Hello,

I currently own the Champ RTF, which I love the flight characteristics of. However, it has one major flaw, in my opinion: It's made out of standard foam. I had an experience where, on a relatively calm day, I had a big gust of wind come out of nowhere and hindered my control. The plane ended up going to the ground (I was flying a bit low) and the wing broke clean off. The crash didn't seem all that hard or dramatic, but foam seems like a weak material.

So, my question is: Does anyone know of a plane comparable to the Champ RTF, but made of EPP foam? I'm basically just looking to find a 3 channel EPP plane that can be charged with a portable charger or off the transmitter. Nine Eagles has a few planes like this, but a lot of planes seem to be adopting the 7.something volt batteries which don't seem to have any type of portable AA charger. If anyone has any recommendations, I'd definitely be interested!

Thank you!

*bump*

No clue what the specs are for the Champ, but I've seen this plane around, and I fly some 3D trainers made by the same company (Techone). You might have a look at it? You can fly this plane 3 or 4 channel, 7.4v or 11.6v and it's made from EPP.

This is what they call an "ARF", as it comes supplied with servos, motor, and ESC. If it's like the ones I fly, it's very easily constructed with just basic knowledge. Might take you a couple of hours.
http://www.nitroplanes.com/02a-006-4...-blue-arf.html
http://www.nitroplanes.com/02a-006-4...r-red-arf.html

but you can also get it quite a bit cheaper in a "kit", same degree of pre-fab as above, but comes without servos, motor, and speed control, allowing you to use what you have or pick out your own (possibly sturdier) electronics.
http://www.nitroplanes.com/02a-006-4...r-red-kit.html

-Al

Thank you for the info! I can't believe this response is almost a year late. I dipped out of the RC hobby for a while, as it's more of a casual hobby for me. I actually ended up finding a plane by WLToys that actually fit all of the criteria I was looking for. It's made of EPP foam, charges a 3.7v battery from the transmitter or USB charger, and it's 3 channel. I never looked at the size in the specs, but looks about to be around the same scale as the Champ RTF.

I think the Champ is a super fun plane, but it's tough sometimes to have this hobby where I live, as you can have a perfectly still day, and the wind decides to gust like crazy once you get the plane in the air. And the traditional foam just doesn't cut it for me. This EPP stuff looks like it's almost indestructible!

Anyway, I'll post again to let people know if I like the WLToys F949. They also make a 4 channel version, the F939, and a 3CH glider model, the F959. They seem to be a great brand, as I have the V911 helicopter which has withstood tons of crashes without any damage.

I decided to post a reply to this to provide information about my purchase of the WLToys F949 plane. The plane has some good featues: EPP foam, long flight time, decent durability.

Just wanted to say a couple things about it. Comparing to the Champ RTF, the Champ's flight characteristics (coming from a beginner) are so good that I really never had to learn how to fly it. I just kind of started up the throttle and got it in the air and was able to steer it around for the most part. With the WLToys F949, the flight is a little more rough and requires a little more babysitting the sticks. I could pretty much let go of the Champ's controls at times and it would fly itself. With the F949, it seems to bounce around in the air a lot, like the aerodynamics are not quite right. It's harder to make a smooth turn or descent, as it's movement is jerkier.

But nevertheless, the plane is still fun to fly. And I got a solid 25 to 30 minutes of flight, and it still had more in it, but I was getting cold outside. In terms of durability, they seem pretty solid, except for the propeller. The prop is definitely thinner than others I've seen, and if you nose dive...the prop definitely can break more easily than other planes. The other thing I didn't like was the nose cone. When I had to replace my prop, the nose cone needs to be remove first. Trying to get the nose cone off is a pain. It felt like it was glued on, but another users suggested theirs were just snug. But either way, it doesn't go back on tight at all. So I might have to put just a tiny dab of glue on the nose cone so it doesn't fall off in flight.

And finally, a trick you can use to get extra charges out in the field. The F949's transmitter doesn't come with the charging cable built into the transmitter. So there are two ways you can charge the battery in the field: 1. You can use a USB power bank with the USB charger included with the F949. 2. You can actually use another WLToys transmitter which includes one. I was able to bind the plane to my WLToys V911 chopper transmitter and the controls work. I also confirmed that I could start charging the battery with my V911 Controller.

Anyway, for $50 or so these days, the F949 is definitely worth picking up!

I own and fly the FUNFLY. its a great plane and very durable. Another one by Nitroplanes is the King Trainer EPP and that a little bigger . also a great plane to fly. I love them both and because they are EPP ( my favorite foam ), they are very durable.

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.