wingspan99

My Feedback: (2)

I have been in the hobby for over 20 years and I got the bug to try one of these twin-motored R/C planes that I see on Ebay for $5 plus $20 shipping. I seriously doubted that the thing would fly at all and doubted whether I could control it at all but I've had a small electric free flight and many times I wished that I could at least shut the motor off on command so I figured at the worst this thing would be RC assisted free flight.
That $25 included the 20" span twin motor plane, two spare props, the RC controller, and a four-cell 180mah Nimh battery. Here's the auction number if you want to see exactly what I got: 5925848888.
I pulled the red decals off the leading edge of the wing very carefully. They weren't laying very flat but it probably wouldn't have caused any real problems if they were merely pressed down. It takes about 10 minutes to put the wing and tail on it, load some AA batteries in the TX ( I used Nimh AA's 'cause I'm frugal) and charge the battery pack, which is done by plugging it into the back of the TX. I left the gear off it since I was flying over a plowed field. I gently hand-launched it and it climbed out. Left and right are easy enough, but full power to both props makes it climb almost into a stall and that's the main problem, it doesn't climb smoothly but I had a ball flying it anyway. You have to BUMP the non-proportional steering controls, and to avoid a stall you have to bump the power on and off but I was able to fly it back to my hand after 3minutes of practice which is way more control than I expected for $25. It only weighs 3 ounces so it requires low to no wind but it flies about 10mph. I'd say if you never tried RC flying get one of these twin motor cheap RC "toy category" planes, and if you find it fun then you know you have enough interest to "get into RC". It does respond to my left/right controls and it does a pretty good job of bouncing off the ground from low-altitude spins. A close friend of mine relates that he had the B-2 bomber twin motor job and that got him hooked on RC. He then got a Firebird, then a 4-channel trainer, then a sport plane, then a Raptor heli and now he's working on his private pilot license (I'm a bad influence).
So overall I'd say it's not a precision flying RC plane, but what can you expect for $25. It does fly worth $25. I wish there were $25 toys like this when I was a kid.
-Tom

Troglotech

I fully agree with you sentiments....they are a great way to learn to fly. I started off with the Preserver, very similar to the one you have shown. You learn quite a lot about trimming (all done by tweaking the ailerons) and a lot about wind conditions (they just don't fly in any wind). On hot days they catch the thermals and can stay in the air for up to 15 mins, dissapearing to a little spec in the sky...great fun. I learned a lot from these little planes, worth buying, great to keep in the boot of the car, safe and easy...

karl51

My Feedback: (6)

Wingspan99, I just went on the ebay site and placed a bid for one of the airplanes. You gave me a great idea. I build balsa planes and always have a child come along and ask to fly it...and I really feel bad to tell the kid not in this life time...But with this airplane for $25.00 no problem sure you can fly my airplane what a great way to get new kids started I can't wait till I win and the airplane comes...Thanks guy....

wingspan99

My Feedback: (2)

That's great. I think that our next generation of RC fliers are going to get started in the sport with one of these. I went to Wal-Mart's RC section yesterday and I must say you can buy some really cool RC toy planes, better than just two years ago and cheap. There was one single-channel Stinson by Estes I think, it was $19.95. It's a single motor and had an actuator for pulling the rudder to one side. This stuff is great! There were at least five RC planes and a single-channel heli. The planes were under $30 and the heli under $60. Look for a lot of flying things for fledglings to be bought this Christmas.

I've flown mine a dozen times now and I have a few tips.
If you leave off the landing gear you might need a little noseweight to compensate. I used a 4-penny nail stuck in the white foam. The black foam dot on the nose is foam rubber to protect what it hits. This is a great little feature- no dings on a car if you hit it. Don't put the nail in this black foam.
I attached the wing with a single rubber band instead of the double-sided tape.
I shimmed the trailing edge upwards 3/16". This gave a much more smooth and level climb and I got it up to about 100 feet high, the highest yet.
I use a Hitec CG-340 charger to charge the little 180mah pack although the charger in the back of the TX works fine, it just doesn't have a peak detection function.
One prop was rubbing a bit on the front bearing of one motor so I pulled the prop away from the motor 1/32". Then I pulled the other the same amount.
One motor runs a little better than the other. I might put a variable resistor in line with the stronger motor and tune them for identical speeds. I took off the little foam spinners on the props because they weren't running true. I thought about converting it to an ESC, FMA direct receiver, and rudder control via one 9-gram servo but the FMA Direct M5 receiver weighs more than the entire controller board that it came with! And I think that M5 receiver is about .5 oz! I doubt it would haul all that. But now I'm thinking of buying the B-29 Bomber. It's about 41 inch wingspan. With four motors it probably could handle two servos and an ESC and receiver. I bought one of the flying saucers off Ebay too. It's single channel, power only but it ought to be fun in the living room. You'd never know I'm 38 years old by looking at my purchases lately...

karl51

My Feedback: (6)

Hi again I will take your tips and add them when the airplane comes I also placed a bid on a flying saucer. Next month my wife and I are going to a friends for Thanksgiving and they have three kids should be some great fun....Thanks for the tips..

karl51

My Feedback: (6)

Hi Winspan99, I got my $25.00 airplane today and for the price you can't bet this deal. I also ordered a flying saucer which I hope comes soon. I am going to put the airplane together tonight ready to fly on Saturday if there is no wind. My wife want's to already give the airplane to her nephew I don't even have it put together yet...I may give him the flying saucer since we are invented to Thanksgiving dinner at their home...Thanks again this is great idea while I am building my mini-7 and Sig Racsal..Karl51

wingspan99

My Feedback: (2)

That's great. I got my flying saucer and boy is that thing fun indoors. It's very stable in the hover. I noticed there are three kinds of saucers. I actually bought two of them. One came with the charging station called the Phantom Flyer. The RC unit has only three speeds and the low speed causes a climb so it doesn't fly truly proportionally. An identical looking unit called the Flying Saucer had only the wall charger and it is smoothly proportional. If you want to make absolutely sure you're going to get the proportional unit buy the original Hover Copter at Hover-Cohttp://www.hover-copter.com. It's an orange unit with only five blades in the body. Check out the video at the top right corner of that home page to see the disc fly. The proportional one flies just like that. Both of them are a lot of fun though. The pics are the Flying Saucer.
-Tom