imrec

I think I'm just posting this to make myself feel better. I got an aerobird extreme from my wife for Christmas this year. I had never touched an RC plane before. My first flight was on a frozen lake that very day and was totally amazing! Second flight later that week saw me hit a snow bank and get some bad prop bite through the wing. Oh but just 1/2 hr ago, with the plane all charged and taped up ready to have a nice long flight on this beautiful spring day...

In less then 10 seconds I mysteriously initiated a dive somehow at about 75ft... thing refused to come out of it... It went straight into the ground. 90 degrees. No stall, nothing. The battery pack blew through the shattering canopy and turned into a bunch of LITTLE battery packs... the prop vanished and the motor managed to punch through to the mid section of the body... destroying the circuitry.

The tail is in perfect condition.

Now i'm not so sure if this is the hobby for me... I was so excited about flying it this summer... Are these feelings normal?

islandflyer

Sounds like you need to find some experienced RC pilot to help you !!![][]

Dr.Watson

My Feedback: (10)

sorry for your loss dude! that sucks!

BDAD Flyer

My Feedback: (15)

I never enjoyed flying at first but was very interested. I would even make excuses (too windy, batts not charged) just not to go and fly. Then more i flew, then more i started enjoying it. It is weird; once you feel confident and comfortable flying yourself, only then you start really enjoying what this hobby is all about.

That is why I hate those cheap WalMart planes that never fly, but just scare potential rc nuts away.

Stay with us man, this hobby is great!!!!

Iturnright

Aerobird Extreme isn't from Walmart, I can assure you of that.

Anyway, maybe it was the classic V-tail dive, spirals in after a sharp turn? Or perhaps it was radio interference? or maybe a faulty battery? I heard somewhere that CB radio can affect the 27mhz channels, not quite sure about this however. So it could be many different things. I agree, stay in the hobby, find an instructor, because that really helps, having support is the MOST important thing you can do to help your flying. Also something that might help, you can try downloading FMS flight simulator, or another free simulator. Although very doubtful it will impress you graphically and physics wise, it will improve your control ability.

Sorry about your plane though!

BDAD Flyer

My Feedback: (15)

Oh, i did not mean that Aerobird was from WalMart.
Honestly, i do not even know what it is. Last week I saw a kid's dad buy one of those plastic planes in WalMar. His excitement was abvious, which will turn into a big dissapointment after which the kid will stay away from rc planes. []

acam37

My Feedback: (16)

My very first plane was an aerobird, and basicly all it did for me was to introduce me to the hobby. It is not very easy to fly compared to a good .40 size trainer. And also I got tired of buying wings at $15 a pop. As IMREC stated the plane has a bad tendency to go into a death spiral if you are not careful and it is almost impossible to recover from.

crossj_2002

I have a t-hawk, which is basically the same style of plane, but with a traditional elevator and rudder. One thing that will make it dive like crazy is if you have the wing on backwards. I realized that after i nosed in 3 times in a row. You'll be able to get it up in the air, but as soon as you try to turn, it dives straight down. That's just my guess as to what happened. The Bad news, your plane is busted. The Good news, you now have an excuse to get another one.

islandflyer

imrec,

My comment above was not meant to be harsh, but I have seen a number of beginners try to learn on their own and get discouraged by crashes.
While I never crashed my first two planes, I did destroy many of the subsequent ones in the last 26 years; in fact, i have come to accept that it is only a matter of time before any plane eventually goes down, wether it takes a couple of flights or several hundreds, or even thousands.
If you get started on the right track, you will have many days of joy, and a few miserable ones when you want to give it up. I wanted to quit flying after many of my crashes. But eventually, I see the model that I NEED TO HAVE next, so here we go again!
Overall, this hobby has been very exciting to me.

Troglotech

The Aerobird Extreme is a great plane...but not really suited to learners. However, there have been many reported faults with the Extreme and losing RC control is one of them. Even though your plane is badly mangled it is worth returning it to the supplier explaining what the problem was. I got through two Extremes and the Importer replaced both of them FOC because of the ongoing reliability problems.

If you go for the Extreme again make sure you perform the numerous mods that are required to keep it flying. The important mods are to the motor mount that will stop the motor pummeling the innards during a vertical landing (these can be found in this Forum), plus the canopy mods that stop it popping open and ejecting the battery during similar manouvers. Once the mods are in place the plane is quite robust.....I would recommend starting with something a bit more docile like the Commander (2-channel) or Challenger (3-channel)...the Extreme is...well...quite extreme!

imrec

Gosh, thanks T-tech. I'll have to look into that stuff. I think that perhaps my first flight went so well that I was too confident. I should probably get some real instruction on proper operation. Somehow in my mind I thought a young mechanical engineer with his private pilot license would be able fly an rc plane automatically! I'm getting the feeling that flying RC is a lot like flying the real thing, the only difference being... everything.

I suppose its good I didn't have to spend any real time putting it together... whats now a straight monetary loss (though, certainly an emotional shot) COULD have seen me commit suicide right there in the middle of the field!

I'll perhaps down grade for my next plane... though, i'm still miffed at these planes with no ailerons...

love those warbirds

My Feedback: (39)

Totally normal!!! LOL I remember saying I hate boats- never buy one again. What am I doing now? Building a boat
Keep flying. never give up man!!

SDeMaio

DO NOT GIVE UP! I had the same crash experience with my commander. The battery actually left the fuselage, leaving the connector behind and was found sparking in the grass, the tail exploded, the engine was now looking like the fuselage vomited, the wing was broken into 3 pieces, the engine housing was "smushed" all the way in, and I thought my RC days were over. I actually spent about 8 hrs on it when I brought it home, and it flies like a champ now. I will have to post some pics on what I did to repair / modify the plane for you to get an idea, but the fuselage (at least) is virtually indestructible now (unfortunately, its been tested).

Here is a brief explanation of what I did, and I will take / post some pics later when I get home.

1. Cut a round piece of sheet metal (a little bigger than a quarter) to put on the outside of the engine housing right behind the prop. Drilled 3 holes: one for the prop, and the other 2 for the screws.

That worked out pretty well, was a little pain in the butt to get installed, but none the less, vertical landings due to wing failure (or my failure to keep the wing within load factor standards) do not dislodge the engine at all

2. Zip Ties are wonderful. The Styrofoam that separates the battery and the circuit board is held in by those "things" which if they are not useless yet, will be soon. I drilled a hole right below it, all the way through, and used a zip tie to secure it. Permanent fix.

I also understand that you can hold the engine this way by drilling similar holes right behind the engine, and securing it that way with zip ties. I have not done this, only because A. my original fix has worked so well B. the fear of melting plastic inside my plane all over the circuit board and control lines and C. because using wire will probably short out something eventually.

For the shield that covers the battery, i just tape it on now

Other than that, crazy glue, packing tape, and a shaved down paint stirrer (for wing reenforcement) have been my best friends.

Hope this helps, i'll post some pics in a few hours if you care to see for reference.

Good Luck!

imrec

Well, i'll maybe give fixing it a whirl. There is a pretty big busted section of fuselage at the front left corner of where the canopy used to be. a spit maybe 2 inches long. I'll try tearing everything out and remounting the circuitry. I'm pretty sure the servos got dislodged too cause the control surface lines are completely slack now... The abx internals aren't exactly the most accessible. It would be more exciting that throwing it in the trash I guess... could a hobbyzone 3CH transmitter be used for any other products?

Part of me wants to fix it, but the other part of me thinks its beyond repair. If you had luck putting yours back together, maybe a split fuselage isn't the end of the world.

cenracer1

I started out with the firebird 2 for my son and eventually ended up with the extreme... I had to do the same fix after my girlfriend performed the death spiral herself... If you turn too sharply... the plane will tip stall and spin into the ground... I still have all the firebird planes and they all still fly... I also fly 3d planes and older vintage r/c... but these planes are great for just some relaxing flying... I will probably fly this weekend... as long as the wind holds out...
These planes are definately not the wal-mart variety... They have taught my son to fly,,, he is 10 now and this summer he will be flying the "real " r/c planes solo.............

nimrah

I agree dont give up I have only been flying for about a year I went thru 2 aerobirds before joining a club, at the club I spent a lot of time observing and talking to the pilots, and found out the best store to deal with in my area first.

Then I talked about radios and personally decided an a radio that will let me set several planes on the same transmitter so as to cut down on costs, (i am not a rich man)

I bought a used glider from the reputable store with one of the pilots checking it out before I bought it,
installed the radio charged the batteries and had an experianced pilot check balance and range and then fly it (understanding that if it did crash i had asked and could not blame the pilot as stuff happens)

after that I did one or two buddy box flights and quite quickly I was on my own.

next I bought an ARF electric glider and had a pilot once agains check my set up and buddy boxed just incase on the maiden flight. i had no issues and he did not have to take over at all.

since then I now have my first arf trainer and was able to get one a little more advanced as I already had some experiance, I am still on the buddy box as I only have a few flights under my belt but i am at the point where i am doing all the flying and my buddy is there just in case.

here is how I look at it.

the aerobird gave me the experiance/confidence to pick up the basics and to know that if I continued I would need some help.

the glider gave me conidence with my line ups and landings.

the electric glider got me used to using my left hand and also using power.

and that got me to the gas.

basically using this route I was able to solo on my first gas flight with a pilot on hand just in-case I ran into any problems.

I know this is not the route for everyone some people think and have said I wasted my time on the gliders however this is how I was comfortable doing it and I still fly all my planes on a regular basis (exept the aerobirds I trashed those as the radio and reciever are useless for other planes and they were just a little more than beat up.)

I guess I am saying you can keep throwing cash at the same bird with the same issues week after week ie replacing wings ect. or you can take the next step and at the same time take a step towards what you really want to end up flying.

there are no stupid questions so find a local club and ask, most pilots are happy to answer them and help you to learn, and if not just find another field, if you can and spend a saturday or sunday at the field for a few weeks and people will get to know you and even start to encourage you.

once you have found your field ask membership questions and requirments such as AMA

accidents are part of this hobby that happen we repair where possible and move on where it is not.

hope this helps a bit sorry about rambling on.

RC-Captain

Give up if you don't have a simulator and or you mind wasting money while trying to teach yourself

I taught my self the basics on electric planes. I bought an ASPIRE ep sailplane which I just new I could fly but I couldn't so I then bought a freedom flyer and that was all she wrote. I have since flown three different glow trainers and I am looking to move on and only with the help from RCU, LHS input, and a simulator . NO one held my hand from the jump (begining).

Good Luck.

brad78

I started with the Aerobird and crashed it soon after. I think a good way to learn the basics of flying is the Outlaw which is only about 50$ and is so light it is hard to tear up when you crash it. Go to an Aerobord or right to an Alpha trainer or something similar but only with some one who already knows how to fly and preferably with a buddy box. The Aerobird costs too much and crashed too easy for a beginner.

Good luck

RC-Captain

Or try SPAD planes . They also have foam designs.

Villa

imrec....I was a young mechanical engineer also, back in 1973, when I learned to fly R/C. In those days there were no buddy boxes. I got a few lessons and after that it was takeoff crash, repair, takeoff etc. I have known 3 or 4 R/C people that were also full scale pilots. I believe it is easier to teach R/C to someone that has never flown full scale. The landing is almost impossible for a full scale pilot to learn alone. Also, how to recover from an abnormal condition. Disorientation clouds everything and in you go. You should seek the help of an R/C pilot. There are clubs all over the place. This is a wonderfull lifetime hobby. Right now I'm having a ball with a flying lawnmower I designed, built, and am flying. It has been a struggle to control it up-side-down, but slowly I am gaining on it. Find an instructor.

bruce88123

If you can afford a little more cash, I'd recommend moving up to a glow engine powered trainer plane. This is dependent on getting proper instruction though. Glow trainers have sufficient power to not be constantly struggling to stay in the air and can stay in the air long enough to actually learn something. It WILL cost a little more initially but save more in the long run. Try to track down a local club, your Local Hobby Shop (LHS) should be able to help with that. Visit that club and discuss your situation with them, THEN make your decisions. It's a great hobby if approached with a realistic attitude and the acknowledgment that every now and then you WILL crash.

mdelling

The Aerobird Extreme is totally NOT a plane for someone who has never touched an RC plane before, not unless there is an experienced pilot next to them coaching and ready to grab the controls of something goes wrong. Doesn't it say that on the box? What were you thinking? I have no doubt that if the first plane I ever tossed into the air was an ABX, it probably would have ended up the same way! I have an Extreme and love it. I also have a Firebird Commander and an Aerobird Challenger. I started with the Commander, moved on to the Challenger and now fly the Extreme almost exclusively because of the amount of wind I have to deal with where I live. I couldn't be more satisfied and have never had any mishaps.

My advice is get a Challanger or a T-Hawk and learn to fly on that, take your time, be disciplined in your approach (don't try anything fancy until you can turn smoothly, land smoothly, and basicly make the plane go exactly where you want it to go.)

But don't give up, it really is great fun and the crashing phase is really not that long compared to how much time you will spend enjoying the plane once you get the hang of it.

erbroens

Hi Imrec. trying to fix your plane is a good idea, but I dare to suggest you to find in your area someone to check and trim your airplane before you fly it. It is difficult to learn to fly and adjust the
airplane at the same time. You can also buy a R/C flight simulator to speed up your learning curve and minimize crashing. Don't give up this hobby, it is merciless, like full size aviation, but it could
give you endless fun and joy.

Enrique

ICCARUS

My Feedback: (13)

i crashed my challenger 1 to many times fuselage deformed i traced a out line side view of it and traced it on to thin ply wood from hobby shop figured hoe much room i would need width wise for the bottom gave my self little extra room for motor made 2 squares same size as original motor area cut hole in squares dia of motor sandwiched foam w same hole carved in it between squares w epoxy let dry fiction fit motor in to hole epoxy mount to siloute cut outs this plus botom sec made fuselage wing made top drilled holes in sides to drop weight used scale ups type tocheck weight hobby guy said it would not work i flew it many more times at one point i took servos of board used three way rilroad wire to make extensions and mounted them wher i wanted to helped cntr of gravity used wire from wing tip through fuseage to oposite wing tip to kep wing from folding up on dives and could now adj dihedral i wore it out and now have a sturdy birdy w os fx .25 her i go again w nitro wich is easier to fly you have more comand athority over it you can do it fix her up and learn in the process nothing to loose

zachj1212

listen. this is perfectly normal. i smashed up 3 planes before actually getting one to fly. don't feel bad about it. it is all part of the hobby![] You can probably get a new wing and fuse, for maybe 80 bucs, and youll be flying again. www.hobbyzonesports.com