chall

I've just flown my new Gypsy ARF from Horizon Hobby. WOW, this is what I've been looking for in a Park Flyer. It fits easily in my car, has flight times of over 6 minutes (probably much more), flies smoothly and doesn't change course on it's own! Plus it looks great, transparent film over a balsa frame.

I've had a number of planes this size before, but none of them were as well behaved. My Hobbico Aerocruiser was too heavy for it's own good, my Parkzone J-3 couldn't take the heat in my car, and the Sky Scooter II was just a handfull. I think it wanted to do stunts and I wanted it to fly straight and level.

I used the Sky Scooter electronics in the Gypsy (had to use my Dremel tool to enlarge the servo bay) and used a NiMH battery pack. Even with lead weight in the front to get the right CG it just flies super. From a hand launch it doesn't drop, with the J-3 I had to quick reach for the elevator to avoid a crash. When you get it flying straight and level you can let go of the controls to scratch your nose and the plane will be straight and level when you get back to the stick. Both the Scooter and J-3 both needed constant attention. The J-3 would wander on it's own, left and right, or climb. Was it wind? A flexing wing? Who knows. There's no such behavior with the Gypsy.

Being made of balsa and film, the wings and control surfaces are all quite rigid. I think you can feel this in the way it flies. And if it crashes, I'm hoping it'll be more repairable. My Sky Scooter fuselage turned into a banana after it's 2nd crash, the J-3 was held together with thread when I gave up on it. The tape holding the J-3 fuse together was simply melting away!

So my initial impressions of this latest plane are all positive. I was surprised not to find any other comments on it in this forum. Maybe I missed them, or maybe this is a new product.

And I hope my comparisons with other planes will give you some idea of what I was after in a Park Flyer.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByC...ProdID=EFL2050

jrnl

I've been waiting for some reviews on this plane also ......thanks for the info . What size battery pack are you using to obtain the 6min flight ? Has anyone set this plane up with a brushless motor and Lipo's yet ??

imavmax

just finished my gypsy but havn't had a calm day to test it. i am really impressed with the guality of the kit. easiest & fastest i have ever done. left motor stock but modified battery compartment to hold 3 lipo 1100 cells. this should give plenty of power & 15 to 20 minute flights
jerry

chris2fly77

My Feedback: (6)

I would like to know if the Gypsy can fly in wind what would be the maximum wind it could fly in.

graupel

Chris-

I purchased this as my second plane and pretty much learned to fly on it. I went to school in Okla so I know why you ask abou the wind! Does it ever stop? no. I've flown the gypsy around 15 times now and I feel that with the stock motor and an 8.4-9.6V NiMH battery, the plane gets thrown around quite a bit in wind over around 5 m/s -- 10 mph. I'm definitely still a novice, but I'd assume that most beginners would also have a rough go with this plane in any sustained breeze. Experienced pilots should be ok. Other than that I love this plane and am glad I own one.

-Tim

chris2fly77

My Feedback: (6)

What type of batteries does the gypsy use i mean cell size. I am not planning on using li poly's i am going to use my guts out of a parkzone cub and i was wanting to know the size of the cells for this bird i looked at it at the lhs and the compartment is very small. any help would be appreciated. thanks