TapeGlue

Hey i got a scale. My flatana is 10.2 oz. fully loaded. I believe thats about 285.6 grams. It flies great and I love it. Just dont crash because they are very fragile.

mahir

HI Tape, I think my weight will be 325 gms that is about 11.46 oz, will know end of week. For one I am using a 1100 mah pack so that is 85 gms and then I dont have a lighter receiver those are the two reasons why I am going to be heavy. Your 285 on the Flatana is a very good weight, did you use any epoxy, I have used a mixture of both CA and epoxy I guess that added to the weight. Anyway thanks to all those who replied .

TapeGlue

Hey Mahir, I used only foam ca, medium i think. I have since added a glob of epoxy on the top wing at wheel supports and push rod holders also some where rods cross. After a landing the wind caught my wing and flipped plane over and broke rudder off tube which I re glued with epoxy.Weight is with these repairs made. I hope yr 1st flights go well. Ive had a lot of fun with mine. If you get in trouble just gun the throttle,up elevator and you'll be back in the clouds!

mahir

Got ya tape, tks all for help and and advise, truly a great forum,

deckerv

My Feedback: (21)

I just started building my Turmoil. Really the build is not hard at all. I boiled my plastic parts for about 3 min and let them cool down in the water until the water was room temp. I haven't broken any clips yet. I'm hoping my RCU bipe goes together this well too! I can't wait till later today though, my foam CA Accellerator will be in! That foam safe glue doesn't like to dry any time soon..lol.

turtleman70

i just bought the reflection, first time building a foamy you guys are right it has taken a long time to build mine the damn hinge clips keep snapping and i dont kow what to do. it's like the plastic is to brittle i've tried to warm them up in hot water but still have breakage.I'm willing try anything so i can fly it . for the power system i'm thinking of useing on of my e-flite park 370 1360kv brushless motors and a e-flite 1350ma li-po with a 20 amp controller would this be fine or what.

mahir

Hi Turt, I finally flew my Turmoil this weekend but not without incident , first I had receiver glitch problems, I managed to save the plane, then once I fixed those I had dialed in the manufacture suggested exp and found it too sluggish so that was no fun and then later the horn that hooks the aileron to the servo came lose and that was the end of a 5 min flying session, I can imagine that these planes once sorted out will be fun, I have now put some fiber glass on all the horns that connect to the servos. I used the drywall checkered fiberglass tape and just added epoxy, I hope this holds. My flying weight has come out to about 398 gms, way too heavy but with the axi and the 1100 mah pack this thing takes off like a rocket ship and you really have to slow it down.

For the hinges since I have a R/c Truck background I had a Dubro Reamer lying around and that is possible the best thing to use to open up the horns so that the Z bends slip in, I have not broken one yet and did not boil the parts either, I felt with the exacto knife I was not gettting a symetrical hole.

Anyway, I hope to put is some stick time as I dont see myself doing much 3D stuff till I am comfortable with this flatout. Hope this little bit of info helps.

Dyehard

So far I have built a Reflection and three Turmoils and my son just finished a Flatana. I have yet to break a hinge clip. I have found that it helps to slide the clips on one of the graphite hinge tubes and then snap them off a couple of times, they seem to loosen up quicker that way. Since the Flatana was my sons first foamy build, I dought he even thought to do that and he still didn't break any clips. If you hit the ground very hard you will also snap the clips loose from the hinge rod, we've done that a lot and they just snap back on without breaking. Come on guys, the bigger hammer approach doesn't work with these things. Be gentle when you snap the clips on and they won't break.
Turtleman, your 1350 pack will probably be too heavy. While I'm not that great at flying a foamy( getting too old and my eyesights getting worse by the day), my son is getting to be pretty good. He can hover in one spot the whole pack, give or take six inches, do continuse tork rolls with the tail a foot of the gym floor, has pretty much licked hovering with the belly of the plane facing him and is working on a lot of the manuevers you see in the ETOC vidios. He finds that an ounce makes a big difference in the way the Flatouts fly. We have several Impulse 900 mil packs, they weigh 2.5 ounces. Any pack that weighs significantly more will really kill the 3D performance of a Flatout. Try to keep the over all weight below 11.5 ounces, lighter is better. At 12 to 12.5 ounces, they become a little on the doggy side.

deckerv

My Feedback: (21)

Try boiling the plastic tree parts for 3 or 4 minutes.. turn the heat off and let it cool to room temp in the water.. then let it air dry on a towel. I'm building another turmoil (bought 2) and an RCU bipe now, and have only broken one control horn becuase I forgot to ream the hole out a little larger before putting the connector in.

I also clipped the round part of the clips off, like they show on the RCU bipe instructions.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Guys,

I've heard a lot of things about Flatouts, pro and con. I have a Red Bull Edge 540 to put together. My first foamy. I intend to use the stock motor.

I just found this thread and was wondering if you guys could answer a few questions.

Is the included prop a good match or have you guys found something better?

What is this discussion about boiling the plastic parts about? What does that do for the plastic or the kit assembly?

Thanks,

Bob

hobbydude214

My Feedback: (13)

first off i just want to say this post isnt about boasting but i would like to share information with you. i worked at a local hobby shop for awhile and have seen many newbies to foamies come through. you're still a newbie builder untill you reach about 5 built planes. for me i have personally built and flown over 50, not only for myself but for friends and customers as well. So heres a short list of tools you will need and some which will just make building easier. i have built each flatout. i still dont think they fly well but i got the time down to about an hour and 45 min for building i would say even if yyou were new 4 hrs max following the directions and having the right tools. ok so here it is and if i forget nything please post up some extra tools you may have found help in the building process. FOAM SAFE CA, ACCELERATOR, HOBBY KNIFE (ALTHOUGH RAZOR BLADES WORK WELL TOO), RULER, SQUARE, SMALL SET OF PLIERS, INCLUDING CUTTING PLIERS. those are the most basic tools you will ever need for building your planes. if you want to look for a plane that flies very very well check out the hobby lobby yak 54 shock flyer. in other words i would stray away from gp flat outs, most people that would say they like them one probably havent flown 50 foamies, or theyre not trying to take them to the potential of other models like the flatout and finding that they just do not perform. the only one that has even been in a toc is the reflection, ex. hobby lobby has had almost all of their shock flyers in the TOC, food for thought

ryan_t888

Bob
The stock prop that came with the plane is very good for the stock motor. I would leave it.

Boiling the plastic parts helps them snap on much easier. Many people are breaking the hinge clips, I broke at least 3 from what I remember. Total build time for me was around 10hrs.

Ryan

sox101

Can someone give me their recommendation for the top 3 flatouts? I want one that is sturdy and flies 3D well.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks, Ryan. I'll watch it on those hinges. I presume, from what you say, that boiling helps the hinges as well - I'll be careful with everything.

Thanks,

Bob

ryan_t888

I have not personally tried the boiling method. What I did is used an exacto to enlarge the holes slighty. This allowed them to snap on much more easily.

I did not use accelerator for my build but I would recommend it if you want it to be done quick!

Ryan

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Yeah, I saw another post somewhere where someone was recommending drilling out some holes to 1/16"... can someone please explain that one to me? Which holes are we talking about?

Thanks,

Bob

PilotLight

My Feedback: (1)

I believe it was my post about drilling some holes. The size I recommended was 7/64ths. The servo arms and the control horns have to have the Z-bends snapped into them. The Z-bend parts are difficult to install without enlarging the hole in the servo arm and in the control horn.

hobbydude214

My Feedback: (13)

well sox none of them fly 3d very well as compared to others same size and price but id say the ones that fly better from experience would be reflection, flatana, and maybe turmoil. if you have experience with 3d foamy building try using tape hinges instead of provided ones.

CByrne1

I find the #38 drill bit works best for drilling out all the linkages that the Z bends slide into....

sokrdz

hi everyone i am wondering could i put a 2 cell 1320 mah lipo battery in with the stock motor, and would that make it airborne?

cessna152pilot16

i would not sugest that, it will be way to heavy and since it is only a 2 cell you will not get much power at all

hipollito

I built a reflection just a few days ago, I have built lots of foamies now and all I can say is that these planes are a total crap, the building time is of course very long (and I am not a newbie, I cant build a shockflyer un 2 or 3 hours) the manual was a total pain to understand and they dont care about ergonomics....I know it sounds weir but every product should care for consumer ergonomics everyone!!, very bad pictures and misslabeled parts, also the way they make you glue the wings is just stupid!!! I used balsa to reinforce the joint, were originally theres no joint at all, I made a good and proper firewall to mount an outrunner cause the way they want you to do it its just baaaaad!!! I am an industrial designer and I think these planes are a total waste of time and money, I have e.flites yaks shockflyers and insane foamies....they are a million times better!!!!

Rocketman612

My Feedback: (85)

BULLETPROOF

Two weeks ago I was flying my Red Bull Flatout and got it stuck in a tree about 30ft up [:@] Well it took awhile to get it out as we shot at it with our Airsoft pistols but not enough mass to get it out [X(] We then taped together several poles and was just able to reach it. By this time it was dark and my son was using his night vision goggles to direct me LOL.

The damage occured when it fell out of the tree. At first looked like a total loss so I set it aside and waited till I was in the mood to dork with it. The damage wasn't bad. We reattached the rudder and one elevator half, remounted the engine. then patched the wing and fuse. Used foam CA and 5 min epoxy.

Everything seemed to work great and took her out for a couple of flights today. Looks ugly but fly's great. You can see where the Airsoft BB's went through the foam. We just taped over the holes

Pete

carlosponti

My Feedback: (1)

I frankly like my RCU Bipe I am flying it with cheap Chinese parts and it flies just spectacularly. In all honesty the hardware is annoying to work with. You really have to take certain precautions. The z-bend pieces need to have the clevis drilled to fit them in. Make sure you get the carbon fiber that hinges attach to perfectly straight. I was really tempted to ditch the hardware for tape on the hinges and 3/32 lite ply for control horns. I used the lite ply firewall in my kit to attach the brushless motor I have just fine. It does fly fine after you get it together. It seemed difficult to get the plane straight when building it.

ricksheau

My Feedback: (1)

ive got alot of building experience over twenty five years 50 kits and 40 or so arfs under my belt and ill tell u its the hardware not u. my red bull flatout hardware is brittle and they sent me more trees so gp is willing to work with u but bottom line is the plastic needs to be more plyable ive broken numerous pieces and am now fed up and am calling gp today for a credit for another plane from another manufacturer. gp has some other good planes but the flatouts will be last on my list till this problem is corrected, hopes this helps somone....