snir2001

My Feedback: (1)

+1

GerKonig

Well, that might be the AMA there. You cannot fly w/o a waiver right? so they are regulation the turbine segment in my book.

Gerry

GerKonig

Some of the controllers I got recently from HK did have instructions. One trick that works is to google "XXXXXX" (your item model, followed by the word "manual" or "instructions". Many of their products have instructions or manuals on-line.

Gerry

GerKonig

They could do it in "Ikea's" language. Use a mime, and just show how to set up and run:-) We need no stinkin' languages...

Claro que usar el español ayudarÃ*a a una mayorÃ*a hispana en los Estados Unidos, pero esa es harina de otro costal.


Gerry

badazzgti03

My Feedback: (4)

Hobby King Sucks! they sell nothing but replica kits! everything I have bought from them has been crap, has either broken or crashed. I would NOT buy or trust a Turbine from them at all!!!

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

I have lots of Hobby King stuff and except for a few indoor motors everything has worked as expected. I have found in most cases where someone complains everything is crap much of the responsibility is a reflection on ability as well.

People usually buy from Hobby King for one of two reasons.

First is that it is a great alternative to increase the amount of on hand resources to make the hobby more enjoyable. Take batteries for instance. I can order and experiment with all different sizes and capacities in my indoor designs and my large outdoor aircraft and boats at relatively little cost. When I find the combination that works I then decide if the cheaper Hobby King batteries fill the bill or do I now purchase the pricier ones. Since I know the physical size and capacity that works it becomes a one time buy with the pricier sets. This alone has saved me thousands of dollars. I have bought a few knock off airframes and with a little work they have been sufficient. Since I did not expect much I was pleasantly surprised just how well they were in the end. I would not purchase or expect a competition level product from them but I have never heard a claim that any of their stuff is of that quality.

The second reason I know of that people buy from Hobby King is that they don’t want to pay premium prices for premium product and the Hobby King stuff looks just like the last several premium airplanes they have crashed. Since they most likely lacked the knowledge and skill set to properly make use of the premium product buying the cheap knock off might make the learning curve somewhat cheaper. Since they did not know what to do with the premium product their chances of success are even lower with an economy product as most likely there will be need for more knowledge and skill to get the product to perform as you would like. When they have no more success with the Hobby King stuff than they did with the premium product then of course to them it’s all crap.

To the second group I ask why then are there so many satisfied Hobby King customers out there? Could your own lack of experience and skill set be part of the problem?

You have to use your head when buying stuff from discount sources. My full carbon F5B Hawk at $400 US is powered with Hobby King Nano Tech 4S 3300mAh batteries. They perform admirably and yes if I were in competition were every oz counts I would certainly have Thunder Power cells. I did not scrimp on the motor or speed control because none of the Hobby King stuff would match the performance of a Hacker geared motor turning an 18X10 carbon prop at 8000 rpm and I used a matched Hacker 125 amp speed controller as it was designed for this motor. Metal geared digital servos were used as well because of the high speeds and associated loads.

A good friend of mine purchased a high end kit DG 1000 2.6 meter at over 5 times what I paid for my Hobby King version. His went together so slick it was a thing of beauty. He also powered his with the recommended higher end components. My Hobby King took a lot of fitting and finishing getting it to where I was happy with how it worked and looked. My version is powered with an old Jeti motor I had left over from years ago and a cheap Hobby King ESC and set of Hobby King batteries. The folding prop and receiver are top quality. Servos are Hitec but not digital metal gears like my buddy’s. It comes down to how does it fly and your satisfaction with your model. His is a bit lighter and will out climb mine but in the glide they are very close and after the mods I did you have to look closely to see any difference in the exterior looks. Interior is very much different the base cost of the model shows. My fun factor comes in at just under $400 and his comes in at over $1200. Neither of us care one bit and are extremely happy flying what we have. We have even fought over position in the same thermal.

Thank goodness for Hobby King for the quick fix for something new to fly between major building projects.

Dennis

kochj

Eventually the cheap priced turbines will work.
They are more sensitive to poor machining and Monday morning mistakes.
One can not compare them with a common 2 stroke gas engine.

One thing that is known though; China has some of the most advanced factories in the world.
The machines that do the making are imported from swede and Germany.
If this turbine is machined by one of the finely astute machines is yet to be seen.

If a turbine is sloppy, it will not last period!
Unfortunately, most of what is produced there is .

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

Why not the point is any poorly made product will not outlast a better made product it doesn't make any difference what the product is be it an appliance, car or hobby product. Comparing an internal combustion engine to a turbine is like comparing apples to oranges. Percent of acceptable tolerance is what counts. And CNC machines today have no problem holding any of those tolerances. I have run home CNC mills, lathes and grinders some built by their owners that will easily hold tolerances needed for turbine construction.

I am a tool and die maker/machine repair at Ford with over 35 years in the trade. I deal with stuff brought in from all of the off shore countries and tolerance is not the main concern. Material quality, composition (as in alloy) and hardness are the big concerns. Parts fit perfectly but wear prematurely. Off shore no name bearings tend to be the biggest problems to date. Often times simply replacing these at the onset of problems before damage occurs results in good serviceability. Ask anyone who has bought a gasser made in China the first thing is to pitch the spark plug and put a brand name on in its place.

I bet dollars to donuts if you were to disassemble a NEW Chinese turbine you would find the tolerances the same as the established manufactures. It just does not make sense to produce anything else but what the consumer expects and what is industry standard. Now run that motor for a while and then compare it to another engine of good pedigree that has the same running time on it and you may well find there is a big difference. Usually one checks something like this only after problems arise and at this time premature wear raises its ugly head and the assumption is poor machining and excessive slop. It was the same assumption we made at work with off shore machinery until we started to check it when it came in the door. Fit and finish looked very good but in a short time excessive play and slop became evident affecting the quality of the parts we were producing.

DominicM

2nd post by Antony Hand on the HK thread. Of course you could accuse him of lying but lets assume he's not.

"Compressor and bearings from Germany.
Most parts produced by a famous turbine factory.
Quality guaranteed!"

Henke Torphammar

You mean notorious ;-)

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

Must be some sort of difference in the English interpretation between the colonies and the UK. Read the post again slowly if you must and tell me where I disagree with the value of an inexpensive turbine by one of my favorite discount houses namely Hobby King. I took issue with someone claiming they were built sloppy when he hasn’t any first hand knowledge. I related my experience with off shore products we thought were built sloppy and it turned out to be something else. I have no idea what is being used in these turbines and neither do you. I don’t think the other guy does either from what I gather he’s quoting from some press release. I imagine there will be lots of speculation from the armchair experts but until people have put them into service it will all be argumentative. Again I urge you to read the post again slowly perhaps I typed it to fast for you.

Couch Potato

A turbine in the "Hand" is worth 2 burning out in the Bush

DrV

My Feedback: (2)

You only are required a turbine waiver to fly in an AMA sanctioned field/event. Anyone can buy a turbine powered model and fly in the desert or a public air field. If something goes wrong you are on your own.

Seamus OLeprosy

Don't want to go way off track, but what are the requirements of

jetster81

You only need a waiver in the United States,

BR289

My Feedback: (106)

The cost of the turbine itself has kept quite a few people out of that segment of the hobby, myself included. I know people that have had both good and bad luck with HK products but as far as this turbine is concerned it is a matter of waiting and seeing how it turns out... one never knows.... but I can tell you I sure won't be "First" in trying one!

Seamus OLeprosy

Yea I get that, I was curious as to what was involved in the waiver. :-)

Jgwright

Wonder when Bruce will be running the engine. I see he has posted a new review on a small quad rotor heli, so I guess that indicates he is having problems? Maybe no instructions?



John

mavrick

My Feedback: (1)

As far as I know it is world wide, you have to be signed off as a competent Jet pilot with sufficent knowledge on how to opp a turbine.
Mav

jetster81

Hi John, I think he is busy with other things at present but will be running it up shortly.....lets hope.

jetster81

Take a look at jmaireland.com they will be able to tell you what you need for your country or look up the AMA in the States for US info.

Henke Torphammar

Yeah, strange with a video not even putting it in the scale or provide any measurements. Maybe he's got strict regulations.

Xairflyer

My Feedback: (1)

Can't understand why such a big secret over size.

Just noticed in the video the ecu is very like the one supplied with the Evojet turbine

Henke Torphammar

ECU must be the simplest part for HK to manufacture them selves for very little money. Makes no sence to use an existing one thinking money wise

Xairflyer

My Feedback: (1)

Yes what you say is true, but the ecu is a very important part of the running of a turbine, joe soap can by a gasper fadec off the shelf for €119 how much would HK pay for them if they order 500?

Even If HK can make their own ecu for $20 they would still be better to add the cost difference to the overall price of the turbine and gain first of all an ECU that is guaranteed to work, and second add a bit of credibility to the turbine which will eliminate the one negative of "the ECU will probably go up in smoke like their cheap ESC's".
$50ish on top of the price of the turbine would be worth four times that in how it is looked at in the market.