Firebird Commander

Does it dive when you toss it? Someone brought one to the field and we had to do quite a bit of adjusting to raise the trailing edge of the tail to get it to fly properly.

If you do a search for 'firebirds' you will find some tips. One is... Look inside past the radio to see if the front end of the tail boom has popped out of its 'notch' inside the fuse. This will cause the tail to angle down. If it is popped out, fix it, and secure it with some epoxy, or drill a couple of holes and tie wrap it...

ABII

-- aerobirdtoo

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I was thinking of getting one for my 14 year old Grandson, but there are problrms with it then I will forget it. He lives in a small town with no hobby shop or club. It is 200Km to the next big town.

My XL Firebird flew and still flies fine straight out of the box. Never had to do any adjustments except minor trim on the transmitter sticks, which is normal. I have never done a scientific poll, but my impression is that they have a good track record despite some people having problems. If you are looking for a perfect every time bird, please tell me when you find it, since I never have found one that somebody has not had a bad experiance with.

Bob Ruth

Pusher Prop Planes Forum:

i bought as used firebird commander a few weeks ago. it's great becaus

the motor was already zip tight and the seller also put some epoxy o the nose as a result of a previous crashes.

I flew it about 6 times now. crashed about 3 times because it was to windy and lost the plastic shim. I found a rubber piece that is abou the same thickness as the original plastic shim, so i just taped i over and it seems to work.

overall, it's a great trainer, very easy to fly. much better than m first plane, an airhog defender.

the problem i have now is the bottom of the fuselage that is startin to split due to several hard landing without the landing gears. i trie putting layers of packaging tape on it.

i also have ripped part of the wing because the prop that spinned on i during crashes. just like the fuselage, i have been putting layers o packaging tape on it to cover part of the wing that got ripped.

the plane looks pretty ugly now, because of the tapes that run all ove the fuselage and the wing, but hey, the plane still flies and turns.

if anyone have other suggestions on how to reinforce the fuselage an the wing, please let me know.

thx

-- ra_flye

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On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 18:04:50 -0500, ra_flyer wrote in :

Sounds like you're taking the right approach: keep it super-simple (KISS).

You might try putting a popsicle stick under the fuselage to help take some of the landing stress--it might save you some retaping. Or you might try some balsa or foam sanded to shape.

Marty

thanks for the suggestion Marty.

do i just glue this popsicle stick at the bottom of the fuselage? wha kind of glue do you recommend?

i crashed it again this morning on the 3rd flight due to bad landin approach. the nose is split open now, it ripped the fiberglass tape o it.

the first 2 flights i managed to land successfully though :-

-- ra_flye

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On Fri, 1 Jul 2005 17:25:03 -0500, ra_flyer wrote in :

You're welcome.

You've got to hold the plane in your hands and imagine where the stresses are, then see what kind of splints might help heal the break and prevent new fractures.

Goop should work great. Epoxy might work, too. You might have to scuff up the plastic to give the epoxy more purchase. Some other glues (CA?) might melt the plastic, so be careful.

Hmm. Wait a minute. You might get a nice repair by using CA to attach fiberglass over the seam. Seems to me I've done that on some ABC cowls and suchlike. Patches like this are stronger if you can cut the fiberglass on a bias--so the threads run across the seam at 45 degrees rather than being parallel and at 90 degrees to it.

Well, that's what will ultimately solve your problem. :o)

Marty