I bought this plane to use as a trainer. I've been flying for several years but have friends who want help getting into RC planes.

It arrived from Tower nicely double boxed and with all the parts bubble wrapped inside the main box. A couple items like the main landing gear should have been taped down but weren't. Still, no shipping damage and no marks on the foam - very unusual.

This has got the be the worlds easiest and quickest plane to assemble. Two screws for the main gear, two bolts on the wing and one on the tail. Mount the prop and it's done!

Observed things I like:

Easy assembly, no ugly rubber bands for the wings, large wheels and sturdy gear, battery access from the top of the plane - no need to flip it over and balance it on your knee to change battery. Flys on the standard and inexpensive 2200mah 3s battery.

Observed things I didn't like:

The cowl is glued on - could be hard to remove without cuting it off. This would be an issue only for repairs but this is a trainer, afterall. No provision for adjusting the aileron position - the servo cover is glued on and only z-bends at the aileron horns.

I got a couple of flights in after assembly and I'm very happy with how it flys. Only has modest power but adequate for a trainer. It was able to take off on a rough, fairly high grass field. Landed very nicely here, too. It's very stable and predictable just as a trainer should be.

Anyone else have one yet? What are you're impressions?

David,

I am shocked and surprised that no one has opened a thread on this nice trainer model and I looked and looked everywhere and nothing. Seems like you are the first to discuss this model.

I almost picked up one at the local Hobby Store last weekend and can tell you that this model is very well designed. The model does not need flaps as it comes in very nice for a landing and foam construction is first rate and easy to repair.

I noticed that the Cowling is made of the same Foam material and not made of plastic or fiberglass so, it is my recommendation to tack on the piece with spot glue points so, you can remove it should you find reason to remove the cowling like in an ugly nose first crash during Training sessions. I would use the rubbery glue that Park Zone uses for this job.

Now that you have one, I will wait patiently in case you might want to part with it sometime in the future.

Here is Fly Zone's Video of this model:

Flyzone™ Sensei™ EP Trainer Rx-R™ & RTF - Action Shots (1 min 37 sec)

I am also suprised, Carlos, that there seems to be so little interest in this plane. I've now flown it 5 times and it's an extremely nice flyer - exactly what you'd want from a trainer that can easily do some gentle sport flying.

I've had considerable experience with an early Apprentice using it as a trainer and feel that this plane is at least as good, probably better - and at a lower price point. I think it's finish and design make for a more refined looking plane. The aluminum main gear strut, no rubber bands for the wings, and much smoother foam are all nicer than the Apprentice. I know from experience that it operates off of grass much better than the Apprentice. It's not as powerful but is still adequate for it's intended purpose.

Unfortunately the cowl is already glued on. I haven't tried to remove it and it may be attached with the rubbery cement. If so, it can probably be worked off with a little patience.

This plane is manufactured by ST Models (as are the Cessna Skylane Select and Cub Select) and it's called "Discovery" in their lineup. I've had both of the other mentioned Hobbico models and find ST planes to be generally well designed and nicely built.

The intended user of this plane will arrive here in the next few weeks and if, for some reason, he doesn't want it I'll probably offer it up for sale. (Unless I become too attached to it!)

I found another thread under Electric Plane Talk about the ST Discovery:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...trainer&page=5

This is the Sensei. But be careful. There's some questionable "information" (more like misinformation) about the plane here.

Flew a couple more batteries today with some moderate breezes that were a little gusty. I'm impressed with the way the Sensei handles wind; especially considering it's very light wing loading. It's bumped around a little but remains manageable and it had no stability problems.

Put a wattmeter on it and it drew 260 watts at 22.5 amps. Prop RPM was 9030 for a calculated thrust of 41 oz. I substituted an APC 11x5.5 electric prop for the stock 10x5 and power draw increased to about 300 watts at 26.5 amps. 7980 RPM and calculated thrust of 44 oz. I put the stock prop back on as the power increase would not be very significant and it's adequately powered with the supplied prop.

I just bought this last night from the LHS and decided to take it out for my maiden today. Of course being a noob I over corrected on take off and put it in the ground nose first. :-(
But I must say this plane handled the damage well and of course I bent the motor mount and broke the prop.
So I'm a little disappointed about the whole cowl thing and the fact that this plane came with only one prop. It took me about an hour to work the cowl off. I'm planning on using some magnets and washers to hold the cowl.
I'll let you know how it works, wish me luck!

If you got the cowl off relatively intact you could use some double sided tape to reinstall it. Many other planes with foam cowls use this; it works fine and allows easier cowl removal. Magnets would work fine also.
APC 10x5 electric prop will work well as a substitute for stock prop.

Go easy on those sticks for your next attempt and good luck!

Thanks!
I already got the cowl rigged up with magnets and washers. Once I get a couple of replacement props, I'll check the CoG to make sure my mods didn't throw it off. I'll also check to make sure my controls aren't reversed. And of course try and not to treat my radio as a video game controler.....that's been the cause for about 80% of my crashes. LOL

On Wednesday I too be acquiring this wonder model.

Can't wait to entertain the little ones at the RC Club field with the drop hatch!

Just what the Doctor ordered!

$159.95 shipped with a free t-shirt. can't beat the price

Originally Posted by ICRSHLTS

$159.95 shipped with a free t-shirt. can't beat the price

I just came back from a nice gentleman who has posted here and got myself a like "New" Sensei with a Parachute and EC3 -to- Ultra Deans harness for a cool $100 plus physical pickup.

I am putting her together as I type!

Have fun with the T-Shirt!

All repaired and ready to fly! I even set up three different parachute rigs: 1 for the key chain cam, a big chute for SGT Slaughter (GI JOE), and a smaller chute for another GI Joe who's name escapes me right now. I got one tiny chute left over but I'm not sure what to do with it.

Hello.

I just acquired one extremely like 'new' Fly Zone Sensei Rx-R (Receiver Ready) from a good friend a few miles away.

I have not seen such a well designed Foam (EPP) model ever until I laid eyes on this one from Fly Zone. It has a very smooth finish to the foam and the wings are very stiff and has spars running throughout the wing assembly and best of all it has a very smart method of joining the two halves of the wing together with a overlapping joiner with plastic tabs.

The Main landing gear goes on with two screws and the entire tail (Horizontal & Vertical Stabs) get inserted with a foam keel and held by one machine screw. The servos are pre-installed and control horns all done for you.

This must be the Fastest Build I have ever done!

Fly Zone Web Site:
http://www.flyzoneplanes.com/airplanes.html

Fly Zone Sensei:
http://www.flyzoneplanes.com/airplan...535/index.html

Fly Zone Sensei Manual:
http://manuals.hobbico.com/hca/hcaa2535-2536-manual.pdf

A few Pictures of my specific Build:

Model came inside the original BOX:




All parts and and hardware accounted for:


Used the Castle Creations BERG 7-Channel Super Narrow 72Mhz FM Rx:


Inserted some white and flexible foam on both sides of RX Crystal:




Receiver Final Installation:




Control Horn Plastic Locks:




Used a Turnigy 3-Cell, 2200mAH, 25C discharge, Li-POLY:


Showing Velcro inside the FUSE / Battery Compartment:




Battery tucked inside the FUSE / Battery Compartment:


Battery Plastic Hatch Closed:


Another item of deviation was the propeller as I just do not think a propeller of "5" pitch is sufficient speed for this model so, I selected the APC "Slow Flyer" 10 X 7 as this propeller will provide balanced amount of airspeed and thrust:






Model is complete and ready to fly!




Stay tuned for the Flight Video!!

Here is my Maiden Flight with the Fly Zone Sensei R-Rx (Receiver Ready)

The Setup:
Stock Motor /ESC
Stock Servos and linkages
Receiver: Castle Creations BERG 7-Channel DSP 72Mhz Super Narrow Band
Battery: Turnigy / Zippy 3-Cell, 2200mAH, 25C discharge, Li-POLYs
Other: EC3 -to- Ultra Deans Connector
Propeller Used: APC "Slow Flyer" 10 X 7

Summary:
I can not stop talking about this model as it is perfectly designed and if you see inside the FUSE and the manner in which it goes together Wow, just a few minutes is all you need.

The Flight characteristics is majestic at best. She is a true Floater more like a Super Large GWS E-Starter with the Tri-Cycle gear and lots of improvements! In the following Video, I did not do too much stuff with it because that CHEAP Plastic Spinner did not seat well and I did not dare to Throttle UP too much.

Here's the Video:

Fly Zone Sensei R-Rx Maiden 08-24-2011.wmv (3 min 35 sec)

Nice flight, Carlos. I also noticed the spinner/prop combination was way out of balance when I first installed it. I shifted it around on the adapter collett, rotated the prop then the spinner cone both 180 degrees and found a sweet spot where the assembly ran in near perfect balance. It still had some spinner wobble but ran very smoothly and quietly. I always try this approach before balancing the prop/spinner and I'm ususally able to get very close with a few minutes of trial and error adjustment.

I fully concur with your assessment of the plane. It's any extremely well thought out and executed design. A real pleasure to assemble and set up. I can't imagine how it could be made any easier and quicker than this.

David,

Later this afternoon I will Upload another Video that Gerry captured from our visit to the RC Club this morning...it is on the way to work!!

Since I did fly the model late yesterday early evening and right before the Sun set. I had the opportunity to remove the APC "Slow Flyer" 10 X 7 and Returned the STOCK 10 X 5 propeller. Once the batteries topped off the model was commanded for take off in rather windy conditions with a Party Streamer and a small Rock at one end a-fixed with rubber bands. The model flew like a champ and it gained altitude in no time and I released the streamer by flipping the Bombay Door Switch (5th Channel) That Streamer must have been at least 200 feet because it took a very long time to come down!

Okay, today I flew the model with more Zest Appeal and again stay tuned for the Video(s)!!

Carlos