I am very interested in the Boomerang, Facet and AV8R. These are the only 3 that I am interested in. Please post your comments and rate these planes if you own them. I am looking for ratings such as ease of build, and building instructions mainly. Price doesn't matter at this time. I did see the Boomerang fly and was very impressed. I also saw a Facet fly and it too looked impressive. The AV8R that I saw may have had radio issues and went down shortly after take off. I am leaning more and more toward the Facet 2300 and the Boomerang. Any and all comments would be much appreciated.

Thanks!!!

I have a Boomerang, and off the top of my head I can't think of anything I don't like about it. Maybe it's size, but that's only for transport, if I didn't have a trailer I would get tired off breaking it down to fit in the pickup or car or whatever, I think it would probabally fit in a pickup with an 8' bed however. I don't know what the larger facet would sell for, but the boomerang will most likely be the most expensive to get in the air, and from the amount of time people are reporting it takes to build the AV8R or a Facet it probabally will take a bit longer to build. It is not hard to build, but there is just alot of it to build . It would take about any turbine you would want to put on it, I believe Alan said he even flew his with a Wren 54, I am at 5000' and don't believe I would want to power it with anything less than a 17-20 lb class turbine, mine is powered by a P-120 and hopefully soon a P-160, the 120 works great but I would like a bit more vertical, mine is around 30lbs wet. As for flying the boomerang, its a piece of cake, I fly it off of 400' easily and it will do anything I am capable of making it do . It will fly amazing slow and also has a fair bit of speed, but by no means is it fast maybe 120 or so tops, maybe not even that when I first installed the P-120 I set the limiter for 120 and according to the gsu I never got close.
I can easily say the Boomerang is one of the best flying planes I've ever owned, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the three though, if you decide on the boomer and have any further questions just ask.

Regards Jack

Jack,

Great information. I do appreciate your response. I have heard of "pros" putting the bomerang together in 2 weeks. lol....I guess if we all have a bunch of time this can be done. But that was another one of my concerns. I have the itch now and wanted something that went together quickly but also fly's as slow as the Boomerang if needed. I also heard that the AV8R can be framed in a day. All laser cut parts. But yet the Facet is a short kit and all of the wood is not included in the kit, which isn't a bad thing, since this save's some $$$ if you have a bunch of Balsa lying around. I did talk to the designer of the Facet and the Boomerang and they are great people. I tend to do my homework instead of buying on impulse. That is why I opened this forum and poll. Thanks again for the information. I will keep you posted as to what I decide on. By the way, nice picture. I love the color scheme. Talk to you soon!

-John

I jumped in to the jet frenzy about a month ago and purchased a new SimJet 1200. At the time I bought it, I also purchased the Facet kit which is marketed by SimJet and designed by Mr. Sterner. I can say it is a very straightforward kit with no surprises. In about two days I have completed the basic airframe and now have to finish sheeting the fuse and finishing it out the wings. The short kit he sells is composed of all of the formers which are laser cut, as well as a super nice machined front gear. I have nothing bad to say about it so far, but I haven't flwon it yet.
Tommy

John
I guess I didn't type what I was thinking very well (lol), the boomerang does build pretty fast, but from what I was reading about the others being framed up in about a week or so it seemed to me it would just take a bit longer than they do. Seems like mine was started around the 1st of July and all done and flying the middle of Sept, but that was not working on it real hard.

Jack

FWIW I think the Facet is the best looking out the 3. IMO

I really like the Facet at Florida. very simple to transport which is very important IMHO. Looked rather fast as well in the air.

I got nothing against the other planes, Boomerang is just not my cup of tea but can fly unbelievably slow, and I did not get a chance to see an avaitor fly.

Good luck with any choice. I am thinking about a Facet 2300 with a P-80 or P-70.

I'm covering my Boomerang at the moment. The build itself is quite simple, but as has been pointed out, there is just a lot of model to build.

The most time-consuming task for me was sanding. I went to town and rounded the booms far more than many others have with the intent of losing as much weight as possible behind the cg.

I have no experience with either the Facet or AV8R and I'm sure they are good models, but here's what I wanted

- something that I can get in and out of short, rough fields
- something that has aerobatic potential close to a 2m pattern ship
- something that I can strap a 30# turbine into and turn the wick all the way up.
- something that was as large as possible while breaking down and fitting in my car. Sure, it's a bit more effort to pull apart and put back together, but for my money bigger models are so much smoother in the air.

So for me it came down to the Boomerang. Given the Aust/UK exchange rate, as well as freight, my Boomerang ended up costing quite a bit, but I feel it will be well worth the expense if it performs as well as everyone who has flown one says it does.

I have also found Alan to be exceptional to deal with as a manufacturer and even better as a person. I look forward to the opportunity to meet and fly with him if I find my way over to the UK some time this year.

Regards,
Garrett

I would think that any of us would be hard pressed to pick a best trainer. I have seen them all and they all have their good and bad points.

The boomerang is big slow and aerobatic.


The Facet is small fast, gets airborn in about 75 feet. But it is small (1200 size) and really fast.

The AV8R is in my opinion more trainer like. I flies like a trainer. It is aerobatic (not as much as the boomerang) But looks to land beter than the small facet.

The AV8r is the most complete out of the box. They all look to build about the same. Great cutting and fit of parts.

I lean more to the AV8R Just because it is complete, and looks easy to fly.

I have an AV8r on the way I should have it done in about two weeks. If you can wait that long drive over and fly it. I am about 3 hrs from you. (just a thought)

It boils down to a Ford-Chevy-Dodge choice they are all great in their own rights. Just pick one Build it and fly the wheels off it...

Thnderjet

ThunderJet,

Thanks for the info. I would love to see your AV8R fly once it's together. Send me a PM and let me know where you fly, and I can definately schedule a business trip out that way.

Also, I want to thank everybody who reply so far. There is allot of good information being posted in this thread. I think this will be a help to me and anybody else who is deciding on these planes. Keep posting and keep voting!!!

Thanks again!

Well, FJ was the first flights on my Facet and with the winds and the amount of runway I had to work with, I did not use the flaps on landing. I truely did not do justice to the slow landing capability of the Facet. I did however play with some flap settings at altitude and in the stiff breeze, it just about hovered there. Some people did witness this flight. This baby WILL slow down. I was planning on putting it through the wringer this weekend, but thieves had different plans. Hopefully I see my Facet soon, but if not, I'll have to build another fly the wheels off her.

Remember, you all saw the 1200 (small), the 2300 has a 90" wing and is by no means, small. The 2300 is also available now.

Enjoy whichever one you choose, they are all winners and you won't go wrong with any of them.

George

I don't think you can compare a Boomerang with either an AV8r or a Facet. However for an easy to build and fly jet the AV8r is my preference as I am not into large a/c. I am a just drop it into the van and when ready to fly, bolt on the wing, fuel and go fly. It doesn't get any simpler than that. The kit is a snap to build and comes with every piece needed to complete it except the fuel tank. The laser cut parts are just about a perfect fit and can be framed up in three evenings. Three rolls of covering complete the package. So far I have flown 2 of them in the past few weeks and they are an easy platform to gain turbine experience with the sticks. I guess I am kind of partial to the two tailed bird

I saw Georges facet fly at FLJ. It was most impressive for a trainner, and very unique off all the jets there. It deffinitly stood out in that big crowed of jets. George I hope you get your jets back and I am sorry for all the bad luck you have had... I know what its like to loose a jet and have nothing to recover, This just tears at me too to know some one would steal your stuff George.

David Rivera

Thanks Dave. Enjoy that 3000, it ought to scream. Here's another pic of the Facet compliments of TN.

Jetflyer,

Just wondering, I notice the Five Jet in your avatar. I don't know very much about that model. Is it a kit? How would you compare it to the other trainers? Looks like it would be a nice docile flying bird.

George,

Kerry told me about your misfortune. I hope you get your airplanes back. All of us in PA will be on the lookout for them.

In two weeks , the Lebanon, PA swap meet( touted tobe the largest in the US) will be held, we'll keep our eyes open for them at that meet.

Good to hear that the FACET flew so well for you at FJ. I know you wanted to show its slow flying capabilities. When Kerry Sterner(the designer), Bob Boswell, Mark Frankel and I test flew it at Shawnee in the Pocono's, it flew very nicely at very low speed with flaps deployed and was able to do just about every manuver an IMAC airplane is capable of doing.

Hope you can recover your airplanes and equipment.


Tom

The AV8R is the right choice in my opinion. You have all the essential needs as a jet "trainer" should have. Fairly inexpensive start up cost, very easy building design, ease of turbine access, ease of maintenance, PCM support is always there. Did I mention and fun to fly?!?! I had a chance to fly the AV8R of off grass one day and it was a blast. I was very surprised how maneuverable it actually was. Touch and go's all day long. Fuel and go! The conclusion, one great design.

Dean Di Giorgio, President
World Miniature Warbird Assoc.
Team Jr Member
CJM Demo Pilot
www.WMWA.org

I too Agree with ICEMAN... The AV8R is the way to go.. I also had the pleasure of flying it and was very impressed with the jet trainer, not to mention the cost and great support from PCM... Keep up the great work Pat...

I have a few friends that have flown the AV8R and they said it is the jet to start with . They both said it was a ball to fly. The support from PCM is excellent as well.

John VH,

I'm with you, I think the FACET is the best looking of the bunch. Looks like the simplest too.

The Boomerang is obviously a great trainer, but because of its size, price, and building effort required it seems to be in a category all its own.

The FACET, AV8R and Super Reaper all seem like terrific airplanes. If I was starting all over again I would go with one of them without hesitation.

It would be great to hear from someone who has flown all three.

Id like to see video of them flying off grass!
Maybe they could make a small facet for the new baby jetcats

Hi John:

Where do you wish for me to send the VIDEO per your request?

Mark Frankel did video of several of our test outings.

ALL FACET test flying was done off grass as we do not have any hard surface runways in our area.

One other note, the FACET 1200 comes in at 5.8# w/ no engine or radio and will be used as the test bed for the new SIMJET-700 flight evaluation by GNM.

Best Regards:
Kerry J. Sterner
SIMJET of Penn.
[email protected]

Check you PM

I only have VHS video at this time as was suggesting forwarding it in that format.

I'm having it converted next week to a format that can be e-mailed.

Will forward at that time when converted.

Thank you.

Kerry S.

I have just finished my av8r before Fl Jets mine was the one right in front of the PCM Booth, silver with panel lines and a checkerboard bottom. With all of the crosswind and a new plane I choose not to test fly it there. I will report back asap on it. I am starting a pair of 2300 Facet's this week with a friend so we will report back on them as well. Mark and I build together on weds nights and this is our next project.