Aerobird Chlngr 1st ele p-flyer help!
 

Do you guys think that the Aerobird chalanger is a good first electric park flyer??? I am looking for something that will take many crashes and that is easy to fly. I was looking at the slow stick but a person there said the aerobird would be better to start. Need your oppinions!!!!

RE: Aerobird Chlngr 1st ele p-flyer help!
 

Both are not bad. Slowstick can be used later when the challenger gets boring. Slowstick is much more expensive initially thought.

I was in the very same situation just a couple weeks ago and finally settled for a flying wing that takes all the abuse and is much fun to fly!!

RE: Aerobird Chlngr 1st ele p-flyer help!
 

I started with the Aerobird.
Actually I got a flying wing slope soarer, but couldn't fly it, its sitting on my shelf at home. Needs good condtions and is difficult to fly.
The aerobird was harder than a two channel to get going but is fun once you get the hang of it. I believe it is a great way to start. I haven't flown a SS but i have heard great things about them. The SS is dearer to star with but you get to keep the gear when you move on, unlike the aerobid, where the radio equipment cannot be transfered. The aerobird is Completely ready to fly when you buy it, and they say 15 mins box to air time. It should take around 5, unless you watch the 13 minute video. I believe it is a great way to start. Also I've heard great things about the GWS Tiger Moth. I'm planning to get one of those next. I hear they are the perfect thing for a beginner. Also, they look great!

RE: Aerobird Chlngr 1st ele p-flyer help!
 

I recommend this Sky Zap electric airplane to you.
I am selling a new Sky Zap electric airplane in an opened box. This airplane has never been flown. The plane will come with many extras: two extra rechargeable batteries ($40 value), (8) extra propellers, (4) extra motor covers, (1) extra antenna for radio transmitter, (3) extra sets of new wings, and (1) extra battery charger. I am asking $80,plus actual shipping costs. If you buy this airplane from me, you will receive much more than if you bought it from a hobby store. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].

RE: Aerobird Chlngr 1st ele p-flyer help!
 

Since I just had my maiden flight with the Aerobird, I thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth.

First of all, some background. I am not new to the sport of rc, however, I am a complete newbie to planes. I never flew a plane until this evening. I have, however, pounded many monster trucks, and lately, the Savage 25. Being fairly proficient with nitro, I had to decide on electric vs nitro planes at the onset of being bitten by the plane bug. I decided on electric simply because I was, and still am, a little intimidated by flight in general. Electric gives me one less variable to worry about.

Next was the question - 2 or 3 channels? At first money was an issue. But gees, you can get an AC for 100 bucks on e bay or a Firebird Commander for around 75. For 25 extra - I'll take the 3 channel plane. Ok, but then there's the next question - is three channel too much for a newbie? Well, you can fly a 3 channel like a 2 channel until you get proficient. So I still went for the 3 channel.

Next question - what 3 channel plane should I get? My criteria was based on price, good reviews, and well, price. I read all the forum stuff for days. (My wife's gonna kill me). I felt that most of the forum stuff was positive on the AC, while the price was right - so I went for it. I know there are negatives - like the radio. But for me, I wasn't worried about the radio not being swappable to another plane when the whole package was only 100 bucks.

Anyway, I came home tonight from work with about a 1/2 hour of sunlight left. I'm a diehard. I had the battery charged. I put the wing on, hooked up the battery, checked the trim, checked the reception - and tossed it. Hard left into a tree. Oops. Got a pole. Knocked it out. No damage. I got away from the tree this time and tossed it again. I'm off. Holy snikies Batman! That was worth the 100 bucks right there. I'm climbing, and climbing. I swore off the elevator for now. Still climbing. I had some kind of feeling that I would stay cozy in my yard (yeah right) - I have 2 acres. Man, that thing climbs. Anyway, I did a few circles around the house - well, all the adjoining neigborhood, too. Then brought it in for a landing and bellied her real nice on the hard packed snow. OK, I have to admit, that was more fun than my Savage 25. Never thought I'd say that.

IN summary. I thought it flew real decent. I also think you better have a LOT of room on your first flight. I mean a LOT. We have a acres of farmland here so that saved my butt. The whole no wind thing seems obvious - but the concept of you're flying over your backyard, then over your entire neighborhood, then what seems like the whole town - is a bit hard to picture until you do it. And of course, once you're better, you won't need as much. Lots of Space, Altitude and no wind. All the guys on the forums say these things - but there's nothing like the real thing to drive it home.

Anyway, I'm just speaking from a one or two flight standpoint. I may change my mind after a few more, but so far, I am pleased.

Other planes for you to consider would be the Tiger Moth and Slow Stick. Also, a little known gem that isn't even considered a trainer, but many people start on is the Multiplex Twinstar. It is a big backyard-flier foamie that is docile, yet flies decently in higher winds and is mildly aerobatic to boot. It has somewhat of a cult following over in Europe (It's made in Germany). Oh yeah, look at the Sky Scooter 2 pro, as well. Not sure it make the best newbie plane though.

Above all, have fun. Pick one and have fun.

RE: Aerobird Chlngr 1st ele p-flyer help!
 

I learned to fly on a aerobird and thought it did a great job. Its pretty easy to fly out of the box and with a little practice the plane has room to expand alittle. I found it takes crashes well and if worse comes to worse and a new wing is needed its still under a twenty dollar bill. good plane to learn on if you have a large feild to fly.

RE: Aerobird Chlngr 1st ele p-flyer help!
 

How about a personal review of the Aerobird from a new RCer, me. I looked at
the Firebird II, XL, Fighterbird and the Aerobird. With three channels you can
do a lot more, so I went with the Aerobird. Today you would get the Aerobird Challenger which is even better than the Aerobird I have.

I was not interested in building. If I spent a month building and then
wrecked it, I would be crushed. I wanted a RTF that could take some
punishment.

After several months of research, talking to people, flyers and non, I bought an Aerobird. It is a super value but there are other good starters. Here are the plusses and minuses in my mind
of the Aerobird.

Very inexpensive and rugged for a three channel starter - $110-$150
The plane comes complete and fully assembled. Charge the flight battery, put
on the wing, put the batteries in the transmitter and up you go! Even the
batteries for the transmitter are included.

New flyers like me are going to crash, so you don't want something costly to
start with. There is a full line of parts available at reasonable cost. You
can replace the whole main fuselage for $49 including the motor and all the
flight electronics. A wing is $15 and the tail is $9. So, if you crash badly
you can get everything for under $75 and you are back in the with a three
channel plane.

Batteries and charger:

The battery will run for a full 5-7 minutes at full throttle and 12-15
minutes at half throttle. Many planes in this class run 4-5 minutes. And,
unlike many of the 2 channel starters, it comes with a peak charger that you
can use to charge your batteries in your car. If you pick up two spare
batteries you can stay in the air all day. A full charge takes about 40
minutes and a recharge is 20-30 minutes.

Another plane I liked was the Sky Scooter Pro, now the Pro II. You can get it
as a base plane and motor and add your own electronics or get it ready to fly
with a 72 MHZ Hittec 3 channel radio for about $160. This was my second choice
to the Aerobird. I like it a lot and may still get one.


WIND

All new flyers should start in winds under 5 MPH so that you are learning to
fly the plane rather than fighting the wind. I didn't do that and crashed a
lot because of the wind. However, now I am very comfortable flying this plane
in 10-15 MPH winds. Handles it very well.

27 MHZ vs 72 MHZ Radio

The Aerobird uses a 27 MHZ radio which is assigned to general use for planes,
cars and boats; mostly low end stuff. There are only 6 available channels in
the US. So, if you have a kid with a RC car in the same area where you are
flying, and he is on the same channel you are on, and he is close enough, when
he switches on his transmitter, you will lose control of the plane and
probably crash. After 50 flights I have never had a problem, but experienced
flyers will bring this up, so I mention this here.

Even with 72 MHZ radio systems, this can happen if you get two flyers on the
same channel, but 72 MHZ there are 50 channels and in the US, 72 MHZ is
dedicated to airplanes. High end RC cars are on 75 MHZ so they won't
interfere.

The flight control for the Aerobird is a single stick radio with rudder and
elevator on the stick. Throttle is on a slide on the left top. It is similar
to a Futaba or Hitec single stick arrangement. I find it very comfortable to
use and other flyers who have tried it say they find it easy as well.

If you are going to join a club, check with them. Some clubs will not admit 27
MHZ based planes because they can't be flown with a buddy box, a training
system, like a dual controlled car. This is used for pilot training.

After long consideration I bought the Aerobird and am very happy I did. I have
since brought 3 new pilots into the hobby who now have Aerobirds and they have
all been very successful.

These are things I took into consideration. My club, www.lisf.org has many
Firebird and Aerobird pilots, so the Aerobird was welcome

Here is an internet site that sells the Aerobird. They have a
link for a video of the plane flying:
http://www.parkflyers.com/html/aerobird.html

As I said, my alternative plane was the Sky Scooter Pro 2 at about $160 so
you might want to give it serious consideration.
http://www.hitecrcd.com/Funtec/Pro2.htm

Videos
http://www.hitecrcd.com/Funtec/videos.htm

That's my evaluation of the Aerobird and why I purchased it. I fly as
often as I can. I have 100+ flights on my plane since the end of March. I
am fully self taught. At this point I am just loving it. My friend has a Wingo
and liked flying my Aerobird so much he bought one too.

Since then I have expanded to other planes. I now have 2 other gliders I have flown and another electric. I also have 2 more gliders that I am preparing for flight and two electrics that I am building.

It all started with the Aerobird!