pgitta

My Feedback: (3)

What a blast. Got one of these today. Never flew in my life. Couldn't wait so i went out in a 20-25 MPH wind. No problem flying but plenty of problems running into stuff. I went to our huge park with tons of grass and only an occasional telephone pole for the field lights or a bleacher or restroom here or there. Hit the restroom. Hit the bleacher, and the soccer goal, and a telephone pole TWICE. I don't think that's possible if you tried.

Anyway, this thing is near indestructo. But i'll still do the mods just in case. Most of the problem was the gusting winds. I can't wait for a calm day where I wont have to expend every drop of concentration on fighting the wind, but it was still great fun. I'm proud of myself that i never crashed due to losing control, well OK, i wouldn't have hit the pole if I were in control, but well, you know what I mean. No stalls, spins.

Just put a Aerobird repair kit together before you fly:

Duct tape
Bubble gum
paper clips

Oh, lose the landing gear. Trust me, it's just for looks.

DanaWatson

I'm glad to see you are enjoying your first plane. I went through a little more hardship before I got to the enjoyment part . I'm interested in why you would need bubble gum though? Cheap adhesive? Hey, whatever it takes I guess

Dana

pgitta

My Feedback: (3)

Right. Bubblegum adhesive. Joking, but not by much. A roll of tape can practically rebuild the wing I'd bet.

I'm sure flying computer sim games like MS Flight Sim and European Air War won't actually teach you how to fly RC, but I'm sure it gave me a head start getting all the principles of flight stuff out of the way. In that way, I think it was a plus.

I wish i could go back out, but this damned wind sucks the fun out of it. Not to say the Aerobird can't handle it, but it gets hairy when you bank and become perpendicular to it. It catches the wing and buffets the thing quite a bit so that the extra anxiety takes away from the fun.

ricktkenny

just a tip, download fms and practice doing circuits, this will get you used to the left right problems, Alos if it;s your first plane spend a bit of time trimming it up, when you let go of the controls it should fly level.

www.zagi.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

DFalpha

My Feedback: (3)

Got mine 3 weeks ago.............had about 27 flights............... Never had a real crash and she can do som epretty sick aerobatics...

DFalpha

My Feedback: (3)

I agree with ricktkenny FMS is how I learned with no expreience........... By now I can fly in winds about 20 miles an hour but my first flights in wind werent very good.. wait for a calm day.. you will be thankfull

Airborne 2007

Go to this page. You can download a 3 channel fighterbird for FMS. Flys just about like my AB. Just a little bit more responsive, and I drilled more holes to move down my lines farther.

http://groups.msn.com/HobbyzoneRCPla...crashclub.msnw

-John

slgilley

Can someone place the FMS Fighterbird someplace else? I do not want to join MSN groups just to get
the single file I want. (Once I have it, I'd be happy to provide a home for it that's a lot easier to download
from...)

Thanks,

Sean.

GadgetMann

Greetings from another total neophyte.
Hadn't flown any kind of RC in about 15 years, and then it was only slope soaring. My first time out there were 30 MPH gusts. It acted more like a kite than an airplane. Thanks to the pitch control, I forced it down before it got too far away. Since then, I have been out with it 8 or 9 times and have completed 42 landings without any damage. Along the way, I have replaced one wing.
This is an awesome way to learn without the grief of other forms of powered RC.
PS, if someone would indulge me, what does FMS stand for?

DanaWatson

FMS = Flighting Model Simulator

It is a program that helps people who have never flown to learn without wasting a bunch of money replacing their first three planes while trying to figure it all out.

Dana

GadgetMann

Thanks for the reply, how do I find out how to get FMS and what kind of system/accesories it requires?

DanaWatson

Go to: http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

You'll need a joystick or controller.

Dana