Flying the JMP Firebird again!
 

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After 4 years of sitting on a shelf I got the firebird out again this weekend. With 60lbs of thrust this jet still manages to scare me in that good way. Still an unbelievable airplane! I've missed this bird!

Well done Jeremy.

Congrats.

Hi Jeremy,
Suuper - you are back in business !!
A real man`s machine it is !
Mine is going to fly next year - new set up it will have - Jets Munt 210 for push and 3 kg ( 7 pounds ) lighter than with the Oly !
It will be a treat to fly, I know that !
see you
Hans

Still flying your Firebird?
 

Hey there Jeremy,
Haven't seen/heard you on the forums in a while and wondered if you're still flying that drop dead gorgeous Firebird?
I picked up one a couple of years ago and need to decide what turbine to put in it....your thoughts/advice would be most welcome!
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Hi Bill,
Well, I am not Jeremy of course, but I do own the Frebird as well !
It was regurarly flown with the AMT Olympus that I handed over to Jeremy some time ago ! He still is the biggest fan of the AMT`s !
Now, I have completed Tom`s Hustler as well and both jets will share the single xicoy X225 in the future - very light, fully integrated and beautifully made !
With a second intallation kit, turbine swap will be easy !
The set up will be 4pounds lighter than the Oly with almost the same powerlevel !
Unfortunately, Beni van de Goor did not do any new things to his smaller range of motors - so they have all been left with the technology of 10 to 15 years ago !
They represent an iphone 1, whereas xicoys are iphone 15 standard ! ( ehm yes, you can still make calls with that iphone 1 ! )
Just my two cents

Hey Bill
I haven't flown anything in the last 2 years. Work has been insanely busy and this past year I was planning for our fall event but I had some serious personal issues arise and being away at an event just simply wasn't a smart choice for me at the time. I still have all my stuff, my firebird has the Olympus HP in it (my kingcat also has an Olympus HP from Hans that he had in his firebird originally), they are big and heavy but I have 100% faith in my amts. The last time I flew my firebird I had a flame out do to my lips ecu pack completely crapping itself. I was north of 300mph though so had more than enough speed to bring it around and land with minimal damage (one gear door).
hopefully next year I'll get out and do some flying. The tough part is the firebird friendly field is 3 hours away and we have to plan well in advance as it's a full scale active airport.

Life does that to us all at some point.....my last 18 months were dedicated to taking care of my 97+ year old Mom, along with one of my sisters. It was truly a fantastic time, even though challenging, as we grew closer with our mother then we'd ever been. She went home to be with The Lord at the end of October, and though I miss her terribly, I know that she's in Heaven singing His praises!

Question for Firebird owners....
What do you consider to be an 'appropriately sized' turbine for the Firebird?
On the JMP website the recommended range for turbines goes from 18 to 40 lbs..so I'm trying to get 'real world' feedback
Thx,
Bill

i know that one of the prototypes, way back then, was flown successfully on a jetcat p-120.
Tom said it flew fine, longer take off run.

have seen others fly with a 120.
my current one has a sw 140.

The question I asked myself was what is the appropriate flying I want to do? With no 200mph restriction here the answer was easy. 60lbs of thrust is what was appropriate. With today's new tech turbines, yeah a lower weight would be nice but the jet handles the weight of the Olympus no problem and outside of my lips ecu pack failing in flight I have never had an amt flame out and that reliability is why to this day I still fly amt.

😎😎😎

Erik....your Rockin' Robin was one of the best looking Firebird's out there, in a class with Jeremy's color changing version.
Anyone who wanted to see what a Firebird could do need only have watched Erik fly his.....truly an outstanding aircraft in extremely capable hands!

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Thanks for the kind words bud. Obviously, you can reach out to me anytime, for help on your Firebird. It will fly well on a 160, but if I did another one, I’d put a Swiwin 300 in it.

Fuel capacity is an issue, if you run it hard with a big block. I wound up putting an extra tank in mine, because I had to set up to land after 3 minutes, running it hard with the Mammoth in it. Gary Mueller from JetTech makes one for it.

Another thing is, the inner main gear doors will open at extremely high speeds. I wound up putting servo actuated locking pins on it to stop that.

Lastly, Shui and I both broke our bulkheads, that make up the wing spars, running them hard. It’s very easy to pull big G’s at extreme speeds, even when you’re trying your best to be smooth. We sandwiched carbon on both sides of the bulkheads that make up the inner main spars.

There is nothing like a Firebird. Ultimate adrenaline machine, but not for the feint of heart. Good luck bud, and Happy Thanksgiving! 😎

Erik,
Your assistance and knowledge is always welcome my friend.....there are few that know the Firebird, or any high-speed jet, like you!
Hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving
Bill