I'm new to R/C flying and am just starting to get into it. I have experience with extremely simple r/c airplanes (airhogs [&o] ) and some experience with flight simulator. I am interested in some of hobbyzone's products, mainly the Firebird Freedom or the Aerobird Challenger and I'm trying to decide which one to get. I am hearing about some problems with hand throwing the Freedom. I would like a plane that can do simple tricks but is still easy to fly. And what is the deal with ACT? Does it work at all?

challenger

The Freedom reports are very mixed. Challenger has a solid reputation as an excellent first plane.

Challenger!

I VOTE CHALLENGER TOO! IT FLIES BETTER THEN THE FREEDOM WITH NO WIND.

I actually bought the Aerobird Challenger as my very first plane and I struggled to learn how to fly it. I ended up running into an AMA club and I learned to fly on 4-channel glow trainers instead (Avistar and Nexstar). After I learned how to fly the glow trainers, I went back to my Aerobird and found I could fly the Aerobird better as well.

I found the Aerobird's stick body and v-tail with fishing line control system to be difficult to keep trimmed out. It was fun to fly when it behaved, but it never behaved for very long.

Hobbyzone/Parkzone just came out with the Hobbyzone Super Cub RTF package with ACT. It's a teach-yourself-to-fly "zone 1" plane with a real elevator and rudder. I have to believe this would be easier to learn on than the Aerobird's v-tail.

Speaking as an experienced pilot who owns an aerobird challenger, skip the challenger and give the super cub a try instead:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HBZ7100

Super newbie here.....I have a Freedom, as a first plane....Teaching myself has been a real experience. I have crashed and repaired this plane so many times, that I'm starting to wonder just how smushed up it can be and still fly. To date I've bought 3 complete wing sets, two props, several tail sections, and a spare battery (tho I'm wondering about the battery....never flies longer enough to kill it).....I have had to straighten and reinforce the fuselage several times. The motor mounting has more wood on it than plastic, now. This morning I thought I'd finally gone over the hump. Flew two nice flights.......However the last landing skated into a fence post and broke the wing spar, and stripped out the screws that secure the tail.......I'm really wondering how many time I can patch this baby up and still maintain some sort of flight integrity.....Pat

Wow i never ran into anybody that did so much fixing to a plane like that. That really shows that you got some abition and perseverance to learn to fly. I think you could be someone who can really take this wonderfull hobby somewhere.
Im the manager at the local hobbytown in Manassas and all the people who purchaced these birds fly them a acouple times and then later toss it in their trash bin or totally forget about them, as they collect a inch of dust in the corner of the garage. You mention the word modify and or fix everyone runs.
Well to your question patnchris pretty soon all the weight added to that plane will really start to show its ugly head after a while. You can try to fix it again and hope it flys again or try your hand at the local flying club and get your feet wet with a 4 channel bird on a buddy box. Someone who did all that to try to tame the RC bug needs to advance.

I'm looking at this thing, on the bench and I'm wondering why they put the motor above the wing.....Seems to me that it would be a lot easier to fly if the motor was below the wing.....Maybe I'm wrong....But I'm thinking that the Challenger would have been a better choice....I have an Aerobird Extreme, in the garage, but it looks more fragile than the Freedom.....I don't necessarily want to totally destroy both planes, so I picked the Freedom to destroy....LOL

P. S. Actually, I got the Extreme from a guy who crashed it and said it was beyond repair.....The motor mount was broken and the control board broke loose.....I have since repaired it and THINK it will fly as good as new.

ok, well i was in your position about a year ago. my uncle who is HUGE into this hobby got me the orange Challenger. Since it is your first real R/C plane, its going to be a little hard at first. The Challenger takes a beating, as in, i slammed it into the concrete and its perfectly fine. The three main things any beginner should remember is, stay focused at all times, DO NOT use your big quick xbox reflexes on an r/c plane and last, make sure you have plenty of room with no wind. i hope this helped

I have a Freedom, and found it difficult to fly at first. I've had to repair it several times -- new fuse, two new tail sections. And it's in need of a new fuse now. I find that it's best to replace the fuse if the motor mount starts to collapse because the plane becomes unstable. You can get the fuse without the electronics and motor, although swapping out the old electronics and motor is like performing brain surgery!

Because I was finding the plane stressful to fly at first, I went and bought a Hobbyzone Firebird Freedom. I figured, being a two-channel model which is much smaller and lighter, it would go slower and be easier to fly.

I had some problems with the Firebird at first, because the elevons weren't responsive enough. So I moved the control lines to the advance setting and also lengthened the control surfaces with cardboard. And that really helped.

I also put some weight in the nose. If you find that the plane stalls a lot, put weight in the nose. If it can't climb anymore and gain altitude, that's too much weight. Think of it as a glorified Air Hog, it pretty much flies on its own, but you can correct its direction with rudder and speed with the throttle.

Now I'm teaching my 15-year-old son to fly with the Firebird.

There are other 2-channel planes on the market which may be better and less expensive, such as the Hobbico Flyzone Swift Flyer (never flown one). I personally don't think those flight-assist technologies supposedly engineered into the Hobbyzone planes work, and probably boost the aircrafts' prices needlessly.

I practiced with the Firebird for a while and then got the courage to try the Freedom again. And I had several successful flights! One day I flew when it was a little too windy...

I always fly my Freedom with the anti-crash technology "off" (ever since my first flight--and crash--I'm not convinced the ACT works, and may even cause crashes).

Correction--the two-channel plane I discuss in my last posting was the Firebird Scout, not the Firebird Freedom. The Firebird Freedom is a three-channel plane, and is the one which is more difficult to fly, although I later had success with it. Thanks. -scott