FMS 80MM Dassault Rafale

[Mizer67]

I need to start shooting videos and garner more interest in my favorite delta, the Mirage 2000.

I love that after a ~4 year break from the hobby, I can still get a new airframe and parts for the plane that I last flew back in ~2016 from MRC and it's even more awesome now with the newer power systems available.

On the other hand the other "high alpha" king, the E-Flite F-16, a simple nose retract pin has been out of stock since I bought the plane in July...

I bought a whole new nose retract just to temporarily solve the F-16 problem with the butter-soft pins. The ultimate solution though is to drill it out and replace it with the 4mm pins that Motion sells for FW. I already tried the FW retract and unfortunately it won't fit.

I miss when MRC and other distributors could carry FMS for sure, used to be my go-to brand for warbirds especially and it seems like they're really catching up now on EDFs.

[air-jon]

Motion RC has set the bar very high for customer service and parts for the brands they carry because Motion is a mid-size agile distributor with a pretty narrow focus. I don't think Motion is trying to take over the world. Horizon Hobby is a big mega distributor and can't seem to give the level of service that Motion does. They have a lot of different irons in the fire... All those gaps leave a nice niche for Motion to really serve the RC airplane community! The only bummer is the brand exclusivity junk....and Motion no longer carries the bulk of FMS stuff...

Horizon is doing a little better with spare parts these days. Scanning through their most popular jets (eflite and FMS), they seem to have pretty good stock of the gear that usually breaks (even some of the older planes like the 70mm A-10). I agree if your Horizon brand/FMS plane is a couple years old....better stock up on parts!

I love that motion still has many parts for the Freewing 80mm F-5, and that model just had it's 6th birthday LOL!

[xviper]

I buy FMS parts (when I can and when they're in stock) from RC Castle. Sometimes, I get charged the tax and sometimes, I luck out and pay no tax.

[Mizer67]

My issue with Horizon is they can't keep popular spare parts in stock and what they do have for spares, you usually can't get exactly what you need.

An aircraft grounded for lack of parts is a useless aircraft. I don't have the patience to wait 4 months for them to restock something if it isn't there.

Of course you hope to never break something, but retracts on grass particularly take a real beating no matter how delicately you land/takeoff and that seems to be a weakness in some of the HH EDFs. I'd be happy to buy more HH and FMS planes again if they figure the support part out.

[dahawk]

Unlike MRC, HH drops models frequently. Here today gone tomorrow. Plus, because they sell through LHS's, you pay sales tax. In my case, 8.5%

[xviper]

Big wing area. Bigger than most in its class. Should have less wing loading which means she'll fly lighter. The 2100pro generates ~ 6#'s of thrust. Should be fine for this plane. Just wish it wasn't sold by Horizon.

It's the same price so what does it matter?

[dahawk]

Big wing area. Bigger than most in its class. Should have less wing loading which means she'll fly lighter. The 2100pro generates ~ 6#'s of thrust. Should be fine for this plane. Just wish it wasn't sold by Horizon.

[Mizer67]

I like power system. The 2100kv motor and fan is great for ~$86. I have it in the Mig-21 and Mirage and it's great there, but the heaviest is 2850 grams.

This plane is said to weigh close to 3300 grams AUW. That's going to lead to pretty anemic verticals regardless of the good thrust for 6S on that fan.

Sure it's going to high alpha for days with that wing area, but it'll be somewhat lacking if you're on the back side of the power curve.

[dahawk]

The livery is a bit gawdy but hi viz nonetheless. Growing on me. I like the looks of the plane overall but especially the FMS 2100kv motor fan combo. They do seem to really excel in this area. I've retrofitted a few of my FW edfs with the 2000kv and its a killer setup.

I'd much rather have an 80 or 90mm F9F Panther/ Cougar. Then I can repaint and complete my Blue Angels series. F4, A4, F/A-18. Okay, I'd still need the Bearcat and F11 which I think thwy flew briefly. There no Panther or Cougars to be found in this size.

[HellHathNoFury]

You mean the cheap nose gear that's never in stock ?

Asking for a friend

Replace Retracts with HK ones.. Straight install.. No issues after that..

[xviper]

Someone sent me this today. It’s new to me.

[air-jon]

I'm stoked the canard jets are getting some love again! At least something got love in 2020.

This flashy yellow color scheme is growing on me...

[Johnnyrabuse]

Well looks like a choice for those that wanted an 80mm Rafael. Just wonder if HH will mess with schemes or leave the tiger scheme. Also, I hope they got that nose gear fixed so it does not collaspe easily on grass runways.

You mean the cheap nose gear that's never in stock ?

Asking for a friend

[Johnnyrabuse]

Now that is nice! Shame it's FMS 😁

Yeah no parts cheap electronics and bad servos airframes nice though I'll pass

[Johnnyrabuse]

Looks like fms coming out with a new 80mm Rafale


https://youtu.be/qpHvha4RoCY

I wouldn't buy a plane from FMS or HH if it was the last ship on planet earth

No parts shoddy service and cheap electronics imof I gave my Eflite jumbo p51 away today at the field

[DCORSAIR]

So FMS pulls it off to be the first one with a Rafale, why that livery though, no thanks, why not just go with the gray, I will wait for the Freewing one.

[MAVFLIGHT75]

Rafale and Gripen 1-2 on my non-US fighter wish list...I'll take them both

[Mizer67]

I'm sure FW could design break-away missile rails...maybe employ some magnets for those of use clumsy enough to snag one or catch one on landing so the plane doesn't cartwheel.

[T-CAT]

....and the Gripen's intakes sit a tad higher on the fuselage when compared to the Rafale, and certainly higher than the Eurofighter. This could be beneficial for the grass flyers due to FOD ingestion reduction . It is well-known many RC pilots don't have paved runways to use (although pavement isn't FOD eliminating either, ha-ha).

Sounds like an awful lot of positive attributes to make a model out of.

[Mizer67]

I think the Gripen is the best looking of the bunch and what TCAT mentioned are already big plus' in it's favor.

The only thing negative about the Gripen (vs. other deltas) that I can see is the wingtip missile rails. Those seem easy to snag on something.