hasstyle

hi everyone, this is my first post. Im fairly new pilot, had an aerobird that i beat to hell and finally its electronics died. So 300 bucks later and now i have a glow alpha 40 trainer. was super excited to get it in the air and i contacted the local club. my instructor got the plane in the air and all was well and then he brought it in. Now it was my turn, he got it up and handed me the sticks. wooohooo i was flying!!!! and doing pretty well i think (that aerobird was cheap but i think it helped a lot) about 3 min into the flight the plane went nuts and started to dive and turn. i got it recovered and was amazed i didnt put it right into the ground. i thought the engine had died and handed the controls to my instructor. as soon as he touched them the plane headed straight for the dirt in the middle of a cut corn field. a big crunch was heard[]. turns out on the planes 2nd ever flight (first was only a min or two long) the transmitters batteries only lasted about 3 minutes, after a full 24 hour charge as per my instruction manual. long story short, horizon found out that there was a bad cell in the transmitter pack and i got a new plane for free. wish me better luck with this one, its only been in the air once so far(after all the batteries were checked and double checked of course!) and all looks well. I just wish it wasnt so cold out in illinois right now! here are some pics of my cracked up alpha, i left the corn stalks that were jamed into the firwall in the field! Cya!!!

hasstyle

Oh and here is a pic of the new plane with its pilot "Punkster the Hampster" on board.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

That says a lot for Horizon. That's great that they replaced it for you. I had slightly different results from Hobbico with my NexSTAR Select. I had it for slightly over three months when I pranged it upon landing, scrunched the landing gear in on the left side. I notified Hobbico about it, they have a guarantee about the NexSTAR Select that they will replace it provided I fly it at an AMA sanctioned field (check), with an club instructor that is AMA approved (again, check), but the kicker was that I must solo within three months of purchase. This was in July and I bought it in April. No check on that one.. so they did not replace the fuselage, nor did they have a repair part for the broken landing gear hardware.... I either had to buy the whole fuselage or repair it myself. My instructor and I opted for the latter and epoxied/figerglassed in the gear hardware. It didn't break again, I'll tell you that .

Meanwhile, I have a sort of sour spot for Hobbico and their policies. The NexSTAR is a hell of an aircraft, but Hobbico would not bend the rules for just a few days over their 'guarantee' time. No big deal. I am now flying a Tiger 60, Sig Four Star 40, and a Ripmax Rapier, and building an Elder 40 and a Goldberg Skylark 56. The trainer has been used for parts (servo/RX, engine).

Good luck with that new trainer, you'll be flying low wingers soon!!

Sukhoi_Madness

Interesting Colour

It is cool that you got a new Airplane for free...

Matt

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

So it was three months but more than 90 days and hobbico would not bend?
I wonder what there reason was.

twistr

My Feedback: (4)

This is typical of Hangar 9. At our club, the same thing happened but it wasn't battery failure, it was simply transmitter failure. Sent the TX back to Hanger 9 and they replaced it and the plane at no charge, even let them keep the crashed plane!

ecrt123

My Feedback: (12)

Horizon Hobbies are true to their word. I had a Saito 72 that was found to be out of timing. They not only gave me a new engine but also bought me a new US 40.

hasstyle

I wish they let me keep the old plane!!!! I live in bloomington illinois, only about 30 min from horizon in champaign ill so i brought the plane to them to check it out to save time and shipping costs. When i got there i grabbed all i could outta my truck and brought it in. i left the tail section and almost left the wing for the second trip in also. when i got inside i said i would be right back with the rest and he said dont worry about it, just throw it away. Haha yeah right, i wish i would have left more in the truck!!! so i guess i ended up ahead with a perfect tail section (the only balsa that wasnt destroyed). But its a shame that im sure they just pitched all the rest. Would have been nice to have some spair electronics and an engine. im very impressed with this engine and so are all the guys in the local club. it really was just 4 or 5 flips to get it running the first time. damn, another engine and electronics woulda been cool, would have made building another plane super cheap. oh well, wish me luck with my second flight on the new plane as soon as its a bit warmer and less windy. Illinois weather sucks right now! cya, dave