Has anyone been successful in flying these ? I've seen videos on YouTube...

No matter what I do...the plane augers into the ground.

Okay...I'm a newbie...but have real flying experience. I've been a pilot for 5 years.
I've built these planes...all looks great....I've tried hand launching and runway take offs. I find that often...trying to get the plane to go straight is more difficult than anything...even after trimming the front gear !!

So..I've tried hand launching the plane....aerilons are straight, elevators are lined up....throw it at a 45degree angle...and the plane just goes out 30 feet...and usually rolls and augers....or just augers in. Seems to not respond to any controls....although pre-flight...all control surfaces work fine !!!
*** ?

I'm sure it's me....but I don't know what else to try...any suggestions would be helpful.

Find someone that knows how to fly RC and let them see if they can fly it.

It is different than flying for real. Alot of pilots have difficulty learning how to fly RC.

This might not be the best plane to learn with. Again find someone that actually knows how to fly RC planes if they can't get it to fly and no responce then something is probabaly wrong with the model.

Good luck.

Lol Indeed!

thanks for the insight...

I had purchased a trainer...and software. Was able to do takeoffs and landings...and fly pretty well.
My guess is you just don't take these things out of the box...and fly them. I'm assuming there is balancing that needs to be done
that no one talks about !

CG has to be found...and balanced I'm assuming.

Thanks again for the response.

Yes, any plane requires setup and a good going over.

EDF's do not have air being pushed over their control surfaces unlike prop planes, so they tend to wallow around or feel mushy as they get slow.

This catches the inexperienced by surprise with exactly the results you describe.

Your plane needs to be gone over.

On the F4, the neutral point of the elevator has the trailing edge of the control surface a bit higher than the leeding edge, holding the nose level in flight.

The rudder control needs to be centered by adjusting the berg screw holding the wire.

These little things are essential to do, no matter who's plane you've purchased, but they are not known by a typical newbie.

In RC,

100% ready to fly means, about 60 minutes to configure and trim out, plus time needed for battery charging.
RTF means about 2 hours to put together.
ARF means about 10-20 hours of construction
Kit means a whole season of work or MORE.