Beamshipcaptain

I was just out today flying my STRYKER-C form ParkZone, and it does 80+ on strafing-runs. Has a carbon-tube spar in each wing. Don't hyperextend the gear: dont make it go to it's absolute limit, but a couple millimeters less. Then nose and main ger will lock in place. Problem I had yesterday was the set-screw for the nose-gear fell out (No LOC-TITE!!!) and so the gear spun around on take off, so I coulnd fly the F5 today, going to torque it down, file a flat, and lock tite. Happy landings!

On-Your-6

My Feedback: (196)

I bought the Camo F5 last week and built it in about 1.5 hrs. Plugged in my battery and the problems started from there. The ESC got very very very hot. The front gear would open sometimes and sometimes not. The left gear was wobbly as heck even locked in by adjusting the radio. The battery solder came off one contact. Worst of all my Spektrum rx got unbound 2x so I switched to another rx and the same thing happened. I took the whole plane back to the Hobby store and they have ordered a new one. After reading some of the posts here, I think I will cancel my order.

On the surface, the whole deal looks great but deeper down it seems that Hobby Lobby buys these units knowing that X amount will be defective off the bat. I used to own a Falcon heli from HL and that was defective too. I had to send the whole thing back to them. The replacement unit was even worse. It had a mind of it's own! They also had a recall for the wall charger that came with that heli. It was defective and burning peoples houses down!!! I know this as fact as I got a call from a NY Fire chief who was making an investigation. I had posted the recall warning on RCU for everyone who may have bought that heli.

Cheap can be great but if it doesn't work then whose the loser? I don't think I will be buying anything more from Hobby Lobby. The quality is just not there so far from my experiences.


I am also having issues with Spektrums AR6000 rx's. 3 lockouts and $450 worth of planes, esc, batteries lost even after sending the units in for a checkup, but that's another story.

bigbuster

My Feedback: (12)

I noticed at the beginning of this thread a lot of people were saying this plane flies bad and the stock equipment is no good. Well, I just flew mine for the first flight and I loved it ,
It's not super fast, doesn't have a lot of vertical but it is very stable,easy to land and the gear works and has held up on my rough grass field. For what I spent, I give it an A.

Jeff

EDFFanatic

My Feedback: (32)

I just purchased the camo version of the F5-E. I guess the only thing I can do is build it and see what happens. It is a great looking airplane. One thing that is on the H.L. site are instructions to set up the retracts. Don't know if any of you have seen that, but basically you go into your computer radio first, and set EPA to 50 percent. Then keeping your transitter on, turn on power to your aircraft. Set retracts to fully extended and adjust EPA till they lock without binding, of course. Then set retracts to up and adjust EPA till they are fully retracted into the body, again without binding. Make sure that all screws are tightened. In fact, if you're a good pilot, you always check every piece of your airplane prior to flying. I see too many people who don't and they lose something on takeoff, in flight, or upon landing. Enough on that.
Now to what I need to ask. Will a Wemotec MiniFan fit inside this airframe, if I ever wish to change it out? If so, what motor from Mega, or HET would be the best, and of course, what sized speed control would be necessary to handle this change?
I had a recommendation that I change out all the servos to Hitec HS-55s, but wouldn't that be just pretty much putting in the same type? What about Hitec-65HB's or MG's.
Some also mentioned the problems with weak landing gear. Is the problem that others have experienced due to poor piloting, or possibly trying to land on heavy grass? If Neither, then what are good substitutes that will allow the use of servos? The problem I see is that the airplane is designed with special snap in type wires, so changing thing would entail removing that plastic base and probably reinforcing that area.
One other thing I haven't found our about this airplane. What is the CG measurement from the leading edge? The few threads i've run across say that a CG isn't given in the manual because everything is already set up and the installing of the battery sets the CG to proper position. To me, this sounds a bit flaky, though I have seen some RTF airplanes that don't because of the fact they are engineered so the flyer doesn't have to fuss over CG.
Guess that is all I have for now. I am hoping the airplane arrives sometime the middle of next week. My plan is to put it together stock and hopefully with care in doing so, it will fly as advertised. I don't need a speed demon. I just wish to get my feet wet on EDF's after six years of flying prop planes.
Hope all have a wonderful weekend and have a chance to fly. Fanatic

Beamshipcaptain

Mine flies great, and retracts work OK.Retracts have no shock-absorption-coil. Problem I had today is the left-landing gear-mount broke thru the wing when I slowwed it to a drop-landing from about 2-feet off the deck after slowing to a walk. Top of wings could use a little fibreglas cloth. Otherwise, I am VERY happy with this plane.About 22-flights on it, and I have tow batteries for it. It flies like a pattern-plane. Plenty of speed, decent vertical climb, and it takes off from my club field's grass runwayat Valley-Forge in about 25-feet. Rudder allows knife-edge-flight, and big size make it easy to see in the air. Another winner from Star-Max! Maybe like Detroit, some LEMONS that were made on a Monday or Friday, by tired Chinese factory-workers making 65-Cents an hour, got out?

IAMKAOS

i bought the HL A7 corsair and was disappointed. the first battery pack went bad on the 2nd charge. they sent me a new battery. several seconds into the first flight on the new battery the motor started surging bad and quit and the model stalled hitting on its nose. after messing with it on the workbench i found in small letters on the 45 amp esc that it was for 2-3 lipo's. the battery that comes with the A7 is a 2200mah 4s 14.8 volt. i have been contacting HL about this and they claim its a one in several hundred rare motor problem but would not give a answer about the esc. after some curious web browsing i found the company in china that distributes these models. i found on their website some of HL'S edf jets and the70mm fan unit. i blew up the picture and without question its the excat fan unit that comes the A7 . its spec's show its a 11.4 volt motor. after patching up the nose i managed to get one 4 minute flight out of it (it did fly very good) before it started surging again so i shut it down.. a buddy of mine has the F5 mentioned above. he also had problems because its the same 70mm power package that comes with A7. he just replaced everything in it. anyway HL told me i could return if i was not happy with it but all they want to do is send me another one....which feel i'm going to have the same problem

EDFFanatic

My Feedback: (32)

IAMKAOS, Really sorry to hear about having so many problems with the Corsair. I've had plenty of problems with my F5-E, and Hobby Lobby has either replaced the items or will be doing so when the parts come in. Hobby Lobby stands behind the products they sell. Though I think that they may be pushing stuff that is basically right on the edge of flyability due to poor electronics. Many of us have stated in several threads that we'd much prefer they add a third category of airplanes. They already have receiver ready and RTF, but many of us would just like the airframe so we can add the electronics we like, and know will not fail. If they will take the airplane back, you should send it back. Try to get them to pay for return shipping since it is a product problem and not yours. Best of luck. Hope you find something you can put together to please you. Caley

IAMKAOS

thanks for the reply. but what makes me mad is i believe they are aware of the problems with their "receiver ready" planes and they are selling them anyway.

EDFFanatic

My Feedback: (32)

I'm sure they are aware of the problems. It seems that many of these models perform adequately right out of the box, but there are those which people like you and I and others got that had a myriad of problems. I guess you would call that the luck of the draw. That is one reason why Hobby Lobby is providing top notch support to fix problems of customers of these airplanes. In some cases, it is costing them almost as much to correct the problems of a customer, as the original cost of the airplane. Since the majority of these airplanes seem to be flying without problems, I tend to disagree that they are selling something, knowing it is defective. Only some airplanes are defective. Another point is that if we want better quality electronics, we will probably pay twice as much as we are now. That is why I think they should also sell just a bare ARF with no electronics, so the modeler can purchase their own prefered stuff. Sorry to side with the vendor, Hobby Lobby, but I've dealt with them for a while, and their products are good. I'm sure that they will inform the manufacturer, chinese, that they do still have problems and should improve their quality control to help eliminate the last of these problems. Just my opinion. Caley

wind junkie

My Feedback: (1)

Hi guys. I'd like to add something:

I'm in agreement with EDFFanantic. HL knows that most of what they're selling will work, but there are still a large number of borderline components in certain kit lines of which HL is increasingly becoming aware.

I bought two of the F5's this season and elected to replace about half of the 18 servos as supplied. 4 of these would not hold centers within 10 degrees, another 3 would buzz at any position and the rest were installed incorrectly (servo arm positioned badly) and needed to be ripped out anyway. Most were replace with HS 56's (the closest I've found for a direct form fit). At center one had an "idle" resting current of 200 mA as measured by a Vexa servo exciter! It's no wonder guys are blowing out BEC/ESCs when servos like these.

I wrote HL a nice feedback letter saying I liked the plane overall, but it has obvious problems. I did get a response, but it was not too detailed and didn't promise anything probably because I had not demanded anything. I know the servos I replaced were probably worth less than a dollar each, and I have the means to improve things myself without making a real hassle for everyone.

As hobbyists we are used to better because we're trained from the onset that flight failures due to equipment malfunction are inexcuseable. A true hobbyist will often see and correct the (small) problems before they become big ones, but unfortunately, the marketing targets everyone and it makes things bad for all when word gets out that HL is knowingly selling "junk."

For the moment I too get the feeling there is little they can do about this because it boils down to stricter QC at the factory and probable new supplier of servos and other components which may require big investment and possible expensive retooling. Some items were obviously installed by incorrectly trained workers.

Overall I get the feeling this plane is still in the "toy" category as supplied. By that I mean first and foremost, the price has been kept low(er) than it otherwise could(should) be to attract a larger market which will probably buy it and never really fly it like it could be flown. Granted it's an expensive "toy" and it's capable of doing serious harm in the wrong hands. It is meant for "non hobbyists" despite its potential as a real nice foamy EDF.

I agree that probably the best solution is for HL to offer a third category for this plane like Hobby People have done for the wildly successful and popular Phase 3 F16. The foam parts are outstanding IMO and they offer a terrific base for customization. Folks are proving this F5 flys great light or heavy so it has lots of leeway for customization. If you haven't already, check out "RemE"s totally tricked out F5 on RCGroups.

IAMKAOS

well i have been flying glow for 25 years...back when there were no arfs.....buying glow arfs now i know i have to beef them up and check for inperfections. but i'm new to electrics. most of my flying buddies have been flying electrics for a while and the advised me to stay away from rtf's but i did not listen. after pricing esc's , batteries, motors and fan units i thought this was the less inexpensive way to go. i do have a gws me 109 but that thing is a no brainer. everything in it i bought at the local hs and i installed it and it works fine. for $269.00 i assumed that this HL A7 came with name brand components or components that work. but i see now that i assumed wrong. its just a expensive way to learn. you yourself claimed you had problems with the F5'S and sent HL a letter and did not get a detailed explanation back because you did not demand it. i sent them e-mails asking about the 2-3 cell lipo 11.4 volt esc that comes with it and did not get a answer on that and the resaon is it is the wrong esc! its not made for a 4s 14.8 volt battery pack... they returned my reply by saying "we are sorry our product did not meet your expectations"...but if you wish to return it.... etc, etc............anyway i'll just return and be done with it.

nsyracuse

I maidened my F5-e camo version a week ago and have had several successful flights on it. I have not noticed any problems with the electronics, retracts, fan, etc. The airplane looks really cool in the air and flies very well. I had to put a half of stick of lead in the nose to balance it, was tail-heavy on the first flight and a little pitch sensitive. After adding the weight, it is very stable. I have been nothing but impressed with the model.

IAMKAOS

if your F5 has the same esc-bec as the A7 you will probably have some problems.i hope i'm wrong. fly it at full power burst's for a while and see what happens. it might take a flight or two. look at your 45 amp esc and see if says j-power on it. in small letters it will say 2-3 lipos. i recently heard that hobby lobby is trying to get the esc-bec changed in some of their models. like i mentioned earlier my buddy had the F5 and had problems. he changed the esc-bec in his at a cost of $109.00. but it is a 4-6s esc. he had no problem after that. i got a replacement A7 from HL but it did the same thing as the fist one!!!on the tailgate of my truck we ran it at full power for several seconds then the receiver quits working and the servos become eratic. we back off the power it returns to normal. we did this several times with the same result. finally he unplugged the bec and plugged a 4.8 volt receiver battery into the receiver and then tried it. it worked perfectly!. we tested it several times and not a glitch!!. the esc can handle the higher amps and volts but the bec cannot. at home i tried another receiver with the bec but it affected it too. exceed edf's sold by nitromodels are having this problem also.

aircraftking

My friend just got the A7 yesterday and the ESC in his clearly states 4-6s and its a J Power ESC. Maybe with the new ones shipping out, this has been changed.

IAMKAOS

well. take a look at this picture of the esc in my A7. if any of the electric guru's tell me i'm wrong i'll eat crow. that 6-10 cells is for NI-MH batteries and 2-3 lipo is for 3 cell lipo esc's. if you go to j-power's website they will show item JEO304 for 40 to 50 amp, 4-14 cell NI-MH ,2-4 cell LIPO. ..item JEO305 for 40-60 amp,4-14 cell NI=MH, 2-4 cell lipo. .....this controller in my A7 has close to the same battery spec's that is for one they have for 20-30 amps.

Beamshipcaptain

Exactly, nsyracuse, I flew my Swiss F-5 from Early August, until it got too cold to stand around outside, sometime in October. I have had nothing but great flights on it, mostly at full-power, and I fly off a Grass-field, here at Valley Forge. Stock speed is impressive, lots of vertical climb. Mine is a little nose-heavy, but I never added any balance weight, I just gave it a little up-elevator-trim. A lot of jet for not a lot of money. Another winner from STARMAX, and Hobby-Lobby. Just make sure you put plenty of Epoxy, or JB welds on the wing-joint, as there is no spar or joiner in the wings.

IAMKAOS

yes. i just found out they are putting in a different esc in the A7'S now.i do not know what comes in the hobby lobby starmax edf's. the A7 is made by j-power and does not make this esc anymore. i was told that HL for some time had been trying to remedy the problem with j-power esc . all i know is i will never buy from them again. the only satisfaction i got out this is the 35 to 40 people i fly will not even consider a HL product now.

Beamshipcaptain

Such a shame. I have not had anything but good experiences from HOBBY-LOBBY, and they jump handsprings to rectify a mistake. I love all their STARMAX EDF JETS! GO HOBBY LOBBY!
Peace out.

IAMKAOS

over the holidays a local HS in my area got in some HL edf's. one A7 and a couple F-18's. i asked if i could examine the A7 and what i noticed did not surprise me. like i mentioned before they are putting a different esc-bec's in in them now. i wonder why?.. its a 40-50 amp, 4-6 lipo esc. prior i just heard about this but i've seen it now. the one in mine is not even listed on j-powers website under their esc spec's anymore . i contacted HL by e-mail twice about this but i got no reply and i expected that. maybe i should got a starmax edf or multiplex. i'm happy that you have had good experiences with HL but i'm thru with them . my flying buddies saw what i went thru with this experience and HL and all have told me they will not buy their products either. the ironic thing is most of the electric flyers warned me about buying this thing in the first place and i did not listen. anyway i'm thru harping on this , hobby lobby won, i lost.

Beamshipcaptain

I've got two HL Blue Angels F/A-18s, and a Swiss F-5 jet-fighter. I love them all, but the Swiss F-5 70mm EDF has great power, rudder for knife-edge, and retracts. See me flying mine on YouTube! Sory you got some lemons. I didt like the A-7, I don't like the design, and no landing-gear. I dislike hand-launching. But the Starmax jets have a low price, and they seem to all fly reliably. Great value for the price. HL customer service has been outstanding. Sorry you and the guys at the field have had bad luck with their models, as I LOVE mine!

ledd4u

My Feedback: (23)

I got the updated version with colored servos and castle creations speed control. So far excellent flying I would estimate at around 190 mph (against the wind). 4 4S 4800 mah lipo included and I got it all for $234 (including the new 9303R-694U radio shipped to my home! They are having a blowout sale, first come first serve. Mine has a 3" dia. carbon spar joining the two wing halves and I used aero poxy and portland cement to glue everything. It also has the new JR servos bind and fly! I am using 2.4 DSM which I have been told will fly faster since the new DSM Spektrum is higher frequency therefore much faster response resolution. I am going to strap on the new BVM power plant soon wooohooo! Video and pictures forthcoming standby and wait. I glassed the wings with 1.50 oz fiberglass and added lead to all the trailing edges of the surfaces to allow faster resolution speeds to be obtained! These imports are awesome and greeat bang for the buck and is just outstanding. Stay tunned for my flight test which will be in close connection and authorised by the NFL Superball game tonight at half time. Watch out for the F-5E to do a flyby durring the show. Yes, I will be dropping candy using the new hatch that Starmax/Hobby Lobby has incorporated in the design. Hopefuly it will work because the last flight I had I hit the wrong switch and the Lipo batteries ejected and caught fire and exploded as they hit the Porsche that was parked outside the flying field[:'(]

manolomartin

Hello,

Can anyone tell where to dowload the manual for the stock ESC/BEC on the Starmax F5-E? I`m experiencing the problems described in this forum and also the motor starts without the need to "arm" the system with the throtle lever. The plane as it comes is unsafe and very prone to damage to the ESC/BEC and battery. As far as I know, a series of "beeps" confirm that the ESC is in programming mode and you have to give instructions by means of the throtle lever. I`m shure this would make the system much more efficient and secure, but obviously you can`t do nothing without the manual.

dubbs67

phase 3 f-16 comes with fan, speed ,controller and motor !! the good news is that you do not have to replace any of these stock items .Flies 71/2 minutes on a 2250 3s lipo ,easy hand launch.looks dredful on the box but i custom painted mine hope you like the picture.