Got my first plane y'day, Firebird Commander 2. Took less than 15 mins to assemble and I was too eager to fly the plane. After watching the video, I tried flying it and crashed couple of times. I called it a day with out any success as I tore the left tail flap and damaged the wing a little bit.

Next day: Went to Hobbytownusa and got a new tail and fixed it up in an hour or so and took it to the field this evening after reading the manual few more times and all the beginner guides we have on this forum. Amazingly, it flew on the first try. It steadily gained altitude but some how kept turning left all the time. Then it happened the plane kept gaining altitude while turning left and kept going away and away. I wasn't able to steer it any other way. There wasn't too much wind ( I could almost swear that the ribbon wasn't even at 45 degree angle on my receiver).

I ran after the plane, but it went over the top of few houses and before I knew, I lost sight of it. It was getting dark, I'll try looking for it first thing in the morning.

Alas, $120 for a day of fun and anguish. Hopefully that won't be my last flight.

-Sunilpg

I feel your pain Sunilpg I waved goodbye to a $1200 sailplane back in august. It always hurts to lose a plane, even moreso than a crash. With a crash at least you know your plane died an honorable death, and you can recover some of the equipment.

Definitely go back out tomorrow and look. If you have someone with an AP rig you can also take pictures of where you think it landed (just be mindful of flying over residential areas). You can also post fliers, etc. If you really want to feel protected, you can also look into this thread, which has a lot of info about tracking devices for planes.

Don't give up!

Thats really weird cos my firbird commander did exactly the same thing and wouldn't turn right. I took it back and swapped for a challenger after a very hairy incident where th eplane got so far away i my dad couldnt even see it. Very far anyway and i only just rescued it from losing reciever range.

The Firebird Commander is a piece of crap. I got one myself, and slammed it into a tree when it wouldn't respond to my radio anymore. You should just forget about it, and get yourself a decent plane, like the SlowStick everybody here is recommending, or a Multiplex EasyGlider (Electric), if you're more the sailing plane guy. The price is not very different, and you will have a lot more fun with them.

Here's a link to a thread on the infamous Firebird Commander with some more info.

Counterpoint: The FBC can be a real fun plane IF you fly in a large area, wait for a low/no wind day and recognize that it is limited to using two channels - thrust for elevator. Here's a link to a kid mastering flight with the FBC: "In Praise of the Lowly Firebird Commander" https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=366487 If a little kid can master it...

p.s. on the price - the FBC is half of what a Slow Stick set up costs. At least.

My first plane was a FBC2 and my second was the PZ P51D(we won't get inro that one). Anyhow I didn't have too much trouble flying the FBC2 and after a few hard crashes, some minor trim adjustments to the tail, and an eventual tail replacement, it flew great. As a matter of fact I took my friend out to fly it and it was his first experience with any RC aircraft and he flew it like a pro.

I don't like the built in "ACT" software. I turned that off and it made flying a lot easier. I always made sure that my tail controls travelled the same distance. Since it doesn't use stiff push rods and appears to use fishing line I noticed after some rough landings there was some "line stretch" that I had to adjust for. All in all I did enjoy my FBC2 while it lasted. It took it's final flight this past Sunday, while in a steep diving turn the wing folded 90 degrees to the fuselage and the plae plummeted 50' to the Earth. It hit so hard it ejected the battery back and threw the engine to the front of the fuselage. I salvaged all the hardware I could, then went back to my slowstick.

My opinion: FBC2 is a fun but tempermental aircraft. It's two channel flying system (using thrust to control altitude) takes time to get used to. The constant tail adjustments become irritating at best and it seems so fragile as you make the adjustments it feels as if you'll break the control surface. Personally I have a slowstick now (as does my buddy) and we love them easy to build and easy to fly. Anyhow I hope my input here helps a bit.

Yes, get a slow stick. Slightly more in cost, but the transmitter, reciever and servos are an investment since you can reuse them in future planes. Factor that in and it's a lot cheaper.

Originally Posted by treelander

The Firebird Commander is a piece of crap. I got one myself, and slammed it into a tree when it wouldn't respond to my radio anymore. You should just forget about it, and get yourself a decent plane, like the SlowStick everybody here is recommending, or a Multiplex EasyGlider (Electric), if you're more the sailing plane guy. The price is not very different, and you will have a lot more fun with them.

After twice seeing people TRY to fly these FB type planes I am not impressed. The first one flew away in a similar manner (luckly he found it), the other didn't have enough power to stat aloft. These seem to be common problems with many of the low cost RTF type planes.

Personally, I agree 100% with 'treelander'.

Yep......My first flight ever was a FB Commander about six months ago. Took off watched it turn into a small dot then disapear.....$139.00 gone in 30 seconds! Just didn't know what I was doing and before I found "RC Groups. Thought I was the only one for that to happen. Good news though....I now own a SS, Tiger Moth, Slow-V and my new beautiful E-Starter most with outrunners and 3-cell lipo's. No way was that FB going to defeat me!!

The plane flys as it was designed, I wouldn't ask that much more out of it, I looked at the Firebirds before I bought my no name vortex extreme, for me it was more along the lines of "OK, my next plane I want is going to have a T tail so I should learn on something that is at least something like it. Even though I have retired my vortex and replaced it with an EasyStar it's still a great plane the basics are there, throttle, rudder, elevator. Same goes for the T-hawk, I tought myself the basics I learned about how wind effects flight, I learned where to and where not to fly, I learned landings.. It's all there, could I have done the same on a Firebird, sure , but I wonder if I would have formed some bad habits maybe , maybe not. At the end of the day it wasn't a bad road, you can see if this hobby is for you and at the same time I only spent $130 doing it.

I tend to agree that the inexpensive RTF's make learning more difficult sometimes because of the lack of control. Any 'proper' Rc pilot - or fullscale especially - would at the very least frown on any plane without pitch control. That said, i have had some fun with cheap crap before. I guess a beginner might do alright if the conditions were right and the field was huge. An intermediate pilot would likely have the skills to contain it to a normal field, but it would be an effort.
Frankly, i would recommend a 3ch plane to any beginner any time. Theres enough on the market that are good that i just try to steer them away from the bad ones. I tested a parkzone Cub for my LHS owner recently. I went to the field wondering if this cheap Chinese POC had any hope of flying. I left very impressed.
I love my slowsticks too and dont hesitate to recommend them. See my Newbies Guide if interested.
Enough has been said about the Multiplex EZstar that i wont argue with that one, though i have no experience with it.
Same applies to the Mountain Models Magpie.
Big field? try a glider. The Great planes Spirit seems decent.
Do you remember the Dukes Of Hazzard jigsaw puzzle you had when you were 5 years old? the one with like 6 pieces? if you can still assemble something like that, then you can assemble a beginner balsa kit too. I recommend the StevensAero Squirt 400 or Mike Molts Tyro.
Have a club nearby? Dont rule out Slimer (glow fuel) planes. I know this is an electric forum, but hey, if it has wings and it gets me outta the house, im down wit dat. Clubs, though not cheap to join, almost always have a club trainer plane that the instructor can teach you to fly before you invest. I have been blessed with a great little club nearby, and it has been worth every penny. Others experiences with clubs vary dramatically though.
Slimers are certainly fun, and to anybody who whines about the messy cleanup, i say "ITS JUST A BOTTLE OF WINDEX ferchrissake!"
They are not, however, appropriate for the local park though. (so get both )

Do you remember the Dukes Of Hazzard jigsaw puzzle you had when you were 5 years old? the one with like 6 pieces? if you can still assemble something like that, then you can assemble a beginner balsa kit too. I recommend the StevensAero Squirt 400 or Mike Molts Tyro.

You are joking right? Even building something like the Squirt will take a beginner DAYS and require lots of tools and coverings, etc. I've scratch built balsa and built kits and there is NO WAY i'd recommend a beginner do ANYTHING with balsa, unless it is balsa elevons on a wing.

The PZ stuff is headed in the right direction IMHO.

Depends on the person. Yes, building with balsa will require:
1. an xacto knife
2. CA glue
3. covering
4. covering iron.

#1 and 2 you need regardless.
#3 & 4 will run you about $30~35 usd. Big deal.
Some guys have even used a household iron with success. You dont start getting into fancier equipment until you get into fancier (or older) planes. Even then, its usually more a matter of 'want' than 'need'.

Some balsa planes are fragile. Some arent. The ones i recommended arent.

Yes, the ones recommended will probably take a rank beginner several evenings to assemble. I doubt the average human would need more than 10~12 hours total. Some would enjoy the build process and some wont. His decision.
There are many fine ARF/foam aircraft available, a few ive mentioned - but I DONT believe in steering him away from balsa because theres a chance he *might* not like it, so ive included some. I stand by my recommendations.

So, we went back looking for it this morning, but no luck . Any ways, I was glad to see that no one got hurt last night and no one complained about their broken window or a ding on their car etc in that community this morning.

I am just curious, how far can it go after I lost control of it. My guess would be that it was around 50-60 feet up in the air when it was moving away from us. I could only control the throttle at that time but I did stop the throttle. I want to know how far I should be looking for it. Is it possible that it might fly away for like 5 blocks or so?

Another question, what is thermal?

-Sunil.

http://www.hangingrocktower.org/Misc/thermaldef.htm