Well it's been forever since I've flown any of my planes. I wacked my WLToys F949 due to wind gusts (that always seems to get me here in Jersey) and snapped the prop. I put the plane away and hadn't flown it in forever. Recently I've been wanting to fly again and forgot about my F949 AND I had a Flybear FX-807 sitting around. I also picked up a Volantex Mini Trainstar v761-1 for under $50 as tomtop with free shipping. I just wanted to share my thoughts thus far, if there's anyone else who likes these small simple flyers like me.
WLToys F949 Recap: EPP foam, 3CH, no gyro stabilization, USB charger. I believe the flight time was over 10 minutes last time I flew it. I'm waiting for new props and nose cones to arrive, and I'll see what the flight time is on it. It has a USB charger and a USB powerbank appears to charge the battery without any issue.
Flybear FX-807: EPP foam, 2ch with variable thrust from the propellers, USB charger and a USB charging port on the transmitter. I have to say, I've had a great experience with this little plane. The biggest problem I had with its predecessor, the FX-803, was that the variable thrust steered the plane horribly. Trying to steer left or right would turn the plane, but also cause it to dip and nose dive. I couldn't get the hang of it and couldn't get the thing out of those nose dives. With the FX-807, it's a totally different story. The angled wings seem to make the plane super stable and it straightens itself right out. You still get the nose diving a little bit if you turn hard, but you can almost always correct it as long as you're not too close to the ground. The plane also has a flight time of around 13 solid minutes of FUN flight. The transmitter has plenty of distance the plane gets too small to see before I lose signal. The only downfall to me is that the battery is internal and you can't replace it. If/when my internal lipo battery dies completely, I'll turn this into a project plane and see if I can solder a generic connector to the board and use a more standard battery that can be easily replaced.
Volantex Mini Trainstar V761-1: I just ordered one of these and just got it in the mail. I got it for about 43 dollars with free shipping, using a coupon code at Tomtop. This plane has some great features: It's made of EPP foam, has a USB charger for the battery, has 6-axis Gyro stabilization and should help with flying in breezes (I believe the manual says about 5-7mph winds). The transmitter has a switch which allows you change the flight modes - Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. These change how heavily the gyro stabilizers are involved with the flight ,the advanced setting turns them off completely. I believe you could probably charge the battery with a USB power bank in the field as well. I haven't gotten to fly the plane yet, but I did some testing inside and the rudder/elevator seems really responsive. It's also pretty cool to see the rudder and elevator automatically adjust when the plane is angled.
Flyzone Inum: This thing sucks haha. There's only really one major issue with this plane that pretty much ruins the flight. Out of the box, the rudder angle is at a left turn. It requires such a hard right trim that by the time it's trimmed, turning right doesn't do anything. Turning all the way right just makes it go straight. I've read and seen videos that claim this as well, so it's just bad design. This would actually be a great little backyard or park flyer, especially for beginners to get the hang of throttle adjustment and steering, but the rudder issue ruins it. It does have a replaceable battery and lets you charge from the transmitter as well.
That's all! Just wanted to share my experiences and thoughts with these planes. And I'll post again after re-testing the F949 when I receive the parts, and also my first impressions of the Trainstar.