best foamy out there? What is your recommendation?

ryan_t888

I'm interested in:

Ryan

hobbydude214

My Feedback: (13)

Im not one to come out and tell everyone what the BEST foamy out there is, but what kind of flying are you doing? outdoor or indoor? indoor models include: enticement, Vrolet, the extra from hobby lobby( i believe it can only be found on other websites not however), the tensor (if some modfications are made to strengthen the tail), the yak 54 from hobbylobby, there are others but i have had all of these and i would recommend them. Im not to keen on all the outdoor foamys but i know a lot of the good ones include: the airfoilz, the qq yak isnt bad outdoors(it is however fragile), i guess its really how you fly them, if you are just going to putter around, then the flatouts might just be fine for you, but if youre going to start getting into 3d or f3p then you would probably look for something else.

hobbydude214

My Feedback: (13)

its not the best but a little more heavy duty than the flatouts, and right around the same cost, is the yak 55 from hobby lobby. They are fun little planes and will do what you want them to.

wedgewing

I have the RCU Bipe Flatout and love it. Just for the record, I am coming at this as the non-gymnasium 3D flyer worried about grams anything beyond CA would contribute. I have flown it outside from the beginning. The guy at my LHS who I respect told me that he wouldn't come out and say they were "junk" but he refrained from giving them a glowing endorsement, and that is why they stopped selling them.

I would say what would make these fall in the realm of junk would be if you used all their hardware or "plasticware."

I think if I was a 3D gym guy competing I would buy something else, but I actually learned to fly on the RCU Bipe and have taught 3 others including my son to fly on it. Their slow speed is excellent for learning to fly and on the buddy box, their maneuverability helps me get those I am teaching out of trouble very quickly.

considered unorthodox, I confess that I (sorry Hobbydude) used hot glue to assemble mine, you need very little and it doesn't weigh 15 pounds. I have also helped their durability to survive outside flight by gluing zip-ties (with the end cut off) on the vertical profile edges the length of the aircraft which gives it a ton of support and stiffness. I also glue them on the corners of the leading edges where the carbon rods end and this helps protect the foam in a ground ding ( never lost a wing yet). Building a flatout with CA was a lesson in skin removal and frustration. I have built others with the foam CA, but I enjoy flying my RCU Bipe with cobb webs hanging. It may be armored, but that RCU Bipe is still here and flies great

big complaint I heard when I bought it from anyone flying outside with them was the pleasant experience of watching the landing gear hack out a huge section of their wing during a "uncoordinated landing". The solution is to save the foam scrap and make a 4-layer foam sandwich with the hot glue, poke a hole through it and run it up the landing gear and glue to the bottom of the wing as a reinforcement. I have bounced many of a landing since we rarely have a calm wind day in Cleveland, and have never trashed a wing because the landing gear tore out.

Also another reason why I think you can do this and still have an aerobatic flyer for around the yard, is that during one windy evening I loaded one of my 3 cell 2100 lipos on board and it flew great. the extra weight helped it track very well in the wind. I have also loaded a camera on the plane and took some nice video. If you want a nice plane to fly around the yard and perform aerobatics, and learn to fly better in the wind (nothing says pushing it like the "crack" of depron in mid-flight )

wedgewing

Deja Vu! I said essentially the same thing a few posts earlier, sorry. Still mean it. must be sniffing the CA, since I am not using it to build the Flatouts.....

hobbydude214

My Feedback: (13)

Ya sorry, im mainly a gym/armory flyer. i tend to worry about every little .1oz that im adding on. only the essentials. like i said, not the worst planes in the world but just not my 1st 2nd or 3rd choice. its just the properties of ca make it so much more appealing than that of hot glue

wedgewing

Thanks HobbyDude

I figured you were, no problem at all. My RCU Bipe is still lite, but based on the "shielding" I would most likely be asked to leave the gym or armory because of bent hoops or broken lights from when my Flatout hits it.

Rebuilding shattered depron is a drag, and the part I like about them is to make them as light as possible yet still take a beating without having to keep repairing.

I have friends that fly in gyms and they flip out when they hear I am flying the RCU Bipe is 15+ mph winds with stronger gusts. I am very good at backward flight and it is a blast to reach up and grasp the plane above your head for a landing. saves landing gear as well.

I think the flatouts are a decent plane and it will help you become a better flyer. I see a lot of posts saying it is not a beginner plane and it makes me wonder......styrofoam, inexpensive, can be fixed with glue, flies slow....hmmmmmm. I do have to admit that I am psyched when we do get a calm evening and I can really fly it they way it was supposed to fly.

I will post my next modification when I place a Park 400 on the next RCU bipe! that should be very fun

eastcoast

hey ,well i never read this post before i odered,my CAP580,i might of had different veiws on this plane after reading all the bad reveiws,but we'll jsut have too see,i am pretty kean when it comes too building things,i think of it as a project,not on how fast i can build it and fly.....no rush,!!!!, remember a rush job is a crap job,and that goes for anything....well anyways enof about that,im used too RTF's and only have a 330L and HZ supercub,so im in the process of buying a radio,which brings me here,im considering the spectum6 micro combo,i seen here somewhere about the weight of the sevos,the ones that come with the TX are 7.5g is that too big?

thanks for any help

fusebmx13

ok i want one, they look like so much fun. i dont wanna spend a lot of money so will you please tell me what is the cheapest radio, and everything i need to run? i will use the stock motor for a while.

wedgewing

Eastcoast

if you are a gym / indoor flyer the advice may be different from the gram-guys. I do a small bit of indoor, but as I have stated in other posts, they are a blast to fly outside, even in some stiff wind if you take the steps to "strengthen" the set up a little.

I have the DX7 micro combo, and the servos that come with it are a little bigger than the futaba micros I have in my flatouts (but they are not that much bigger). you will always have another plane you can use them in so I wouldn't let that deter you.

the one advantage to using them is that my DX7 came with 3 and that is all you need for the flatouts. The receiver (AR6100) weighs less than most of the micro receivers and is made for the park flyers. the larger 7 channel receiver would be overkill.

enjoy