Mr67Stang

I recently sold my old Hobbico Nexstar then found out my Dad was comming to visit. I had nothing in my hanger suitable to buddy box a begginner on. I called my LHS and asked if they had any Hobbico Avistar ARF's in as I had flown one of them and enjoyed training a student on it. They did not have one but said we have an H9 Arrow. The Arrow was $15 more than the Avistar so I got it. I assembled it in an afternoon (aproximately 4 hours of relaxed non-rushed work). I put an well used OS .46 FX on the front and filled it with whatever mix of servos I had on hand. Two of the servos where Futaba 3151 digitals so I put one on the ailerons and the other on the rudder/nose wheel. The plane assembles easily and everything has it's place. This concerned me thinking ahead toward balancing the plane but to my suprise the plane balance perfectly without having to move the battery around at all. (Disclamer: do not assume if you get one of these that you will have the same luck, even different amounts of glue and densities of wood used can make a difference between ARFs and what it takes to balance them.)

I maidened the Arrow today. beautiful clear skies and about 13 MPH winds according to weather.com with a few moments of higher wind noticed. For the most part I had a head wind or maybey a 45 degree cross at the most. The plane tracked well for it's take off roll with little to no correction needed. after a few clicks of trim I had it flying the way I like it so I landed to make an adjustment to my engines tuning and took it right back up. I started to do some basic loops and rolls to get a feel for it's responsiveness. Deffinately not a Cap or Katana here but this plane will fly circles around my old Nexstar. The weight of this plane is advertised at 5.5 lbs and the Nexstar was 6.5 lbs. combined with 5 3/4 inch less wing span than the Nexstar and the semisemetrical wing of the Arrow the Nexstar is heavilly out gunned. I had this Arrow performing smooth aerobatics including rolling circles, inverted spins, Cuban 8's, immelmans, hammer heads and the best inverted flight characteristics of any trainer I have flown. But is it suitable for a begginer?

Yes, properly instructed a begginer will love this plane a lot longer than a typical flat bottom wing trainer. I treid to stall this plane and and it simply would not drop a wing or the nose for that matter. I had the elevator fully deflected and the throttle at idle. I could have brought it in harrier style. Now I imagine my head wind helped from keeping the nose from falling but this brings up another good point about this plane. It loves the wind and will make you love it too. It is far more comfortable to fly in wind than any flat bottom wing trainer I have flown. It can land fast or slow however the pilot chooses likewise in flight.

This is just an account of my experience with the plane today. I could easilly be in here next week complaining that the dang thing is falling appart. So I am in no way pushing this plane. I would love to have the oportunity to give the Hobbico Avistar a real shake down and be able to say one is better than the other in my opinion of course. The Avistar is the similar competitor but it weighs a 1/2 pound less and has a 4 inch shorter wing span than the Arrow. So I can only assume it would perform as well maybe better.

felixone

I have an Avistar, and I would have to say I had a very similar experience as yours. It was an RTF, but it came out of the box setup nearly perfect. I have a few minor complains about the quality of the construction (wrinkled covering, large hinge gaps), but overall I am very happy with the plane. If I had it to do over I would have gone the ARF route since I think I would like a slightly more powerful engine, and a better radio. I have replaced the radio, and might upgrade the engine later.

As far as wind goes, it handles great in the wind. You get a little rocking around with a cross wind, but nothing even a newbie like me couldn't handle. I actually put two flights on it Sunday after that storm blew through the east cost. We were having winds gusting up to 15 MPH, and it wasn't a problem. I am approaching 30 flights on this plane, and I like it as much now as I did with the first flight.

Now lining up on the runway so I don't land in the rough...Well that is another story.

Glad to see you like the Hanger 9 plane just as much. I have been looking at their planes lately, and really like what I see. I have been eying an Ultra Stick as a possible upgrade to my Avistar.

Keep us informed on what your father things of the plane!

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

The Hangar 9 Arrow has a solid reputation as an outstanding trainer. It's a wonder that Hangar 9 keeps putting out warbird wannabe trainers to try to lure more greenhorns instead of simply promoting the Arrow ARF and RTF more.

What's even more amazing is that my local hobby stores never seem to have the Arrow in stock. Why wouldn't you want to sell this trainer? Maybe they figure it will take longer for new pilots to want a second plane when the Arrow flies so nicely.

The Hangar 9 Arrow RTF is like buying an Avistar RTF with the engine that the Avistar should have had in the first place.

bruce88123

I agree that the Arrow is a fine little plane with good performance and yet docile enough to be a good trainer. I've worked with several students using Arrows and all did well. If I recall correctly it comes with a decent radio too in the RTF.

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

JR Quattro radio system (JR Sport S400) comes with servos and receiver pre-installed. RTF engine is the .45 ball-bearing Evolution TPS.

bruce88123

Sounds about right. Haven't seen one this year so going by memory which is getting older too.

Mr67Stang

Well I will wait to see how it holds up to the abuse my father can put on it before I start saying it's the next best thing since sliced bread. I have read the user reviews here on RCU and some of the complaints are valad and others are just new pilots that need more practice. Over all the plane rates well. My only real concern was the reports of the tail section (empanage SP?) seperating from the plane in flight. So always one to err on the side of caution I stuffed some tristock on the platform to wich it mounts.

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

If your planes don't start to disintegrate in mid-air, how do you know when it's time to go buy new ones? [X(]

bruce88123

When they disintegrate upon ground impact.

rlipsett

don't ever sell the trainer. Its good to fly when you stuff your real good bird or when you want to just loaf around. If you get real daring though you can start using them in combat or bowling

jvino

I am a new RC pilot and I have the Arrow trainer. It was very easy to learn on and I had my first solo on my 3rd or 4th flying day. It is fun to fly and I totally agree with everything that mrstang said, definitely more fun than a flat wing trainer. A friend of mine purchased the Alpha 60 to learn on, it flies stable and slow but you can't do much with it. If you want a nice trainer that will keep your attention get the Arrow. Now if I can just finish my little extra!!

bruce88123

While definitely less agile than an Arrow you can still do plenty with the Alpha. It just takes more skill. When he does the same maneuver that you do he will be the better pilot of the 2 of you.

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

I agree with bruce on this point. I started flying a Tower Trainer .40 MKII ARF this spring, and I've been very pleasantly surprised at how aerobatic it is considering its flat-bottomed wing. I think have a shallow dihedral is at least as helpful as a semi-symmetrical airfoil. The Arrow .40 has both. The Avistars generally have less dihedral than a lot of the other trainer ARFs that are on the market.

A flat-bottomed trainer can still do a wide assortment of aerobatics, at least as long as it's wings aren't sticking out like bunny ears like on my Nexstar.

jvino

That makes sense, if you learn on a harder flying plane and easier flying plane will be a piece of cake. He is just having a very tough time doing anything aerobatic with it but I guess he will learn.

bruce88123

He may find that he needs to shallow dive a little to build additional airspeed (not too much though) level off and then do a maneuver. What manuever is he trying that is giving him the biggest problem? How good is he at basic flying and recovering from unusual attitudes? ALWAYS remember "Altitude is your friend" as long as it's below you.

jvino

His biggest problems are with rolls. They turn into barrel rolls instead of tight rolls. Once the roll starts to loosen up he panics a bit. I don't know if it is the plane or the pilot though. I can say that the arrow rolls fairly well even though it isn't super fast. He just switched to a 2 blade prop, hopefully that will help with the airspeed.

bruce88123

With a slow rolling plane there is a way of doing it easily. A little extra speed helps.
Also not sure what you mean by "loosens up". All start with a properly trimmed plane that will fly straight and level hands off.

Method: From level attitude raise the nose just slightly and neutralize elevator in that attitude. Quickly throw FULL aileron in the desired direction while being careful NOT to move in elevator control. As the plane rolls the nose will naturally drop a little, don't worry about it yet. As the plane approaches fully inverted add a little "down" elevator sufficient to place the nose gently back to the slightly nose high position. Shortly after passing fully inverted you MUST be back to neutral elevator or the plane will be wallowing around. You can see the elevator must be quick but gentle at the same time. Continue the roll and as you approach wings level you will once again need a little "up" elevator to bring the nose back up. With slower roll rates you may even want to add "top" side rudder to hold the nose up.

jvino

I would guess that he is adding elevator early or late and instead of a tight roll he gets a loose roll (semi tight barrel roll) or a big barrel roll. With some practice it will get better.

1fastdoc

My Arrow was a great plane and most of the experienced club guys that tried their hand on it really enjoyed flying it. Two days ago I solo'd for the first time, which is why I'm using the past tense.

Anyone have a spare fuselage and wing they don't need? The tail assembly survived unscathed when I sent it down into a forest.

bruce88123

Your best bet
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HAN2625

Mr67Stang

You would be suprised as to what is rebuildable... Don't burn it or do anything drastic. If you don't want to rebuild it, I'm sure someone else will.

fellers

My Feedback: (6)

That is the truth. I am a seasoned heli pilot and thought I could fly whatever plane; wrong! First plane was a yak 54 50 sized with a saito 82. I flew it and landed it the first time. Then had 3 more flights; all crashes and fixed. The last crash it just disintegrated. Then I bought a extra330s 60 sized with a os 91 max. Crahed it real real hard. Bought exact new same setup had seasoned club member fly and trim it. He said it was a beast and flew great. Sits on the shelf. Main reason I bought the Arrow and gave the rudder more throw, put a 10x7 apc prop, and a slimline aluminum backed spinner. The Arrow flies awesome, inverted, knife edge, and tracks good. Just can't dive to fast with it or the wing starts fluttering. But I love it and am having a blast with it. I am just about ready for my extra in basic flight after 15 successful trouble free flights. Put a os #8 plug in the evo. motor.

troposcuba

hmmmm, i seem to remember a campfire a while back with bits of plane in it. course that might just be the beer talking.

Mr67Stang

That was different Scuba, It was for dramatic effect in the video.