ChrisM101

OK, I've saw the warnings, and it looks like its been for years on end they have been failing customers.
So I thought how could they still be OPEN if its still that bad.
But lots of great videos on their site and what seemed to be decent prices on RFT packages drew me in.

I wanted an A-10 in RTF for a quick fix. Yeah Im probably not ready to fly it but I wanted to learn on something else and then fly it.
Ordered the RTF 5 channel with retracts. Got here in 8 days, not exactly speedy compared to some places.

OK unboxed, it all looks good

Start the assembly mission

Instructions are Lacking, severely. The assembly instructions are on a single page that is slightly larger than a cd case cooklet page.
It contains 18 pictures with the size no more than 1sq inch each and some vague text.

Step 1: Glue on canopy and Gun, Not hard but not eaxctly things they couldve already had on it.

Step 2: install the retractable gear into the wings. FAIL, NO SERVO ARMS in the kit. Im a total NOOB and i dont have any so what do i do now?

Step 3: install the control horns for Ailerons. FAIL they are horribly hard to align due to poor pre drilled holes, and secondly the control horn where the linkage goes isnt drilled in the top position on one side. The top two on the other. Thirdly the servo arms do not have a hole big enough to fit the wire linkages they sent. so i have to locate a 1/16" drill bit and drill every control servo on it.

Step 4: Kick, Cuss, Scream, i told you so echoes through my head. Oh, mount wing to fuselage, 4 screws i think two of them might have went into something solid. I hope it holds.

Step 5: Mount Motor assembly to fuselage doesnt go together because the connectors from each engine are down in the area where the foam is to snap together. so yeah i cant pull it forward because its too short, so i will pull backwards hoping to get the connectors into the bottom of the fuselage and flat, well that sort of works, but the instructions dont show any way to mount it. and now slack in the servo wires is hanging out of the bottom of the fuselage. FAIL. there is no screw no glue here, no pin here. you turn it over and its gonna fall off. You have to attach the engines for they have the most pressure due to the thrust. They will fall off on the ground.

Step 6: mount the rear elevator and tail assembly, two screws, but alas FAIL The forward screw does not hit the post its supposed to tighten in to, because it is obviously countersunk a ways more than the rear post which it screwed into fine.

Step 7: Control horns on the Elevators, uggh Drill the servos arms again .

Step 8: Glue on the Vertical Stabilizers, but wait didnt I buy a 5 channel jet. NO SERVOS, No Anything in them, thus no RUDDER CONTROL? "(5 Channel Full Function Radio Controlled (Aileron,Elevator,Rudder,Throttle,Retracts)"

There is Zero info on installing the RX module and what to hook where and what the loop is for.

Oh and the Battery and Charger, zero documentation. Charger comes with alligator clips only. No wall Transformer I managed to find a 12 v charger for feeder batteries which is 12v 500ma out, which i think the charger needs 12v 800ma input. So i hooked them together with banana clips. FAIL. Hope my garage doesnt explode tonight.

I just called it a night. I guess Its all True, and Ill Call and see what VISA can do if i dispute the charges.

And overall, I think this is the Beginning and end of my RC Aircraft Bug. Thought maybe an RTF would get me into the hobby, but this has done the exact opposite.
I'm thinking about the things i could've bought for myself or the family, yeah this was a Birthday gift from my wife, but its something I asked for.
Its just not a good thing at this point in the night.

allans

My Feedback: (11)

Do not let this bad experience stop you. You have chosen one of the worst vendors on the market today ( Nitro Models is also another one working on the title).

See if you can get your money back. Try another vendor - read RCU for the user experiences with Horizon, Great Plains, et. al.

You will have a much better experience.

Then tell every one you know or will listen about what just happened with Banana Hobby's.

Nitros Models , Banana Models - Their planes look good on paper ( they are designed to SELL) but not use or fly.

blvdbuzzard

I believe you started in one of the hardest ways you could. That is not a good plane to start with and not a good vendor to deal with.

I agree the planes are not for the new guy. The term builders ARF fits them very well. If you have a few planes under your belt they are not to bad. Most will fly, how well they fly is in question. They seem to work a lot better if you get a bare airframe and then put all of your own parts in it.

These ARF are low priced and good well written directions cost a lot of money. The over all airframe is pretty good. The hardware does leave a lot to be desired though. I see the biggest problem is they "LOOK" so great in the pictures and the price is so hard to refuse. They pull in a lot of people and there is not a lot of support behind them.

If you know what to expect going in, then you will not be disappointed. Most planes listed as "ready to fly" are no where near ready. They all need to be checked out to make sure they are put together correctly. I helped my brother in law with his so called ready to fly, ailerons were backwards and it had so much up trim it would have done a loop on take off.

Try not to let this bad experience deter you from getting into the more advanced planes. There are a lot of good flying planes out there. Try to use this as a learning tool. Now you know about this vendor. Do a search on the next plane you want and see what is posted about it. I was looking at a jet and did a search here and found out that it was not rated that well. On a scale of 1 to 10, it ranked about a 3 so I passed.

Nitroplanes does have a few planes that work well. The Cessna are pretty good with a little work. There are a lot of threads on them. The Champ is a good plane to start with and a vendor that is highly rated. They are not as flashy as the A-10, but should get you going. The Sky Trainer needs a few things to make it a really good plane. The nose wheel steering servo upgrade is $7.00. There a long threads on it so you can read before you buy. The Champ has a lot of threads too so you can read about how people like it.

Best thing I can offer is find some on near you who knows how to fly. It makes it so much easier to learn to fly with help.

[link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=HBZ4900]Champ[/link]

[link=http://www.nitroplanes.com/93a300-skytrainer182-red-rtf-24g-noflap-4ch.html]cessna[/link]

[link=http://www.nitroplanes.com/ezhael4chrtf1.html]EZ Hawk[/link]

Do not give up because of the hard start.

Buzz.

Gohmer

I don't think any one sells a A10 that you pull out of the box, set on the runway and fly. Stamp collecting is a real fun hobby

ChrisM101

Tell You What Gohmer, ill send you the instruction manual and let you tell me what goes where and how. I didnt expect it to be in a 4ft wide box, but i expected the parts to be in the package and some actual instructions.

ChrisM101

Well thru trial and error I have managed to set up the RX finally. The channel used for yaw or Rudder, is connected only to steer the nose gear. I still dont have servo horns or what have you but BH customer service is looking to ship me them and an AC adapter for the Balance charger. We will see if that happens. 99% of their problems undoubtedly come from the lack of instructions. Its a small insert with one page crammed with assembly instruction and other pages of useless disclaimer and such.
18 images about the size of a nickel and very few show what really needs to be done.

blvdbuzzard

A while back, myself, my brother, and two brother in laws built a low Wing trainer. It is a budget priced plane. It does fly VERY well and if, and this is a "BIG" if you have built a few planes is easy to assemble. All of us were unboxing the planes and making sure there was nothing missing. The directions were 4 pages of low resolution pictures. One brother in law asked about the directions. I said they were used for mixing epoxy and to not even look at them They would only confuse you. He thought i was joking until I mixed a large amount of epoxy on the front page.

There is most likely a long thread on your plane here or at rcgroups. You should be able to get any info you need be searching in one of the threads.


Buzz.

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

Well be happy you actually got it! If you bought from the worst place on the net "Quick Tech Hobby" the only thing you would have got would have been a charge for "consulting work" on your CC. The only thing you want on that plane is the fuselage. You have to chuck all the el'cheap'o hardware and electronics. Replace it with quality stuff and you'll be OK.

Gohmer

Sounds like he got his from Banana Hobby. Almost everyone's favorite dealer to bash whether they have ever had any personal experience with them or not. What kind of "quality stuff" did you equip your A-10 with?

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

Almost! I really like the A-10 and was soo close to ordering one. I backed off however when I saw the trouble people where having with them. I was going to order one off ebay rather than banana hobbies.

http://cgi.ebay.com/A-10-Thunderbolt...item2eaec3dc59

I'd change the servos out to Hi-Tec HS-55's and GP links. The China ones are just too brittle. I just replaced all the linkages in the HK-250GT kit with Align ones. These ball links where splitting just being snapped on so I can imagine the linkages on the A-10 will do the same.

Gohmer

That's what I figured. You should 'back off" more often

ChrisM101

Well thus far I have figured out settings on the Transmitter. But I cant do anything unless the horns arrive for the gear servos. I just glued the engine section on with whatever cheap glue they sent.

ChrisM101

Well, Im back.
Not Good Results, here is what happened.
Took it out to my flying area, had it set up as reccommended in several different posts.
Did all of my checks, ran it down the lot on the ground.

So i set it towards the wind which was barely evident. roll out, launch climbing wellto flight height and suddenly a popandthe right wing drops and down she goes.

After a *** and Oh No its in two pieces. I noticed the Problem. EDFFAIL. Apparently they didnt tighten the hub to the shaft and she got loose and wobbled into the shroud.
So anyway, Im disappointed, but Ive got it glued and toothpicked back into a flyable form. Just need a new Fan.And thats one more thing I know to check.

blvdbuzzard

Well, you are learning a lot with this plane. You have found out what needs to be checked on the plane when you get it. You have found what vendor has a spotty past.

As long as you are having some fun along the way, it is not bad. Keep going and you will be there soon.

Buzz.

ChrisM101

Well the weather has been horrible, but ive used all of the Tornado time to get it back together and ready to go. So hopefully if it will Clear this afternoon, I will chance another flight. What could possibly fail this time, I dunno, but Im learning.

BTW i have not received anything from BH as far as my AC adapter or my servo arms for the retracts. Im sure they are never going to send them.
but i managed to fix my wing retracts in the open position with toothpicks, maybe i can go get some locally (hour away) anyone know what brand these things are?

blvdbuzzard

If you are asking about the retract servo, might be better to get replacement servos. They are $7.00 each. You will end up with enough extra stuff any way to build a few planes.

http://www.hobbypartz.com/servo-mg90.html

http://www.hobbypartz.com/9gexidimeges.html

I have a handful of them and they work very well.


Buzz.

ChrisM101

Thanks, Ill order a couple of those.