OK, I own a Goldberg Matrix 3D, I have a .76 gms 2 stroke in it, and this plane is the most troublesome airplane I have ever owned! It has been nothing but trouble for me since i bought it as an arf. The wings have a sweep back in it kind of like a jet, so you would think it will handle speeds well, but think again! I was flying it at half throttle when the wings actually start to flutter, when i brought it down and looked at the wings, the ribs were cracked, the ailerons were stripped from the servo, and the tail was loose. And you have to be pretty good to actually torque roll this plane, and it lands very fast. The point i am trying to make is this plane is by far the worst plane carl goldberg has under his name, i cant believe he actually puts his name on it, i'd be embarrassed. I don't mean to complain but im just warning everyone who is thinking about buying a Matrix. If anyone else has a matrix, please give me your reviews.

I had a Saito 91 on my 1st one. Flutter at 200 feet and then I had confetti. 2nd Matrix is built a little better. Sealed all the hinge gaps, used 2nd servo for elevator instead of bellcrank. We will see, have not flown yet.

John

Well, what im gonna do tonight is strip the servos out and reciever and sell it for 150, thats w\ fueselage, and brand new .76 2 stroke, im losing a lot but i sure as hell dont want this plane, do you think its a good deal?

I would give it more time, I liked the way my first one flew. I just didn't seal hinges like you are supposed to, did you?

John

I have one with a SuperTigre .61 that I fly pattern with. I don't care for 3-D so I can't comment on that
but it flies very well as an entry level sportsman pattern ship. I took extra care to make sure all the control
linkages and hinges had no slop and sealed all the hinge lines because all the control surfaces are so large.
I used carbon fiber pushrods and MK metal control horns ( no plastic or nylon ) to eliminate any flexing.
I worried a little about flutter also with the huge ailerons and elevators but so far I have had no problems
and I have flown it at some pretty fast speeds along with outside loops and some other severe maneuvers.
Sorry to hear about your problems but so far mine has been pretty solid , my only complaints are the covering
wrinkles terribly after being in the sun for a few hours and its a handful to make it track straight in a crosswind.
The widebodys are good in calm weather but not so good in a strong wind. I guess you can't have it both ways.

tommy s

PS: I forgot to mention that elevator bellcrank that comes with the airplane is a piece of crap / replaced it
with an MK unit from Central Hobbies.

I liked the plane, but i hate how it flies, but i know someone who is selling a u can do 3D for 350 for everything. So im prolly gonna try that one, see how it does.

<<I guess you can't have it both ways.>>

Well said, Tommy. The CG Matrix is a wonderful plane in calm air, but rather squirrelly in any sort of wind.

rcpimpin101(??), sounds like you didn't seal the hinge lines, and made yours heavy. While mine doesn't exactly float in like a trainer, it is very predictable and easy to land. And I haven't had the first hint of flutter. BTW, I have a 1900 mAH extra cell to power my on-board glow unit for the inverted 70 Surpass engine. Even with all of that, my model is still rather light.

That said, I don't like the model either. Much of that dislike is due to the major headaches I had assembling mine. I won't drag that out again; there is a Matrix thread in the ARF Forum that details all the hassles I faced. Like Tommy said, the bellcrank arrangement for the elevators is garbage. I removed the entire unit and installed two elevator servos, a'la UCD.

Tommy, the Asian workers who build these things apparently use the lowest heat they can get away with when covering with UltraCote. My Matrix finish wrinkles too, as does my Lanier/Goldberg Ultimate. I have to tighten them up every couple of months. I cannot decide whether to hit the finish with high heat and try to stick it down for good, or just use 300 degrees to get the wrinkles out. The latter is what I've been doing, but I have to wonder if one day the stuff just isn't going to snug up any more???

All my kit-builts are covered with U-Cote, applied at 375 degrees final shrink, and they stay nice & tight.

Anyway, I digress. The Matrix is an okay ARF, but too pricey for what you get IMO. The UCD definitely has a wider flight envelope. Actually, my intention was to buy a UCD 46 that day, but the last one had walked out the LHS door ten minutes before I walked in. The Matrix had just been unloaded by the UPS guy, and the Xmas $$ was burning a hole in my pocket, so what the heck? Bad decision. There is no way the Matrix is worth $50 more than a UCD.

I have 30 or so flights on mine, and will continue to fly it until I get to the point on my Sig Skybolt kit where I need the engine/radio from the Matrix. It flies okay, and scratches the plank itch, but I just cannot get excitied about the model. I don't do 3D either, although the Matrix is incredibly agile; especially with elevons.

So, my advice to anyone looking at this airplane; look elsewhere.

.

Hey Steve
Are you about to float away in La. ? I don't think it's ever going to stop raining in Houston.
You are so right about the Matrix , I like it but it's not the best value. For just a little more
we could have bought a CA Models Widebody 40 ARF.
I have a WB 60 and it's a great airplane and I understand the WB 40 flies just as good.
Oh well , that's what impulse buying does for you.
Are you going to Baton Rouge this weekend for the pattern contest ? I have been planning
on going but the weather forecast doesn't look too good.
By the way , fixed the vertical performance of the Matrix by changing to a 11 x 9 APC pattern
prop and feeding the SuperTigre some 20% Powermaster.

tommy s

Yeah, its been coming a real turd-floater here since early this morning. Long-range forecast isn't good, either; this crap is supposed to continue intermittently through Sunday.

No I hadn't planned on making that contest. Those guys over there stay pretty much to themselves, and don't associate with we mere sport flyers...

All I've done to my Matrix is pull that sorry Dyna-Thrust prop and replace it with an APC 13x6. If I ever get a calm day, I'll try to apply some of those neat trimming techniques, but there is absolutely no sense in doing that when the wind is blowing more than 5 knots. You know why...

.

well...I have decided that im just going to repair my broken ribs in the wing and tail and take the fueselage and motor to the joe nall this weekend and either sell it or trade it, prolly sell it and use that money toward something like a corsair, i like the way they look! But retracts is whats gonna kill me, i think.

Ok to keep this going , I now have rcpimps matrix. We traded some planes. I weighed the plane an it is 6lbs 6 oz so its really heavy. But its also nose heavy. Im thinking a K&B .61 may lighten things up a little an move the cg back some. Plane hovers at about half throttle with a 14x4 APC. Spool up is a little slow so I may try a 13x4 soon. Any one else flying theres or have any weights?
Dan

I flew my Matrix in two pattern contests with so-so results. It's just not a good enough design to do real well in
serious competition. It's easy to fly but that won't do it in pattern. I don't fly 3-D so I can't comment on that but
it's probably the same story. They were trying to design an airplane that could fly both 3-D and pattern and it's pretty
good at both but not real good at either. I had forgotten how precise a real pattern plane flies until I finished my
Illusion and took it up for the first few flights this past weekend. It's such a good feeling to fly an airplane that
does absolutely nothing unless you ask it to. This plane is superb in the wind , the Matrix is pretty squirrely in wind.
To answer your questions my Matrix weighs 5-3/4 lbs with a SuperTigre .60 Bluehead. The prop that works best for me
is an APC 11 x 9 pattern , probably not good for 3-D but gets the best vertical and speed control for pattern.
I stated in previous remarks that I liked the Matrix and I still do for just knock around flying but for serious competition
it has just been demoted a few steps. I think for a really great flying airplane in the same size as the Matrix the Widebody
40 would be my first choice. I am currently finishing a Widebody 60 with a YS 1.10 which I will fly in intermediate class
for next year.
Good luck with your Matrix. I wouldn't worry about the weight as long as your engine is good and strong. It will probably
fly better in the wind.

tommy s

Got a chance to fly it tonight, It has a bad tendacy to snap even on low rates with a forward cg (ask me what its like on high rates with the cg back farther =x) it does hover fairly easy just dont let it fall out or you have serious problems. It seems like it does better flying pattern maneuvers which im not really qualified to comment on. It does have a nice smooth axial roll. The wing loading is rather high which I think could be helped with a lighter engine etc. I do think they tried to hard to make a plane that would do pattern an 3D an missed both. An ok plane but not really outstanding.

Dan

<<...it has a bad tendency to snap..>>

Then something is bad wrong- overall weight, CG, something. As Tommy said, this model is rather squirrelly in wind, but mine, at least, has been a very docile airplane with no felonious habits.

Haven't weighed mine yet "officially', but I'll bet large that it is under six pounds; with a 70 Surpass and MPI on-board glow system. The airframe is built VERY lightly.

.

Hey steve, now that you have had some time with this airplane,
You say its not a windy weather plane? So I guess it is not Kaos like huh. NUTZ!
I was hoping it would fly similar. Forget 3-D for a minute, as a pattern trainer, do you think it does the job? If not, I may put mine up for sale NIB and look for something else. I have several 3-D airplanes so I am not concerned about is 3-D abilities. I wanted a nice smooth flying ARF to work on my pattern maneuvers until I can finish scratch building my Kaos. The more I read your comments, the more I think I need to look for something else.

Im thinking over all weight is the trouble. I moved the cg around checking that. Even forward of what the manual calls for it does it. I think it may have an incidence problem as im no convinced its doing a true stall/snap. Im not sure where this one picked up its extra weight as I didnt build it. Im guessing this plane would be better for pattern then 3D.

Dan

Hey, Dhooks, so are you the one who traded the twinstar for my matrix? If so, have you had any wing flutter problems?

Yup thats me. And no ........no flutter problems at all.

Dan

I now realize why you told my dad the twinstar is a luxury or leisure type airplane and its not your type, i liked the first couple flights but i dont lke it either.

o, and if you know anyone who is interested in a heli ive got one for sale at don's shop for only $500

maybe its fluttering becuz yur overpowering it??? a .76??????[X(]

TTYL,
Andrew Tzers

Does anyone still fly a Matrix???

Im thinking about buying my matrix back from Dhooks, i think i can fix his CG now that i am much more experienced then before. Plus i now know how to 3D, instead before i didnt have a clue.

i think it;s a 60 size plane thats not over powering it at all...and 1.2 throttle should not rip a plane apart

Hi Guys, I did a review on the plane, and it should come out one of these days.. I loved how mine flew! I put a saito .72 in it, flew it fast, slow, I couldnt hurt it. I really enjoyed the plane.. Im thinking that setup is a bit crucial, as I had ZERO problems with it. flew and landed great!

Hey Guys,
I still have my Matrix that I flew in pattern competition last year and it's still going strong
with with no problems after many flights. I still fly it just as a knock around airplane now
as I have two Excellerons I will use in competition this year. I haven't had any problems ,
but I have a good friend that has had all kind of problems with his , flutter, covering flying
off the wing , landing gear mount coming loose, sheeting on the wing warping, cowl cracking,
sheeting on the turtle deck coming loose, etc.
I don't know if I just got a good one or he just got a bad one !

tommy s

OK all, the Goldberg Matrix review is live! Check out the RCU Magazine to see it and the video's

Hope you enjoy it.