aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I am a first timer. After several months of research, talking to people, flyers and I bought an Aerobird. It is a super value but there are other good low cost RTFs for guys like me who want to start out with a minimal dollar investment and don't want to build. Here are the plusses and minuses in my mind of the Aerobird.

Very inexpensive and rugged for a three channel starter - $160-$180
The plane comes complete and fully assembled. Charge the flight battery, put
on the wing, put the batteries in the transmitter and up you go! Even the
batteries for the transmitter are included. You will want to buy at least one
extra flight battery for about $25 so you can fly while you charge.

New flyers are going to crash, so you don't want something costly to start
with. The HobbyZone Firebird series are all great starters. The Aerobird is
the top of the line. All are pusher designs so they can take a nose crash
without damaging the motor. There is a full line of parts available at
reasonable cost. You can replace the whole main fuselage for $49 including
the motor and all the flight electronics. A wing is $15 and the tail is $7.
So, if you crash badly you can get everything for under $75 and you are back
in the with a three channel plane.

Batteries and charger:

The battery will run for a full 6-7 minutes at full throttle and 15 minutes+
at half throttle which is very long. Many planes in this class run 4-6
minutes. Also it comes with a peak charger that you can use in your car. A
peak charger won't over charge and you can charge at the field. Timer type
wall chargers mean you must charge at home and you can over charge and damage
the batteries. If you pick up two spare batteries you can stay in the air all
day. One in the plane, one cooling down and one on the charger. A full
charge takes about 40 minutes.

Easy to fly

I only have a couple of flights, but this plane is pretty easy as long as you
stay away from the elevator for your first few flights. It is the top of the
line in the HobbyZone firebird series which includes the Firebird II ($90)
FirebirdXL ($120) and the Fighterbird ($140). I have friends with these
planes and they love them. They are super, inexpensive two channel starter
planes. www.hobbyzonesports.com

Good growth path - Two vs. three channels

Many intro planes have two channels - throttle and rudder. You control climb
with the throttle; more and you climb, less and you level or you descend....in
still air. This makes it very easy to learn. You basically drive around the
sky. However you have no elevator. Elevator is needed for any kind of loops
or other mild aerobatics. The Aerobird has 3 channels so it can do loops and
other things the rest of the line can't do. There is one two channel plane I
looked at, the Sky Scooter. It has elevator and ailerons, which makes it very
maneuverable, but once you turn the motor on, you are committed to a 3-5
minute flight. You can't turn the motor off while it is in the air which
means you can't extend flight time by going half throttle either. However
there is a three channel Sky Scooter Pro that was my alternate choice. I like
it a lot!

The Aerobird also has an X-Pak hop up kit available for $30. It includes a 7
cell battery (the basic is 6) and a larger tail. This makes the plane faster
and more maneuverable. So, once you get good you can soup it up! I bought
the X-Pak when I bought mine. I will use the 7 cell as my second battery and
save the tail for later.

NEGATIVES

WIND

The Aerobird, like most starter electrics, is pretty light at just 16 ounces,
so you want to start your flying in calm air, with under 5 MPH gusts. Once you
become accomplished you can probably handle a 10-15 MPH winds, according to posts I have read from experienced Aerobird pilots.


27 MHZ vs 72 MHZ Radio

The FCC has set aside a portion of the 72 MHZ band for RC airplanes only. The Aerobird uses a 27 MHZ radio which is assigned to general use for planes, cars and boats; mostly low end stuff. There are only 6 available channels. So,
if you have a kid with a RC car in the same area where you are flying, and he
is on the same channel you are on, and he is close enough, when he switches on
his transmitter, you will lose control of the plane and probably crash. Even
with 72 MHZ radio systems, this will happen if you get two flyers on the same
channel, but 72 MHZ is dedicated to airplanes. High end RC cars are on 75 MHZ
so they won't interfere. If you live in a very populated area, this is
something to be aware of. Also if you buy two planes, 72 or 27 MHZ, make sure
they are on different channels or you can't fly them together.

If you are going to join a club, check with them. Some clubs will not admit
27 MHZ based planes because they can't be flown with a buddy box. This is a
training system, like a dual controlled car, that is used for pilot training.
After long consideration I bought the Aerobird, but this is something I have
to watch for. The Sky Scooter Pro, mentioned above, is on the 72 MHZ band.


Downed Plane Locator:

I am convinced that everyone should have a locator in their plane, especially if you fly near woods or a corn field or something like that. You can see my post on locators here:
locators for small electrics

Resources Aerobird, Sky Scooter Pro, Others

Here is an internet site that sells the Aerobird for $159. They also have a
link for a video of the plane flying:
http://www.parkflyers.com/html/aerobird.html
Here is a link to a review of the Aerobird:
http://www1.wildhobbies.com/news/def...&articleid=853

As I said, my alternative plane was the Sky Scooter Pro. It had been about
$260 RTF, but they recently released the Sky Scooter Pro 2 at about $170 so
you might want to give it serious consideration.
http://www.servocity.com/ServoCity/P...lane/sky_scoot
er_r_c_airplane.html
Videos
http://www.hitecrcd.com/Funtec/videos.htm

Fighterbird - review and video - these are a blast in pairs!
http://www.rcuniverse.com/reviews.ph...ew&reviewid=33

And, for a real entry level plane that gets lots of great reviews, the
Firebird II ($90 RTF). The best thing to do might be to get a Firebird II and
save the extra $100 toward extra batteries and stuff, or toward your next
plane.
http://www.hobbymerchandiser.com/pdfs/nov01_Flight.pdf

I hope someone finds this useful..

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

There is a new Aerobird out called the Aerobird Challenger. It has all the good qualities of the original plus some enhancements.

1) Larger standard tail surfaces for better response

2) Two flight modes Sport - gentler response - based on reports this is similar to the origianl aerobird's operation Left stick raises the right rudder surface to turn the plane left, for example. Expert - Seems they have added an enhanced rudder feature in expert that moves both sides of the V tail to get more rudder authority. I haven't tried it, but posts from users flying the plane mention this.

I have really enjoyed my Aerobird and have brought a number of people into flying on aerobirds. Now I am thinking I might like to get the new one.

Anyone in RC Universe flying the Aerobird Challenger?

poopygood

I just got the aerobird challenger last week, but unfortunately it's been very windy here ever since I picked it up! 5 days with a new plane just beggin' to be flown!! :<

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I look forward to your flight report.

Are you experience in flying, or new to this?

LittleFolk

If you seriously plan on expanding in the R/C airplane hobby, I suggest you go with a 4 channel trainer. The engine and radio can be reused in later aircrafts and once you develop your flying skills you'll be much happier with the choice.

poopygood

aeajr,

I'm new to this, I have flown my friends firebird commander a few times, and after reading up on the subject, decided to get a 3 ch plane.

Finally made it out for the aerobird challenger and my maiden flight! It was a lot of fun, made 5 landings, 1 was a bit hard, but not nose down or anything damaging.

Few things I've noticed is the landing/take off gear is less than great. on a flat surface, the plane will not drive(?) straight. Is this typical, do you have to steer left and right to keep the plane pointed straight while on the ground? Because mine immediately pulls to the right, making landings and take-offs a problem.

I just removed the landing gear and hand-tossed it up, and landed in grass the rest of the time. But I would like to be able to land/take off with the wheels.

Also, aerobird still flies a bit like my friends 2 ch commander, climbs with more throttle, even at half throttle i had hold a bit of down elevator to keep it flying straight. Is this from the wind or some settings i should adjust?

Can I move the strings(?) to a different setting to allow more movement in the V-tail? Because with the factory setup the 2 rudders(?) have barely any movement.

Can't wait for more flight time! It's such a drag waiting for this wind to let up!

Crashem

Ajear,

One Question. How many times and in how many places are you going to post the same thing????? By using the search feature one can find your older posts it is not necessary to repost it periodically.... if you want an older post to show at the top of the forum "bump" it by replying

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Crashman,

as many times as the same question is asked, I will give the same answer. Makes sense to me. Doesn't it make sense to you? Since you have seen them before, just skip them.

No disrespect intended. I just don't understand your comment.


poopygood

I have flown my Aerobird for over 100 flights, but have never used the landing gear. I fly on a grass field and the gear is not really intended for grass. However I have heard that the plane does not track well on take-off, even from a hard surface. Perhaps someone else can offer advice on set-up for ROG, but I have no experienced fixes to offer you.

As for the control response. The plane comes from the factory set for mild performance, just as it says in the manual. The Aerobird Challenger has two modes which are described in the manual, the sport which seems to be the standard mode, and the expert which you turn on, as described in the manual.

Getting the message? RTFM, read the friendly manual.

The wing on the aerobird, like the commander, is an undercamber design. Many three channel electrics use this design. It will tend to climb under full power. I have mine trimmed so that at half throttle she flies level. If you want to sustain level flight at full power (why?) just use the elevator trim to add some down elevator. Most planes, regardless of wing design, will climb under full power, even if they don't have an undercamber wing. That includes full scale planes. The more speed, the more lift.

My major advice is read the manual. Most of the questions you asked are answered there.

Crashem

No disrespect intended. I may not have been clear. I was only trying to point out to you that you can move you existing threads to the top of the forum by replying to them that way it is not neccessary to post the same thing multiple times you can also post links if for instance you posted one thing in a different forum and you wanted to call attention to it in another forum without needing to duplicate it.

Thats all just wasn't sure if you realized you could do these things since I saw the same comments in several forums here not to mention on other web sites..

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Crashem,

Thanks for the tips. I will try to incorporate that into my posts.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

The new Aerobird Chanlenger can use the drop module and sonic combat gun accesories for air to air combat.

If you are interested, here is a thread, and links to a review of the Firebird Commander, a two channel plane in this line, and the fun that experienced pilots are having with air to air combat. It also mentions how they wished they had elevator contol. Of course the Aerobird Challenger is what they were wishing for.

Fun reading!

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...708#post1441708

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

How you doing with your Aerobird?