Hello all,

I am looking into getting into the airplane hobby. I have NO experience with airplanes and would like to start simple and inexpensive. I do have experience in Nitro trucks, but that really doesnt matter here.

Anyways, I walked into HobbyTown USA and they recommended the HobbyZone Commander or Freedom RTF as a good starter. Besides the size, what is the difference between the 2?? Which one would be more suitable?? Anyone have one of these and care to make an opinion about them, good or bad??

Thanks!!

They are both good planes. The Commander has the dog fight capability but that is of not much concern right now.

The Freedom is just a little cheaper.

Buy the one that the Hobby shop has spare parts for.

Enjoy,

Jim

I'd buy the new Commander 2 with the A.C.T. module on it. Plus this airplane is bigger and flies better. The Freedom flies good too but any wind and the plane is all over the place.


Bevo

I have a Firebird Commander 2 that I just received for Xmas. I haven't had weather to fly it yet, no windless days, but I did some research before pointing my wife in the right direction and found the Commander 2 to be a better option, in my opinion. There is a good review of the old Firebird Commander on the AMA website. There is very little difference between the Commander and the Commander 2. The only major difference I have heard about so far is the Commander 2 has ACT while the Commander had another control override for us beginners. If you go to the AMA website just search on "Firebird", you will get a lot of good information. The AMA site also has information and reviews on other trainers that may help as well.
Indy Park Flyer.

I got the Firebird Commander 2 for Christmas....so excited! Took it out for what I thought would be a fun day of flying....the engine would not turn off. Still could control left/right rudder, but engine would not turn off or even respond at all to the controller....finally flew so high lost sight of it in the clouds and never saw it again!! So disappointed....emailed Hobbyzone to see what kind of defect would have caused the engine to lock in to full throttle and what kind of refund etc policy they have - only response was they don't cover "flyoffs". I advised I understand "flyoffs", but this was obviously a defect or flaw that would cause the engine to stay in full throttle...still replied they would do nothing about it. Very disappointed...will not be dealing with Hobbyzone again...will be spending my money elsewhere...

didnt the pre flight checks show signs of this? if not i guess we'll never know why it did that

unfortunately not....pre-flight check was fine....progressive throttle up/down was fine, left/right controls fine....until up in the air....that's when I heard the engine go full throttle, wouldn't respond to backing off throttle control, and wouldn't respond to letting go of the throttle altogether....

I'm sorry ya lost your plane. If Hobbyzone was to replace it they would be opening up a can of worms that could potentionally run them out of business, unfortunately they have to take that kind of position or everyone that busted up their plane could be claiming some sort of radio glitch like you probably encountered & they'd be giving away as many planes as they sold. I know it sucks when it really does happen like it did to you, but the realitiy of it is they just can't even get started with that kind of thing because then there's no stopping it.

I bought 2 of the scouts because they are all the same thing only difference is in size & a few so-called extra features as the price goes up. I found that they won't fly at all unless you have some wind to work with. It needs some wind in it's face to create lift, afterall it has no elevator. If all your looking for is something to go play with in the park they are ok, but if you are wanting to learn to fly RC planes & really get into this hobby your money would be better spent on something with at least 3 ch, that has a real rudder & elevator, not just a v-tail & a throttle. IMO this whole Hobbyzone line are just toys. The only reason I bought them was because they were Cheap!! 1 for my son-in-law for christmas & 1 for when I didn't feel like going to the field with my real Trainer. I got bored real quick with it & gave it to my Daughter so they can go play with them together.

I got a Freedom as my first plane and taught myself on it with the help of FMS and Realflight G2. I can recommend the Freedom but I should tell you not to worry at all about ACT, as far as i could tell, it was just dual rates, meaning it made the controls less sensitive.

i'm an advocate of the firebird lines of planes especially if you're not sure you'll stay in the hobby. everyone in these forums will say get the slow stick, and it's a good investment....if you plan on staying. the thing is, you won't get the opinion of the people that wasted money investing and lost interest soon after...(because those people won't be found on rc forums if rc isn't their thing).

As for the wind, you need to learn to fly in dead calm anyways to get a proper feel for it. I don't know much about the commander, but the freedom is a good plane to learn on. for either of them i would recommend you hold back a little on the aerobatics. these planes are meant for stable flight and the only times i even crashed my Freedom was doing stupid stunts.

once you get bored cruisin around in your first plane it's time to get a new one anyways.

MOW, I'm on my second Hobby Zone plane, an Aerobird Challenger. My son had a Firebird and he wasn't into it, and I had a Commander (2ch) before this. The folks at HZ have a pretty good thing going. The planes are inexpensive, they come ready to go out of the box (with maybe 20 minutes of prep and battery charging). The best part is, at least with these planes (as stated above) you won't be dropping huge amounts of money into the hobby, and you can potentially be buying and flying in the same day (within hours). The Commander really flies itself for the most part. It will teach you throttle control, and how to line up for a landing. You can pretty much just release the sticks, or add very little input to get out of any trouble. If you stick with HZ, then advance to their Park Zone line, you can go all the way up to a 4 channel acrobat. Give them a good look. A LOT of RC "pilots" got their start on "toys" like this, they just won't admit it. It's kind of humbling to own up to a "toy" plane when you have this fast burner in your hangar after YEARS of practice. Those slow sticks and others are good planes too, all those people can't be wrong, but by the time you get it in the air, I will have flown two or three batteries out of my Commander. The all-in-one box thing is hard to beat. If you want to immerse yourself in the hobby and get into building your own planes, deciphering motor/ ESC/ battery combos and the sort there is PLENTY of time for that in the futire. Go with a sure thing for right now. After owning it and flying it ito trees, light posts, birds, and myself (long story), I have to give the endorsement to the Commander. -Paul

I recently purchased a Hobbyzone Firebird Freedom, and I am very pleased with it. I practiced with a demo of Real Flight G3, and took it out to the field. It might have helped too that I have real airplane experience (although the reverse orientation thing was tough to adapt to).

Anyway 4 kids and two career family I was greatful to be able to get into the hobby without build time. Hopefully I can do that later.

I have to agree with those who say skip the Anti Crach Technology (ACT). My first flight resulted in a fly away which I am 99% sure was caused by the ACT. Fortunately I was able to recover the plane about 1/2 mile from the take off point. It does appear to hinder the ability to control the plane. True it didn't crash, but I couldn't get it to turn either. Once I turned ACT off I enjoyed 4 successful flights. I am excited to get out and try it again. I understand from reading that ACT seems to help on the commander? But I would stay away from using it on the Freedom.

We did have some crashes the freedom was relatively easy to patch up and fly again.

hey everyone!

thank you so much for the input, both good and bad. it really helps me in deciding whether to get the hobbyzone or not. i think it will be a good starter plane to see if i will even enjoy flying. i love driving my nitro truck, but who knows, getting into the air might be just as much fun!

thanks again!!
-nate