Hey guys!

obviously I'm new around here, but I've been lurking around for a while. Today I went to the local RC store with the intent of buying a Slo-V from all the good things you've all had to say about it, the employee convinced me to take home the Hobby-Zone Firebird Freedom instead, citing that they have parts more readily available for the freedom (when I undoubtedly bury it lol) and it's not painfully slow like the Slo-V is.

I'll refrain from posting photos because, well... it's not the prettiest kite in the hangar, but it'll do to learn on.

Love the fact that it's X-Port equipped and the same price as the Slo-V, I'm VERY co-ordinated so I'm not concerend about the extra speed, plus it has their ACT Anti Crash Technology or whatever, which I can switch off after I figure out which end of the plane faces front ;-)

Anyways I'll be flying it tomorrow, wish me luck, hope you all approve of my choice!

Scrodes,

Have fun! Just make sure you give yourself plenty of space and make first flight in winds less than 8 mph...

Let us know how it goes, mine flies very well!

chief

Good luck with that first flight. I'm a noobie - and now I guess I'm an ex-lurker, this being my first post. I too bought the firebird freedom as my first plane after playing (crashing) around with a friends Slow Stick. I've broken a spar and messed up the wings but I must say that I"m finally getting the hang of it. Just wait and you'll see - its addictive. I've never used the ACT on it. Chief is right - wait for a calm day and have *lots* of room. I've removed the landing gear and hand launch it and think it is a blast to fly. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

My first plane is the freedom too - my only advice for you is throw it hard on the launch and turn act off. It will fly w/ act on but you need a ton of room. My experience is that if you give nearly any elevator on the turns, act kicks on. I hit 2 trees doing "act safe" turns and no non-wind crashes w/o act. . . the plane feels very lazy w/ act on.

thanks guys, I'm hoping to get that first flight in today,

also it seems to me, that no matter what HobbyZone says, all ACT seems to do is just minimalize the control throws, unlike similar software in the Hobbico Nexstar, I think I'll leave it off?

Don't be afraid to ground launch the plane for your first flight. Its actually easier to control the plane if you maintain your hands on the controls right from the start, rather than tossing the plane and then scrambling to get your hand to the controls before the plane crashes.

If you decide to ground launch, be aware that the plane probably won't track straight, but will turn one way or the other. As long as it isn't heading for some obstacle, let it go its chosen direction. Resist trying to steer it while its still on the ground, because you probably won't have the controls back to neutral once it lifts off, causing the plane to bank, stall and crash. Once the plane leaves the ground, push slightly forward on the stick to reduce the rate of climb. You want the plane to fly nearly level to gain some speed, then slowly climb. Try not to make any turns until at least 50 ft. above ground, and then only small increments, always returning to straight flight for a distance to let the plane stabilize. Your normal flying altitude should be 200-300ft. When you move the control stick to either climb, descend or turn, try not to move the stick more than 1/4 of its throw. Once you rech your normal altitude, cut the throttle to 60% and then adjust to find the right speed to keep the plane flying level.

Thanks Leo, very helpful stuff

I was actually planning to ground launch it anways due to all the horror stories I've heard about hand launching the new Freedom, I actually had it up yesterday, ground launched, but it was just too windy to fly, so after taking off three times and seeing the Freedom get blown all over the place untill I cut the throttle and landed it, I gave up and decided to wait untill today, which looks nice and calm.

I actually think 150 feet would be fine. I've never ever flown above 200 feet in my life, even performing a blender (not on the freedom, btw). The best thing is just fly 3 mistakes high. That altitude varies for everyone, if you are co-ordinated and know how to pull out of a mess up, you can fly pretty low. My normal flying altitude is about 75-100 feet except when I drop to 20-30 for some high speed passes on my faster bird.

My friend learned on the Freedom without a single crash. And taking off from the ground is ok, but throwing it is much better for a noobie because landings are more difficult on the hard ground needed to ROG and land.

I haven't tried to rog my freedom yet. If you give it a good heave it'll hold itself long enough to get your hands comfy on the stick before you have problems. Kudos to the no crash training. I'm envious

I'd leave act off if I were you. I don't think you could do the leo perscriped 1/4 of stick travel on turns w/ act on - I really found myself fighting the plane when it was on. I can't catch a weather break here. too much wind.

I agree about keeping the ACT off. In my experience it fights you a lot more than it helps you.

Another Newb... Just took my FF out for the first time a few hours ago. Let's just say I think I need a new plane now... LOL

Not sure what the problems were. I hand launched (actually had my wife throw it so my hands were in the ready on the controller), but the plane was not responsive at all. First few attempts (w/ ACT) the plane would get maybe 10-20' up, bank left and crash. On the 3rd attempt, I shut off ACT and used used a little elevator to get it to lift. Once up to approx. 50' it would just start turning to the left and if I did nothing to correct, it would eventually just spiral to the ground. If I attempted to correct the turn with very little control it would start to straighten out and then stall out and crash. After about 8-10 30 second flights, the last crash caused the fuselage to snap off at the tail section and the area directly behind the prop (not sure the what this is called) is all banged up. Not sure if this is repairable.

Just thought I would share my pitiful first attempt at flying.... Any tips, advice, remarks are appreciated as I am not giving up yet!!!