Airborne 2007

hi i have been doing a lot of research on what kind of RC plane to get. I considered Nitro models but thought against it. Not only too expensive but you have to buy the fuel for them too. So I started looking at electrics. I found the Hobby Zone's Aerobird that fit my budget pretty well. This would/may be between my 1st and 2nd RC plane-(my first one was a cheap 1 chanel plane--huge waste though not expensive ) now im lookin for a "better plane." Like I said I am looking at the Aerobird. The only thing I worry about are the control linkages on it. Do any of you own one of these and have any input on it? They are nylon string(fishing line) and are pulled back by ruber bands. (see pic-you can also see more pictures at this website on rcuniverse [http://www.rcuniverse.com/reviews.ph...w&reviewid=113]) Do any of you own an Aerobird and have any input on it? Also i would like to know if it is a good all around RC aircraft. (The +'s and -'s) Thanks for the needed help

-1sttimer

sierra gold

If you will fill in "Aerobird" in the search box at the upper right corner of the screen and hit "Go" you will have a ton of reading on peoples thoughts on the Aerobird.

LarryWC

My Feedback: (1)

Heya.. I have two "birds" and my conspiracy theory is:
"these birds can take such a pounding you hardly have an excuse for buying another plane. Me thinks the spouses got together and came up with it"

To answer your question though, I am a newbie also, but the "bird" though not billed as a beginners plane, seems quite capable of taking everything I drive it into.
The fishing line is or appears to at least hold up quite well. For a replacement I use 30# monofilament. I also forhet the instructions on how to string it through the horns. I just put it through the bottom hole.. give it a few wraps and tie it off.
The only problem I find is that if you let the line sit for any length of time it will "remember" its curl and you wont be able to get the proper tension on it. Also I would cut an access hole into the side of the fuse to get at the servos to re-string when you need to.
For a ton of othe info do as suggested and search for Aerobird.

One note I would offer that I have not seen mention iny of the forums on the bird are the servo arm positions. After a few power dives at full throttle, I found the arms were out of alignment! They are supposed to be pointing at each other.

Another reason for the hatch!

I'd feel comfortable recommending this plane to anyone. Its the right price, fun, easy to fly and a GREAT Forgiving plane!

Airborne 2007

Hey thanks fo all the feedback Ill do like you said Sierra Gold, and search for Aerobird.

-1sttimer

rickyblaze

I have the Aerobird and it was okay to start with as said it will take a beating. But the one thing that I don't like is it's unresponsiveness in a glide,even with the aerobatic tail mine is very hard to turn in a glide or adjust attitude. I gave up on it and now fly my Slow Stick exclusively.

Rick

LarryWC

My Feedback: (1)

My AB is pretty rsponsive.. even without the Xtreme Tail. Are you certain you have the trim correct?
I found that trimming isn't "close enough" if you want to stay in the air..and have good control. Also, check the that you are using the bottom hole on the horn and your nylon control lines don't have a slight curl in them. They have a "memory" and if you just turn the screw as AB suggests you wind up with a "dead spot ie slack in your lines. Another thing to check.. and why it happens I don't know but the servo arms can come out of alignment with each other. They need to be pointing directly at each other.
Hope this helps..
Whay channel is your AB? I might be interested in buying it if you plan on selling it.

rickyblaze

I will check those things out and try again,but I have been having such a great time flying my SS I kinda put the Aerobird on the back burner. Especially since the last time I tried to fly it the response was so poor that a hard landed on the left wing tip and creased my brand new wing and cracked the new aerobatic tail!what a drag.

by the way it is channel 5

Rick

rickyblaze

I did some checking and I may have found the problem. The control assembly itself was loose where it connects to the fuselage. I mean really sloppy must have been all those hard landings. Going to replace line and tighen screws then try flying it to see if that fixed it it surley won't hurt it any.

LarryWC

My Feedback: (1)

Hmmmm.. deja vue! I just broke my first wing in-half!! sniff.. I want to see how much these can be repaired so I'm going to put it back together... Also my control board was loose also.. I got no response for control... probably because it was so loose that the surfaces would not move with the air flowing against them. It was great in pre-flop.. I mean flight..lol
let ya know how the wing repair goes.. kinda don't want to give up 15 bux for a wing..

rickyblaze

Well I fixed everthing that I could find that needed fixed and still flies out of control or I should say very little control ae full left barely left full right barely right and up hardly any response also. I am at a loss as to why this bird doe'nt want to fly any help would be appreciated

Rick

LarryWC

My Feedback: (1)

Hmmmmmmm..
Well.. let's see.. Hard Landings? Same here.. I'd almost bet the tail boom popped out of the little snap holder inside the fuse. Open the cockpit hatch and see it its popped out. Mine did and from a lot of other posts.. this is a weak point in the bird.. if it's out.. snap it back in and put a tye wrap on it. Do a search here on RCUnivers and RCGroups for a thread from "Lakedude" or "Screamin_Injun" they have posted a tone of fixes and tips/tricks for the "Bird"
Got the wing back together. Need to sand it and add the tape.. try it tomorrow night..

rickyblaze

Fixed the tail boom last week. Still lookin

Rick

rickyblaze

I gave in and ordered a new fuselage I hope this fixes it if not I will climb it as high as I can and power dive it into the ground. Maybe even make a video of it,coool.

Rick

LarryWC

My Feedback: (1)

EEEEEEHa! Send me the video..
afore ya suicide it.. are the servos working at all? Look into the fuse and work your stick.. see if there is movement... Don't mean to imply anything, but sometimes I do a Homer Simpson too.. like everey time I get outta bed..lol

rickyblaze

Hey my middle name is Homer but I did check all the actions and the control surfaces move in accordance with the manual. I have read all I have found about this and tried everything I found and still no good. I thought for sure I found the problem when I found the control module loose as I descibed in the above thread.
The only thing I have'nt tried is to restring the controls with new line as somebody else suggested,I even went as far as to buy some monofilament tonight but then I ordered a new fuse. What gets me is when it was new it reacted pretty good but now even with all the mods and new tail it is terrible. Hopefully the new fuse will make a difference maybe something is just outa whack including the plane. It may be a loose nut behind the transmitter or something I don't know.

Rick

LarryWC

My Feedback: (1)

Rick..
Just for giggles and grins...if you want to send me just the fuse no electronics I'll slip my board into it and check it for ya.. I'll pay for return shipping if ya want to.. I'm channel 1,.. I was having the same probs.. little if any action out of control surfaces.. fella at the LHS set it back up and now I can pretty much get what action I need.
Larry

wings

I started with the Aerobird. It taught me to fly and can take a beating. Served it's purpose I guess. But I recent went to glow powered and you would not believe how much better a quality plane can be. I fly the hell out of my LT-40. It always does what I want and I very rarely crash (knock on wood).

With that being said, I still fly the aerobird now and then and I can't believe I had the patience to put up with it. When if flies correctly, it flies great. But with mine, about 50 percent of the time something is wrong with it. In my opinion it was a good plane to learn on, because I learned. But... I have a feeling there is a much higher quality plane out there around the same price range that you could probably learn on.

I can't hammer on the aerobird too bad because it did teach me to fly. But all in all, I hate it. Its undependable.

The boom came loose on me till a permanately repaired it, landing gear is always bending until it is fatigued, even on good landings. The engine cuts out all the time when flying, no matter what battery I am using. Have to adjust the control strings about every other flight. Hell, get this, I was flying it the other day and I went way up, spiraled down for while, I'll admit it was going pretty fast, but when I pulled up the wings just folded up, lol. Straight to the ground.


I guess my point is, its a good plane to learn on, but it is very cheaply made and has a lot of quality issues.

Wings,