Hi,

I am looking to get my first EDF. I have flying experience with Parkzone Extra 300, Corsair and Super Cub (with mods )

I want something 3S or 4S and with a military look. Preferably EPO foam and obviously something that will be decent quality. My budget is something under $150.

Here's what I've been looking at so far:

Durafly Vampire
Durafly Sea Vixen (when it is released)
FMS Alpha Jet
Freewing Stinger 64 (even though its not military, just heard its good quality)
T-45 Goshawk (I actually got one already but HK didn't send me a nose cone or the correct landing gear along with a few other missing or damaged pieces, open to ideas on that)
And a few other FMS EDF's possibly.

Also, is BlitzRCWorks any good?

Any info or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!

A Multiplex Twister can be purchased for $100 + shipping (check eBay or Google shopping), which includes fan and motor.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...-kit-MPU214222

Elapor construction (durable, easy to paint), large in size, hand launches, nice flyer. A typical well designed Multiplex kit.

Parkflyer plastics makes a great clear canopy kit for $10
http://parkflyerplastics.com/cart/in...roducts_id=177

There is a very active thread on the Twister.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=636185

Here s a review
http://multiplexusa.com/files/M21422...isterFlyRC.pdf

BTW, the Twister has been discontinued, according to MultiplexUSA. Too bad.

A coworker saw mine and bought one the next day to put on the shelf, in case something ever happened to his Phase 3 F16 (another good EDF, available from HobbyPeople for $119)

In my opinion the stinger is a good bet for you. Freewing makes decent jets but you still have to thoroughly test all electronics before maiden. Getting quality under 150 is difficult to acheive

Any of the J Power (Sky Angel) jets - they have 50mm and 64mm ones. All fly great, look pretty scale and are cheap.

Originally Posted by kelberts

Any of the J Power (Sky Angel) jets - they have 50mm and 64mm ones. All fly great, look pretty scale and are cheap.

Thanks, could you add some links for the 64mm ones you'd recommend. Also, do you own any personally or have experience with them?

the phase3 ef-16 is good too. pretty floaty.

Does anyone have firsthand experience with any FMS EDF's or the Stinger?

Where in Canada are you?

I'm selling a Twister in Calgary. Excellent performing jet on 3S, with greater than 1:1 thrust to weight. Less than 100 RTF. Easy to hand launch and belly land.

Check out some video I took while on vacation at the Okanagan:

Twister at Peachland (4 min 24 sec)

tn

Wow! Nice landing TN!

Thomas those are some serious skills to land on that dock.

I have the F-18 and the F-5 in the 64 mm size. They both fly fine. Nitro, Banana, etc usually have them. +1 on the P3 F-16, although it's a 55 mm jet. The Freewing F-86 and MiG-15 and Panther are easy flyers, inexpensive and 64mm. Hobby Lobby has them. I have a FM Skyray, and it's a real pussycat. It's EPS (beer cooler) foam, however. So is the P3 F-16 for that matter. I had a Twister, and it was an easy flyer, but it's expensive compared to what you can get at HK, Banana, Nitro, etc.

Pretty much any current EPO jet will be fine with the stock set-ups

Originally Posted by Thomas Nelson

Where in Canada are you?

I'm selling a Twister in Calgary. Excellent performing jet on 3S, with greater than 1:1 thrust to weight. Less than 100 RTF. Easy to hand launch and belly land.

Check out some video I took while on vacation at the Okanagan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8h6z...e_gdata_player

tn

I am actually living in Colorado right now but my home turf is Winnipeg. Jet looks great BTW.

So I got the T-45 running that HK sent me with a warped canopy and and no nose cone, along with some other issues.

Apartment Experiment - Hobbyking T-45 Goshawk (0 min 36 sec)

I'd say the Dynam Meteor and Parkzone Habu are great first EDFs. Big, floaty, can take abuse unlike smaller EDFs. Landing gear is a major plus as much can go wrong in take off (I.e CG or lack of thrust issues).

Phase 3 F16 is good (plenty of power with low wing load), but is so quick if you aren't use to the speed or you screw up the hand launch - it's toast. It's EPS. It's easy to glue back together without warping issues.

Don't care much for the 50mm SkyAngels/JPowers. They are underpowered, small (you'll lose orientation), and when crashed don't fly right unless you perform surgery on them. My 50mm Mig(RIP) arrived with a warped tail and took extra work to fly straight. The 20a ESCs and 850mah batteries for those are throwaway items unlike for a Meteor/Habu/F16 where you'd reuse the parts in your next plane.

I love my Freewing Panther but there's no landing gear and after a crash (loop gone wrong) it no longer takes off nor flies stably. Great flyer before I ruined it. The Mig and F86 from Freewing are also quality but dangerous to launch for a EDF newbie. If the CG is wrong you're screwed.

About to buy a Durafly Vampire myself in the future. 70mm allows for many hop ups.

Freewing Rebel/Cobra is another cheapie EDF that might make for a good first jet.

Originally Posted by Komm_Klink

So I got the T-45 running that HK sent me with a warped canopy and and no nose cone, along with some other issues

Warping is a bigger problem on smaller jets that on a 70+ mm EDF. My Habu and Meteor are bent all over the places due to poor landings (cartwheels!) and yet fly amazingly well. My smaller jets would become squirrelly after any damage.

P.S My favorite small jet is the UMX Mig but that has a gyro which corrects for foam warp - I know I've already torn off a wing and glue it back on and it's not 100% level.