Steve brought his Arurora to the field so we can check it out, thx Steve. It is tiny plane, narrow, fairly light weight, well built, huge amount of fuse formers, ( may be not needed?) and as Steve described, wings and fin and rudder not very straight!

It may be possible to squeeze in retracts with very small wheels, I took a photo of the wing root to give an idea.

From my prospective, I wish the factory made it with retract option as they did with the Tucano for example.

It is a very nice looking plane, the colors are nice too. Let's see how other's fair out.

Good pics Sam.

Looks like classic ARF construction to me. The fuse opening and various "partial side formers" are there to provide versatility in the glow or electric equipment setup for which there are surely different trays and parts.

Judging from the exposed root of the wing at the fuse side, I'd say that a 2" wheel would easily fit centered between the tube and the LE. The question is, what does one run into if one moves toward the tip sufficiently for the strut length required. Ideally the retracts are positioned at 90 degrees to the wing root but they could also be angled slightly forward (~5 degrees) in order to avoid bending the strut and positioning the wheels where needed for good handling. Usually this centers the wheel axle on the LE at the strut position.

It should be feasible by feeling through the covering what else is in the area where the fixed gear block is located and how much fore/aft space there is between the spars and LE.

David

Sam what did you make of the twist in the fuse? Was it very bad? Bill

The Fin is built up with an airfoil and is bent to the left looking from the front of the fuse. I tried to bend it back, but there is no way.

The wings trailing edges are not straight, they have a gentle curve to them. The Ailerons are also slightly bent with "down" trim, but these can be "heated" back to straight I think.

The LG mounting blocks are very well anchored in the wing, I think it will require a good amount of work and patience. Not for me.

Nice plane, but "if" it was targeted for Pattern flyers, then IMHO Phoenix came short. Most if not all Pattern flyers are rightfully picky with their planes. It may fly awesome, I don't know yet. But for $224 (was $199) and no retracts and these problems I saw, I changed my mind about buying it. However, I have more than 6-7 Phoenix scale/sport models which I bought before these recent price increases and I am quite pleased with their price/performance/quality. I'll continue to buy from Phoenix but will be much more selective and careful.

If some one else gets the Aurora, please report back so we get a better idea, this may be one model from a batch.

Thanks you very much Sam for your report. I just got a nib OS FX 46 but I think I will put my purchase of the Aurora on hold until more feed back comes from other guys about the plane and the issues you have identified. Bill

Originally Posted by Sam Ehab

I had a feeling Phoenix would put the wing tube in the wrong spot for retracts. They should have at least placed it where one can modify it for retracts....just no forward thinking!

Steve; may be you want to consider HK elec retracts, 41mmx44mm, they are about $15 for a pair and they work great, they weigh 2.6 OZ each.

What engine will you use?

do you have an item number Sam? I need some...what size strut/ music wire fits? for a 60 size Tipo….this Phoenix plane looks great btw

Originally Posted by RCpilot7974

do you have an item number Sam? I need some...what size strut/ music wire fits? for a 60 size Tipo….this Phoenix plane looks great btw

here ya go:

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/servoles...ount-2pcs.html

thanks Sam!

I just received the Phoenix Typhoon, which is their other pattern plane. I put an eagles eye on it given what I am reading. I can confirm that the Typhoon kit is perfect, true and what is expected. Presumably they are made at the same time as your Aurora since the Typhoon just came off backorder.

What I am saying is - yes, you got a bad one. Exchange it. Is that a bummer - yes. But I would not want like BKanter to hold off on getting one. If Bkanter gets a bad one, exchange it.

Classic pattern needs intro arf makers at this pricepoint. Even the most artisan kits need a bit of trimming out or reshaping tricks.

I have had three Phoenix models with "twisted stuff" in them, one I caught before gluing, two I didn't. so now before I glue anything I triple check for alignment and trueness. Something I rarely had to do with Turbines, GP or TF ARF models. I personally have no problem doing this now that I am aware of these issues with many of today's ARF's.

My newest Tucano has the vertical stab (factory installed) glued very slightly off center. Probably not enough to affect flight - but aggravating to look at once you’ve noticed it. It’s hard to “unsee” something even this minor for me.

And I’m still very unhappy with the incredibly sloppy hinging slots they do at Phoenix. If this is the best they can do, I’d rather do it properly myself - same with installing the vertical stab

And I’ve always seen some warpage in most all the hinged surfaces - best to check and straighten them before installing.

You know Dave, to be honest, Phoenix does a great job "for the money". The Typhoon at $160 shipped is a great deal, also the Tucano about the same but with a fantastic cockpit details. Any other hi quality Pattern ARF's out there will be in the hi $600+ and even thousands. So I understand why we see these issues. I am still aggravated thu, these simple issues of twists and uneven hinging can be so easily fixed at the Factory by simple Supervising!

Thanks Sam and Dave, aren't you guys a Motown group?, for the comments. I will most likely order the Aurora since I really like the look. Now I can take a look at the workmanship and try to fix the problems myself which hopefully shouldn't be too hard. Will report what I find when I get it.

I agree with you, Sam. The Phoenix planes represent excellent value for the low price. But I still reserve the right to grumble about the quality!

Take a look at the beautiful hinge slots done at the factory on my new Tucano. Several other recent Phoenix planes were just as bad. Must be a blind 3 year old doing these -

LOL...I thought that was SOP: standard operating procedure with Phoenix.
Most of them look like that hinging. Sloppy at best. I iron it and then use a sharp #11 to clean it up....
Yes, we all reserve the right to constructively complain. I really think Phoenix DOES listen, but things take a long time to fix over in SE Asia!