Edit: Sorry, never mind. Right thing to do is to wait for the plane that I want, not make a stupid and hasty decision.

Don't have time for the whole story, but need to get a plane ASAP (meaning tonight within next hour or so)

Anyone know about the Phoenix Extra?

I need a second plane. I have been doing 3D with my trainer, and my instructors and everyone in the club say I'm 'way past a trainer' so need more like a 3rd plane.

How's this for a 3rd plane? http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXGPL7&P=0

Thanks!

I'd buy it for a 3rd plane......


....go for it.

Kat, I don't know that plane, but I just finished a Pheonix Fun Star.

Good,

all the hinges were pre-installed and a good quality pined hinge was used vs CA hinges
The covering gook a minimum of work to iron out.

Bad,
The belly pan was 1/8" long so I had to take one end off and shorten the sides
The motor mount would not work with a four stroke, I had to replace it with a Dave Brown mount
The tank is quite small, I'm guessing around 5 oz. No way to put a bigger tank in. not enough room.
That balance was way off, requiring 6oz of lead in the muffler trough.
Two servo mounts push out of the fuselage when I fit the servo in. Had to fish them back in place and re-glue them

Good/Bad depending on how you look at it.
I replaces all of the cortrol horns with Robart ball end ones. I also replaced the #2 size rods with #4, I probably didn' need to to that but I did

My maiden was white knuckle all the way. Anything over 1/4 throttle was to fast. The controls scared you to death on low settings. I ended up cutting them way down for the second flight. Even then it was very twitchy at over 1/4 throttle. On day one, I swear that it would do three rolls a second. A click of trim was to much. Man that plane was twitchy. Then came the bad part. The covering is cleary yellow/orange color. More than a couple hundred feet away and you can't tell up from down front from back, It's a yellow blob with a mind of it's own.

Without trying, I spent a good deal of the flight inverrted. The good thing was the it would do an inside or outside loop with w three foot radius. I got it down on the ground with two really good landings. By that time, I was so constrated on the plane that I think if a gun had gone off besides me, I wouldn't have heard it. Total flight time of about 5 minutes over two days. I'm going to recover it and see if I can edge into this 3D stuff.

To sum it up, the giles you are looking at is by the same company. I would expect the construction to be like the Fun Star. Very light, 4 1/2 lbs with 6 oz of lead. I also expect will initally be a real hand full. The good thing about the model you are looking at is that the colors are opaque and well defined on the top anyway. It would be easy to put some black stripes on the bottom. My plane is going to get a new set of clothes before going airborne again.

My suggestion for you though is go pick up a Sig 4*40. With a little work, you can clip the wings by one bay each side and end up with a very good cross over plane. With the wings clipped, they are very nimble. My 4*60 would roll at about 1 roll a second with the full wing. If you add a bit bigger aileron, you can imporve that performance. If bash the kit a bit, using a lighter stock for building the tail feathers and enlarging both elevator and rudder, you end up with a very responsive plane, but one that will allow you to catch your breath now and then when needed.

I fear that although you have shown remarkably fast progress that you are not ready for a 3D plane yet. Slow down and go with a good intermediate plane like the 4*. You won't be disapointed. If you do decide on the giles, Hang on to your hat, it's going to be a ride at first. One last thing, remember that the 3D planes fly really slow. The Fun Star limmited instructions warn you to not fly at full throttle as the plane may shake apart. I'm sure the Giles has the same warning.

Don

Actually I guess I should do the right thing and wait and get the plane that I really want. Tough choice to make, but it seems like the right thing to do.

Hangar 9 Pulse 40 or Pacific Aeromodels Knockabout Cherokee, in that order, depending upon availability.

This stinks

Sounds like my Hot Stik. I have to be in the right mood as it is certainly not a relaxing way to drill some holes in the sky for a soothing after-work flight at sunset. More like a knife-fight in a dark alley. As you say: you have to have 100% concentration and focus. On high rates I can do rolls faster than thay can be counted and it will loop in a fuselage length.

The Phoenix has A LOT less control surface and looks to be a suitable choice for a third plane, though I have never seen one in person. It is going to be a neutral flier (no help from design stability but responsive) and one that must be flown and "kept ahead of" all through the flight. That's a wonderful thing for aerobatics. If you try to react to it you'll be too late. If you're up to that it might be a good third model.

Well I got the Phoenix Dolphin. Supposed to be a great second plane, but I hope it's not boring. I am definitely past a trainer, but I think a jump to the Extra is a little much. The staying in front of the plane thing got me - I'm definitely still reacting.

You actually have somewhere that you can buy planes after 7:45 on Saturday evening? Wish we had that... All of the hobby shops around here close at 6:00 or earlier.