L0stS0ul

I've not seen much information on this plane. It's not that expensive for a 4 channel plane and at that price it would make a good first 4 channel plane for me (not to much money down the tube if I crash it). Does anyone know anything about this plane?

[link=http://www.redrockethobbies.com/product.asp?ProductID=9470]Here's a link to it[/link]

Thanks

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

I took one look at that plane, and one word came to mind: YIKES. The plane only has a 23" wingspan, so it's gonna be lightning-quick, if it's not so heavy for its size that it won't fly at all.

This plane is an unknown quantity regardless. In cases like this where you're looking at an unknown plane to expand your skill set, I would recommend that you look at something else, something proven.

Problem is, the list of proven RTF 4-channel planes is pretty short. So short, in fact, I can't even name one Any of the ones I would recommend are kits/ARFs, like the GWS E-Starter or even the Mountain Models Magpie.

L0stS0ul

Thanks for the detailed response Matt. It does seem to good to be true. I'll look elsewhere I guess. For now I'll just stick to my parkzone cub

xxjman

I own a Patriot and in stock setup it's ok not as fast as advertised. I pulled out the stock 280 motor and upgraded to a Graupner speed 300 with prop adapter spinning a 4.5 X 3 prop and also put packing tape on both ailerons to firm them up a bit. Now the plane comes pretty close to 70 mph if not faster! It is not for a beginner. With such a short wing span the plane is very touchy to the smallest movement on the sticks. I also removed the landing gear for grass landings they just get in the way. With the speed 300 I get great vertical climb rate. The plane is lots of fun to fly but very small and does not like wind!

Joe

redgiki

I picked up my Patriot second-hand. Really, third-hand, but who's counting?

The first owner, an experienced R/C pilot, had picked up the bird as part of a trade. Put it together, did the usual three-step to hand-launch. Augured it on a tip-stall to the left, right into the ground.

Repaired the wing. Took it out again. Had a friend launch it. Right into the ground again.

He gave it to my friend. My friend received it, broken wing and all, and handed it over to me to repair. I fixed it, tried a couple of test-glides into very tall grass behind my house.

It glided similarly to a rock with the power off, even with the prop removed.

The plane is REALLY heavy for its size. Seriously, more like a warbird than a trainer, yet many of the advertisements bill it (erroneously) as a "low-wing trainer". It weighs almost as much as my ParkZone J-3 cub, which has four times the wing surface area and a geared 370 (to swing a big prop) instead of a direct-drive 280 motor. The manual specifically mentions this bird is for the experienced flyer only, but I'm doubting even the most experienced flyer could fly this thing without some modifications from stock.

I advised my friend that the best use for this little plane is as a decoration. It looks pretty, really, and would be fine mounted on a wall or atop a bookshelf.

Unfortunately, he wanted to fly it anyway. I'd done some bench tests on the motor, and it was sound, but IMHO just really weak for the high wing loading of the bird. The CG was as good as I could make it, about under where the "spar" would be if it had a spar. He took about 10 running steps, heaved it like a javelin as hard as he could at about a 10 degree angle with me at the controls at full-throttle.

Perhaps it was the extra weight of the epoxy, or previous crashes, but the motor just couldn't keep the thing in the air. Unrecoverable stall at a very low angle of attack (less than 5 degrees, trying to gain some altitude), left wing and nose into the tarmac.

With a larger motor and bigger prop, as previously mentioned, I think this bird would stay in the air. But in the stock configuration, this bird is a total Dodo. My buddy gave me the ruined plane with an "oh, well". I destroyed the rest of the plane, and salvaged the parts. With this thing, you can't really separate the electronics without ruining the rest of the plane.

Unfortunately, the final crash ruined the shaft on the motor. Alas. However, the ESC seems good, and the servos were fine, though one seemed a little slow. The nice thing was, this bird uses tiny, but standard, servos and ESC, so pretty much everything but the 27MHz transmitter and receiver can be used with a stock 72MHz setup. I'm putting the parts into a foamy trainer for my kids.

At $200 retail, though, that's an expensive bag of parts. Glad I didn't have to pay for it.

Avoid this "Patriot". Seriously. It's horrible, and utterly unflyable without a motor and/or prop upgrade. I'm sure somebody, somewhere has enjoyed this bird, but plane-shaped-object is totally not worth the money.