Review of the FMS 800mm (31.5in) V-Tail

I am a new to flying R/C planes, but I have been watching Flite test for about a year now, and very recently after months of searching, I found this gem of an aileron trainer. It really deserves more attention than it gets. I got this one from Motion RC, and got it the next week.

I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I hadn't spent the better part of the year on simulators. It comes in a slender tall box with the picture of it on the front. Not much assembly needs to be done, only needs the v tail to be glued on, and the wing screwed on. For sake of convenience and because the wing was loose with the screw alone holding it down, I just used some Scotch double sided tape rather than the screw. The plane is one of FMS' more glider like planes, with the wing set just behind the canopy between the middle  and top of the fuse.

It came with 2 bad servos, so we had to replace them with 2 9g standard Hitech HS-55's. They work really well. I maidened it on a warm day, wind blowing at 3-6 mph and gusts up to 12. The plane handled it suprisingly well. One thing to be cautious about is that when full back is applied, it slows down really well, but its a struggle to keep it from dropping once you start banking. When you crash, if it lands nose first, the fuselodge will start to buckle around the hatch area, so do yourself a favor and use a little 2-4 inch stick of carbon fiber or bar-b-que skewers. It lands sort of fast, and it is speedy in the air with the 3700 Kv motor spinning a 4x3 prop. I get anywhere from 7-15 munite flight times of of a little 350 MAH 2 cell LiPo.

In conclusion, I think if you have any stick time, simulator or not, this plane would be a blast to fly, and at only $110 for a RTF, you can't resist!

SPECS:

4x3 folding prop

3700Kv brushless outrunner

6 amp ESC/BEC

FMS 9g proprietary servos (I like the HS55's better in this case)

2 Cell 350 MaH 15C battery with JST/SH connectors.

FMS F-4 4 channel transmitter and receiver

31.5 inch (800mm) wingspan

Landing gear is a single skid placed just in front of the wing.

Pros:

easy to assemble, big enough to see when its high up, small enough to put in the back of your car.

Easy handling, V tail allows self leveling to an extent

substancial power and lots of elevator throw to get you out of a sticky situation

Cons:

Trainer sticker on wing (more of a pride thing)

Extremely slow roll rate

Elevator servo isn't very easily servicable