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Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

Old 09-12-2011, 06:37 PM
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Sherv
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Default Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

Hey all!
I bought a Kyosho minium Autokite (I know its a toy) and have put enough hours on it to be bored to death now (about 10 hours in the last two weeks). I actually enjoy flying it in the wind now since it is a bit of a challenge. I want to move to a bigger more powerful 4channel ART Beginner plane.

I have looked around and these two have caught my eye. Any suggestion as to which one I should go with? So far I am torn between the two. Although from the videos it seems the GreatPlanes (I mean hobbico dunno why i thought great planes) one has a more powerful motor out of the box, but i was not able to find the kv rating of the motor on tower/manufacturers website. Then again the bixler can fit a gopro real nice for some fun video recording. I like them both lol.... Need someone with more experience or knowledge on these planes to help me out. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!


http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...ft_Radio_.html

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXYGM0&P=0

I like the fact that the greatplanes model has landing gear but its not that big of a deal.
Old 09-12-2011, 06:49 PM
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scooterinvegas
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

I wouldn't buy anything from Hobby King. Their service sucks. If your plane arrives with any damage, your stuck with it.

I would say a Super Cub LP from Horizon or a Easy Star from horizon or tower.

Check this link out, its a Easy Star copy called the Sky Surfer. It comes complete with EVERYTHING you need except AA batterys for the controller. 2.4 radio and all for $119. It is sold in the US and will arrive MUCH faster than getting something from China.

http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=505
Old 09-13-2011, 05:21 AM
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MinnFlyer
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

Of the two you've listed, I would go with the SkyFlyMax. I have flown one and they are very good.

And ditto to what scooter said about Hobby King
Old 09-13-2011, 05:42 AM
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Sherv
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

thanks for the tips, I have ordered many products from Hobby king and had no trouble including the kyosho but you are right about slow/unresponsive support. I'll just stick to ordering batteries and motors from hobbyking then. Scooter that plane you linked is real nice (not in stock) but I think I will end up with the skyfly since I like towerhobbies and I get decent discounts plus easy pay is nice even thought I have the money I always like using easy pay. I'll definitely be ordering batteries from hobbyking for it, just need to get similar size/weight batteries. I wonder how good the tactic radio is.
Heres another question fellas, I know cheap radios are bad but whats a good value remote to purchase. I want something reliable, good value, and not too worried about all the extra features but must be 2.4GHz. I am hoping to stay under 175 possibly.
Thanks for the advice you two. I have no knowledge about airplane/heli, i only have experience with car radios.
Old 09-13-2011, 08:20 AM
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

As stated Hobby King has good prices, but aftermarket support is non-existant, nor will you be able to buy wings, etc. from them.

You'll be able to purchase the inevitably needed replacement parts from Tower, so that's your best bet.


Old 09-13-2011, 11:41 AM
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

Bixler,Cloud, Sky Surfer, Hawk Sky are pretty similiar. I'm happy with the Hawk Sky.
Go for the plane you can get the most parts for.
Old 09-13-2011, 11:48 AM
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scooterinvegas
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes


ORIGINAL: Sherv

I'll just stick to ordering batteries and motors from hobbyking then.
One more tip for ya, give hobbypartz.com a try for both batteries and motors. They are often cheaper and your get them in a couple of days. If you have a problem, you can call them and they answer the phone. Amazing! :-)
Old 09-14-2011, 09:47 AM
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes


ORIGINAL: scooterinvegas

One more tip for ya, give hobbypartz.com a try for both batteries and motors. They are often cheaper and your get them in a couple of days. If you have a problem, you can call them and they answer the phone. Amazing! :-)
Very interesting...

Hobbypartz = Nitroplanes

So you've just revealed another interesting avenue for NP support.
Old 09-14-2011, 01:24 PM
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

What do you guys think of Bananahobby? They seem to have most of the models mentioned in stock and decent prices. not sure if their warehouse is in USA but if it is then even better?
Old 09-14-2011, 02:56 PM
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scooterinvegas
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

Bananahobby = no support.
Old 09-15-2011, 06:34 AM
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes


ORIGINAL: scooterinvegas


ORIGINAL: Sherv

I'll just stick to ordering batteries and motors from hobbyking then.
One more tip for ya, give hobbypartz.com a try for both batteries and motors. They are often cheaper and your get them in a couple of days. If you have a problem, you can call them and they answer the phone. Amazing! :-)
Hobbypartz is awesome! Since I found them a year or so ago, I haven't ordered anything from Hobby King. They have great prices on batteries, and they're located in the states, so you get your stuff in a few days, not a few weeks. And its free shipping on orders over $50.
Old 09-15-2011, 08:07 AM
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binx57
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

Here is my review of a Hobby King ARF "Aerobatic Trainer" - as they call it. I decided to buy their 48.9" Decathlon. Read below for the result of that purchase. Pictures can be seen at the posted link. If this is your 1st time or even a 2nd or 3rd I would seek the assistance of someone with experience or buy from a reputable dealer who will offer support if you have a problem. HobbyKing does not have ANY tech support at all and rellies on a community of users to support theri products. In addition if you need to return a product they often delay their repsonse more than the 7 days that you have to return an item. I took the risk of buying an inexpesnsive first plane from them and I am really glad I am not out more than the $50 it cost! To the MODERATOR - this is my first post and if the comments are in the wrong place please don't hesitate to move them.

HobbyKing Decathlon EP 48.9 inch ARF
DO NOT BUY
If you bought this plane from HK and were able to assemble it without problems than HK has a huge quality control issue. Based on the one I received I can only surmise they don’t have a QC department or the QC people failed on a massive scale. The plane is advertised as an “Aerobatic Trainer”. Based on the description this plane is meant for first time fliers/builders. If you have little or no previous building experience I very much doubt you could assemble this plane. I contacted HK after delivery asking them to explain why the plane had the list of problems I sent to them. It took a series of email exchanges for them to finally say sorry you can’t return it as you started to assemble the plane. The irony is that had I not started to assemble the plane none of the assembly issues would have revealed themselves and HL waited almost 2 weeks before letting me know this – refund denied. My intent in submitting this review is to prevent others from having the same/similar issues and to encourage them to buy a different plane, preferably from a company that has a serious quality control department. Based on HK’s responses between Sept 2nd and Sept 15th I am unsure they will leave these comments up on their web site. If that happens I will post all the details and pictures on RC Groups or RC Universe.
After receiving this plane I did an inventory and discovered the hardware shipped did not match the build requirements and the only ‘manual’ is a couple pages of pictures. The manual and required assembly methods will not match – having previous experience or asking someone with previous build knowledge to assist will help immensely. These comments were sent to HK. Here is a PARTIAL list of issues. To see supporting pictures (I wouldn’t expect anyone to believe this without supporting documentation) go to http://solutions2000.ca/decathlon
1. The motor box side support pieces were not even glued on and were completely delaminated 2. The wheel pants are a cheap yellow see through plastic blow-mould material and do not match the white wheel pants from the web site 3. The yellow covering was applied so poorly that it was not stuck to the flat support pieces and had to be completely redone 4. The yellow covering is showing dark brown stains from the balsa below and this stain covers several areas of the body and control surfaces 5. The hardware kit is both incomplete and appears to be from the wrong plane 6. The bolts to hold the wheels won’t, are too long and there were not enough washers to hold the wheels 7. The bolts holding the landing gear to the airframe will not thread into the T-Nuts 8. There are no holes in any of the control surfaces to mount the servo control horns leaving the first time builder to figure out where the control horns go and how to mount them – manual is of no help 9. There were not enough servos control arms to mount to the control surfaces 10. There were not enough 3mm spring washers 11. The landing gear tail wheel is a type of spring steel and is not even bent to mount in the rudder 12. The rudder does not have a hole cut for the tail assembly wheel to fit into 13. The ailerons do not have locating holes to mount the servo horns 14. The wing support struts do not have any support blocking inserted into the wings in order to support the struts – you will need to cut the wing covering and insert support blocking in both wings if you wish to mount the struts to anything more than the leading edge balsa skin and the thin wing joiner 15. You cannot mount an out-runner motor as recommended since the mounting holes are equally spaced on the mounting plate. They should have 2 holes closer together and 2 a bit further apart. The back-plate must be re-drilled and the mounting holes elongated and countersunk to match an out runner motor (I was trying to use a Turnigy motor as recommended by HK) 16. The mounting hardware that comes with the Turnigy motor will not allow the motor to be mounted – you must buy extra long metric screws. 17. You will need a special prop/hub adapter as well – the Turnigy mounting hardware won’t work on this plane. 18. If you look at IMG 024 you can see where the lower right side supporting structural rib is not even glued into the slot nor is the rib immediately above it 19. During my attempt to attach the landing gear the T-Nuts twisted out of the plywood base and rotated freely. I had to cut the covering, remove all the T-Slots, re-thread each of them and re-insert and glue them into place before installing the landing gear 20. The right wing tab that fits into the body and is screwed into place is too short and the hole through the wing tab does not line up with the receiving hole made for it 21. The servo control arms that come in the kit will not fit the plane. They are at least 30mm too long and the few that do come will all need to be cut off and new Z bends made as the other end has threads.
Old 09-15-2011, 08:53 AM
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

All that binx said, brings to mind Banana Hobby.  DO NOT BUY FROM BANANA HOBBY!!!  BUYER BEWARE!!
Old 09-15-2011, 02:52 PM
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Sherv
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Default RE: Please help me choose between the two ART Beginner planes

Thanks a lot guys for all the valuable information. I have settled on the sky fly max simply because it is a good platform, Hobbico tends to stock parts for their own brand of airplanes/cars for a long long time, their shipping is great, great discounts, and their customer support has always been great to me.
Going to order it next weekend on pay day hehe along with batteries from HobbyPartz 2.2A 3S Sky Lipo (3 of them)
http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-2200mah-3s1p-111-30c.html

Also 6 T-Pro SG90 G9 Micro Servos for spares
http://www.hobbypartz.com/topromisesg9.html

Some 3M Hinge tape I have laying around

I have a spare brand new ESC sitting around that I may use since im sure its better quality than the supertigre ESC
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=3730


Eventually I may buy an FS TH9x



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