I'm a beginner; have flown the firebird commander (2 radio - no elevator) 4 times and managed to lose it when it crashed into a residential area. I had lots of fun with it though.

I'm trying to decide between a Aerobird Challenger and a Slow Stick.
My questions: Can the slow stick be flown to great altitudes like the firebird? Can it be flown fast if desired through mods? From a video I saw of the slow stick it was flown in a very small area and seemed pretty boring. It was very maneuverable though. While I would enjoy its manueverability I also enjoy being able to take it to great heights and be able to control it from afar.

I fly in fairly strong winds here. Will the Slow stick manage these as well as the Aerobird challenger?

Other advantages of an Aerobird over a Slow Stick include the brushless motor and safer, more durable back mounted pusher propeller.

I understand that the power pack and radio can be taken from the slow stick and used in a different plane. What kind of plane upgrades are popular once I get bored of the slow stick?

Thanks!

Here is some info you are looking for: As far as the wind, they handle about the same. Flying these small craft in wind almost always comes down to one thing, pilot experience. Both airplanes are going to get knocked around in winds that go over 10 mph, however I can manage wind much better know that I am a more experience pilot.

Two, if you want the slow stick to be able to fly far and high you will need at least two things, Once is a good radio system and the other is li-po batteries. A good transmitter and a double conversion reciever will give enough range to make the SS look like a red dot in the sky. Li-po batteries will give the plane the endurance to fly far and high.

Third, I have never heard of HobbyZone installing brushless motors in one of their planes. I have never heard of it as an aftermarket hop up either, but I could be wrong. This would push the price of these RTF craft very high. However, I have seen brushless setups on slow sticks and they turn the SS into a sort of 3D plane. They even hover. Granted, the back mounted propeller will withstand more crashes, but I have broken my fair share of GWS props and they are simple and cheap to replace.

Last, because most people use a 72 megahertz radio system and micro servos, they just transplant them into other GWS airplanes. I took the electronic system from my GWS P-51 (which is a stupid first plane) and put it into a GWS Pico cub. After I learned to fly that, I put the same system into a GWS E-starter. I have other planes now with other electronic setups, but the E-starter still flys and I still get a kick out of it.

Remember that a SS only uses rudder, elevator and throttle. However, many pilots easily convert the SS into an aileron plane. This will increase the aerobatic performance. You cannot do this with a Aerobird Challenger.

I started with a Firebird Commander and my second plane was the Slow Stick. You can fly the SS very high even on NiMH batteries although LiPo's are much better performers. They are also not a very good choice for a new pilot because they can be damaged in a crash and have been know to catch fire. I use my Firebird 6 cell and some similar 7 cell 1100 mAh NiMH batteries on my Slow Stick and can easily get 15 minute flight times. After breaking a prop on my first "flight" (and I use the term loosely) I installed a prop saver and haven't broken another prop yet. I made one from a spare servo arm. You can see it at:
http://www.knology.net/~suggs/planes/SS_propsaver.jpg
There are many different ways to do this - just do a search on the forum for "prop saver". GWS sells a prop saver also.
If you really like the pushers you might think about the Multiplex Easy Star. There are several threads on this plane so you can get lots of pointers. I bought one so I could fly in higher winds than the SS and have had a lot of fun with it. It is even easier to fly than the SS but is more of a sailplane so don't expect agressive aerobatics. You can get it very high as well - especially when you catch a thermal. 20 minute flights on my 7 cell are the norm.
Good luck and have fun. I surely am!

CGI....
I own an Aerobird and have flown an SS several times. I really like the SS...tons of fun. I absolutely love my ABCas well and have no regrets buying it. love my Aerobird! The X-port and 3-channel controls add a ton of fun to this plane. You will have very little problems jumping from a Firebird to an Aerobird.I really think that the SS and ABC are 2 different types of planes and not necessarily fair to compare each other with. Comparing the Aerobird and T-Hawk would be closer comparisons.
I do really enjoy flying the SS and will most likely buy one once I do make the next jump to more tradtional gear. Many people do not like the fact that the ABC electronics do not transfer to another, I wasn't too happy about that either. But, this has allowed me to step back and really research and try different radios while learning how to fly @ the time. Instead of rushing into radio gear I might not like because I couldn't wait to start flying, or buying a radio from a guy because" it's a good one", I am really looking and saving for a more expensive multi-model digital radio. Again, I can afford to sit and wait and research while I am actually out learning how to fly because my ABC is so inexpensive. And, when I do step into another plane my ABC won't sit @ home due to it's having the X-Port on it. I can drop things from the ADM or dogfight other ABC's and FIghterbirds with the Sonic Combat Module. That is alot of value for your dollar.
Personally, I think you will not go wrong either way. Both of these planes are fun. They are fun in different ways:
The ABC is a fantastic flyer.It can be had for little money and adds the value of the X-Port modules. Plus, this little can flat out move! It can fly fast or slow. It also is extremely durable. Keep this in mind when people talk about crashing their ABC vs. SS. The SS doesn't fly very fast, so it doesn't crash very hard. I see alot of "I crash mine all the time and a little Epoxy and she's back in the air!" postings...this is true also of the Aerobird. Except the Aerobird flies faster, therefore crashing harder. But it endures them just fine.
The SS is a more traditional setup. However, it is super stable in the air. It is supremely responsive. A simple joy to fly. Which can be said of both planes. Plus the electronics are transferrable...major plus.

Both of these planes can be flown to great heights. I have personally taken my ABC by rough estimates about 400ft. That doesn't sound high....but it is when you are still kind of a beginner. I Have watched as a guy took his SS to almost 1000ft. Wow.

I only comment about these 2 planes because these are the only ones I have flown more than once. This is something to keep in mind when someone bashes one plane or the other. It also seems that there a bunch of folks who bought the ABC as their first plane, then proceeded to try to teach themselves flying with bad habits. With some mild help from an experienced flyer, any beginner should be able to handle the ABC just fine. You are going to be fine because you flew the Firebird. I can't tell you how many guys took the sticks of my ABC and went" wow!" as they were surprised @ how easy the ABC was to fly.
I hope I didn't just confuse you or cloud the issue more, but the truth is that this is all subjective. I can only be objective about my personal experiences. I won't bash the T-Hawk or any other plane in comparison, such as the EasyStar, because I haven't flown one.
Bottom line:
You won't go wrong with either choice. They are both fun and have their positives and negatives.
Good luck!
Have fun!

Shane
....now where did I leave that epoxy?

Thanks for your opinions. I'm considering buying a SS setup identical to item number 3182767957 on ebay (the forum software doesn't let me post a direct link to it).

The following components are included:
GW/SLOW STICK-EPS300C
Power System EPS300C
Hitec Focus III FM transmitter (3 Channel 72 mHz) Servo Reverse Channels 1 and 2, Internal Mixing for Elevon or V-Tail (CH's 1 & 2) What's all this mean?
Servos: 2 HiTec HS-81 servos, Sub-micro
Receiver PICO R4N or R4P as available
Speed controller ICS-100
Propeller EP1180
Battery AA 600mAh/7.2V

Could someone please tell me if there are any items here that I should avoid? I'll upgrade the battery but will probably stay with the radio, ESC, motor and servos for a while and don't want to get stuck with poor products.
Thanks again

Elevon or V-tail mixing is for planes that do not have traditional Rudder/Elevator setup. Such as the V-tail planes from HobbyZone(proprietary radios...won't work with Hitech equip.) and the T-hawk and EasyStar planes. The Elevon reference would be for flying wings such as a Zagi plane. Someone correct me if I am wrong on this one.

Again though, I do have reservations about getting a 3ch radio that you won't be able to use in 4ch planes with ailerons @ a later date. And if you have as much fun with that SS as I think you will...you probably will want to start playing with Ailerons sooner or later. Just something to keep in mind.......

Decided on the ABC after reading everyones input. Not really into the modeling part just want to fly. Kids eat up all my modeling time right now. Have had a few cheap two channel trainers and am looking forward to trying out the Challenger. I did consider the Vortex Extreme but didnt hear anyone talking about that plane so went with the ABC. Thanks for all your input folks.

ok, i felt this vaguely related to the topic.

I have a T-Hawk model for FMS simulator, and when u turn it, it banks.

So is it possible to bank an aerohawk challenger?

Thanks.

Dom

Heya Stephen,

Just saw this discussion and thought I would throw in my thoughts. I tried to start out 2 months ago with an Aerobird Xtreme - big mistake - the bird is too heavy and too fast for a self taught beginner. Then I went to the Firebird Commander and learned the basics on that with much less trouble. Then I went to the Challenger. I have also had a chance to fly the Firebird IIST and a GWS Beaver and an E-Starter. I have now been flying for about 2 months and have logged close to 100 flights on the planes mentioned above. All of that is so you can evaluate my biased opinion lol.

Get the Challenger.

Fly it in the advanced mode from your very first flight. Fly it in a big space with no wind at first and get it up in the air at least 100 ft - more would be better -before you even try to turn it. When you do turn it the first time do it with little blips to the control level. Short blips - 1 second each. Just keep that up until the turn is complete. The Challenger wll try to right itself if you let it. and blipping through the turn lets it self correct through the turn and prevents a spiral.

Pretend it's a 2-channel and don't even try to use the pitch control for the for first few flights. Learn to go up and down with more and less throttle only.

Cut a small kitchen sponge in half, roll it up, and tape it to the nose of the plane. Reinforce the motor mount with a zip tie, don't use the landing gear, and tape up the leading and trailing edges of your wings with clear tape. Put 3 layers on the trailing edge that cover the entire area that th prop can hit if you twist the wing. Buy an extra prop.

Put the original wing aside and start with the spare wing - better yet - start with a Commander wing. The Commander wing will give you better glide charcteristics and allow you to fly the plane at a slower speed while you are learning.

Once you have learned, then you can get even more aerobatics out of the Challenger by taping business cards or plastic file tabs to the the elevators. And once you have learned , you can fly this plane in pretty high winds. Well over 10 mph.

dOm,
Do you mean aerobird challenger? This is beside the point any way. If it is the aerobird, then the V-tail (I think), rolls and yaws the plane, kinda, doing a coordinated turn for you. If it is not the aerobird, and it is a rudder control plane, then the rudder will yaw the plane, meaning that the outside wing moves further than the inside wing in the same amount of time, therefore has a greater airspeed, and therefore creates more lift than the inside wing. This will roll the aeroplane in the desired direction, and help the turn. If the aeorplane did not roll when it yawed, then it's nose would point a new direction, but it would trevel along the same flight path. When the rudder input was released, the plane would yaw back to its orginal headng, and still continue along the same flight path.
Hope that wasn't too confusing, and I hope it helped.