I was recently given the Firebird Freedom as a gift. It is my first RC plane and so far its spent more time grounded, crashing, or being tweaked than in the air. Each time I go to hand launch it (in low wind conditions) the plane manages to get about 20 feet full throttle then come crashing down. I've broken and replaced 2 wings along with a tail section and a couple of times I managed to keep it in the air while the ACT was off. Usually shortly after launch the plane will veer off or begin to flip before coming down. I've checked the tail structure, reset the trim, and fine tuned the wires but no matter what I do it still seems to have trouble. I'm still having poor luck getting this thing to get in and stay in the air and this is extremely frusterating. Any advice?

Are you certain you're getting a full charge on the battery? When I first bought my Aerobird Challenger, it came with the 12v car charger only. I'd charge the battery with the car charger, but the charger would "false peak" and turn off before the battery was truly charged. I could get my motor to spin up for about 5 seconds and then it would die.

I bought the Hobbyzone AC wall charger and used that to charge my battery instead. The AC charger gave me a more consistent full charge and I finally got my Aerobird off the ground.

Fairly sure... before each flight I charge the battery with the included in the car until the light glows at a constant red. I've also tested the battery for longetivity in my backyard, letting it run full power for about 10 minutes before it slowed down. I'll look into a wall charger though.

steelgryphon:
I've done a bit of searching here on the forums regarding the freedom. I've read where they need almost a running throw to get them well into the air. Alternately, I've also read where the freedom does like a rolling take-off if you have room. FYI - I spent an afternoon crashing my Freedom and decided to shelv it in favor of a glow trainer and lessons. I'm 90% done with the assembly of my Tower Trainer ARF. I'll probably pick my Freedom back up once I get my solo cert at my local fied.

I observed that the ACT switch does two things. It allows the ACT circuitry to take control and keeps the servos in "low throw" mode. (meaning that the servo travel is less when you move the control). Of the reviews / reviewers I've seen on the Freedom - they seem to like the bird much better when ACT is turned off.

I'll also echo Bigmustafa - make sure you cycle your batteries for several cycles. The packs may not reach their full capacity / charge until as high as the 4th or 5th charge.

Good luck,
-Crash

Thanks for the replies, I'm about to take it out for another go this evening... hopefully I'll have better luck!

I need to echo something that NuCrasher said. I put my Aerobird Challenger away and bought a Nexstar glow trainer. I went through flight training at the local AMA chartered club and solo'd on the Nexstar. I found that, after I'd solo'd on the Nexstar, I could suddenly fly the Aerobird much better than before.

I don't want to discourage you, but I didn't have much luck learning to fly on my Aerobird Challenger.

It sounds like you're getting a decent charge if you can run your engine at full power for ten minutes, but having the wall charger as well as the car charger is just a good idea. When you hand launch the Firebird, make sure you're throwing it level. When I first started out, I had a tendancy to throw it upward at a 20 to 45 degree angle and I would cause it to stall before I could gain control of it.

Good luck, and let us know how you're doing!

Sounds like the rode inside the plane has popped out of the holder.Take a look at the black rod that runs out the back of them plane(the rode that attaches the rear wing .)
You will have to remove the faom inside the plane and maybe even the ESC to get it back inplace.When they come out the palne cant fly.Had that happen with my freedom in the past.