I finally finished my firebat today and had a very successful maiden flight. It flew great and had no problems at all. I made my own modifications which I felt needed to be done to have a plane that if I had a not so nice landing it would survive.
I did not use the carnards. Then I fiberglassed the whole fuselage from nose to tail. I did not glue the fuselage two halves I just used straping tape to keep them together. I figured that if I needed to take them apart I could do so with just the tape. I used a rubber band to keep the canopy on and tape for the extension of the canopy.

AUW at 20 ounces.
used AXI 2212/34 motor
gws 1180 prop
3 - 1500 kokam lipo batteries

With this set up it flew right out of my hands no problem. Had a very nice glide angle on landings did not float to far just right. With these light planes sometimes they just keep on floating and that makes them sometimes harder to land because they just float up thier. I flew it for 18 minutes WOT and had plenty of power. Since this was my first flight I just flew it striaght and level. The response was great it turned on a dime. I don't understand why everyone has had a problem with this plane set up right it will fly great. I seems to be a fun plane.
I keep it simple and here are a few pictures.

Wow, I missed several posts. I like that EDF version. I am still flying mine, about to retire the 350 motor and anxious to try one of the new twin 280 or 350 GB's. I think for amp purposes, I'll go with the twin 280.

Great!, I will do the same with mine.. ditch the canards.. did you reflex up the ailerons?.. where did the batteries go to balance it?.. where did you put the balnce point?

Plan to use a Himax 2025 geared motor on mine, on 3s lipos.. and fiberglass of course.

Any chance of getting hit by the prop?

Herm

Originally Posted by wfmdpw

I finally finished my firebat today and had a very successful maiden flight. It flew great and had no problems at all. AUW at 20 ounces.
used AXI 2212/34 motor
gws 1180 prop
3 - 1500 kokam lipo batteries

With this set up it flew right out of my hands no problem.

I put the battery in the nose opened up the front compartment a little to fit the 3 lipo's pack. I took 1/32" balsa and made new ailerons and covered them with colored tape. I used HS 55's servos and put them side by side right behind the battery. I put reciever and the speed control in the big area behind the servos. I had made another motor mount out of lite ply the one that came with the kit was not usuable for my motor. I tried balancing based on thier numbers and I needed to put in an ounce of weight in the front. When I tried it out it was to heavy in the front so I removed the weight and left it alone and it was just right with no other weight. I hand lanched it at a 45 degree angle and it flew right out of my hand no problems. Throwing it up that way you clear the prop no problem. I will take some pic's of the inside and out and post them so you can see what I have tried to describe.

thank you.. so can you measure for me exactly where yours is balanced now?.. I want to duplicate it..

Herm

Originally Posted by wfmdpw

I tried balancing based on thier numbers and I needed to put in an ounce of weight in the front. When I tried it out it was to heavy in the front so I removed the weight and left it alone and it was just right with no other weight. .

The way it ended up balanced was:
from the fuse on the leading edge measure 61/2" and from that point 2" back. That should give you a good starting point if you glassed the fuse. Hope that helps and good luck. Mine is flying real nice so far no problems. I will post some pictures if I can get the manage attachments button to work. Right now it will not let me attach pictures and I did attach pictures before so I am not sure what the problem is.

I have a couple of pitures to let you see how it came out. Still flies great. Had a mis-hap. A li-poly battery shorted out and before I could get it out of the plane it melted the foam. Since I had it glassed it now just weights less but still flies great.

lol I love it!.. what is that painted on the canopy?

Herm

Originally Posted by hermperez

lol I love it!.. what is that painted on the canopy?

Herm

that gives you a better look at the canopy.

Well, the standard kits sold out today at Tower, they are now officially discontinued. Wonder how long the deluxe kits will last?

Happened to run across this on the Great Planes Site while doing a firebat search

Firebat R/C Pusher Jet ARF (GPMA1400/1405)
Tech Note

Helpful tips to be sure your first flights with your Firebat are successful:

After assembly, go through the assembly sequence again to check your work and setup.

1. Check that the stock propeller is on the correct way, with "printing" on prop facing the back of the plane. (NOTE: The optional propeller in the manual can be used for tractor and pusher models. As this is a pusher model, you need to turn the prop around backwards to use it on this model.)
2. Check that the propeller pushes the air back towards the rear of the plane. If not, reverse the leads to the motor.
3. Triple-check the balance point, make sure the balance is where it is supposed to be before flying.
4. Make sure battery is charged the full 4 hours prior to the first flight when using the wall charger included with the deluxe version. Setting up your servos and motor will use some battery power, so, before your first flights, holding the model, run the motor until the electronic speed control cuts off the power. This will discharge the battery so you can let the pack cool, then recharge 4 hours before the first flight.
5. Make sure the canards are set at neutral/centered per the instructions before flying, and that the leading edges move up when the elevator stick is pulled back on the transmitter.
6. Check ailerons for correct movement.
7. Do not attempt rapid climbs after hand launches. The Firebat is a delta wing model. Delta wing aircraft have a very high drag at low airspeeds. Allow the model to accelerate before climbing. Note that canard aircraft are stall resistant, not stall proof. The will not spin readily, but when they run out of airspeed, they need altitude and engine power to translate into energy to resume forward controlled flight.
8. ALWAYS range check the radio system before flying, with the motor off, and also with the motor running.
9. Remember, adding excess weight will affect the way the Firebat flies. Painting is an easy way to add weight. Do NOT add anything to your Firebat if at all possible.
10. The motor and battery recommended for the Firebat will provide flight times of 5-10 minutes. Both the motor and battery will be hot at the end of this time. If a larger battery is used, it will increase the run time and could cause the motor to overheat. Be sure to allow at least 10 minutes for cooling between flights. We do not recommend a larger capacity battery for this reason.
11. If your Firebat has poor performance check the voltage at the motor and the thrust. The voltage should be at least 7.5 volts with the motor at full power (be careful to avoid the spinning prop). An inproper battery, small wires or the ESC can cause low voltage. To check the thrust put the Firebat on a household scale wit the nose down (a digital scale is best). Note the weight of the model. Using care to avoid the prop, run the motor at full power and again note the weight. The difference is the thrust, which should be at least 9.6 oz. (300 g).
12. Check the thrust angle of the motor. There should be no up or down thrust.


Great Planes Model Manufacturing

Been almost 2 years since I have flown R/C regularly and haven't owned any R/C equipment since last Oct/Nov...got an electrifly Edge 540 for Christmas and a Firebat off Ezone. Got the Edge built, can't wait to have a Firebat again!
http://amtjim.rchomepage.com/FBX.WMV

So, are there Firebat kits still available out there, or have they all been built (and crashed)?

Have 3 Firebats for sale-NIB..also 2 twin jets-NIB...will post in FOR SALE section