Xfly Models B1B Bomber 70mm

[RRHandy]

Please no more.

I'm with you.

[Evan D]

Please no more.

[kallend]

I recall glowing endorsements of the MiG29 from the influencers (some of whom seem to have changed horses now), yet when the production version was released there was a hurried "service bulletin" about replacing the elevator servos - a problem that none of the influencers seem to have caught.

I reserve all judgment on new models until I see reports from actual paying customers with production versions. All else is marketing hype.

[Aros]

Remember folks, let's keep it civil...From all the videos I've seen lately, it looks like she's going to be a pretty easy flyer all-in-all. I can't wait to get my hands on one this Summer.

[xviper]

Deleted so the scab can grow back.

[kallend]

I've been in this hobby for nearly 60 years.

In that time I've learned to disregard pretty much everything written or posted about models by people who are getting freebies from manufacturers.

[SanExup]

Ha, well maybe they really did have a second one in the car. Joking aside, that gear looks pretty different. And those wheels look the rock hard rubber variety. I wonder if those would be easy to swap or not.

[xviper]

Yeah, that and their runway looks like exposed aggregate. Cheese grater.

With a speed bump near the end. If I hit something like that with my plane, I see retract parts go flying out.

[SanExup]

Yeah, that and their runway looks like exposed aggregate. Cheese grater.

And he flew it like they had another one in the car. Exactly the type of video I was hoping to see. An inverted high alpha pass down the runway would have been cool...

It looks fantastic!

[xviper]

However this is the usual release flights by Xflys pilots.

That's even better. That means it wasn't heavily "staged" or hyped up for promotional/advertising purposes.

[SanExup]

Nice find! Thanks for sharing and posting this here. I take it Arthur RC is in France? I just knew sooner or later, we'd see that there are others doing testing on this plane and that there are more than just the 3 "sample testers" we've seen so far to exist. This makes me believe that things could progress a bit quicker in the development and production process. It is also my belief that we'll see the likes of the FNRC guys to be the first "privateers" to get this plane and fly it and post vids (hopefully) and the rest of us will be able to order it ahead of the N. American arrival. Good on X-Fly for shining a bit more light on this subject.
What a wonderful video. It shows a much more stable airplane. Perhaps it wasn't as windy there or they've got the gyro dialed in better. Rolls and loops no less and the wing sweep in and out seemed effortless. I wish they'd had done some thrust reversing but I think that part of the plane needs to be addressed. Those cheater holes on the inboard side of each nacelle need to be re-worked - something like on Freewing and Eflite planes where there is a directionally finned vent so reverse air can be directed more forward instead of just straight out the sides. Something I'll likely do if left unchanged. While I had some reservations before, I'm "in like Flint" now.

Of all of the RC plane reviewers I like Arthur RC the most, no nonsense, great info and good reviews. However this is the usual release flights by Xflys pilots. Seeing them fly it makes me want one. It'll be a while, with the Eurofighter and a couple of newly assembled planes in my hanger deck I'll be busy once spring rolls around, in May, but maybe June for the snow to melt.

[xviper]

^ Agreed! With the exception of this X-Fly unedited video, I don't think the "PR" and marketing videos are over yet. The so-called "favored few" are still trying to sell, sell, sell. With 5 to 6 months to go, it's going to be hard to keep up the hype. It's just going to get boring and "plain jane" (pun) and maybe start to look like desperation. Pre-orders will begin to taper off quickly, possibly even buyers remorse and cancellations (IMO). Xfly would do well to get the usual FNRC, RCInformer, Petrincic Bros, RC Geek and others involved to build interest up just before the factory closes the first production run. Sales projections based on this far in advance (over)-hype don't do well. New stuff comes along and people "get over it".

[kallend]

With all the PR flying being done by the favored few, I hope they don't go down the same path as Freewing with the Mig29, namely lots of nice marketing video from the so-called "test pilots" but missing serious problems with the stab design, stab servos, and high alpha lock.

[xviper]

(85) MAIDEN FLIGHTS by Xfly's Pilot • Xfly-Model B1-B Twin 70mm EDF PNP RC PLANE • (English/Français 4K) - YouTube

Arthur-RC posted these videos of the X-fly-s pilot's flying it.

Nice find! Thanks for sharing and posting this here. I take it Arthur RC is in France? I just knew sooner or later, we'd see that there are others doing testing on this plane and that there are more than just the 3 "sample testers" we've seen so far to exist. This makes me believe that things could progress a bit quicker in the development and production process. It is also my belief that we'll see the likes of the FNRC guys to be the first "privateers" to get this plane and fly it and post vids (hopefully) and the rest of us will be able to order it ahead of the N. American arrival. Good on X-Fly for shining a bit more light on this subject.
What a wonderful video. It shows a much more stable airplane. Perhaps it wasn't as windy there or they've got the gyro dialed in better. Rolls and loops no less and the wing sweep in and out seemed effortless. I wish they'd had done some thrust reversing but I think that part of the plane needs to be addressed. Those cheater holes on the inboard side of each nacelle need to be re-worked - something like on Freewing and Eflite planes where there is a directionally finned vent so reverse air can be directed more forward instead of just straight out the sides. Something I'll likely do if left unchanged. While I had some reservations before, I'm "in like Flint" now.

[SanExup]

(85) MAIDEN FLIGHTS by Xfly's Pilot • Xfly-Model B1-B Twin 70mm EDF PNP RC PLANE • (English/Français 4K) - YouTube

Arthur-RC posted these videos of the X-fly-s pilot's flying it.

[xviper]

It most certainly is. It has been a game changer for me and the industry ever since it first arrived on the Eflite DRACO. Those with mile long runways don't care but most of us don't have that luxury and the grass guys don't need it. I try to target only ESCs with reverse now for all my jets. It's such a simple to add feature that I'm surprised that it took this long to make it widely available. It was a smart move for the Eurofighter as it is for this B1.

[Aros]

Oh reverse functionality out of the box is the cherry on top to me! Personally it should be a standard feature for all new gen EDF jets. Good find!

[xviper]

It would appear from posts at the Guppy, this plane does come with reversing ESCs. The end user simply has to program it to activate it either via beep tones or programming card. It remains to be seen if the plane can actually be propelled backwards. All of my EDFs with reverse are able to be thrust backwards on a smooth surface - on grass, it depends. Makes for a much easier turn around on a narrow runway and it's a great crowd pleaser. Most people have never seen a plane, let alone a jet go backwards.

[xviper]

Looking over this thread (just for fun) and a recap .................................................. ...........

Split elevators for "tailerons" ................. both sides are linked together and actuated by one servo. I'm sure if you really wanted to, you could separate them, add another servo. Flights videos have since shown it flies well without tailerons. Not much worry about wings folding on hard maneuvers.

Aros was bang on with his prediction of price at the beginning of this thread ................... 700 - 750.

Evan D was pretty close about when they'd open up pre-orders ........... (IMO) Due to the pressure of people being pretty good at guessing some of their secrets, they got the pre-order going fairly soon.

Peoples' hopes were dashed when Banana wanted payment in full when pre-ordering.

Flap are automatically programmed to suck up when wings sweep in. Front nose retract very similar to the one on the Xfly Bizjet. Hobbywing A3 gyro and a new Lemon RX used during testing. Reverse is available but not caught on video.

Then along came this ..........................
https://www.turbines-rc.com/en/jets-...f-jet-pnp.html
Anyone could pre-order from these guys (France) right now and the shipping is free to most places and they do NOT take money at the time of pre-order.
Banana may say they have the exclusive on this product "in" N. America (IMO, for a while), but they do not have any exclusivity on selling "to" N. America. And we will likely soon see that when RC Castle starts their pre-order, much before the time the load of Banana B1's leave the factory for the ship yards (IMO).

As an addendum, everything stated above is FACT. Where it is my opinion, I added "IMO".

[xviper]

Production has not fully begun at Xfly on this model. They are waiting for Solt & Co. to finalize "sample testing" data. Once they receive that, Xfly will tweak the specs and production process and begin. The estimate is approx. April to May for end of the first production run. As soon as the production is full under way, pre-order will be available at a certain overseas seller. I will order mine at that time if I still think it's a good procurement and if no other new model comes along that trumps this one (hear that, Freewing?)

I am going to stick my neck out and "guess" that sometime in May or June (give or take), the Banana boat will be loaded and head out to sea, making the west coast landing 2 to 4 weeks later, distribution a week or so after that. (So "summer" was a safe statement.) By then, I think Bitgo (and any other Xfly sellers) will be making a lot of ugly noises and we might see the "exclusivity" go flying out the window some months after that.