NitroPlanes.com

Pro Jet F-4E Turbo Twin-70MM Fiberglass EDF Jet * First Test Run *

2009-10-03T02:42:00.001-07:00

This is the F-4E Phantom from Pro Jet, exclusively sold on NitroPlanes.com. Coming soon! Extreme detail. Twin 70mm electric turbine engine. Fast and nimble. Years and years of research.

Pro Jet F-4E Turbo Twin-70MM Fiberglass EDF Jet * First Test Run *

2009-10-01T21:39:00.001-07:00

This is the F-4E Phantom from Pro Jet, exclusively sold on NitroPlanes.com. Coming soon! Extreme detail. Twin 70mm electric turbine engine. Fast and nimble. Years and years of research.

Visit http://www.rcdiscuss.com/blog for the latest radio controlled toys!

CMP DeHavilland Mosquito twin

2008-12-14T05:03:00.000-08:00

It's pretty awesome. The airplane has something of a bad reputation because the CG listed in the manual is wrong, horribly wrong, as in crash-your-airplane-as-soon-as-you-take-off-wrong. I recognzed it right away and set my CG at about 25% of chord before the first flight, and she flew like a champ...
Here is my setup...it's ALL Nitroplanes gear except the retract servos and the receiver, which are Spektrum/JR gear:
5 Towerpro standard servos
2 Monster Power 46 motors
2 60A Volcano ESCs with BECs
5 Fusion Power 5s 3200 lipos
CMP/Nitroplanes mechanical retracts
2 JR retract servos
2 12/8 APC props
2 CMP P-51 style spinners

Here are my mods from the standard kit:
Repainted black
Added extensions to the fronts of the cowls to make the spinners fair in better
Made outer wing panels removeable
Electric conversion
Removeable canopy

The 46 motors power it well, and the 3200s give at least ten minutes' duration.
For glow engines, I think a pair of 32-40 engines would be fine.
It flies very well indeed, no issues in the air, looks great and tracks great. The flaps, even though they all run off one servo, are not an issue. They are very effective, she will slow down nicely for landing, but don't get too cutesy by getting too slow, it will most certainly fall off on one of those narrow wingtips if you do. It's not a scary plane to fly at all, but it's not a park flyer, either!

It's a heck of a deal at $219, an awful lot of stuff in the box, and everything is of very good quality.

NITROPLANES RED SERIES LIPO BATTERIES

2008-10-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

These new batteries in the red shrink wrap, they are totally different from the Fusion Power ones I had been using. They are true 25c batteries, and I have been hammering them hard in highpowered EDF models, and they have held up to many runs, charging while hot, all no problems, no puffing. They also have another feature, the end is set in some sort of white plastic liquid that hardens, to the balance and power leads can't be pulled out by accident, ruining the battery.
I'm very happy...top quality serious batteries for high power applications, for a cheap price, and shipped right here from the USA, without waiting a month for them to come in from the Far East, and maybe be dodgy anyway...

Nitroplanes Flymodel Cessna 401 Twin

2008-09-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

Flymodel keeps growing and learning, it really shows in this plane. The quality and engineering is excellent. It goes together VERY fast, far and away the fastest twin to build I have ever done. Everything fits perfectly, and the level of prefabrication is very high. The instructions are English and decent, a step above what this factory has turned out before, about middle of the road as far as instructions go. It shows that they have been listening and trying very hard.
It comes with fixed gear, and it's set up for retracts, too. I am waiting on a set of Robart air retracts to complete my plane. Mechanical retracts could be done, with a little engineering on your part.
I am using two each of Exceed Monster Power 46 outrunners, Raiden 80A Escs, and Fusion Power 3200 5s lipos. The servos are all Towerpro SG5010 standards. I have used a bunch of them before with no issues, they are quite a bargain. Normally, on a plane this size, which will end up at least 10 pounds, I'd use something stronger on the elevators, but this plane is set up with two elevator servos, so standard servos are just fine. I will be using a seperate UBEC on one of the batteries to power the radio. Actually, maybe two of them.
On previous large twins like the B25, P82, and Mosquito, I have used 5000mah packs, but long flights of 10 minutes or so have left me landing with over half the battery still left, so this time, I went with 3200, should be plenty.
The nacelles are each one large fiberglass piece. This makes access to the interior very easy. If you wanted to, it would be easy enough to cut off the cowl portions to make them seperate. What engines will fit? It is set up for two 40s, I think four strokes should go in without any real problem, too. With my electrics, I made up my own plywood box motor mounts, but nice nylon mounts and good quality fuel tanks and tubing are all included in the kit, if you want to go glow.
Did I mention how nice the glasswork and paint are? Along with all the woodwork and covering? Nice quality, and LIGHT. Much lighter than anything by CMP, as much as I like CMP stuff.
Oh...and you can't tell from the pictures, but it includes split flaps, too.
I swapped out a few pieces of hardware along the way...what is included is good quality, but I don't like using EZ connectors on flight controls, so I soldered threaded couplers onto my elevator and rudder pushrods and added clevises instead. The rest of the hardware all got used.
There is a nice set of decals(stickers) included. Not sure what of them I will use, I want to make mine a little different from the box top.
Update...the plane flies BEAUTIFULLY, with no bad habits, and a VERY slow landing speed.
Fast, aerobatic, but easy to fly. The flaps work great.
Here is my setup:
2x Monster Power 46 outrunners
2x Raiden 80a ESCs
2x Fusion Power 3200mah 5s lipos
Towerpro 5010 standard servos
Tigertracts spring-down air retracts
Seperate BEC running off one of the lipo batteries...
12x6 props, 2" spinners

I love it. It looks great, and it flies great, and it gets a ton of attention at the field. Everybody who sees it is impressed, and nobody can beleive this model is only $200, it looks like a $700 model. And the electric systems I used to fit it out are dirt cheap, too. It's awesome.
Many pleasant surprises with this model, you get more than you pay for, for sure, it's not cheap Chinese junk, but a first class product from a company that is really going places.

Exceed Starmax Lockheed F-35 Lightning II ARF EDF

2008-09-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

Another one from Andy Chen. And it's GORGEOUS. Spectacular appearance, very scale, great paint and decals.
Assembly takes about 45 minutes. Skip the included contact cement, use epoxy instead. It is set up with three servos...linked stabs and ailerons on each side, but it gives you the option of adding two more servos to operate stabs and ailerons seperately if you prefer. An extra set of four pushrods are thoughtfully included, along with spots to drop the two servos right in.

And it flies BEAUTIFULLY. Fast...maybe the fastest of all the 64mm EDF jobs out there, with excellent vertical performance. Very stable, but very maneuverable. I am flying off pavement, have not tried hand-launching it yet...

Update...about 50 flights later, the plane still does not have a scratch on it, and it's still one of my favorite foamy jets, it's just a lot of fun to fly, and very high quality.

ArtTech Jetiger EDF

2008-09-15T06:12:00.000-07:00

A very nice model. Molded from EPO foam, much tougher than the regular EPS, it can take quite a beating.
Everything needed to fly except 8aa batteries for the transmitter are included. Even a screwdriver!
Assembly takes only fifteen minutes...you need to screw the two fins into place, then stick on the nose and tailcone, then off you go.
A nice simualator disk and a cable to connect the TX to your computer are included as a bonus.
There is a 1320 15c lipo battery and a quality 110v balance charger also.
The TX is a very decent FM narrow band job, the RX is a six channel, and both have worked with no issues to the limits of vision.
So...how does she fly? Very nicely. Hand launch is super easy, there are hand grip holes built into the bottom. She is clean and pretty fast, maybe 70mph, and capable of doing most aerobatics. Very easy to land, slows down well. A great introduction to jet models, or a nice bit of fun for the more advanced pilot. One very nice aspect is it does not take up a lot of room in the car, and the nature of the EPO foam is that it is very resistant to dings and scratches, so you can throw it in the trunk and not worry so much.
I noticed a substantial performance increase when I used one of the new Nitroplanes Red 20c 1500 lipos over the stock one...the extra power is great. The battery compartment could be easily opened up to accomodate something even larger, if you wanted.

Exceed RC F-18 EDF

2008-09-01T17:43:00.001-07:00

A very nice model, designed by Andy Chen at Starmax. If you are bored with the performance of the regular 64mm EDF models out there, and are looking for something a little larger, with much higher performance, this is for you.
It has a 70mm fan and uses a 4s 2200 lipo, and is capable of 80mph at least right out of the box.
It also can handle whatever power upgrades you want to throw at it.
The landing gear is unique, it is fixed gear with the mains in a non-scale semi-retracted position for much less drag. It looks a little funny, but it works well, landings are very easy. It will also hand-launch with no problems.
I really like it so far, after about 5 flights, handling is crisp, speed is excellent, vertical performance is good, it's great for someone who wants a higher level of performance, and the quality of molding, engineering, and construction is to Starmax's usual high standard.

China Model Productions Me-109 ARF

2008-09-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

Simply the best ARF warbird I have ever seen. It's a whole new level for CMP. Quality is top notch. It goes together quickly, but keep in mind that this is a somewhat complicated airplane with lots of features, so you are not going to get it together in two evenings.
The fuse is fiberglass, prepainted. It has a tremendous amount of detail.
The tailwheel is in the scale position, rather than just sitting on the rudder post, and it has a neat linkage to connect to the rudder.
There are multiple scale details on the fuse, such as seperately molded fiberglass exhaust stacks, airscoops, belly pan, and a neat belly tank that uses standoffs for better appearance rather than just being stuck to the bottom of the fuse.

The wings are very cool. There are three servos per wing...flaps, ailerons, and airbrakes. All servos mount from the bottom with the neat CMP servo mounts with fairings, and all hinging and horns are done with hinge points and horny hinge points for better appearance. The airbrakes are very cool, one pops up from the bottom and the other from the top, using a clever provided mechanism.
The plane is set up for retracts, and the retract mounts are hardwood and well-secured. Fixed gear with scale strut covers and gear doors are also included.
The spinner is amazing, about six inch diameter, of scale profile, made just for this model.
The canopy frame is prepainted.
The wingtips have places for lights to be inset, and clear plastic covers are included.
The stabs are airfoiled, and the LE of the elevators is inset into the stabs in a scale manner.
The rudder is built up and fairs neatly into the rudder post.
Soft mounts are included for a glow engine, a neat bonus.
Mine is going to be electric, with a Monster Power 160 motor and two Maxamps 6s 5000 batteries and a Castle Creations 85 controller.
I am beyond pleased, as a matter of fact, I am floored, by the quality and low price...flight report ASAP...
UPDATE:
With the Monster Power 160 and a 17/8 prop, it flies beautifully. Overpowered. Half throttle flies it around fine. It has almost no tendency to tip stall, it slows down really well, it's not intimidating at all. The landing gear has been fine, you can tip it up on the nose or scrape a wingtip if you are not being careful, but that's par for the course for a plane like this, the position the designers found for the gear in the stock position is a great comprimise between good ground handling and scale positioning. It works great.
I am incredibly pleased with this plane in all respects, it's an awesome warbird.

Exceed RC F-4 Phantom II EDF

2008-08-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

This is the latest creation from the fertile mind of genius EDF designer Andy Chen...there IS a difference as to who designs these, this guy just has the magic touch, and it shows in the scale accuracy of the overall plane, and also in a lot of thoughtful little details and engineering that really make it stand out from the competition.
It's beautiful! Small, and very high performance...
Very high quality molding, lots of detail, good paint, good water transfer decals, clear canopy with cockpit deck(the pics on the nitroplanes website show an early prototype with a tinted canopy), easily removeable or replaceable landing gear, full flying stab, easy fan access for maintanance, lots of nice features.
In the air, it's pure dynamite, everybody guesses it to be about 70mph, and that's very fast for such a small airplane! It's a whole level of performance above the rest of the RTF EDF jets...
It's basically the smallest airframe that you can wrap around a 64mm fan.
Hand launching is really easy, there is a grip molded in for doing it, and you don't need to heave it, it will fly away from just a light toss with no problems.
Roll rate is tremendous, vertical performance is awesome, and downright speed, well...most EDFs, you fly around at full bore all the time, with this one, you want to save full throttle for verticals and high speed passes, and throttle back to half or two thirds to keep the thing manageable the rest of the time, it's mighty quick.
It's very easy to land, I have been bellying mine in on the grass with no problems, though you might want to put a little glass cloth on the lower lip of the intakes, they tend to snag the grass and get chipped up. With the landing gear on, off pavement, it has no bad habits at all. The gear comes on and off with a few screws in a minute or two.
It takes up no room in the car, it can fly out of small parks, or you can take it to the club field and mix it up with the big boys, it costs little, it requires no maintainance, it looks great, and it flies great. It's my new favorite airplane!
Update...
I also got the RAF camo version. Even more beautiful. Probably the best looking foamie jet out there.
On the Blue Angels one, since I am belly landing it, I found that adding a little silver aluminum tape to the leading edges on the wing and intakes cures and damage from the grass.
I see there has been some talk of lateral instability on some of the forums...I think it's just a case of this plane tends to get punched around a bit in heavy winds, mostly because it's so light. In less wind, you will notice that there is no rolling back and forth at all.
It is a plane that flies fast and hard, it's small, and it requires you attention, keeps you on your toes. I also recommend that you go easy on full power, use it in small bursts, lest you burn something out...the system is putting out a LOT of power, and it was not meant to go full bore all the time...which would be a little hairy anyway!

Exceed Blazing Star helicopter

2008-07-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

It's my first real heli. I had some of the toy types, but this is a much bigger step. The thing comes completely ready to fly, all you need to do is charge the lipo battery with the provided balance charger, and put 8aa batteries into the transmitter.
Everything worked perfectly right out of the box. I have some 15 flights on it so far, with no mechanical issues whatsoever. The heli is mostly metal, it's pretty hard to break.
I have been practicing all the basic maneuvers, and really getting the hang of it. No crashes so far. I felt pretty comfortable after only a couple of flights. I have been staying out of the wind, for the most part, but this evening, I took it outside in a pretty fair 10mph breeze and had no real problems with it, but I definitely recommend zero wind or indoors for your first flights. More later, and some pics...
So far, so great...

Update...now I have some 30 flights on it. Everything is still working fine. I bent a skid and cracked the canopy when I hit a tree, no other damage, in spite of dropping 15 feet onto pavement.
I replaced the stock "sport" canopy with a "Lama" style scale one that fit with a little scissors work. I like the look much better.
This was my first heli, and I have to say, the experience was great. I feel comfortable moving on to a more advanced heli now. I highly recommend it for someone who wants to get their feet wet in helis, I have no complaints at all about this machine, and the price is really cheap, too.

Nitroplanes Willhobby Sea Fury

2008-07-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

It's a big model, very brawny.

I am using a Monster Power 110 motor, which is probably overkill, but it will go straight up. Unlimited vertical.
Power is two 4000mah 4s packs.
Speed control is a Castle Creations 85hv.
Using a seperate 1600 5 cell pack for the radio.
I have Raidentech digital servos on all surfaces, they seem just great so far, not cheap junk, but very nice servos.
It comes with flaps, but fixed gear. It is not retract ready, but installing retract bays should be no big deal, it's a plain wood wing.
Woodwork and covering is superb. Glasswork is good, and very light. The wing and stab tips are fiberglass, too.
I made mine a two-piece wing, it holds up in flight, no problem.
I fitted one of the Nitroplanes WWII pilots, it looks GREAT, and they are very cheap. I had to cut his base down a little to fit.
The only complaint I have had so far is I think the elevator pushrod is a little too flexy for my tastes, so I replaced it with 4/40 rods and a fiberglass tube.
So far, very pleased...

I have about a dozen flights on it, the more I fly it, the more I love it. Incredibly aerobatic, fast, and very very very easy to land. Wonderful plane.

Nitroplanes FlyModel B-25 Mitchell

2008-07-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Really nice kit, incredible deal for $225. Flies like a dream on two Towerpro brushless outrunners....

E-domodels F-15 from Nitroplanes

2008-07-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

This plane is absolutley outstanding, particularly on two fronts...flyability and scale appearance.

What's in the box? Motor and 64mm fan and 25a ESC, already installed. Five servos, already installed. 2200mah lipo battery. A very useable balance charger that will peak and balance the battery to 12.6v exactly, just like my expensive charger does. A screwdriver, a package of good quality five minute epoxy. All hardware and landing gear. All foam components prepainted and predecorated. A canopy with the frame painted on. Everything you need except a transmitter and receiver.

Construction took about 45 minutes, with no problems and no surprises. Do check the fit of the foam parts, and sand away any paint where you are gluing. Keep in mind that both elevator control horns need to point towards the same side of the aircraft, so the elevators go up and down together. The main gear gets glued into place...there is no real easy way to change that(maybe with some plywood plates?), so you need to make the choice of either gear up or gear down and live with it. I got one and flew it with the gear on, and was so pleased that I ordered a second one so I could have another with the gear off for hand-launching over grass. Frankly, there is not much to say about building it, it's dead simple to get together.

So...off to the field. First takeoff took about 100 feet. It was obvious that it was at flying speed long before that, and that the slightly negative angle of attack from the small nosewheel was keeping the plane down, and I needed to apply elevator to get it off the ground. I suspect the designers did this deliberately, to make sure that beginning pilots would have adequate speed to avoid a slow takeoff and tipstall. If you put on a bigger nosewheel or bent the main gear forward a bit, it would take off a lot faster. Ground handling is exceptional. It will also go from a really easy hand-toss, or will even take off from its belly on smooth grass. Landings are super easy...just leave a little power on and fly her down to the runway, then cut the power. Don't try to "flare" her in, you would not do that will a full-scale F-15(stall a few feet above the runway!), you should not with the model, either. Again...it's really easy to land.

In the air, with the landing gear on, she likes a little dive before performing a loop. With the gear off, without the extra weight and drag of the wheels, she will go up and over with no issues at all. Rolls are just great, very axial and very scale. Speed is decent, no barn burner, but maybe 50-60 mph. It's not "nominal" in any way, it has plenty of power to fly around with authority. Above all things, it's a very EASY plane to fly, dead stable, a perfect first jet, perfect for anybody with a little aileron experience. And it looks just awesome in the air.

On the scale front, the plane is really exceptional. The outline looks great, and there are lots of panel lines and details molded in to the airframe. Even better, there are some really great decal(well...not waterslide decals, but stickers, anyway) sheets included, with dozens and dozens of little grates and "no steps" and details included, and the instructions show where every one goes. I spent an extra hour or more putting all these on(after I test flew it) and they really add a lot of texture and make the model come alive. So far, nothing I have seen on the foamie EDF front has come close to this F-15 on scale appearance. Both paint schemes available are nice, too.

It flies very nicely on the stock power system, but advanced pilots might want a little more urge...it's easy to modify. On the bottom of the plane you will see a hatch right beneath the motor, if you run a sharp razor around the edges, you will cut the glue joint and you can get to the fan to change motors. The battery holder is a simple and clever velcro strap, and I had no problem fitting in a 4s battery instead of the 3s provided. I flew around for about 3 minutes with the 4s, and it was a dramatic difference in speed and climb, but the motor was not made to take it, and burned out after three minutes. So...you will need a different motor, and perhaps a different ESC. The airframe is plenty strong to handle a lot more power. Fly it first, stock, you might be surprised at how able it is in the air, but feel free to upgrade it further, it's a good airframe for that.

At any rate, this plane is a real winner, and a perfect place to get your feet wet in jets...I can put in 5 quick flights on my way home from work, no maintainance, no problems, and fun in the air.

FlyItYourself F-22 from Nitroplanes

2008-07-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

I got this plane to keep my Su-47 company. I already had the excellent Sapac F-22, so the bar for the Nitroplanes one to beat was pretty high. It's considerably smaller than the Sapac one, and made out of a completely different kind of foam. The foam seems to be CA glue resistant, and very tough, highly resistant to dings and damage. It's close to the indestructable EPP foam used on some models, but maybe not exactly the same. It's definitely not regular expanded polystyrene foam, but something better. The tail surfaces seem to be made of a different material, maybe sheet depron. Every single part is included...glue, a decent screwdriver, two 55mm fans with 4300kv inrunner motors, two 18a ESCs, three servos, a 2200 3s lipo battery, and a decent balancing charger for the battery. You can also get it with a transmitter and receiver included. Everything is installed, too. Construction is dead simple, but I will give you a few tips...

The ailerons and elevators are linked by pushrods. Make sure there is zero slop in the system. Make washers out of the spare control horns included, if you need to take up any slack. Make sure all of the nuts on the EZ connectors are CAed or locktited for safety. Make sure you turn your radio on and center the servos before you put the horns on, as they are hard to access once you have glued the wings on. There was a little bendiness in my ailerons due to the pushrods themselves flexing, but this has not proved to be an issue in flight. I added a strip of carbon fiber to the bottom of each stab, as they felt a little floppy, but I don't know if that's really needed...it just made me feel better. A couple of cocktail sticks would do the same job, if you don't have any carbon fiber around. I moved the nosegear steering to the inner hole of the servo and the outer hole of the steering arm to reduce the sensitivity of the nosegear. Both main gear legs have the shock-absorption coil going the same way, so one goes forward and one goes back, this works perfectly. Only three screws are provided for the main gear mounting for each side, three screws is plenty, even though there are four holes. I changed out the provided bullet connectors on the ESC and battery to Deans connectors, to make it compatable with the rest of my fleet. The bullet connectors came off with a touch of my soldering iron and went into my scrapbox for future use on something else. I used only five minute epoxy for construction. The provided contact cement works, but I don't like the stuff, and it takes too long to dry. The whole assembly of the plane took about an hour.

I used a Spektrum radio with an AR7100 RX, which may be overkill, but I had it on hand. You need to set up your radio for Delta mixing...if you cannot get the surfaces moving in the right direction, try switching the two servos into the opposite ports on the receiver...instead of left on aileron and right on elevator channels, plug the right into aileron and the left into elevator, and everything should work fine. I used the control throws shown in the manual, and used a bit of expo, which I highly recommend for the first flights. I ran the motors up slowly for the first time, to make sure the fans were balanced and to get them "bedded in" properly. There were no issues there, and they really howl. I mean, LOT of power. There are neat little blow-in doors on the bottom made out of flexible plastic, to get extra air to the fans at full throttle...they are very clever and work perfectly.

So...off to the field...

First takeoff took about 75 feet of pavement, then she was up and climbing at a 45 degree angle. She needed down trim...I flew a couple of circuits to get some altitude, then reached for the elevator trim...and switched off my transmitter instead. I did not realize that is what had happened...I thought the radio link was lost somehow. The motors stopped, there was no control, and she settled into a nice turning glide and landed in a tree with no damage. Stable airplane. Got her back down and tried again, this time without turning off the transmitter, and she flies beautifully. Quite fast, at least 70mph, with excellent vertical, great roll rate, very aerobatic. Not a difficult plane to fly, but fast and small and silver, it keeps you on your toes. Landings are dead easy, just keep a little power on and fly her down to the runway. The gear system is excellent, capable of taking some pretty rough landings. I have not tried her without the gear yet...while I think the hand-launch would be very easy, I am afraid of the landing, as the bottoms of the intakes are made of sheet plastic, I am afraid of damaging them, my grass is pretty rough.

I'm very pleased with this bird, it has exceeded all my expectations, particularly in the air. I feel no need to upgrade the motor system at all, the performance is more than adequate to me. The plane is very tough, very easy to assemble, looks good, is very inexpensive for what it is. Particularly exceptional is the performance...if you are used to EDF jets that just sort of fly around, this will be a big change for you, because this thing really FLIES. It's certainly not for beginners, but intermediate pilots will have no problem at all.

ArtTech P-51 Mustang RTF

2008-07-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

Every
Every single thing is included in the box except 8 aa batteries for the transmitter. Even a simulator disk and a cable to connect the TX to your PC.
Even a spare scale four bladed prop.
Even good quality English instructions.
Even a screwdriver for the six screws that are needed for assembly.
No glue is required.
It took 20 minutes to put the whole thing together, including the extra detail stickers they included...

The provided 4ch 72mhz radio has worked perfectly, though you could switch it out for Spektrum if you wanted. The lipo charger and 1300mah lipo work perfectly, too.

At the field, the plane is a tremendous flyer. The first flight required only a few clicks of up trim, then I proceeded to do every possible four channel maneuver in the book...stall turns, rolls, loops, cuban 8s, spins, snaps, touch and goes, whatever. It will to it all. It has plenty of power. I took it up to speck height and dove it straight down, and pulled out very hard, nothing fell off, so the airframe can take anything you throw at it, strenght-wise. It's very maneuverable, and very stable, and would be a great first warbird, or a great plane for the more experienced pilot to keep in the back of the car and throw around any place you see a field. THe landing gear comes off in two seconds with no tools, and the plane is very easy to hand launch and belly in over grass.
Construction quality is superb, everything fit, everythign was well made, and nothing has broken in a dozen flights, and the plane has no bad habits. I love it.

China Model Productions CMP Ventus 2600mm sailplane

2008-05-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

You bet. Quality is beyond, way beyond, expectations. This is a $600 European glass slipper sailplane selling for only $139.

I have her mostly done. I used digital minis all around, but then when I got to the last few, I realized it was dumb to throw an expensive digital servo at the rudder, spoiler, retract, and tow release controls, so I stopped final assembly until I can get some cheaper servos ordered.
The retract mechanism and gear doors are spectacular.
Glasswork and paint are spectacular, with factory applied and clearcoated decals.
Excellent instructions, and a ton of neat hardware and thoughtful touches.
CMP has outdone themselves on this one, this is kind of like "the Chinese have really ARRIVED", you know?

Nitroplanes FlyModel F-86D Sabre

2008-05-26T19:14:00.001-07:00

Nice model, and a big one.
I am using a Monster Power 160 motor, two Exceed 4000mah 5s lipo packs, and a Castle Creations 85hv ESC.
Have not gotten her in the air yet, I will update when I do.
It would also be a fine model for a 12 pound turbine engine.
Even though I put the lipo packs slightly aft of the CG, but I still needed about 8 ounces of weight in the tail to balance, due to the large motor and the long, long nose.

Good quality kit. Mine is fixed gear, but the plane is retract ready.

Nitroplanes ArtTech F4U Corsair

2008-05-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

Absolutely stunning model. Every single thing is included in the box except 8aa batteries. Even a simulator disk and a special cable to connect the transmitter to your computer. It takes only ten minutes with the included screwdriver to assemble, no glue is needed.
Construction quality and engineering are TOP NOTCH. Good stuff. Everything is well built, and everything fit perfectly, and all the electronics worked perfectly.

Appearance is GREAT. It's very scale, and the scale three bladed prop is a knockout.

In the air, it has plenty of power, it will loop easily from level flight. Roll rate is good, but not staggering, seems very scale. Rudder authority is excellent. Speed is good, but not outrageous. Handling is benign, it's a very easy plane to fly, with no real vices, very easy to land. A great first warbird.
Expert pilots can add a bigger motor and battery and get more performance, but I suspect most people will be satisfied with what comes in the box. Certainly, it's in no way underpowered in the stock form. Flight times are long, too.
This is a GREAT model. I don't know why Nitroplanes does not put it on the front page...

Nitroplanes ArtTech Su-27 twin EDF jet

2008-05-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

Incredibly complete package. Includes a simulator disk, a cable to connect the included TX to your computer, five minute epoxy, a screwdriver...EVERYTHING. Only 8AA batteries are needed to complete it.
Construction takes about thirty minutes, and the instructions are excellent and complete. Quality of construction is very good, no problems at all.
The decorations and paint job are exceptional, the plane is VERY colorful and attractive.
In the air...takeoffs require about 75 feet. I don't think it will get off grass, I would not even try it. It needs a smooth surface like pavement. I don't think hand launching it over grass without the landing gear would be a problem, but the bottom intakes are a little fragile, I worry about damaging them on landing. The plane was designed to fly from a runway, so that's where mine is staying.
Power is decent. In spite of some dumb posts on some interenet sites, it's not a dog at all, it flies just fine on the provided power system. Top speed is maybe 55mph, pretty typical for a ready to fly foamie jet. No speed demon, but just fine. It will loop easily from level flight. The roll rate is tremendous, you might want to tone it down. Landings are very, very easy. All around, it's a very easy plane to fly, a good first jet.
The electronics included have all been fine, including the stock battery, the charger included is great, the receiver is a dual conversion FM type, the transmitter is decent quality.
Good value for the money, a very nice flyer, looks great in the air. I am very pleased.
I also saw that some people said that the videos posted online of this plane must have been doctored, that that could not have been a stock power system in the video, etc...
Baloney. Mine flies just like that. It flies very well. Don't beleive all the "experts" who post on the internet and say you have to modify this or that...the plane is very well thought out and flies just fine right out of the box.
You can upgrade it with more power if you like, no problem, but let nobody say the designers did not do their homework, or that the plane cannot fly, as somebody put a lot of time into this model, and it flies very well, and it looks really great in the air, and it's very easy to fly.

Nitroplanes GuanLi Me-109 ARF

2008-04-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

Like the others in this series, it will indeed fly fine on the provided brushed motor and nimh battery. Flight times are maybe four minutes, though, and power is okay at best. With this one, I definitely recommend going to an 11v lipo to get the extra power, as the plane has a tendency to tip stall if you get too slow, it's not very forgiving that way, be careful. But it does fly nicely. It's worth upgrading this one to brushless. The landing gear is pretty useless, too narrow, but it hand launches very easily and looks better in the air without the gear anyway. The paint job is very nicely done, looks great. Construction quality is good. I'm having fun with it.

Nitroplanes Gee Bee 25

2008-04-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Very nice little plane. Good glasswork on the fuse and cowl, good woodwork and covering on the wings. I went electric, with the Monster Power 25 motor, 80a Hobbywing ESC, and 4s2200 Fusion Power Lipo. As far as glow goes, don't be tempted to go beyond the .25 recommended, anything more would be quite hairy.
It goes together pretty fast, the instructions are a bit scanty, but adequate. The wheel pants and small tires preclude grass field operation, it will nose over too easily. As it is, you need to be careful on pavement to keep from nosing over. It's a good deal at $79, for sure, it looks great, very cute airplane, very complete package, surprising quality for the price.

Raiden digital servos

2008-04-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

These things are great...I ordered two of each type to test out in my Sea Fury. I burned them all in for an hour or so each using a servo driver, no issues at all. I have put 20 flights on them in my Sea Fury, and they have proven fast, strong, and reliable. I have ordered some more of them to go into my Formost 160, I am not hesitating to put them into a critical application at this point. The DMP 072 is the most useful all around servo to me, the really powerful one is good for flaps, but not very fast for ailerons and such, but very very powerful. The 072 is about equivalent to an 8411, an all-around servo. My only complaint is that these do not come with metal horns. The hardware provided is very complete, though. I'm pretty impressed, they are good quality stuff, not junky at all, and the price cannot be beat.

Nitroplanes Guanli P-51 Mustang

2008-04-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

This is from my freind Serafin, who has the P-51, but cannot figure out how to post here!:

"P-51D Mustang

Its was a cold clear winter morning in the Bronx. The sun has not yet cleared over the trees, the sky was fire orange to the east and dark blue to the west.

For a city slicker as I am there are few places to fly in the city not to count on the amount of people that uses the park here. So early bird gets to sneak a flight or two before the city wake up. I picked this morning a track and field for two reason, test out the landing gears on the paved track and try a belly landing on the grass.

After I did my pre-flight check and did a short taxi. I didn't realize as I put together this kit that the rear wheel was part of the rudder and was not fix. Great, I can steer this plane. But how did I over look this you may ask? Simple, there was almost nothing to do. Out of the box you just connect one servo wire from the wing and screw on the main wing to the body. You then glue the rear wing on, glue the clear canopy and screw on the prop and wheels. Beside waiting for the glue to dry and the battery to charge it took me about 15 minutes to put her together and that from someone who is still new to this sport. I been destroying planes now for about 4 years. Always looking forward for the next crash and burn.

As I taxi I notice the Mustang kept tipping forward on its nose. I place the battery a little to the rear and that problem was history. Now it time for a short take off and landing. I power up and she pick up speed quickly. As she got 4 feet into the air and I notice the plane was very tail heavy. I cut power and landed. I learn in R/C flying that any landing that their no damage is a great landing. Well I had a great landing, (barely). I put the battery forward from where I moved it from.

I power up and she rocket right up almost to a loop. I trim her and she rode like the Broadway express train (rails in the sky).

I did two laps around the field following the running track. I line up for a land. (There was no wind this morning.) I cut the power and she floated down on rails. A few feet off the ground I added a little power to soften the landing. As she softly touch the pavement of the running track one landing strut snap right off. She spun around on a wind and stop.

The plane was still flyable. The only damage was that the wheel strut broke off. It was still screwed on to its wing mount but the mount rip off the foam wing. The company needs to glue this part on better.

Well it time for the hand launch. I was planing to do a stall test and see what she really can take. Well I power up and can feel her pulling on my hand. As I hand launch her I felt something bang back inside her. To late she was out of my hand and climbing real fast. As I level her out I quickly realize what I heard. It was the battery shifting back out of place. Now I had a bird high in the air with its CG way out of place. This will make for some interesting flying.

Now both the P-51 and the pilot gets a real test. I wrestle with her pitching and rolling wildly. All this time I was flying her west from me with the rising sun behind me. Now she flown over me and flew east. I was just trying to keep her from hitting the field flood light and fences. The Mustang flew over a baseball field next to this field. That was good as their was more open space.

As I got her to turn from east to west as she was at the far end of the baseball field. As I was getting her in some tpye of control she flew right in front of the sun. The morning sun was now over the trees. Wow that sun was a powerful bright fire orange. I read that the attack planes of World War 2 use the sun to hide in the sky as they dove down from up high to some poor guy blinded by the sun.

Well I stood their blinded by the morning sun wondering where is my plane. I Could hear it but not see it. My question was quickly answered by the sound of foam being crushed as it plow into the field at full speed. Then I also heard someone laugh out loud in a far distant. The damage was heavy to both plane and ego.

To close this I must put blame on myself for the crash as I should of better secured the battery and not rely on what the instruction told me.. Beside that, for the short flight I must say she flew great and the plane was easy to put together. Glue and screw drive came with the kit. The only two problem I seen was the the instruction needed to been more detail and the ESC was a little cheesy. The ESC has no low voltage motor cutoff. Good luck if you let the battery drain to much. You will lose all control.

The Aftermath. I collect all the loose foam parts and put it in a bag. I came back later that afternoon and found some more form parts.

A few days later a glued the whole plane back together and it never looked like it had a blowing crash. Only one small half inch section of the bottem cowling is missing. I strap in the Battery better this time and she flew great. Stalls are good, she just drop the nose. For loop you need to dive a little to pick up speed. You can roll forever with little loss of height. The only change I did was use a old ESC I had from a T-hawk. Like the peace for mind that I have full control of plane when battery are running low.

Picture soon to come"

Ultimate Bipe-EP

2008-03-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Bipe from Nitroplanes.com is a beautifully constructed high quality plane. As an RTF kit is goes together very quickly and everything to put the plane together is supplied with the kit. All you need to do is pick your favorite brushless out runner motor, esc, and 4 9 gram servo's. The Ultimate comes in Purple, Yellow, Red, or Blue. It's your choice they are are great! If you go to the NitroPlanes.com you'll see a video of it in action. So if your looking for a great smaller sized bipe this is a great choice and it helps keep cost down when it will fly on a 3S 1300 to 2100 mAH. Take a look you won't be disapointed.

Jason
MaxAmps.com

Remote Control Helicopter R/C 3-channels double propeller full proportional helicopter

2008-03-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

It's considerably bigger and heavier than the Air Hogs types, you definitely want a fair sized room to fly it in. It's very stable, will hover with no inputs from you. It has a third channel, a very clever system, in that a magnet pops up and makes the rotor tilt forward and makes the helo fly forward. Duration is about five minutes. It has enough power to fly, but not excess power, just enough to hover and fly around a bit, full bore all the time. I don't know, maybe mine is a dud and others have more power...
Anyway, I've had some fun with it, particularly at the cheap price. It's a cool toy.

Red Micro Palm Size Indoor R/C Helicopter

2008-03-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

This is called the Syma Fly Fairy. It flies very well. It is set up differently from some of the other microcopters, in that when trimmed out, it wants to circle and move forward, rather than hover in one position, like most of them. ONce you understand that, it's very easy to fly. It's more scale and more attractive than the foam bodied ones, but more fragile, too. It does not like flying outdoors much, and it's a little fragile for that, but it's very nice in the living room. It's also nicer in that you can actually land it on the skids, no problem.
Lots of fun, but maybe a good second one, if you already have the air hogs havoc style one, this flies differently and keeps things interesting.

China Model Productions CMP 50 sized P-40 Warhawk

2008-03-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

Just to clear up some confusion, and a lot of misinformation on the internet...CMP is not Willhobby, or FlyModel, or any other company. CMP is thier own company, and they have been around for while. I have built a few of their planes, and found the quality to be quite exceptional, they are high-end stuff, and from a scale point of view, nobody else comes close.
The P-40, from a scale aspect, blows away the Hangar 9 and everybody else's P-40. The paint job is dead flat and perfect, and there are a ton of factory-installed water transfer decals, a beautiful glass belly tank, strut covers, prepainted canopy frame, lots of nice stuff. All the hardware is exceptional, too, with a fiberglass pushrod for the elevator, and a pull-pull system for the rudder.
You need to be careful flying it, though. It has no washout, it's not light, and it will tip stall if you pull too hard or get too slow. The big problem, though, is that the CG in the manual is actually for the much larger 71" one, and will leave you very tailheavy if you don't correct it to about 85mm from the LE. It's really, really important.
If you fly off grass, you will have really hard time finding rotating retracts that will hold up. Seriously consider fixed gear like I used.
I flew mine with a Saito 62, fit perfectly and was plenty of power.
Let's here some other comments, this is a beautiful plane..

Nitroplanes FlyModel B-17 Flying Fortress

2008-03-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting models I have ever assembled. A four engined bomber without a lot of hassle and expense...
First, the good parts...it goes togther pretty quickly, and it flies BEAUTIFULLY. It also looks GREAT in the air.
Second, the bad parts...there are some minor quality control issues, and it's not perfectly scale.

It's mostly nicely-done wood, with a few plastic and fiberglass parts. The decals were simply awful, and I threw them away. The QC issues were not enough paint on the upper canopy deck, and complete and total mispainting of the ball turret. Also, the nose is painted solid, it would really look better with some windows. The retracts are not in the scale position, but that's something of a plus, as they are very simple and strong to set up. I used Nitroplanes retracts, and had no problems.
The rest of the equipment...Raiden 1300kv speed 400 motors, Nitroplanes 8x4 props, Raiden 25a escs, towerpro 4010 servos, one JR retract servo, Spektrum AR7000 receiver, 2 2220 3s packs, one driving the inner motors, the other for the outer.
The motor and esc package is the one offered by nitroplanes for $160, it's cheap, and works like a charm.
The plane flies just beautifully...I will post more detail if anybody is interested...

If you ever wanted to do a B-17, here is your chance. Anything else is hideously complicated, or not very scale, or incredibly expensive. This was my first four engined model, and everything went very well, and people are VERY impressed with it in the air. And you can't beat the price. Go for it, it's not too challenging, it's easy enough to get together, and very easy to fly, and the performance is just great.

Nitroplanes Guanli PBY Catalina Seaplane

2008-03-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

It's a wonderful plane. It took about an hour for me to get it together. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about putting it together, except things will go much faster with five minute epoxy instead of the provided contact cement. Every single item is included, even a screwdriver and glue. The only thing you need to provide is 8 AA batteries for the transmitter.
So...how does it fly? Just great. With the provided brushed geared motors and NIMH battery, it has adequate power to fly around nicely, and will loop from a shallow dive. It is extremely stable, and extremely easy to fly. It could be a first or second plane. Hand launching is very easy. It will also get off water or snow. If you plan on flying off water, you will probably want to add a water rudder to help steer it around after landing. If you are flying off anything but soft grass or water, you will probably want to add some clear packing tape to the bottom of the fuselage and wing floats to prevent them from getting scratched up. Do not attempt to fly it without the provided wing struts, they are needed, and stay away from any wild aerobatics that might give the wing negative G forces, it's not really stressed for that. The plane is plenty strong for normal flying, but it's not an aerobat, nor was the real PBY Catalina. It looks best doing a low pass or touch and goes off the water. It's extremely light, and will fly very very slowly, it's hard for beginning pilots to get into trouble with it, and the flight charachteristics are certainly suitable for park flying.

Flight times are around 8 minutes with the provided pack, and the wall charger takes about an hour to refill the pack. The 27 MHZ radio works fine, it occasionally glitches here and there, but recovers right away. Keep in mind that range is not unlimited, keep the plane withing 500 feet of you or so, and that you are subject to interference from many other toys and other devices out there. It would be very easy to install a different receiver, but, again, the provided one is perfectly adequate. Do make sure your receiver antenna is stretched out all the way to the tail, that you have fresh batteries in the transmitter, and that you range check your system before you fly it.

As far as upgrades go, if you change the installed connector, you can put in an inexpensive 12c 3 cell 2200mah lipo battery. It will fit flat on the tray right above where the NIMH pack went, and will stay where it is by just a friction fit between the tray and the fuselage and the pushrods. The extra power of the 11v lipo makes for a dramatic transformation...power is now much more than is needed, she will climb out at a 45 degree angle, and flight times are 12-15 minutes. Full throttle is rarely needed. Motor life may suffer in the long run, but mine has been fine so far, and it's a lot more fun to fly with the lipo pack. I feel no need at all to upgrade the motors to brushless, the provided geared systems are more than adequate to fly the plane very well.

It's a heck of a deal for $99, you really can't go too far wrong. I'm very pleased.

Nitroplanes Guanli A-10 Warthog

2008-03-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

Construction quality and paintwork from the factory is excellent, no problems at all. It took me about 20 minutes to put it together using five minute epoxy. I left the landing gear off, I prefer to hand launch. Be sure ot put some tape on the bottom for protection.

The plane flies fine on the stock NIMH pack and brushed motors, in spite of all the internet "Experts" saying it would not. It will loop and roll, no problem, but it's modestly powered with the stock setup, and flight times are maybe five minutes, tops.
Swapping out the 650NIMH pack for a three cell 1300 lipo made a whole new airplane out of it. Now it is fast and vividly aerobatic, and flight times are long. I set a timer at eight minutes to make sure I do not overdrain the lipo and ruin it. No reason why you could not put in a 2200 pack, either.
Beware of one thing, though...the way it is set up from the factory, there is way too much elevator throw, and you may kill it on the first flight attempt. Move the control horn to the innermost hole on the elevator servo horn, and the outermost one on the horn on the elevator, and everything will be fine.
I am still using the included 27mhz radio. It will occasionally glitch if I point the TX antenna right at the airplane, otherwise, it has been working fine.
I have put a dozen flights in using the 11v lipo and the stock brushed motors, and the motors and ESC are still going strong, so consider that before buying a brushless converson for it. Power is a non-issue with the stock motors and a lipo batt.
The plane is stable and easy to fly, yet very aerobatic. I like flying it in low and close, like the real thing.
All I can say is the plane is better than expected in all respects, much better than the similar GWS offering, and it is well built and a super value for the money. Great plane to keep in the back of the car and toss around whenever you see an open space.

NitroPlanes Guanli FW-190 RTF Kit (Green Paint Scheme)

2008-03-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

I got this yesterday from a friend and when I opened the box I was really surprised at what I saw. I have experience with GWS kits and I was expexting something on that order. But WOW this was way better than any GWS kit. I couldn't believe all of this and they sell em' for only 85 bucks. This is a greta deal. The quality is good and talk about quick set-up time. Like the box says it's almost RTF. You can't do this with any over priced GWS kit. Look if you want to get a few warbirds or heck even the whole squadron try these Guanli Warbird RTF kits out from NitroPlanes. You'll have a plane or two that are easy to set-up, look great and they won't break the bank. Not only that but if you ever want to upgrade to A Brushless system it's a breeze to do. Oh yeah, you can read the instructions. Yup they are in english and very easy to follow. That's another one up on the GWS kits.

If you have any questions on these planes e-mail me at jason@maxamps.com

Thanks Nitroplanes for making the hobby a bit more affordable for us all.

Jason

Nitroplanes Sea Fury

2008-03-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

Nitroplanes Guanli P-47 Thunderbolt

2008-03-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

Firstup, in spite of all the internet "experts", the plane does indeed fly fine on the stock brushed system with NIMH batteries. Power is adequate, flight times are six minutes or so.
You don't need brushless power...if you really want to honk around, just change to a 3 cell 1300 lipo pack, then power is more than you need, and duration is 10 minutes plus.
It will do any maneuver in the book, it's very stable, and it's a lot of fun to fly. It's cute as a button, too.
Quality is excellent all around. If one of your servos does not work, try tightening the case screws, they are often loose from the factory. I have been using the included 27mhz radio with no problems.
I used five minute epoxy instead of the provided contact cement, I like it better.
I did not use the landing gear, I hand launch mine. I used the remains of the decal sheet to cover the bottom of the fuse for landing protection.
This is about as much fun as you can have for $80, it's an amazing deal. I keep it in the back of the car and toss it around at any little park or field I can find.
It's not a copy of the E-flight P-47 or anybody else's plane, it's an original.

Towerpro SG5010 standard servos

2008-03-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

I had some bad luck with the 995 Towerpro digital servos a few years ago, they were really bad, so I was kind of gunshy about trying these ones.
Well, I've used about 20 so far, with no issues. All have been fine right out of the box, they are just a decent, powerful, accurate standard servo, with a nice quiet geartrain, suitable for most uses, with a nice complete package of horns and mounting hardware. I have put quite a lot of flying on them with no issues at all, I'm very happy. I build a lot of planes, and I am always looking for ways of fitting them out without spending so much, and these really help. They work the same as my Futaba or JR standard servos, no issues.

Raidentech Formula 1 Ride On Car

2008-03-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, we would go to FAO Schwartz and see toys like this, they cost thousands and were for young princes and such, totally out of my league. But, hey, I always wanted one.
Well...I'm always getting all these big boxes from UPS, and my six year old daughter keeps getting mad that none of the boxes are for HER(they are all RC models for me), so I was poking around one day on the Raidentech site, checking out all the toy stuff I never knew they had, when I spotted this thing...hey, it was only $189, I took a chance, and six days later, UPS delivered this box, this HUGE box, much bigger than my airplane boxes, and my daughter was very thrilled that finally, here was a box for HER, and it was as big as a hot dog stand. She would have been happy with just the cardboard box for a playhouse, but inside the box was this great car...

It took about 45 minutes to assemble it, you need to put on the mirrors and the rear spoiler and steering wheel, not much else. Simple stuff.

So, how does she go? About 5mph, much faster than the old Barbie Jeep she has, fast enough to be interesting, not fast enough to be dangerous. It has three speeds built in, so you can limit the speed for smaller children.
I'm sure I will be able to modify it for a lot more speed at some future day(I'm handy that way!) but for now, she's really happy.
It has lights, a horn, turn signals, built in digital music player, plus a working FM radio.
The battery lasts for about two hours of play.
The quality is excellent, the thing is tough.
They also make a two seater jeep, but it's only in camo, not really her speed. I hope Raidentech imports something like an MG roadster, so I can get her something else, too.
I just need to persuade some other parent to get one of these so we can have races through Central Park.
We drive this thing down the street, it gets an unbeleivable amount of attention. All the kids want one, and all the adults all say they wanted one when they were a kid. And everybody thinks it costs a grand or so. I don't really tell them otherwise, I let my kid be the center of attention for a bit, she's proud of her car.
I have to say, it has been the most incredibly impressive and fun thing for the money that I have ever gotten for my kid, it's very afforadable, and very big and cool, it's a big, serious toy, any kid's fantasy. She's pleased as punch.
I'm going to try to get some good video when the weather gets better.

Nitroplanes P-82 Twin Mustang

2008-03-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

All wood, except for the fiberglass cowls and chin scoops. Very light, very accurate construction.
I made the outer wing panels removeable. The two fuses with the center section are very easy to transport.
It includes mechanical retracts. They are plastic, they work, but off grass, they won't last forever.
I converted it to electric with two Monster Power 46 motors, two TowerPro 70a escs, a seperate BEC, and two 4000 5s Exceed lipos. Performance is superb, very easy to fly, very very easy to land, very aerobatic. Has flaps. I added two Nitroplanes pilots, too, they look good.
Fast to build, very inexpensive to buy and fit out, flies superbly. Great first twin.

It's a real bargain of a model, sells for an insanely low price for what it is. It's big and impressive, and flies beautifully.
Later on, I repainted it black to make a nightfighter, see the bottom picture.

NITROPLANES SU47 BEKRUT

2008-02-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

I'm a foamie freak, I love all the new foamie jets coming out, I get them all, and this one is my current favorite.

It's fast, maybe 70mph, has plenty of power, and makes a really cool twin sound. The foam is very tough, and CA safe.

It's very stable, in spite of the forward-swept wings. It's very very maneuverable, you need to watch out, it reacts really fast. The roll rate is unbeleiveable, fastest I have ever seen.

Takeoffs are about 75 feet off pavement, or you can hand launch it easily.

Flight times are maybe 6 minutes.

I'd stay away from the version that includes the radio, as it really helps to have a good computer radio with expo and dual rates.
The CG is set at the factory, you can't go wrong that way. But you need to watch out, the plane is very agile and might surprise you on the first takeoff. It's not for beginning pilots, but it turns in a really sparkling performance for more experienced guys.
It only takes an hour or so to put together. Contact cement is included, but five minute epoxy works better and faster. Be sure to secure all screws and connectors with CA or locktite, and make sure you have no slop in your control system.

Anyway...I cannot say enough nice things about this plane. I have about fifteen flights with not a scratch on it, the sound and shape are fantastic in the air, and the performance good enough to keep me interested and excited.

Exceed Monster Power outrunner motors

2008-02-28T16:57:00.000-08:00

I thought I would put down a few words on my experiences with the Monster Power motors...

I have a lot of planes, and most of them nowadays are electric. It generally costs a bundle to do large electrics, so I am always looking for ways to reduce the costs, without taking big chances on losing an airplane. Last year, I rolled the dice and ordered up a pair of Monster Power 46 motors. I set my expectations low...I had never heard much said about these on the internet or magazines, there were pretty much no flight reports around, so I had no real idea of what I was getting into. Let me say in no uncertain terms that I have been beyond pleased, and very surprised.

The motors come very neatly packaged, in tight form-fitting foam holders, in cardboard boxes. There is a sheet of motor specs inside, but not a lot in the way of instructions. A ton of accessories are included...there is a sturdy cross mount, a set of quality bullet connectors, a special collar for the shaft to keep it from sliding forward, a very brawny bolt-on prop adapter, a prop washer, a prop nut, a really nicely done anodized prop spinner/nut, and every bolt and screw needed to get it together. You can either use it as it comes, with a rear firewall mount, or loosen the allen grub screws holding the motor to the shaft and push the shaft through the motor using gentle pressure in a vice to reverse the mounting and mount the motor from the forward end. I think you will have to use a different prop adapter, though, as the included one mounts right to the front of the motor case with four provided bolts, and you may need a collet-style prop adapter that goes directly to the shaft. I do not know, I have not tried. It's really great that everything is included...I had problems before with motors I ordered from overseas having missing prop adapters, connectors, or screws, and it's been a real headache. That's not the kind of stuff you will find at most hobby stores, so you will spend your time arguing with vendors overseas to send you the stuff you need to mount your motor and make it work.

What really struck me, though, at first impression, was the quality of the machining. It's not cheap Chinese junk. It's Mercedes-class machine work. And the motor is anodized a nice blue color. Ball bearings, too. I'm an old-school engine freak, I have had everything from 1930's Brown Junior ignition motors to Jetcat turbines, and one of the bummers about most electric motors is they generally have a sort of purposeful, semi-disposeable feel to them, but these ones just feel different, they are a nice, QUALITY feeling piece of machinery, and I spent a certain amount of time just flipping them over and feeling the way they rotate, just like I would enjoy with a good glow motor. Sorry, I'm a motor nut, I can't help it.

I don't go in for all the weird new metal or plastic mounts they have nowadays for outrunner motors...I simply made up some 1/4" plywood boxes for mounting my motors, with a hole drilled in the firewalls for the rear shafts to protrude. My test bed was a new Nitroplanes P-82, and the electric conversion was dead simple, the longest part was making up the motor mounts. I mounted two TowerPro 70a ESCs right to the side of the box motor mounts I made up, no problems there, and used Exceed Fusion power 4000mah 5s lipos, one per side. 4s would have been enough for this plane, too.

There are no prop recommendations with the motors, but the specs for the entire line seem to match up with the E-flight Power series of motors, so I used E-flight's advice on prop choices. I picked something in the middle of the range, a pair of 13/8 APC props. Well...in the air, the plane has unlimited vertical, and is almost dead silent. Takeoffs are in 50 feet. The motors easily meet or exceed the power of a pair of 46 glow engines, only no noise, dead reliability, no fuss starting a twin. Many flights, zero service issues, the motors are still going strong.

Since then, I have tried some of the others in the range...some of them I have gotten airborne, others, the projects are still on the bench, but I have the Monster Power 15, 25, 46, 60, 110, and also a new 160 on the way, which I will be putting into one of the FlyModel F-86D propjets. The 110 is in a Sea Fury that is almost ready to go. I have flown the smaller ones(if you can consider the 60 small!) in a bunch of projects, and have had nothing but positive things to say. So, I'm really happy, as I am getting very high quality motors at stupid low prices, and not having to deal with ordering from overseas.

If you want to try a large electric conversion, you might want to give these a shot. Me, I have been very happy with what I have gotten, no complaints at all. And I'm a picky guy....

Nitroplanes F-22 EDF

2008-02-28T16:56:00.000-08:00

Nitroplanes F-15 EDF

2008-02-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

Edomodels F-15

This plane is absolutley outstanding, particularly on two fronts...flyability and scale appearance.

What's in the box? Motor and 64mm fan and 25a ESC, already installed. Five servos, already installed. 2200mah lipo battery. A very useable balance charger that will peak and balance the battery to 12.6v exactly, just like my expensive charger does. A screwdriver, a package of good quality five minute epoxy. All hardware and landing gear. All foam components prepainted and predecorated. A canopy with the frame painted on. Everything you need except a transmitter and receiver.

Construction took about 45 minutes, with no problems and no surprises. Do check the fit of the foam parts, and sand away any paint where you are gluing. Keep in mind that both elevator control horns need to point towards the same side of the aircraft, so the elevators go up and down together. The main gear gets glued into place...there is no real easy way to change that(maybe with some plywood plates?), so you need to make the choice of either gear up or gear down and live with it. I got one and flew it with the gear on, and was so pleased that I ordered a second one so I could have another with the gear off for hand-launching over grass. Frankly, there is not much to say about building it, it's dead simple to get together.

So...off to the field. First takeoff took about 100 feet. It was obvious that it was at flying speed long before that, and that the slightly negative angle of attack from the small nosewheel was keeping the plane down, and I needed to apply elevator to get it off the ground. I suspect the designers did this deliberately, to make sure that beginning pilots would have adequate speed to avoid a slow takeoff and tipstall. If you put on a bigger nosewheel or bent the main gear forward a bit, it would take off a lot faster. Ground handling is exceptional. It will also go from a really easy hand-toss, or will even take off from its belly on smooth grass. Landings are super easy...just leave a little power on and fly her down to the runway, then cut the power. Don't try to "flare" her in, you would not do that will a full-scale F-15(stall a few feet above the runway!), you should not with the model, either. Again...it's really easy to land.

In the air, with the landing gear on, she likes a little dive before performing a loop. With the gear off, without the extra weight and drag of the wheels, she will go up and over with no issues at all. Rolls are just great, very axial and very scale. Speed is decent, no barn burner, but maybe 50mph. It's not "nominal" in any way, it has plenty of power to fly around with authority. Above all things, it's a very EASY plane to fly, dead stable, a perfect first jet, perfect for anybody with a little aileron experience. And it looks just awesome in the air.

On the scale front, the plane is really exceptional. The outline looks great, and there are lots of panel lines and details molded in to the airframe. Even better, there are some really great decal(well...not waterslide decals, but stickers, anyway) sheets included, with dozens and dozens of little grates and "no steps" and details included, and the instructions show where every one goes. I spent an extra hour or more putting all these on(after I test flew it) and they really add a lot of texture and make the model come alive. So far, nothing I have seen on the foamie EDF front has come close to this F-15 on scale appearance. Both paint schemes available are nice, too.

It flies very nicely on the stock power system, but advanced pilots might want a little more urge...it's easy to modify. On the bottom of the plane you will see a hatch right beneath the motor, if you run a sharp razor around the edges, you will cut the glue joint and you can get to the fan to change motors. The battery holder is a simple and clever velcro strap, and I had no problem fitting in a 4s battery instead of the 3s provided. I flew around for about 3 minutes with the 4s, and it was a dramatic difference in speed and climb, but the motor was not made to take it, and burned out after three minutes. So...you will need a different motor, and perhaps a different ESC. The airframe is plenty strong to handle a lot more power. Fly it first, stock, you might be surprised at how able it is in the air, but feel free to upgrade it further, it's a good airframe for that.

At any rate, this plane is a real winner, and a perfect place to get your feet wet in jets...I can put in 5 quick flights on my way home from work, no maintainance, no problems, and fun in the air.