Showing posts with label art tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art tech. Show all posts

Monday, September 15, 2008

ArtTech Jetiger EDF




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.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

ArtTech P-51 Mustang RTF




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.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Nitroplanes ArtTech F4U Corsair


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



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.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Nitroplanes Guanli PBY Catalina Seaplane


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.