Hi, a bit late but better late than never.
I went to San Clemente on Monday the 31st, and stayed there until Wednesday the 2nd.
I stayed at a friends house, specifically the friend I bought RC gear for a couple of months ago. He currently has a beat up Bixler 2.
I went there to teach him how to fly the thing. I must say I personally don't like it too much. It feels so sluggish and heavy... :/ But that said it still flies. When I am on the sticks. My friend was so enthusiastic that he was an expert on RC kind of things, and he said he could fly everything that was advertised on HobbyKing... Well you all know that's not true... He nosed in his Bixler 2 after half a circle and 5 seconds of flight... The nose was crumpled and the screw-in wing mounts were pulled out... And he cracked the spar, which he fixed up with an iron nail and some epoxy...
Anyway, we fixed the plane with hotglue and hot water. And tape.
Next time we flew, I first had it trimmed up, then let him take the sticks. He got better and better, but he still expects the plane to turn by just pushing the aileron in a specific direction. I have explained to him several times that he only needs to tip the plane and then pull elevator... But he's not that good at listening it seems.
Most if not all of his crashes are because he doesn't know how to turn. He pushes the aileron to the side, and then simply waits for it to come around. Which it doesn't. It will roll till it is perpendicular to the ground and then nose in "sideways".
I usually stand beside him and take his Tx if he messes up. Once I pulled out from a dive so hard that the wing (remember it had been fixed) folded up 45º in a V shape... Talk about dihedral
I managed to land the thing near us so we could check for any damage. We fixed the thing, but it was getting dark so we got home.
Next day, he did a similar pullout from a dive. This time the spar only bent about 10º... And in his opinion it flew much better. He should have gotten a 3ch plane instead... *sigh*
Anyway, I tried doing some hand landings. I can only do them nicely when the wind is stable. For the most part, the wind is very jerky, so you need constant corrections on the stick which don't let me reach out for the plane. But I still need to practice.
On a personal note, 3ch annoys me. Unbelievable lack of control. I love 4 channel, and using the rudder to tweak the turns - I'm just figuring that out. I flew a Mini SuperCub he had bought, and pushing a stick and waiting 20 secs for the plane to turn is not my kind of entertainment. I invite you to disagree on this subject.
Later while back at home he made me get him another plane from HobbyKing. We decided on a TekSumo, a Bixler 1.1 and a bunch of electronics. So I hopefully will be posting a review (maybe even a build, if he lets me) of these two planes. I'll post a guide on how to charge two 3S simultaneously on a Turnigy 6s charger, and maybe some other cool stuff too.
