MsgtRob
Posts: 3
Joined: 2/11/2006
From: Rosamond,
CA, USA
Status: offline
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Im USAF Jet engine Mechanic 15 years--lots of mechanical experience and A&P certified. I have flown RC many times--(not electric)
Im not convincedabout this plane..but I did buy two.
The wifes first toss= beautiful lift out for about 50 feet then.... hard right cartwheeling dive and bent wing. (Shes now my launch slave) 
Mine: flew awesome for first 4 minutes..then motor unexpectedly cut off and unlike advertised, I had NO controls. Fortunately I was flying level and it landed unharmed--only to have the motor insultingly turn on at impact.
Trouble shooting--changed battery (after all wife was finished with hers anyway) changed Tranmitter batteries, checked tail rig, did two person ops check at specified distance--everything good. Launched second time--flew great for about 1 minute in perfect control...motor sputtered ..It came on, it went off, on, off nose dived and cartwheeled knocking propellar off, collapsing nose, bent wing, broken tail, battery broke the canopy off and dislodged its self from housing. Other than that....perfect!
Oh-yeah...the motor kicked on on impact--again. SWEET!
Called Hobbyzone but not open for business on saturday??? ****?
Now have $300 worth of useless plastic in garage.
Another question--has hobbyzone ever thought of zip-tieing the wires in the fuselage in a way that prevents them from entangling in the servo mechanism?? I mean, they used zip ties quite nicely in the package to keep it secured for shipment-- why not where it really counts?. I found battery red wire touching servo cam and plane two had black antenna wire passing straight through the linkage and cought.
6 minutes of collective fly time is not wrth $300--look elsewhere
Few other gripes: Wing stickers have many bubbles in them, AA batteries included are useless (too small to stay in transmitter) I R2'd those immediately, charger took over an hour in car. I left it charging right up untill fly time (all-night) Tail and wings are NOT durable. Rear wheel is flimsy at best and main gear tires are pathetic--soft foamy wheels.
The center mount wing scheme is nifty; knocked loose with each crash but never failed--carbon spar is interesting and strong but does absolutely nothing to prevent bent wings.
Over all-- I think this bird could be fun and exciting if Hobbyzone will work out the bugs, improve the quality.
Im sure this could be a great zone 1 plane...Im not convinced as of todays "double wammy"! Will post more after speaking with Hobbyzone Monday.
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All Forums >> Electric Aircraft Universe >> Electric Training >> NEW Hobbyzone Firebird Freedom 
NEW Hobbyzone Firebird Freedom - 
. You where lucky, my plane got stuck in the tree damn tree I had to wait until morining the next day to climb up and get it down got. Wing was broken , put purchased another from the hobbyshop.