Hello, All

I have a Hobbyzone Scout, which is 2 planes before the phantom, but basically the same plane in a 2 channel (throttle and rudder). I have read many posts about the tailbooms breaking on the Phantom. Sounds like the best bet is to reinforce the area where the control rods come out BEFORE flying the first time, since it WILL break.

I must say, that I have BEATEN THE STUFFINGS out of this Scout, and it still flies. I have nosed it into the ground straight down, cart-wheeled it, gotten it stuck in a tree, etc. As far as repairs go, I have done the following:

- broken the wing (chopped by the prop during a wing-first landing which cocked the wing into the spinning prop)
- broken the frame that holds the radio and servo during a brick-wall style landing into the ground (fixed with CA glue and a square piece of balsa)
- broken the tail boom INSIDE the fuselage where it attaches to the "clip" thing
- broken the tail feathers (I forget how)
- broken the rubber nose piece (it can serve as landing gear, but not forever!!)
- lost the rubber nose piece during a way-the-heck-down-the-field landing

So, I have worn out 1 wing, replaced the tail, repaired the carbon fiber boom, fixed the servo mounting frame, put on a new prop, lost 1 nose piece, and, here's the point of my post:

THE PLANE STILL FLIES!!! True, it's light, true it "flies by suggestion," true it can break. BUT, I have beaten this thing beyond reason, and IT STILL FLIES!!

As someone else said, if you're going to get into this hobby, you have to learn to do repairs. Thanks to this cheap little plane, I have learned to do this:

THROW/CRASH/REPAIR
THROW/CRASH/REPAIR

THROW/FLY/CRASH/REPAIR
THROW/FLY
THROW/FLY/CRASH/REPAIR
THROW/FLY
THROW/FLY
THROW/FLY
THROW/FLY/CRASH/REPAIR

etc.

So hang in there guys. Eventually, there is more FLY and less CRASH/REPAIR if you keep at it. !!!!

Have fun!! If you don't have a trainer, as I don't, the Scout or Phantom can be a good plane to beat on until you get the hang of it. Just keep at it!!! You'll learn IF YOU DON'T QUIT!!!!

See you at the field!!

Bob