UMX Pitts First Flight

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
The UMX Pitts uses a 2S 200mAh battery that some of the Blade copters use. It isn't compatible with the regular 2S plug. I had a wait a week after getting the plane while I waited for my EFLA700UM adaptor cable so I could charge the batteries and fly. After I picked up the connector I stupidly tried charging my DR car charger and puffed the first battery, the Prophet charger worked fine on the second battery. After finally getting a fully charged battery I decided to take my son out flying at lunch time - just a quick flight.

There was a little breeze and the nice soft field I wanted to fly over had been freshly mown. I popped in the battery, bound the plane, set the throttle and tossed the plane. There was a second of terror as the plane found its wings but it flew true and climbed nicely. I got the plane up a bit, did a couple of quick loops and roll. The plane handled just as I had hoped. The wind didn't phase the plane at all.

A couple of minutes into my flight I was feeling good and flying well. In the middle of a nice gentle turn I heard a screech and the prop stopped turning............ Oh crap. The plane descended quickly but stayed level. I got it down into the field with no trauma. The plane doesn't have much of a glide slope but it seems to have nice stall tendencies. Back to the hobby shop.

The shop is going to check it out and contact horizon for any needed parts. I will probably miss another weekend with the Pitts.... and isn't that the pits.
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
No damage in the landing. It still looks great. I tried running the motor up several times and it would howl and stop, it even seemed to spin backwards a couple of times.
 
Sorry to hear about the failure, hopefully you will get up and flying again soon. Looking forward to hearing about it. looks like a fun plane.
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
Nope, I haven't heard back from the hobby shop yet. It doesn't matter though, it is going to be windy and rainy this weekend.
 

airhawk

Crashing Ace
hopefully you will wouldn't mind picking up one my self well maybe i want a whip-it when its in stock in knc hobbies if it ever comes out there
 
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airhawk

Crashing Ace
viper is quite the drive from gilbert i went there once or twice to get a nano qx (regular) but now im probably going to skip i have to ask my parents for the nano fpv they've been really nice and i dont want to push it
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
I hope it comes in tomorrow. I got my spare battery today. I will definitely post when I fly again. It will probably be Friday.
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
Me either, I am afraid HH is waiting to receive the busted one before they send the replacement though. It sucks, I have next week off too.
 

Corbarrad

Active member
It's a shame the enine failed on you. I wass a little sceptical myself when I first saw the plastic belll on my umx beast years back. In the mean time I've gotten both the Pitts and the Carbon cub out of the umx series and the motor yet has to fail on any of them. The Pitts is a joy to fly and I'm sure you'll love it once you get it back.

Come to thing of it I still haven't killed any of the 2s batteries I've flown on the umxs since i got the beast some 5 years+ ago, as opposed to the 1s used in the nano qx...
 

AkimboGlueGuns

Biplane Guy
Mentor
I'm really sorry to hear about the motor, horizon stuff is usually tougher than that. Anyway, good luck with the replacement.
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
It arrived today! Time to start charging the batteries and waiting for the wind to die. It was strong enough today to cause and "unintentional landing" on the Delta Ray. It just knocked the nose cone off though.
 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
I was able to maiden the new Pitts this morning on a perfectly calm morning. By 8am it was already shorts and t-shirt weather here in the valley of the sun and perfectly clear skies. I hand launched the plane on 75% throttle and it climbed nicely. I switched in to low rates to cruise around a bit, then back into high for a few loops and rolls.

The plane flies nicely and tracks well. The plane does not self level like a high-wing or a Delta Ray, it takes elevator to keep the plane level in the turns whether using ailerons or rudder. A car drove up while I was flying and as I prepared to land a guy came up and started talking to me. My first landing wasn't pretty but was no damage.

On my second battery I practiced landing in the grass. The plane has a very steep glide slope and drops quickly below half throttle. The wings stay level and it is very controllable. The small wheels mean that landing are usually going end with a flip.

The plane looks great in the air and the high visibility markings on top wing and the bottom help with orientation. I am still surprised by how compact this little plane is. The wing span is significantly smaller than a Duet and even the Champ.