firebird scout
 

hi my son recently bought a firebird scout . he got it in the air a couple of times , crashed a few times and now instead of getting lift it wants to nose dive all the time. anyone know why? thanx for any help.

RE: firebird scout
 

Is he throwing it into the wind? I got a couple of them for my son-in-law & my daughter to play around with. Same thing with no elevator it seems to need some light breeze to create lift or like you said, it just goes 15 or 20 feet & slides into the ground.

RE: firebird scout
 

This problem is usually becouse the tail boom has popped out of its spot in the fuselage. To see if this is it, set the thing on a plat surface, the bottom of the fuselage and the tail boom should both and all be flat to the surface. If middle, where the boom and fuse join is off the surface, the boom needs to be popped back straight. Worked part time in a shop, fixed,popped back in, several.

That particular plane is the next step for little kids from ROCKETS. You know, you fire off the rocket, it goes somewhere and you send the kids off to get it. With the Scout, at least the kid gets to hold it, apply full throttle, mess with the controls, and when it crashes somewhere, can go get it. More fun for them.

The things are almost impossible to actually fly.

Ken, AMA 19352

RE: firebird scout
 

I have to disagree with MR Foamie, (not trying to get flamed here)

I have several of the areobird (pod&boom) planes and with the scout I can fly with control and land within a few feet of where I stand.

Try looking at a few options here to get it to fly for you.
1- Don't fly on a windy day, the scout due to it's size is hard to handle in the wind(but a nice 2-3 mph helps to lift it)
2- Lauch into the wind, nice and level. Don't throw it at a steep angle, this would cause it to stall and go straight to the ground.
3- Check the wings(both main and tail) for creases and folds
4- The tail should be level with the boom, adjust the screws on the bottom to make it level, also if you tighten the front screw, this will make the plane want to lift the nose more.
5- Check to make sure the electrionics board on the inside has not come loose on the inside. This tends to happen if you crash really hard and will cause slop in the control lines.
6- Also check that the motor has not change it's angle from a crash, this will throw off the thrust line and help to make it either nose up or nose down.
7- Check the boom and make sure it has not come loose. If it has, re-glue it. From the rear of the plane, the tail wing should look level to the front wing.
8- The tail wing should have a nice "V" to it. Sometimes it will flaten and will not handle well.

Try some of these and just remember to launch into the wind, nice and level, don't try to turn left or right until you start to climb and get some 40-50 feet high. Also just forgot, make sure your TX(the radio) is centered, and the controls work correct.

If you still have any problems let me know, I may have other ideas to help, and I'm sure someone else will too. BG

RE: firebird scout
 

And a 3rd perspective on the firebird scout. I picked up one for my girlfriends son, he solo'd on his thrust vector, yellow bee I picked up from Harbor Freight, nice little 30.00 plane and felt he was ready for something that gives more control. The air, being as humid as it is here is more difficult to launch these smaller birds so you need alot more room in order to get some of these off of the ground. After launching it stock several times and it not having enough park for it to gain altitude, I yanked the landing gear and repositioned the battery pack into the cockpit instead of having it in it's normal slot to get it to actually get airborn from level ground. I was dissapointed with it since it by nature is supposed to be a very easy to fly, first plane, when in fact, it's not when you keep the noob factor in mind, ie. they tend to bury the controls, which is acceptable in a thrust vector plane, but with these, once they reach a point of imbalance, they do a very fast death spiral. Needless to say, I let him take it up, he got around 50 feet in the air, death spiraled it into the ground and it of course broke the fuselage, or that carbon fiber rod exactly where the pull wires come out of. It wasn't flyable at that point obviously, can't find replacement wings for it locally, can't actually find any parts for it here, so I Jerry rigged it together to collect dust until he's better at the thrust vector 2 channel planes. I also was out at the field yesterday with someon with an aerobird, the guy was doing really well with it, unfortunately, he had to learn the lessen I've learned the hard way several times. The radios on these trainers leave much to be desired, once they get out of range, someone has a CB, pager, etc. they are off in the wild blue yonder, never to be seen again, they really should make a pannick button, or something that determins if it's no longer being controlled by the radio to shut down the motor and/or pop out a parachute or something to get it out of the air so it can be recovered.

Overall, these are not fliers that will teach you how to fly a true 3 channel plane, their flying characteristics are unique unto themselves.

RE: firebird scout
 

thanx for all your replys i passed them to my son . thanx again carlc

RE: firebird scout
 

I have one I bought last fall. They fly fine but need a good amount of room for a beginner (like myself), I crashed mine a bunch of times, if it weren't for the rubber nose it would be toast! Needs a lot of turning room I find. I was able to get one circle completed a few times and land alright a few times but they are FAST. Unless you have a LOT of room go with a slower plane like a slo-v or get an Air hogs Aero Ace!

Tom

RE: firebird scout
 

BgCatFish1,

Very informational input.

No Flame or argument take. We post our experiences and opinions and others decide what it was.

Ken, AMA 19352

RE: firebird scout
 

i was thinking about buying one. ive never flew a plane before. will this be okay

RE: firebird scout
 

Get something slow, there are several on the market, the slow V is only one of them, also it's helpful greatly to have someone with experience to help teach you, otherwise you end up with a pile of cheap foam broken upon crashing. I'm not a big fan of these types of birds, the V tail is just too instable for the beginner, I have the firebird, it's fine as long as you are flying one direction, but tilt it too far any angle and it falls to the ground violently. Good call on the airhogs stuff, if you are really just starting out, get a simple cheap 2 channel thrust vector plane and stick with the toy's, it will be much easier to fly on your own and will teach you plenty and of course, get your blood rushing if you have never flown before.

RE: firebird scout
 

After reading both Mr. Foamie's, & BgCatFish1's posts, I wonder if the boom popped out isn't the problem with the ones I got. While it says not to fly in more than a 5mph wind the first day I flew it before I gave it to my daughter was the only time it ever flew well. The wind was blowing maybe 8 to 10 mph but I took it to the park anyway, completely forgot to pop the landing gear in it. I tossed it into the wind & it took right off. I was able to fly it around just fine for a few laps around the ball park kind of nosing it in on the first landing. That's when I realized I forgot to put the landing gear on it. I flew it around three more times that day & decided I liked it better with out the landing gear just sort of bellying it in on the grass. I originally bought the things so I would have something I could just take to the park by myself that I didn't care if I crashed or not with between Training sessions at the club on my real Trainer. The other one stashed away for a Xmas present for my son in law who wants to learn to fly. Every time I tried to fly it after that day it would just glide to the ground in about 15 to 20 feet. I eventually just gave it to my daughter so they could go play with them together since I had allready soloed on my Trainer & was off & running. I think I'll have to check the boom & give it a tune up so my Daughter might actually have a chance at flying the pesky little thing.

RE: firebird scout
 

The firebird's CG stock out of the box is lacking, put the battery pack further back into the cabin and it will take off fine, I did that and ditched the landing gear right off the bat as well.