RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I have the Aero Bird 3. When I started I had a ton of trouble until someone showed me how it was supposed to fly. There were several adjustments that had to be made in order for it to fly properly. I'd say get an experienced opinion first.

They are very tough. Once or if you are confident it is flying correctly... take it up, way up. The radio is good for farther than you can see. Get it above all other obstacles and just cruise it around. The experience, stick time will teach you tons. Especially pay attention to how it stalls and how fast.

Also there is a "pro" mode and a "sport" mode (if those are the right words). You want full control, forget the stupid beginner mode. It'll only get you in trouble. Check your manual on how to change it.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

Hello,
Sorry to hear about your phantoms. I have one also and was hoping you might be able to help me out. I had a chip fall off my circuit board and was wondering if you could take a look at yours to identify what the chip is. If you would, the chip that I'm looking for is soldered directly above the antenna. It is black in color and about 2x2x2mm in size.

I am trying to find out what it says on the chip.

Thanks for any help you can give.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

If you are speaking about the Phantom, I returned all three of them to Horizon Hobby.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I just flew my phantom today and it crashed hard. I am a beginner, so I expected to crash while learning, but my breal was right on the the tail boom area where the wires come out just like you said. Anyone have ideas on a repair for that one? Snapped in two like a pretzel.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

Replying late but was going to also mention the boom. They are nice planes but really not the easiest to learn on. They seem to really torque roll from the motor and it maked it difficult to execute left turns. If you want a really enjoyable experience, go with what many other suggested. The Super Cub. I taught my self to fly on it and still enjoy flying it. What ever you do don't get discouraged and keep on flying. The only question on the phantom is not if the boom will break, but when. Mine snapped on a decent landing when I flaired a little much and it touched tail first.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I know this is an older thread, but I have to chime in here:

I had the opportunity to fly this thing at a local hobby shop this past weekend, and I was amazed at how well this little $59 plane flew, especially on a pretty windy day! This thing is a steal at this price, the only other plane I've seen close to it in price is a two channel Megatech.

The controller is a little goofy, especially if you're used to standard aircraft radios, but odds are most people buying this won't have that bias. It took about 5 mins for me to get used to the controller and the plane, and after that it was a blast to fly. I'm used to overpowered 3D type planes, so flying something that requires a dive before pulling a complete loop was quite different for me, but still quite fun. I couldn't believe that the little 300mAh battery pack would last almost 10 mins, and that little 7 cell pack really got that prop spinning for some decent thrust. I flew it about 6 times and landed it in a grassy field with knee-high grass without a problem.

The main drawbacks with the Phantom seem to be the weak tail boom and the non-standard electronics, but for the price, it's hard to beat. Looks like there are good suggestions here to fix up the boom, so as long as the electronics hold up awhile, it should be easy to get your money's worth out of it.

No, I don't work for Hobbyzone, or a hobby store, and I honestly thought this cheap little plane was going to be a POS, but I think it's definitely worth the money if you don't have much to spend.

Just my $0.02...

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

phatom was the frist plane i got and it broke right where every one esle's did. i got a commander 2 and it flew great and was study even on rougher landings, but there was a problem with the reciever the power would cut off when i give it thottle with fully charged battery, so i sent it back to horizon hobby, i hope they fix or replace it. it flew very well and i think it's agreat 1st plane.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I have a firebird phantom.I love this plane.I have 20 flights on it.Only one hard crash so hard the propeller came off,I pushed it back on and flew in no time at all.Nothing else happened to my phantom.I have not had any problems,easy to fly,fun.I have seen one other phantom@ the field with a broken tail boom.This is going to make me reinforce mine as a precaution.I took packing tape and reinforced my L/E and T/E of the wings,and the top of the wing.It flies great with it on there.I put red and clear checkered tape I got @ my LHS,on the bottom of the wings,and tail section.This helps,and a small strip on the nose.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I got one of these for my son. It only has 6 flights on it so far but nothing broken yet. I found it hard to control because of "HobbyZone’s revolutionary Anti-Crash Technology" It will not allow full control throws and it makes the plane hard to control. It turns on and off depending on what the 2 sensors see and may eliminate your ability to get full throws when you need them. It can be turned off by pushing one stick down for a couple of seconds. I found it much easier to fly that way. I don't think the anti-crash is a good thing for a beginner. You can't learn what will happen when you move the sticks a certain way if the plane only reacts sometimes.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I know this thread is getting old but I just wanted to drop in and say that my phantom broke too. The darn thing barely even touched the ground. How difficult was it to work with thier tech support to get a replacement? This was my fourth flight and I had just bought two more batteries. I really liked the plane but when I seen what happend (SO EASILY BROKEN) right were the control wires exit the boom, I'm having second thoughts of even trying another plane of this type. I never payed much attention to this area of the boom but when I looked at it, I said "well duh ya, thats simply bad design.

Any help appreciated. Someone posted some pics of thier floss and fix but they are not longer available. If this boom had broken anywhere else it would have been really easy to fix. Since it's right where the control wires exit, it is now a very complicated matter and makes me very angry!

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

If you plan to be in this hobby very long, you have to learn to make repairs. Especially when you are just starting out.

The repair photos earlier in this thread showed how to make a splint with carbon fiber rod and fasten it to the boom with dental floss and CA glue. Too bad that's gone, but here's a photo of one that a guy reinforced with some wood and zip ties, just use CF rod instead of the wood, and dental floss & CA instead of the zip ties.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

Thanks. I was planning to go out to the store and buy another Phantom and maybe use the broken one for spare parts but I guess I'll go out to the local walmart and buy a dremel tool instead.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

Have you considered the Firebird Freedom? I have one that is for all intents my first plane. The actual first one was a Sky Pilot and I would not reccomend it to anyone! I find teh Freedom to be very durable and it has hte benefit of not using fishing line for teh control surfaces. It actually has wire control rods that provide positive movement of teh surfaces in both diretions. This also eliminates the hole in the support rod that sounds like it is a week spot with the other models. The 2 piece wing with carbon center spar is nice too as it allows the plane to break down to a fairly small package.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

The freedom it a tough plane, I've seen them bounce off the ground and not break. with a 10.8V battery they are pretty fast also, if I'm not WOT it will hang with my stryker C. I've even had a midair with one vs my stryker and it did not break. but they are challenging to control.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I have seen mine bounce off teh ground and not break. The battery it comes with is a 7 cell 8.6V nimh, but if find it to be a junk battery. I have less than 20 runs on the plane and the battery has shown significant loss in performance and duration. Hopefully sometime next week that problem will be solved as I ordered acouple elite 1500mah packs from Cheapbatterypacks.com. If they are way better than the stock pack like they were VS the pack that came with my Mini LST2 the plane should have gobs of power on tap.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I received the packs from Cheapbatterypacks.com (CBP) and just like the packs I had ordered for my Mini LST2, these packs are fantastic. The comparision netween teh stock 7 cell pack and the CBP packs is night and day. Just about like going from a good 6cell to a better 7cell. I flew the Commander with one and will definately need the wing spacer to help controll full power climbs. Tons of power for climb out and cruises easily. Given the winds, I probably should not have been flying the Commander, but ti did well. I believe that if they would do a slight modification, use a 3ch radio and use piano wire controls like the Freedom has to allow elevator function, they would have the perfect 1st time flier.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

Hello, All

I have a Hobbyzone Scout, which is 2 planes before the phantom, but basically the same plane in a 2 channel (throttle and rudder). I have read many posts about the tailbooms breaking on the Phantom. Sounds like the best bet is to reinforce the area where the control rods come out BEFORE flying the first time, since it WILL break.

I must say, that I have BEATEN THE STUFFINGS out of this Scout, and it still flies. I have nosed it into the ground straight down, cart-wheeled it, gotten it stuck in a tree, etc. As far as repairs go, I have done the following:

- broken the wing (chopped by the prop during a wing-first landing which cocked the wing into the spinning prop)
- broken the frame that holds the radio and servo during a brick-wall style landing into the ground (fixed with CA glue and a square piece of balsa)
- broken the tail boom INSIDE the fuselage where it attaches to the "clip" thing
- broken the tail feathers (I forget how)
- broken the rubber nose piece (it can serve as landing gear, but not forever!!)
- lost the rubber nose piece during a way-the-heck-down-the-field landing

So, I have worn out 1 wing, replaced the tail, repaired the carbon fiber boom, fixed the servo mounting frame, put on a new prop, lost 1 nose piece, and, here's the point of my post:

THE PLANE STILL FLIES!!! True, it's light, true it "flies by suggestion," true it can break. BUT, I have beaten this thing beyond reason, and IT STILL FLIES!!

As someone else said, if you're going to get into this hobby, you have to learn to do repairs. Thanks to this cheap little plane, I have learned to do this:

THROW/CRASH/REPAIR
THROW/CRASH/REPAIR

THROW/FLY/CRASH/REPAIR
THROW/FLY
THROW/FLY/CRASH/REPAIR
THROW/FLY
THROW/FLY
THROW/FLY
THROW/FLY/CRASH/REPAIR

etc.

So hang in there guys. Eventually, there is more FLY and less CRASH/REPAIR if you keep at it. !!!!

Have fun!! If you don't have a trainer, as I don't, the Scout or Phantom can be a good plane to beat on until you get the hang of it. Just keep at it!!! You'll learn IF YOU DON'T QUIT!!!!

See you at the field!!

Bob

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

Now that I have flown the Commander and Freedom I would reccomend the Freedom over the Commander hands down. If the commander had an elevator function it would probably be a blast to fly, but having to use solely throttle input to climb and dive IMHO actually makes the plane harder to fly than the Freedom. I find the Freedom to be more forgiving and easier to manage than the Commander. Change the Commander over to piano wire control linkage like the Freedom has and the same radio as the Freedom ( I really like teh 1/2 throttle detent) ans you would have an AWSOME fisrt plane, but until then I would steer clear of it.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I have 3 Firebird Phantoms, one is just a parts plane now but the other two fly just fine. All 3 have had the "clasic" tail spar break problem and I've tried lots of different repair methods. The one that I'm currently using and having success with on both planes is:

1.) cut a 3" piece of 1/4 x .014 round aluminum tube. (I got a 1 foot piece at the LHS for $0.99 )
2.) shave a hole in the middle of it with a razor knife.
3.) elongate the hole toward both ends by carveing with the razor knife(trying not to widen it very much) until it's about 3/4" long.
4.) slide a coffee sturring straw through the hole and out one end.(this is for the control rods and antena to pass through and protect them from the glue.)
5.) insert the control rods and antena through the straw and out the top, and dry fit everything, test to make sure the rods move smothly... if not you may need to make the hole a bit longer so that the bend in the rods is less.
6.) use an expanding glue (I love Gorilla Glue, follow the directions) as the glue cures it expands and tightens the grip between the inner carbon tube and the outer aluminum tube.

You just can't beat the economics of this plane... $55.00 RTF... it's worth learning how to repair it. IMO

Thank you
Shawn

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I started with a of all things, A HobbyZone Aerobird Extreme with an instructor, despite his help the plane still hasn`t flown in 4 years. Earlier this summer, I got a FlyZone Skyfly, took to my local field, got in the air, got a great landing and had a blast, I would reccomend it to any first time flyer, its tough, its cheap and it flys great (its worth noting here I`m a teenager) and after my plane crashed in flury of bad ideas, thanks to my friends, the nose even got bashed in AND yet it still flies great I have had to so some minor work, new canopy, new tail kit but thats it

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I too am new to flying, and YES, I'm crashing a lot too. I started with the Firebird Freedom and love it for it's durability. Its lived through 12-15 full speed nose dive crashes into the ground. A few replacement wings and it's back in the air.

However, my one complaint is that it seems too fast. I started backing off the throttle once up in the air and that's help out a lot. Try that.

I would be afraid to get into a Cub or other "cool" plane until I can regularly fly without crashing - and that is coming soon.

A lot of seasoned pilots give good recommendations, but maybe they forget that us NEWBIES are going to crash and potentially demolish these things.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I've posted similar responses in othe threads but I will do it again here, I started and Rcplane ministry at my church about 8 months ago and have taught about 20 kids ages 9yr and up and also taught 8 adults.
Here is list of planes begginer planes or park flyers I have flown, or am still flying:
Hobbyzone Super Cub, Firebird Commander, Scout, Phantom, Freedom, Aerobird Swift, Aerobird Extreme, Parkzone Slo-v, J-3 cub brushed and brushless, Decathalon, Vapor, Ember, T-28 Trojan, F4u Corsair, Stryker "C", Typhoon, Hobbico Avistar, Nexstar, Hangar 9 Alpha 40. I said all that to say this; in the absence of a trainer and buddy box system, Super Cub is the best to teach new students with!!

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

How did you fly the Aerobird with an instructor? Did you replace the electronics so you could fly it with a trainer box?

That's the main thing I don't like about the HobbyZone "beginner" planes, the RTF electronics don't allow the use of a buddy-box/trainer-box. I'm sure it is to cut the cost of the RTF package, and I know they are selling them as "teach yourself" planes, but if the new owners could buddy-box on them with an experienced pilot for the first few flights, they would learn a lot quicker, crash much less, and be less likely to give up after a few flights (and crashes).

If HobbyZone would just use the standard 72MHz airplane band for the Firebirds/Aerobirds, I could use my own radio to teach newbies on these planes. Instead, they use the 27MHz band and transmitters with no trainer capability. It's good they chose the 27MHz band for park flyers, so they don't interfere with local clubs flying on 72MHz, but then the lack of trainer capability ruins the whole RTF package for the experienced pilots looking to assist the newbies.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

Hobbyzone(horizon hobby) does use the 72mh radio in some of the parkzone planes like the T-28, typhoon,stryker, and some others. You can use the 72mh stuff in the the hobbyzone planes, but you have to change the rx and the servos. I am in the process of doing this to one of my Super cubs so I can use my futaba radio and buddy box with it. I'll post how it works out when I get it flying.

RE: Beginner Firebird Phantom?
 

I'm talking about the inexpensive beginner planes, like the Firebirds, Aerobirds, Super Cub, etc.

Yes, the more expensive planes for advanced pilots have 72MHz radios, but advanced pilots don't need trainer box capabilities.