Harbor Freight Tools

Was able to fly it only a couple times before completely destroying the fuselage. Any slight breeze or mistake of the throttle can send the plane into an unrecoverable dive. With no elevator control it simply heads straight down and smashes to bits when it hits the ground. I would suggest flying near tall grass or brush to cushion the blow if you expect to get any more than a few flights out of this plane.

It was great fun for a short while, but a waist of $40.

(Posted on 7/23/10)

As a noobie pilot, I was anxious to fly THAT first day, without preparing. Bob's recommendations are invaluable regarding packing tape and such. After breaking the wing after one frustrating flight, in wind, I gave up and put the plane in the box. Today, with packing tape repaired wings I went out to try again. I started first with keeping the wheels on and practicing control on a basketball court. I spent two full battery charging cycles on getting the hang of the controls while safely on the ground. Once I could follow some of the basketball court lines without too much difficulty I added power and took to the skies. Way fun.....and not the frustration as the first time flying Packing tape is your friend.

(Posted on 7/14/10)

Exchanged the Condor (red plane) for the Yellow Bee, after the remote failed on two Condors. This is a major upgrade and only is $10 extra (didn't have any coupons). Lots more power and built to last. Radio control is a major upgrade too.

The good news is that this plane is much sturdier, especially after I taped up the wings. Took it flying tonight, and with a rather restricted area, and a slight breeze, managed to crash it into a Realtors sign in the front yard of a house across from the park. Came out intact, with just a slight ding in the wing (in an untaped area).

I would like some advise from you senior pilots on how to correct a tendency to go left all the time, even when giving it full right stick after getting it flying. I even put on the landing gear and "drove" it up and down my driveway afterward to get a feel for the controls. It definitely torques to the left. Since it doesn't have a vertical rudder, how do you adjust the V tail?

Thanks

(Posted on 7/14/10)

After flying this plane a few times, I'd like to add some pointers for those first time flyers who happen upon this site:
1. Be sure to fly in NO WIND.
2. Clear Packing tape is a must. Reinforce the back edge of the main wing before you asemble the plane. I have found that the area around the motor mounts is critical to reinforce, both top and bottom. Tape across the area of the motor mounts and then slice the tape at the motor mounting section, fold that tape flap over. Do this twice, both top and bottom. The wing itself is pretty solid, so I just added one additional piece of tape on the bottom side of both wings approx 10" long for added strength.
3. The V wing in the back needs to be reinforced in the rear as well, I taped it before assembly, at the point of attachment, both top and bottom.
4. I just threw away the "landing gear" they are useless, and the plane lands well on it's belly. As a side note, I did use a little tape to reinforce the front of the plane near the cockpit, for those landings.
5. I also recommend using the bubble wrap packing to keep the battery pack from shifting in flight.
6. I used packing tape to secure the antenna to the "fusalage" of the plane.
I have now flown this plane about a dozen times, crashed it often, and been able to repair it each time. The learning curve is smooth, just remember to ease off the controls if you find yourself in trouble, it will correct and glide out of trouble. (Most times!)
A Lot of fun for 32.00...
I just bought the Mustang on sale today for 60.00 with my 20% off coupon. It will be more difficult to fly, but I could not pass it up at that price. Review to follow...
Happy Flying!

(Posted on 7/13/10)

I bought a similiar plane (model 92912, the red one) for my grandson sometime last year. Forgot to give to him for Christmas, but remembered for his birthday on June 10th. Put it all together, charged it up, and did a test flight in my small front yard. Could see the potential, but waited 'til we could go to the park. I did notice that the propellers continued to turn with power even when the throttle button on the remote was not engaged, but didn't think too much of it.

Head over to park last night, and on the first try, the plane came around and crashed into my foot, breaking the wing. Both myself and my grandson wanted to cry, we were so frustrated. Reason it crashed was that the plane was powered up even after my grandson took his finger off the buttom. Took it back home and fixed the wing with packing tape (this was before I read the reviews). Headed back to the park and managed to get in several pretty good flights before the unit stopped working. Back at home, I charged up the battery and even replaced the batteries in the remote to no avail. I did notice that the red battery LED on the remote was lit up, but then, it was always lit up. Called Harbor Freight (luckily, only a 10 minute drive), and asked if they had a new remote. They told me to come over and exchange the plane, even though I didn't have the receipt, and had purchased last fall. Made the exchange with no fuss, thank you Harbor Freight.

The new plane had a prebroken wing, probably due to someone trying to take out of the box carelessly. No problem, fixed it with tape and reinforced most of the rest. Back to the park. First flight, hit a very small tree, and of course, broke the wing. This time, I had the tape with me. Fixed her up, and we got in about 10 flights; my grandson had one that lasted about a minute. Then, just like last night, no action when we tried to do another flight. I figured the batteries were dead, but even after I recharged when we got home, no action. Guess I'll take it back to Harbor Freight tomorrow. I would like to upgrade to the next plane, but even on sale, is almost $70. I also plan to call Harbor Freight's tech line and see what they suggest.

Bottom line, they didn't have toys like this when I was growing up, and if we can get one of these to work, all the trouble will have been worth it. Flying is a lot of fun.

(Posted on 7/12/10)

Really wish I had read the reviews and reinforcement tips on this page before I flew the plane. I have just returned from my first flight and to say that I'm pissed is a drastic understatement. I got about 10 seconds of flight time before a VERY SLIGHT gust of wind threw the plane out of control and crashed it destroying both wings. If I had gotten even 10 minutes of flight time, if I did not have to drive over 30 miles round trip to purchase replacement wings, if the manufacturer had put tape on some part of the wing that actually did it some good (not just for labels), if the instructions had said DO NOT FLY THIS IN EVEN A 2MPH WIND, if I did not get the impression that this plane was intentionally built to sell lots of extra parts I might have given it a better review but right now I think it is a P.O.S.!! I will try the tips posted here and guessing by everyone's glowing reviews I might be happy when I do. But today I have neither the time nor the money to find out.

(Posted on 7/9/10)

First, thank you to all who put their reviews and tips on this site. I followed your advice and was up and flying with only minor issues.
I did reinforce the wings with packing tape and it has saved the plane after I crashed it a few times while getting up to speed.
The plane itself is easy enough to fly, and once I stopped overcorrecting, I was able to keep it flying and had positive results.
I was able to repair the damaged areas of the wing with additional packing tape, and plan on flying again today.
I bought the extra wing repair kit, and really thought about just buying two planes, as the repair kit is 10.00, and the whole plane was 32.00.
Overall, the plane was better quality than I expected, has great range, and is good for the first time flyer, before moving to something more expensive.
Buy one!

(Posted on 7/7/10)

If you get the plane, charge it for at least 3 hours before you fly it.. Also, carefully tape the main wing in its weak spots with clear packing tape. Try to fly it in a wide open area until you get used to it. DO step # 5 in the Review by Christian. This is my first plane and it is a great plane for beginners. It takes some time to get used to it but once you get the hang of it, it flys great. Another tip is to run like 5 feet with it while it is in full throttle to take off. For $40, it flys amazing and has great control. I would highly recommend buying it if you are trying to break into the hobby.

(Posted on 7/7/10)

I've built and crashed much more expensive RC planes, and with all the repair time, never got the hang of flying. This is the place to start, and I'm excited to be getting off to a good start now.

(Posted on 6/21/10)

I've been flying off-and-on for many years and picked it up again recently. Watching me fly both my sons expressed some interest, so I took a chance and picked up a couple of these at my local store (w/20% off). What a great deal they've proven to be!

I did have to bend the elevator tabs down a bit on both of them because they would climb, stall and drop at full throttle. But other than that they've been great! One of my sons had his way up there (caught some thermals) and the radio worked without an issue. The only problem I see is that the radio won't be reusable in future planes (with traditional controls), but for the money who cares. These are a great way to break into the hobby, heck, even I enjoy flying them, they're great floaters.

(Posted on 6/14/10)

This is a great product but brakes. You should try taping the two wings next to the motor on the left. but all that aside its a great starter!

(Posted on 6/6/10)

I challenge you to find another $30 RC plane that flies this good. Wow. What a blast! Use the 20% off coupon in-store and walk out with a nearly ready-to-fly RC airplane for just about $30. You're going to need a lot of room to fly this plane and a relatively hard surface to land. Baseball diamonds are ideal. It will just nose down if you try to land in the grass.

Since most folks buying this plane will have little experience, here are some pointers:

1. Fly only in no or little wind. Go ahead and fly while it's windy if you want to lose or crash your plane.
2. Carefully put packing tape on the surfaces of the main wing and h-stab (rear V). This will significantly strengthen the wings without negatively impacting performance.
3. You'll break off the rear "landing gear" thingy. Trust me, you will. An alternative is a large zip tie with some excess hanging down to "drag" when you land.
4. Cut a flexible straw and route the trailing antenna wire into it, then bend it up and out the back of the plane. This will prevent it from dragging on the ground. Use zip ties to secure it to the rear "fuselage" under the h-stab.
5. Use foam or similar to keep the battery pack in place. It tends to move side to side which can throw off the balance of the airplane. I used a small piece of bubble wrap.

We can complain all we want about cheap Chinese products - sometimes the complaints are legit. But you just won't find a better value. Best $30 I have spent in years.

(Posted on 6/6/10)

A OK

(Posted on 6/1/10)

IF A 7 YEAR OLD COULD FLY THIS PLANE, SO CAN DAD........HA..........

(Posted on 6/1/10)

Great trainer. My son and I are using it every night to get better at flying in anticipatin of getting a more serious RC plane due to arrive in a week. If you get a bit disoriented, just let go of the controls and the wings level (if you have not already rolled past 40 degrees or so)

Agreed with Lorenz, fly with zero wind. Control authority is very light and as such if you get in trouble, it is pretty hard to correct it. Having the motors and props in the back allows great crash survivability. They do give you spare props but we have not needed them. Tore a wing off because we crashed due to flying in excessive wind one day (lesson learned) . Easy to repair with clear packing tape. If you fly on grass, get rid of the landing gear. Hand launch and just do belly landings, it does not hurt the airplane. With wheels on grass, you are guaranteed to cartwheel. Use the wheels only on really really smooth concrete. Even ashpalt is too rough for those small wheels.

(Posted on 5/20/10)

Great aircraft. I have flown it at least 50 times. Chose a very large field and NO wind. The control authority with the diferential thrust system is limited, but a briliant design. Radio is solid and works well. Talk about bang for the buck.

(Posted on 5/18/10)