ChrisPetersen

My Feedback: (3)

I am seeking advice, Pros and cons of both. I have a spare P200sx brand new and I am looking for a fun sport jet to put some hours on. I fly at 4600 ft altitude off of 600 ft paved runway. I have narrowed down my choices to a Carf Ultra Lightning or a Tomahawk Futura. I know there both great jets, but I've never seen the Lightning flying/landing. I know the Futura looks like a ***** cat to land.
So I am up for advice from guys that have flown the two. I just want a fun jet to kick around.
Thanks!

jws_aces

My Feedback: (33)

Chris, I had a classic lighting and like it. I mostly fly scale but I were to buy another sport jet it would hands down be the Rebel Pro. It may not be as fast as the ultra lighting but it can be flown 3D to super slow flight and will fly pretty darn fast. I am sure the 200 will push up to and beyond the 200mph.

racer8297

My Feedback: (13)

Chris,

I have an Ultra Lighting with a Jet Central Mammoth in it. It goes 200 at half throttle and slows down to a crawl to land. I fly it off of grass. Also, I've seen many Futuras fly both off grass and pavement and it seems to do equally as well. I would say that it comes down to which one looks better to your eye. You won't go wrong with either choice.

From what I've seen, it seems that the Futura has a slightly slower landing speed than the UL.

And as Jeff says, the Rebel Pro is a great flying airplane also! Just to make matters a bit more complicated for you!

DUCMOZ

Hi

I have not had a lightning but have a few similar sport jets and a Futura 2.5. If you are trying to fly fast, it is not the plane. But if you enjoy doing aerobatics and smooth consistent flight, hands down is the best plane you could buy. The quality of the kit is great and the final weight of mine came to 37.5LB with full UAT and a 180RX.

I hope this helps.

Behzad

Springbok Flyer

Chris,

A friend of mine that I fly with a lot has both and have been flying them for some time now. I could give you my impressions and tell you which one I have decided to get myself, but I think you should ask him directly. You can pm him on here - ColinAllen, Robina, Australia.

Good luck.

Jan

rc4flying

My Feedback: (21)

I would suggest you look into the Pirotti Models "Rebel Pro" sold by Elite Aerosports. tI is a great sport jet and a true delight to fly. The jet would be great with a 200. I have the Pro and enjoy the plane totally. Plus it is a lite airframe and will land at a very slow speed. I don't' think you should overlook the plane as a possibility. No disappointment here.

Viper1GJ

My Feedback: (20)

I have an Avanti XXL but would do the Rebel Pro if it were a do over.
Gary

FenderBean

Hands down the rebel pro, I have one with a p200 and it's a complete joy to fly. I hand tha avanti xxl prior to and they both land about the same but the the top end speed is much better on the pro. I had a p200 in both. The rebel has real nice lines and if you want to crazy 3D you can get the thrust vectoring pipe. Plus you can't beat the service and delivery times from Scott and Pablo from elite!

dlpeirce

My Feedback: (10)

Hey Chris, have not flown the Ultra Lightning but I love my Futura. As others have said more constant speed than something to go fast with although we put a gps in mine and it came back showing 190+mph which is about as hard as I want to push it. It lands at a crawl and flys so smooth and precise which is what I love anyway. The Rebel Pro looks like a great jet as does the Wizard L which I believe is the largest of the new sport / aerobatic jets on the market and should be great quality coming from ZN Line. If you would like to fly a Futura send me a note and we will hook it up for you to give mine a go.
Darin

lxfly

Hi Chris,

All these are great jets I think. Always loved the Futura , but it was to long for me for transportation (so i just have the small version).
Sawing Rebel Pro 2 years ago at Jetpower and building it for now, I may divide fuselage for transportation. Great jet and quality of parts.

Consider delivery time as well; for me it was 6 months for the Rebel.

ChrisPetersen

My Feedback: (3)

I appreciate everyone who has commented! I really like both of them it may come down to a coin toss??
Darin I remember a bitw you didn't let you're Futura take a break all day! It looked like a great flying plane. The Rebel Pro looks like it would be fantastic but it's starting to get into the "hard to haul" size for a plane that I hope can be an every weekend flyer. The UL and Futura I think I can haul assembled to the field in my trailer.
Thanks again

i3dm

My Feedback: (51)

I have flown all 3 jets - Futura 2.5, Rebel Pro and UL.

Here is my insight.

UL - most aggressive airframe of the 3 - fast, precise and sharp! also lands faster than other 2.
Futura and Rebel Pro - very similar performance, baloon type sport jet - slow flights, slow aerobatics and so on is where they excel. for me personally i liked the Futura's flying qualities more than the Rebel Pro, but they really do fly similar. for short runways - these jets are great.

the UL with P-200SX will fly loops around any Futura or Rebel Pro any day of the week!
Rebel Pro and Futura would probably fly 350-400kmh with a 200 while the lightning probably 500+kmh or so - these are all estimated.

so it really depends on your flying style. since my flying style is on the aggressive side (fast & hard) you can surely understand why i chose UL, here is an example video (with UF):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTVLCJ0hdDM if you need any more asistance, id be glad to help.

BTW - never ever seen a UL slows to a crawl to land. not to say they land very fast, but definitely not a crawl, and definitely faster than Futura and Rebel Pro which i can personally land on a 150 foot runway easily with spare.