HobbyZone Firebird Phantom Questions and Answers!

Dude, my friends and I got in 6 great flights at the field last Sunday. It was a sunny day, looking to catch some rays and to fly it's wings off. But on the next flight the plane was so slow - it just wouldn't get up any speed. Even at full power. It also kept turning to the right no matter what I did. I couldn't get it to go straight. So I let it turn right so it would come back to me, but it corkscrewed in during the turn. Any idea what happened?

Actually, I do. Sunny day, nice and warm. Check the top of the wing. I'll bet the right decal has separated from the wing at the front. Sometimes these decals pull loose from the wing from heat and maybe they were stretched too much when first applied. Add a little heat from the sun and they lift off of the wing. The air flow will lift it even more - that acts like a speed break slowing you down and it will pull the plane to the side that has the lifted decal, since it is flying slower, it will stall in a turn.

"The fix"
Tape the leading edges of the wing with some clear tape, be sure to cover the decals front edge so they will stay down. You should be good to go. Remember the sunscreen!

OK, I'm trying to get my Firebird to do a loop. Whenever I go to full throttle and give it full back elevator after just a few seconds the motor quits. No power, no loop, bummer.

Well, you can blame the "ACT" system. It is assuming you have made a mistake by flying at full power and giving full elevator for too long so it took control from you. When you want to go to full power for more than 2 seconds and give full control input you'll have to turn off the "ACT". Just push down on the right stick until it clicks. Then you can motor around at full throttle all the time, just be aware that the controls will be more responsive and you may tend to over control it, just give the controls smaller inputs. You'll get the hang of it.

OK, so I landed a little hard, well crashed actually. The plane took it OK. But one of the servos won't move now. Is it time for a new plane?

No, not time for a new plane yet. The linear servos don't like allot of jarring & torque. When you crashed it, it jammed the control flaps hard and that was transmitted directly into the servo. Usually an easy fix.

"The Fix"
Just power everything up, transmitter and receiver. Open the canopy so you can reach the servos, use your finger to gently nudge the servo gears while moving the control stick. They may need to be rotated slightly, but usually that will release it. Once released the servo will probably work again but it will be prone to binding on future "hard landings".

My Firebird has been through it all, but I think I finally finished it off. I had a spectacular crash, cart wheeling the plane many times. Well this time it not only took out the tail controls, but it broke the tail rod. I tried gluing it, then taped it but that didn't work. Any ideas how I can keep flying or is time to retire this bird.

Don't give up yet. You have a couple of choices. You can order a new fuselage, that is the easiest but the most expensive. You'll need to be sure to get the same channel as your transmitter, you'll find the channel on top of your plane under the wing or the back of your transmitter. These come complete with a new receiver. Or we offer a bare fuselage for the Hobbyzone Firebird Phantom - the "Built to Last" Fuselage Replacement. This features an incredibly strong tail-boom and can be adjusted to increase flying performance.

Take a look at the Park Flying Fun "Built to Last" Firebird Phantom Fuselage Replacement

My wing keeps sliding on top of the fuselage. If I put on more rubber bands, it usually breaks the wing hold-down pins sooner than they normally break. Any way to make them stronger or make the wing permanent?

While it would be easiest to just glue the wing on, best not to. You may need to change the wing in the future and could cause more damage removing it. The best choice is to get a 2mm hollow carbon tube. A carbon tube will be more than strong enough. Just cut both pieces the length you want, then attach the white end caps. On the rear pin you may want to go ahead and glue the caps on. On the front pin only glue one cap on. You'll need to be able to remove it later to replace the canopy latch rubber band.

Or if you're in a bind and have no carbon rod close. I've temporarily used a bamboo skewer and tape. At the same time I placed double sided foam tape to help hold the wing onto the fuselage. Didn't look pretty, but it kept me in the air.

Everything is going great with my Phantom, just had a concern. Whenever I power up the receiver there is a sound of chattering or movement inside. The control rods don't seem to be moving with the noise. Is the electronics OK?

This can be caused by a number of things - most of the time it is just the "ACT". Once powering everything up, push down on the right control stick to turn off the "ACT" and that will usually quite the servos down, they will just chatter when you fly with the "ACT" on.

More to come!!!!