Is the Sport Cub S the new Champ? (Part 2)

Part two is on time.

Below, you will find my story regarding the Phantom SC S and its twin, the Tree SC S… And why I would name these two Sport Cubs those two incredibly strange names. Let the stories begin!

My first Sport Cub S was the Bind N Fly version (the version that doesn’t come with a transmitter). For the first couple of days that I owned my first BNF Sport Cub S (hereafter referred to as the SC S 1), I flew it in the street in front of my house. All went well until floats arrived.

On my first day with floats, the SC S 1 flew into a tree because it didn’t have enough power, with the floats on, to go up and around the tree. When it got back, one float had come off of it. That prompted the first picture that I showed you in part 1. That picture was taken right after I got it back.

After that, I hot glued that float back on. I finally got the courage to try it again a few days later.

As I said in the Demise of the Sport Cub S post, the first SC S I bought had a small incident with water when I tried it again after I fixed the floats. Rather than tell you about it again, I am going to quote that post below. Here is what happened:

10 minutes ago, I was flying it with floats over the water behind my house. I had just mechanically trimmed in a little down elevator on the SC S, and it was going a little down. So, I landed it on the water.

I clicked in a little up trim on my DX6i and I tried to takeoff again. The left wing tipped a little into the water. The left aileron servo might have gotten wet. Because it was on the other end of the water, I had no choice but to attempt another takeoff.

It started to accelerate, but, no matter what I did, it would not leave the water’s surface. It then started to go around in circles. I slowed it down, stopped, and tried again.

Same result.

The SC S eventually got turned upside down. As I write this, it is still in the water, face down. I just looked out of the window, and I can’t see it.

You can read the full post here.

Well, I didn’t find it. As I said later in the Demise of the Sport Cub S post, I ordered a new one. This new one will, hereafter, be referred to as the SC S 2.
The new one had some issues…

Tree SC S:

On my FIRST FLIGHT with SC S 2, it went into a tree at the neighborhood park (small field surrounded by trees that has a park bench). THE VERY FIRST FLIGHT!!! It crashed into the tree about a week ago, but LAZY me is too lazy to see if it fell out of the tree… That’s why I call SC S 2 the Tree SC S.

The Phantom SC S

Three or four days ago, I found the SC S 1 in my driveway. It must have floated to the edge of the water behind my house, and someone found it and returned it to my house! Thank you to whoever brought it back! That’s why I call SC S 1 the Phantom SC S.

I said that I would call it the Phantom Cub if it got back and was working, but most of the metal parts are rusted and the propellor barely spins. I doubt that it would fly.

In Conclusion:

Well, that’s my personal Sport Cub S story. Hopefully, I will go up to the park and see if the Tree SC S is back on the ground… Hopefully, it is.

Thanks for reading part 2 of my Sport Cub S review, and I hope that you enjoyed both parts. Share, subscribe, and comment!

Part 1: link

Is the Sport Cub S the new Champ? (Part 1)

The promised Sport Cub S review is finally here.

Is the Hobbyzone Sport Cub S really the new Champ (click here to see my review on the Champ)? This question was really bugging me, so I preordered it in early September. On the 28th of September, it finally arrived, as I said in the Sport Cub S first look.

In this review I’ll be following the same format that I’ve tweaked a bit since my first review. Oh, and I’m going to include pictures.

Here’s the first pic:

The poor SC S in a previous sad state. I’ll explain in part two…

Alright. Backstory time.

Backstory:

I have long wanted a 4 channel Champ. Floats and FPV are an added bonus for me. I have been wanting to get into floatplane flying since I have a large body of water behind my house, so the floats intrigued me. FPV did, too…

First Impressions:

In the box, the SC S looked just like a Champ that was painted blue (and had ailerons!). As I untaped the tape holding the Styrofoam plane holders in place, I noticed the battery in one of the battery slots in the Styrofoam and a USB charger in another battery slot. The plane was as nicely packaged as the Champ was.

The plane was a bit heavier than the Champ; it felt more solid than the Champ. As I mentioned in the Sport Cub S thread over at RCGroups (I’m John234), it was raining when the box came.

Assembly/ First Flight Preparation:

The SC S required NO assembly. I just had to plug the included 150 mAH E-Flite battery into the USB charger, plug the charger into a USB port (I used my iPad’s charging USB wall adapter), and wait about 15-20 minutes. Subsequent charges took about 20-30 minutes.

Takeoff:

The SC S took off really well. It tracked perfectly straight. Hand launches with the Panic Button enabled (see my write-up about SAFE) kept the plane going straight as it left my hand. Hand launches were still uneventful with the Panic Button disabled.

Flying:

In Beginner Mode, the flight was limited to small pitch/roll angles and had self leveling. This mode really worked well; self leveling is crisp and the pitch and roll angle limits were perfect, in my opinion, for a beginner. I flew my first flight in this.

After landing in Beginner Mode, I switched to Intermediate Mode, and I promptly took off again. Flying in Intermediate Mode was a perfect step up from Beginner Mode, yet it was a perfect intermediate step to Advanced Mode. There was no self-leveling in this mode, but there were still, though less restricted than in Beginner Mode, pitch and bank angle limits. I was able to fly around very well, but I could not get the plane in a bad attitude.

Advanced Mode removed all flight protection and self leveling from flight. I felt completely unrestricted. I am going to increase control throws to really see what the SC S can do in Advanced Mode soon.

Flight in all modes felt locked in and superb. AS3X, active in all modes, dampened the effect of the wind. In my opinion, though, the UMX Radian is still the most resistant to wind.

Landing:

Landings were excellent. If you turn the Panic Button on at five feet or so in the air, you can easily make a great landing, HANDS OFF!!! Of course, you still need to manage the throttle, though. Nothing more to say on the landings.

Recommended timer settings if using a Spektrum computerized transmitter:

Dx6i transmitter:
Timer: 5 minutes

Any Other Spektrum Computerized Transmitter:
Timer: 5 minutes; start/stop at 10% throttle

The Specs:

Skill Level: Beginner

Wingspan: 24.3 inches

Length: 16.3 inches

Flying Weight: 2 oz

Full Specs Here

Equipment I Used:

1. Thunder Power TP103CQ-ACDC Charger (link)

2. Spektrum DX6i DSMX Transmitter Only (link)

Verdict:

This is a great all around plane. But, it doesn’t handle wind as well as I thought (my UMX Radian handles wind better) in my opinion.

Total Rating:

9/10

Thanks for reading! Part two will be here by next Sunday. Promise!

Please share and subscribe (you can subscribe to umFlight over in the sidebar, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed). I hope that you enjoyed the Sport Cub S review!

Edit (12-17-2014):
Visit Part 2! Link:link

I’m sorry I didn’t put e link in sooner (as soon as I posted part 2)!

Readers Opinion!

Hey!

I am going to start a monthly “Reader’s Opinion” on my blog so readers of my blog can make a post for a change!

Here’s how it will work: The second Sunday of every month, I will post a question. Then readers can write their opinion in the comments.

Stay tuned to umFlight!

Today’s Topic:

Do you like to use stabilization systems such as AS3X?

Take Two- Hobbyzone Sport Cub S (RTF this time; BNF last time)

My replacement SC S (Sport Cub S) just arrived! I’m going to maiden it as soon as I can.

The Photo Shoot:

Thanks for reading and stay tuned. The SC S review will be posted very soon.

Demise of the Sport Cub S

My new Sport Cub S just bit the dust.

10 minutes ago, I was flying it with floats over the water behind my house. I had just mechanically trimmed in a little down elevator on the SC S, and it was going a little down. So, I landed it on the water.

I clicked in a little up trim on my DX6i, and I tried to takeoff again. The left wing tipped a little into the water. The left aileron servo might have gotten wet. Because it was on the other end of the water, I had no choice but to attempt another takeoff.

It started to accelerate, but, no matter what I did, it would not leave the water’s surface. It then started to go around in circles. I slowed it down, stopped, and tried again.

Same result.

The SC S eventually got turned upside down. As I write this, it is still in the water, face down. I just looked out of the window, and I can’t see it.

BUT… All hope is NOT lost! I just ordered another one with Amazon Prime shipping! It is RTF, but the BNF didn’t have Prime shipping. And I needed a replacement NOW.

I don’t think that this one will make it (the water is brackish). But, it just might make it back. I will then have to call it the Phantom Cub.

Please note that this will NOT affect the review for the SC S that is scheduled to be posted this Sunday.

Stay tuned to umFlight. I’m planning some exciting things, and I just have to wait until their are a few more visitors and comments to reveal the exciting things. Thank you to all current visitors for being here.

Comment and share, please!

New Product: Horizon Hobby/E-Flite UMX B-17G Flying Fortress BNF with AS3X Technology

I was just checking my email and I saw this beauty in my inbox. I’m temped to buy it… Just another thing to add to the want list. And, I have a perfect excuse to get it: for a review here, on umFlight!

Here’s the link: LINK

Enjoy. I am off to go watch the video again!

 

My Official Start in RC

Today I thought that I should post about how I got started in RC things.

Chapter 1:

The above picture shows some of my broken helis.

In June of 2012, I received a Helo TC Assault helicopter as a gift. But, the next day, it got dog hair tangled in the shaft and it never flew again. So, I decided to go to Brookstone and buy one of their coaxial helis. I bought two.

Within a month or two, these broke. I think I bought about 20 of them from June 2012 until Spring 2013. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

In fall of 2012, I bought a Revell Proto Max. It crashed during the third battery and never flew again. I got frustrated and moved back to the Brookstone helis.

Finally, in Spring 2013, I was flying a brand new Brookstone coaxial heli and it just fell out of the sky.

Chapter 2:

So, I bought a Blade CX2. I wanted to get a mCX2, but I was able to get the CX2 faster. The CX2, though, had overheating issues. I could only fly it for 0:30 until the twin motors overheated and the helicopter fell out of the sky.

This inspired me to get the Blade mSR. It was a great RC heli until I made the mistake of flying it when I was angry. I flew it, very quickly, into a wall and the motor plug came loose and fell out.

I then got the Blade Nano QX BNF (I used the radio that came with the mSR). That broke after a few months, so I bought a mCPX v2 RTF. I couldn’t fly that one that well.

I bought my second Nano QX BNF. All of chapter two, except for the Christmas part, happened from June 2013 to October 2013.

For Christmas, I got the new (at the time) Blade 180 QX, the Walkera Ladybird FPV, and the world’s smallest coaxial helicopter.

Chapter 3:

In February of 2014, I decided to try RC planes. I bought a Hobbyzone Duet RTF and I really liked it.

In May 2014, I finally bought a DX6i, a programmable transmitter. It improved my flying experience a lot! I then bought the Hobbyzone Champ, which is still one of my favorite planes.

In June, I received a Parkzone Night Vapor, which I will review soon, and a Blade 200 QX.

I have bought an E-Flite UMX Radian, which was another one of my favorite planes, but it sadly got lost in a tree. I also have gotten 2 more Champs (I only meant to get one) due to my original Champ getting crushed by a suitcase. The most recent thing that I purchased was a UM T-28.

I have a Hobbyzone Sport Cub S BNF on preorder. It has now arrived as I mentioned in my last post. A review will be posted within a week or two.

Please forgive me for not getting it posted at 5:00 AM (it’s 8:30 now); I completely forgot to schedule the post, and I just woke up!

Well, that’s my RC story. Post a comment to discuss the post or tell me any RC story that you have!

umFlight First Look: Hobbyzone Sport Cub S BNF

I just received a Hobbyzone Sport Cub S BNF on Monday! The plane was neatly packaged. The battery and USB charger were in foam slots, and the SC S was packaged in foam. The new plane felt heavy and solid compared to the Champ. It was easy to setup on the DX6i, and then I was flying!

SAFE worked like a dream. But, it seems that there is no self leveling in intermediate mode like there is on quads equipped with SAFE. The Panic button… Well, it was just plane (pardon the pun) AMAZING! It self leveled the plane no matter what and I could even activate the Panic button and land. This could be good for teaching newbies (and me) all about how, on landing, they should use up/down throttle to change altitude, NOT up/down elevator.

Stay tuned for a full review very soon. I hope you enjoyed today’s post and I’ll see you on Sunday! Comment, share, and enjoy!