Hi, just unboxed a firebird stratos from hobbyzone and put it together.




my impression:

totally small plane but big enough for flying.
everything fits nicely, about 12 screws to be fitted screwdriver is in the box
Manual is very good still a pain in the neck for beginners, dvd would be nice
Plane is nice, solid foam.
wings stay attached, only a small carbon pin will break when the plane crashes
rubber very soft nose
nice stickers good looking
tail is taped on also the fins on the wings


radion control is very small, perfect for kids for adults it could use a bigger one, I like it though.

all in all, if you are a beginner it will take you longer to understand how the plane is set together, it's possible though. Definetely nothing for a kids, of course flying with an adult could be perfect will see.


Battery charger only charges in the car cigarette lighter, wich immensly sucks

Wheels are ok but the back weels are kinda loose and could easily fall off when landing.

nice velcro on the battery, everything perfectly designed like I was used to with hobbyzone.

the many plastic parts and the strong foam make it fairly heavy for the size, nice if its a bit windy it will keep the track, to be honest I can't wait to try it for fpv, it seems like the perfect plane for it.

Gonna fly next time, it's raining today


forgot the propeller protectors stay on even if you don't use the landing gear.

the servo, receiver is all one little electronic part, quite amazing.

I've had my FB Stratos now for about 3 months and have flown her a lot. The battery can be charged using most of the chargers that have balancing plugs built in. I have an AC adapter that ends in what looks like a 12V car adapter that I plug into the wall and use the car charger that came with my Stratos. This can be had at Wal-Mart for less than 20 bucks. The plane is tough So far I have replace only the two props as the old ones were getting a bit ragged. On the third flight, my Stratos nosed into the ground (stupid me, the plane got behind me) and all I had to do was put a small piece of tape on the wing tip. No problem at all and she still flies great. My flying buddies comment that they like the way the motors sound when she is in the air. I get a lot of "Wow, is that a twin prop?" type comments. My ony gripe is with the controller. I wish it would bind to my DX6i. If it did though, you would lose the Virtual Instructor feature. I am currently flying it in Hi rate mode and plan to eventually turn off the VI altogether. IMHO, the HZ Firebird Stratos is a fine and fun plane to fly.

Just wanted to comment on this Firebird Stratos, some of you have already seen my intro in the Electic plane section, but I just took my maiden flight with this plane on the 4th of July great day for a maiden flight for me locally, little to no wind.

I'm a rookie when it comes to flying but this plane flew amazingly, very stable and alot faster than i expected and was only flying at about 75% throttle. I enjoyed the heak out of this plane. I've been told its a great for beginners and as a beginner I must say I'm very very pleased. got in two flights and two successful landings.

I look forward to more flights soon.

I'm no pro at judging what makes a RC plane a good model or quality and etc. but I can say, for only $129.00 I'm very pleased with my purchase.

oh yeah, when I was buying the stratos, I also purchased and extra battery and the power adapter to plug in the wall. Which I recommend if you dont have a good charger.

thanks,
Josh