RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

I must also put my 2 cents and say Phoenix arf's are great value for the price. I have bought and crashed many but I have always been able to rebuild phoenix kits and keep going (for lil bit longer). I also had a Dolphin and it was great fun till one day when I was loading it into my RAV4 a stong gust of wind smashed the door onto my plane. Never buy a car with a side opening 5th door. They are not rc plane friendly.

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Hey Ironcross!

Could you possibly check your Phoenix and tell me if the main wing from the Seagull would fit? Shoot us those pics when you can!!!!! We would love to get a better look at that model.





Thanks, Bill

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Sorry, the Seagull wing won't fit... The dowls don't match up, The notch on the front of the wing is a good inch wider on the SG then the Pheonix and the cord on SG is a good inch longer so the back of the wing hangs back over the fusalage.. Good idea though :-).. Will post a couple pictures when I get it done.. Getting close.. It is basicly together, just all the "details" to take care off.. If this plane fly good IMHO it is a real winner...



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RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Thanks !! I hope it turns out to be a great flyer! I'll be looking out for the pics. If your weather is like mine ( Va. ) you wont flying this week ..rain....but we needed it!
Good luck, it sounds good.

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Sunny and low 90's here... No rain in sight... If my schedule holds I should have it finished up and flying next week.. But then I procrastinate... Weather is nice and I would rather fly then build...

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

I would conceder moving just to get a better flying weather!!! My wife would go for that as long as it was somewhere in the lower Islands............lol.........$$

Enjoy that Ca. weather my friend!

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

LOL, islands sound good. We pay in the summer though.. Weeks of 100 plus temps...

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

bldrums
Got a couple of flights in Thursday... Went to take pictures and dang battery was dead in the camera.. We had a good crosswind but still got it up a couple of times... Gound handling seemed real good but need a day with less cross wind to really test that out.. I have a Saito .56 in it and it seems to be a perfect match, at least for me.. Not ulimited verticle but enough to do some nice stall turns... Flew around nicely at 1/2 - 3/4 throttle.. The Saito .56 with a 12X6 APC is a little powerhouse.. Plane flew really nice.. Much nimble then the SG Dec.. This looks like it is going to be a real relaxing plane to fly..
It shares some of the SG parts.. The wing struts and landing gear are interchangable with the SG. It is covered in Ultracote and appears to be a much stronger (especially the fusalage) build then the SG... Comes with pretty decent hardwar for an ARF.. I think I used it all if memory serves me right..
Had two minor problems with it..
1. The manual called for 4 1/8 from prop washer to firewall.. Best I could do was 4 1/2 with the Saito 4s.. Worked out OK though.. Needed to put a remote glow driver on the engine though as the angle of the glow plug would requice a big notch in the fusalage to get a driver on it.
2. Wheel pants.. Nice looking and all but are too narrow for my way of mounting them.. I usually put some 1/8 th inch plywood inside, notch it for the axel and bolt it to the gear.. Real tight fit doing that on these and the wheel tends to rub.. I just left them off for the test flights... Will have to come up with a plan B I guess...
Will try and get some pictures this week :-(

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

I've read older posts about Phoenix and it seems their first batch of planes used poor wood. I guess I got a later Sukhoi because the wood was excellent and the workmanship was up to what I would do on a good day! The parts are laser cut and I'm sure CAD designed and the fit and lightness are very nice. You would spend hous at home cutting out the lightply parts with all their lightening holes.

Sure the covering needs shrinking, but look at ANY moneykote covered plane after a couple of weeks and it will need touch up, too.

I used all the hardware except the clevises; I like the metal pin Dubros for those. I also used a Brown engine mount and bolted on the main gear with nylon bolts. I did make some aliminum brackets to retain the cowl and added some 3/8" triangle stock to the back of the firewall. Other wise, the entire plane was to my liking.

I used an old FOX Eagle 60, the first model eagle, and it balanced OK and flew just great; no 3D stuff, I like OLD TIME SCALE Aerobatics, like Bevo Howard, Hal Krier, and Art Scholl flew. This plane does nice axial rolls, snaps, etc.;)

I wouldn't cut up Phoenix because of lack of spare parts. i guess I'm an old timer and the idea of getting spare parts is completely new to me. I always had to rebuild or trash the plane. With the really low cost of a Phoenix ARF, I'd just get a whole new one!

I'm trying to post pictures of mine; I added some trim after I flew it awhile.

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Have a look at their new Tucano. It is superb.

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

I recently purchased the Sea Bee and I love it, Actually I had to purchase it twice due to elevator servo failure. After 15 years of flying this is the first time I have built the same model twice. I really like this model tracks great, builds easy,looks great and low cost $99.00.
Also have the Sonic high wing, cut out the dihedral and stuck a saito 56 up front and we beat on her all the time. I say we because anyone that wants a go at her gets a go at her and she just keeps on going. I love the phoenix models, I plan to own a couple more soon By the way where can I get that Tucano?

No replacements needed, just buy a new one.
Jeff

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

I also have had 2 SeaBee's. I lost my first when I extended a flat spin one revolution to many. The SeaBee is such a nice flying plane you wouldn't believe that it only cost $100. Thinking of the Extra 300 next. Anyone have any comments to share about it?

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Gwillie, it looks as if you have a spare engine or two:D

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Why yes I do! 200 or so, nearly all Foxes.:)

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

I don't understand the original issue. Tower hobbies carries nearly every spare part for Phoenix planes. My buddy and I have four between us and have had little or no problem getting spares from Tower. I just got a new fuse for my SU-31 for $50.00. Good tip....keep the old body parts for replacement covering as nothing seems to have the same quality or match the colors.

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Go back and look at the date on the first post... At that time there were no parts available from Tower..

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

mine is another story.. my phoenix sea bee at its tird flight crashed...my mistake, install the factory cheap hardware, the elevator clevis was broken and the plane come to land, please dont install the factory hardware, its junk

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

Phoenix has done OK by me; especially for their price. I still fly my Sukhoi on occasion, and I just put a Saito .80 in my Giles G-202 replacing the O.S. .46FX it used to have.

I flew the Giles with the Saito for the first time today; what a difference! The plane is pretty heavy, 6 lbs. 14 oz., but it flies well at about 50% throttle with all kinds of power and speed reserve. These planes will definitely snap on you during a loop with too much elevator throw, so go easy on your initial settings. I used about 12mm for the low-rate and it worked well, and 15mm and 17mm for mid and high rates.

You can lighten up the aileron throws as well, the instruction recommendations are a bit high as this baby's roll rate can make you dizzy; and they sure are beautifully axial...

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

tower list replacement parts for phoenix models i just bought some :D

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

:eek:what did you buy?

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

I've got the 300s and the sukhoi and love both of them. When I first flew my 300s, I got it in a flat spin I could not get it out of, needless to say I had to rebuild the landing gear block and a few little parts. I was impressed it did not mess it up as little as it did. Tough plane. Flies great. looks great, both of them do. I've got a budy that has the Giles and it is a great plane also. I'm a Phoenix fan.

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

i had the Tucano and crashed it Hard nose dived into the ground and all that was left is every thing Aft of the front of the cockpit to the former just behind the aft wing mount and back and the servos are All still in-place and seperated one wing tip off 3 rids in. it droped due to Pilot error. battery came lose and dove down from about 100ft!!!! it hit Hard enough to buried the engine completely into the ground in a grass field. what parts did come off shattered into splinters. i will tryto put up pics if i can

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

I guess resurrections don't just happen in April:)

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

worst thing in i'm out or supplys to rebuild. so just going to get new one. it suck flying US ARF's in the UK at Holiday time EVERY THING IS CLOSED[:@]
I did pull the engine out and it had a bent bleed air screw

RE: BEWARE OF PHOENIX MODELS!
 

here are some pic of my tucano AFTER becoming a lawn dart.