Napoleon_Tanerite

I was looking for a first DF Electric Jet. The NitroModels F-22 looked exactly like what I was looking for, so I ordered one up. It got here a few days later, and I began assembly. The supplied glue looked questionable, so I used my own hot glue. My first point of concern was the wings. They were somewhat thin, and only were attached to the fuselage by a notch, with no hard supporting structures, just foam. The rest of the kit came together, and then I went to hook up the control surfaces. It was at that point I realized that the ailerons and elevators were controlled by the same servo. No, I don't mean elevons, I mean that the ailerons on the wings, and elevator on the tail were controlled by the same servo, so when the elevator went up, so did the aileron.... interesting to say the least.

Well, I got it assembled as per the instructions and took it out for a taxi test. It taxied with no trouble, so I pushed it up and attempted a takeoff. Remember my concern about the wing? Well, just as I rotated, the left wing failed and completely separated from the airplane. The airplane then did exactly what you may expect an airplane with no wing to do-- it flipped over and crashed. The canopy was destroyed, the vertical tails were damaged, and the nose was crunched up. It wasn't a result of faulty gluing, as the wing did not fail at the glue joint, it failed just outside it, in the foam itself. I was concerned about the wing being able to handle G, but did not expect it to fail like that with that low of loading on it.

Another weird thing I had was that the speed controller defaulted to full power if my Tx was turned off. Not sure if it was the SC or my equipment (Spektrum DX7 Tx with AR6100 RX). Either way, not the best fail safe IMO.

To be fair, NitroModels was very good about taking the airplane back, though I am still waiting on the refund (has only been 3 days since I shipped it out, so no problems yet.)

You may think that I may have gotten a bad example, but my buddy ordered one the same time I did, since he was just as excited as I was over the potential of the model. Well, he got his the day after I got (and crashed) mine. Keeping in mind my experience, he reinforced the area that failed on mine and took his out. His wing failed just outboard of the same spot mine failed at, though he was at least able to get 3 feet off of the ground. That extra altitude cost him however, as his plane was even more damaged than mine was. He elected to repair it and try again, so we'll see how flight #2 goes. I just don't think that without any hard structure in the wings such as a wood dowl/carbon fiber reinforcement/etc that that airplane design can be saved. Shame, because it is a neat looking kit.

salat

My Feedback: (4)

you better never use hot glue on foam. It's lazy beginner's stuff.
Epoxy, PVA are good. Foam safe CA in right places. At least that supplied by manufacture (Chineese not so silly people).
Kostya

salat

My Feedback: (4)

before first flight always check by holding the plane by its wing tips and putting some weight on the fuse.
K

predman

My Feedback: (7)

The only problem I had w mine was the cg was off from the factory,geting a replacement. I use epoxy for my wings,didnt have a problem.

Napoleon_Tanerite

and an extra MAJOR thumbs down to them-- i received my refund today.... $160 of the $200 purchase price.... that's one hell of a restock fee for a DEFECTIVE product, especially when I've already had to eat $30 for shipping BOTH ways. What a crock.

fastnitro1

Maybe I can get some hot glue to use on my foam planes,love to watch the foam melt!!!

Napoleon_Tanerite

Hot glue did no such melting, and besides, the foam failed well away from any glue areas.

animal acker

Hello napoleon please tell me why you would use something other than what is recommended? especially hot glue?

iamman711

my neighbor has this plane. its flying fine. OP, u should have just replaced rather than refund.

Napoleon_Tanerite

i opted for hot glue because the glue that was supplied with the kit looked like it was past its prime-- to say it was very goopy and just did not strike me as "good glue". I've used HG on foam in the past with no problems, as have several other guys I fly with. Again, the failure was not anywhere near an area that was contacted or even heated by the glue.

As for why i returned it as opposed to requesting a replacement-- the kit itself was far poorer quality than i was expecting, and this perception of poor quality held true as soon as I attempted to fly it.

cobrajocky

Welcome to the world of being screwed by NitroPlanes, some of us have been there before, see ref here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7213581

They sell planes apparently that some of their manufacturers do little or no flight testing, let alone any sound design engineering. One such Chinese manufacturer they really push is Guan Li Models, who loves to rip off designs by GWS and ParkZone. Some of us have bought the Guan Li A-10 that is so under engineered for EDF engines power that it barely gets off the ground and flies like a leaf in a breeze. It flies NOTHING like the GWS A-10 design that GL ripped off. Too bad, it's a good looking plane model, but terrible electronics and I have to believe that NitroPlanes knows about it. We've spent a lot of time discussing what EDFs, ESC and Batts could be substituted to actually get good performance.

Also NitroPlanes internet markets under a bunch of other names, maybe it's an attempt at deception (AKA RaidenTech, AKA eGrandBuy.com, AKA grandhobby.com, AKA zhobby.com, hobbypartz.com, wonderhobby.com and few other AKA's - watch for the SAME phone number or same area code and nearly same prefix!) Seems pretty sneaky to me.

Is yours that $229 EDFJet_F22_RTF?

Here's my NitroPlanes Guan Li A-10 that looks a lot nicer on the ground than in the air.

predman

My Feedback: (7)

I fly mone only after crashing .buying another and adjusting c/g. These for some reason come from the factory tail heavy,and you know tail heavy means crash. After c/g set right my second FIY F-22 flies awesome!!! I havent had any wing failure, only th landing gear was changed on mine,the stock ones were too short for my runway. Flies great and fast!!! Rolls are nice and so are loops.

mikeberry

predman, Where did you end up adjusting the C.G. to. My FIY F-22 is rolling inverted just after takeoff is that similar to the problems you had with your first one?

predman

My Feedback: (7)

Is it nosing up then inverted if so, its tail heavy. Heres a pic from the factory http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attac...mentid=1760895 The 70mm mark is good.

mikeberry

Thanks. It did nose up before it rolled inverted. I will try the 70mm c.g. I think my c.g. is around 90mm