mweathers

Well I finally had time to take my 9 year old with her first plane that I had bought for her
at the Toledo show. What a disapointment. The plane is a Megatech Firefly. It simply will not fly no matter what I did change cg. charged up completely nothing willmake this thing fly. Has anyone else had this plane?

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

gotta be careful with some of the electrics, they are very margional, and harder to fly than a .40 size trainer!

Scar

My Feedback: (3)

John VH is correct, but here's a question for you. Did you cycle the battery pack a couple times first? The discharge rate, and thus the power, improves tremendously after a few cycles. I made a similar complaint about my Multiplex Twinstar, but fixed the initial damage and ran the motors until the battery was down. Repeated after charging, twice, and tried again - and it was a completely different plane.

If your firefly won't even glide, that's a different story. But if the power's just low, try cycling.

Good luck,
Dave Olson

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

Yes true, or, try a lipoly batt, that will wake it up! Make sure to get the correct charger!

KingCobra

My Feedback: (17)

I have to agree with JVH and his contention about the marginal nature of some planes. But it is inexcusable that a manufacturer would put out such garbage targeting the intro pilots. I've seen some foam intro planes perform very poorly, even in the hands of a very experienced pilot. In my e-club, we have guidelines outlining modifications to even the GWS Piper Cub to make it a better flyer. Frequently, the motors supplied in kits (or even recommended) are the bare minimum to get it in the air. But those performing kit reviews need to be more critical of their subjects. Case in point: the E-Flight Ascent powered glider. I bought one ($75) and with all electronics purchased and installed, totaled ~$225 to get in the air. What a disappointment!! Would hardly climb, would only wallow around at full throttle, and stalled in a light breeze. Motor got blazing hot, and the collet let go of the motor shaft so the prop and spinner went flying off. Turns out, it comes from the manufacturer over-propped (7X4 I think it was). I was told by an experience colleague to switch to a 6X3 prop and that turned it into a decent performer. Other posts here have indicated problems with tip-stalling (which I have also experienced with mine). This plane has been reviewed in three magazines and only one briefly mentioned the prop issue. Otherwise, it got highly positive marks. But maybe the manufactureres aren't interested in hearing about flaws in their products. Besides, by the time we find a problem with a purchase, they already have our money. Carlton Campbell