Hello RC fellows,

I just like to know what you guys think about this. I am very close to ordering the FMA Flifgr Stabilization System and the Co-Pilot to install on all my scale expensive planes. The field that I fly is getting radio hits every now and then. The system is designed to reject any signals that do not come from your own TX. But if you have radio hits, then plane will go into a preprogrammed setting like circling around. The copilot is designed to "upright" your plane in case you are getting hit inverted. The cost with shipping is about 270.00. I have read RAVE reviews about how happy the customers are. FMA people are raving bout it when I talked to them. Please give me honest opinion if such investment is needed to prevent hearbreaks. Thanks !!! DP

Dai,
What's it worth to you? The products you are talking about are virtually bullet-proof but expensive. My opinion is that if you have the money BUY IT. It will save your plane.

Garcay,

I assume you have personnaly used the product? Please give me feedback if you do. Thanks DP

For the planes I fly, I could buy another with that 270 bucks. However, if I had a really expensive plane, and I knew my field was voo-doo, then I'd go for it. Sounds like a good deal, kind of a co-pilot of sorts.

Hello,

FMA will be really happy today to know that I will place an order for 10 of them! That comes to 2700.00 bucks!!! Well the bright side is that I still keep my BMW, no credit check hassle and the whole process only takes 30 minutes or less !!! Hate those loan sharks!!! DP

No, I haven't, but the fellows in my club do. I have flown their planes and tested the system by trying to crash the plane. If you let go of the sticks it will correct itself.

I would have bought a frequency scanner first. Find out what channels are getting hit then go to a different channel. Or buy a Synthesized Transmitter Module and Receiver Synthesized. That way you could choose what channel you want to use. I think that would have been a better buy for "Expensive" plane(s) than to get those co-pilot things.

Read a little more about those things. They can also act against you fighting your stick movements from your normal type of flying. They are intended mostly for beginners.

Also if you are flying in a bad location and you know you get hit and this continues you may need to think about relocating flying sites. That can be dangerous and someone could get hurt.

Just a thought.

http://www.towerhobbies.com/products.../hcap0340.html

You would be money ahead by getting a good PCM radio, sharpening your flying skills before flying expensive planes and forgetting the gimic garbage to keep it right side up. If you can't do that yourself, get a wild thing .15 size plane, set it up really sensitive and learn to fly it really well. You will be a lot better pilot. Copilots and other things may keep it right side up or fly it for you, but they make you lazy, don't teach you anything, and do nothing to improve your skills.

You fly RC for a reason. To fly them. You don't need cheater crutches to fly them for you or you are not flying the right kind of planes.

Hello Flyboy,

You see, the problem here is NOT because of my flying skills but the due to the RADIO HITS at our field. The latest crash (my GP TM) was flown by our best pilot (a placed former Top Gun contestant) and the crash was due to radio hit. I understand that the system will NOT allow you to do steep turns near the horizon because it is DESIGNED to prevent that. Now, I love to bank my O-1 Bird Dog near the ground in search of VC target but I know that I will not be able to do so anymore. But then I don't have to worry about "when is it gonna to hit" anymore. I install these system only on high end planes. DP

So you are going to continue to fly these High End planes knowing that you are getting radio hits?

I don't know, is it just me or does that not sound like a good idea. I mean you made several remarks towards these planes letting us know that they are expensive and we all know that know. Yet you still insist on flying at a field that gets hit? You might as well fly with half dead batteries and bad servos in that case.

Not to sound like a killjoy but there is more at risk besides your Expensive High End planes. Think about people around you. These gadgets are not going to save the day.

About 15 years ago I flew at a field before that I got hit over and over. At the time I was flying a Cheap $40 plane with everything under $200 roughly. I never flew there again.

Just best to fly smart than regret later.

Hello,

The solution is not as easy as one may think. Perhaps someone in the Albuquerque area may give me some input in this discussion. In our area, there are two main fields that people fly. One field is occupied mostly by gas and mine is exclusively for ONLY electrics. My field is the place that we gather on Saturday morning to enjoy each other. Some days we have no hits but then some days we get pretty bad hits but everyone is flying there. The field is our club's hangout and I really hate to leave that field. But I want to fly my scale planes too so the only solution is to install these fail-safe system. The other field is much smaller and there are HUGE ROCKS on the side of the runway. If you make a dead stick and can't get back to the paved runway, then you are SOL as those rocks will rip the landing gear out in a flash. My field is all green grass as far as the eye can see. So that is my dilemma. DP

You should go with the PCM set up. One radio, a bunch of receivers and you get to actualy fly the plane not just ride along. I also fly at a field that gets hits in two spots over the field. all channels suffer this problem and the only thing we have found to combat it is PCM.

Miloh.

I agree with Floored Cobra. Get yourself a good scanner such as Icom. They make several models. Take a few days off from flying and do a frequency scanning study. That should tell you where your problem freq. are.
Good Luck

The fail safe systems you talk about will not save a plane. If you are getting hit, find out why. Fences, buildings, towers close, rail road. Something is causing it. Don't waste money on something that will just cause the plane to go into free flight, find the problem. Get PCM radios, or find the problem. If you get hit with these systems, the plane will still crash, maybe wings level a long ways away, but still crash.

Solve the hit problem