FLEXJET SUPER PNP

[dkalwishky]

I'm going to have to disagree with xviper's assessment of the Aura 8 flight controller.

I have the Flex Cessna 170 and it's by far the best flying plane I've flown. The Aura locks that plane it and allows me to fly it in pretty much any wind condition. I take it out on days where the wind is blowing 25 kts and I have no problems. My skills are no better than most peoples, the Flex Jet might be different but I highly doubt it.

There are three modes to the Aura. Gyro off, Gyro on with low rates and Gyro on with high rates. Most of my flying is Gyro on with low rates and it flies beautifully. No twitchiness or strange behavior. When I first saw the control throws I was concerned that it would be a handful, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't.

[Phantom]

The one I see that's $130.00 off is the new TV model. Not the original one this thread is about. Just a heads up.

You are correct sir, I had to go back to find out what the heck you were talking about! I read over the description several times but couldn't find the TV initially. So I checked my order and then compared three product code. I then noticed the sale was for 90 bucks off on the one I purchased. After discovering the other TV version I toyed with the idea of modifying my order and paying the difference as my order hadn't shipped yet. Then I saw the disclaimer lol and thought better of it, please see attached.

[Mtnflyby]

The one I see that's $130.00 off is the new TV model. Not the original one this thread is about. Just a heads up.

[Phantom]

Robert, Very insightful, I like that idea. I usually change flight configurations multiple times while performing slow flight and trying to trim out the bird. Its a race to complete the "flight testing" within one battery so that the maiden landing is successful. Your method to me is the K.I.S.S. method. I like it and, believe I will adopt it, thank you.

[Robert Belluomini]

Here is a simple way to slow the FlexJet down for landing with a modern tx.
If your tx offers flight conditions with seperate trims for each activate the function. Make your gear switch the flight condition switch. Take off and leave the gear Down. Slow the model to landing speed and retrim the elevator (up trim) and slow the model at pattern altitude to what you find comfortable. Land the model with this new trim value. Now during take off you will find the model rotates quicker too. Now when you raise the gear the elevator will move back to normal value. Ive done this for years with my jets that did not have flaps, it works great!

[Phantom]

There are very few planes I've ever owned that I didn't end up modding with flaps or flaperons, if they were manufactured without flaps. I am a true believer in flaps. With this plane there will be no exception. Thanks again for the intel.

[xviper]

Xviper,

Thanks for the input. I certainly wasn't expecting to hear about this bird being twitchy, atleast not from what I remember reading. :Confused:I thought the Aura 8 was basically not necessary but the aircraft was stable, with adequate power, and a better than average flight time. The price was the only reason I held back, it wasn't a sport jet price in my opinion, it was a scale foamy jet price. I have yet to ever use a gyro, my first flight with a gyro will be with my 90mm F-104. I've always flown "hands on."

I haven’t flown mine for a long time but if I remember, there are 3 modes. The first mode has the low rates and gyro compensation. If you are flying and flip to mode 2 and 3, the plane suddenly becomes VERY sensitive and the gyro is pretty much non-invasive. Unless you are an experienced pilot, that translates to extreme maneuverability, which I call “twitchy”. The slightest movement of the stick can result in a roller coaster ride or a quick roll like a drill bit. I dialed down the rates in all 3 modes and put in some gyro gain in mode 2 and 3 and increased the gain in mode 1. It was tamed down then. The landing is HOT. When I yanked out the Aura 8, I programmed flaperons, which slowed down the landing speed significantly. If you have a very long runway, no problem. I flew off of rough grass and the runway was short. The hill at one end saved me several times.
I think somewhere in this thread, I posted a video of my maiden where the Aura 8 was stock programming. The flight was done mostly in mode 1 as flipping to mode 2 and 3 was too tense and I flipped it back immediately. On that flight, I didn’t have the hill at the end I needed and I just barely turned it before hitting the tall grass at the end. After doing flaperons, it was fine. I was planning on cutting out flaps and adding 2 servos over this past winter, but my next field will be very long so I’ll fly it there first before doing the mod.

[Phantom]

Xviper,

Thanks for the input. I certainly wasn't expecting to hear about this bird being twitchy, atleast not from what I remember reading. :Confused:I thought the Aura 8 was basically not necessary but the aircraft was stable, with adequate power, and a better than average flight time. The price was the only reason I held back, it wasn't a sport jet price in my opinion, it was a scale foamy jet price. I have yet to ever use a gyro, my first flight with a gyro will be with my 90mm F-104. I've always flown "hands on."

[xviper]

Read this whole thread, and was still on the fence about this bird. Then I looked it up and it is currently on sale for about 130 bucks off,...so I ordered the orange one :)

At $130.00 off, that's a reasonable value for the money. I've always said that it needed to be just over a hundred bucks less to be a worthwhile value. My FlexJet has been hanging from the ceiling for a very long time now (not even counting the winter hybernation) and looking back at all the pre-sale hype and drummed up excitement and knowing what I paid for it, it certainly is not a "special" model airplane. Yes, it can be a nice flying plane, makes nice sounds and works adequately well with the right programming. However, in the overall scheme of things, it's now a fairly uninspiring model that is quite a bit on the "ordinary" side. The Aura 8 was not the wonderful thing that they made it up to be and now sits in a bag with no future use. The replacement receiver with a simple HobbyEagle gyro does just as well, if not better than the 8 and is far simpler to get set up. When you get yours, I would suggest looking at the Aura 8 programming very carefully and make sure that you modify it so that the gyro works on all the modes until you get used the to plane. Without good gyro intervention and the factory rates, the higher rates and expo make for a very twitchy flight. The throws are way more than you need unless you are a seasoned and expert RC pilot, which I am not and that first flight with the Aura 8 was a real butt clencher.

[Phantom]

Read this whole thread, and was still on the fence about this bird. Then I looked it up and it is currently on sale for about 130 bucks off,...so I ordered the orange one :)

[SWOFLY]

I bought the Flex jet last month and I've had about 6 flights as of now. I also have a Freewing Stinger 90 and have flown it for a year now, dozens of flights so I can make a pretty valid comparison of these two EDFs. First off, the Stinger is IMHO the best flying sport EDF you can buy, a friend of mine has the Avanti 80 and it too is a very good flying model. The main weakness of the Stinger as well as other Freewing EDFs is the landing gear. They sometimes don't want to retract or come down and you never know when or why they decide to malfunction. The Flex jet has very sturdy and so far very reliable landing gear, and yes they did pop out after running off the runway one time but some 5 minute epoxy had me back in the air quickly. It flies very nice and smooth, performs maneuvers such as knife edge very well, only a little rudder required, so i'm overall pleased with this model. The biggest issue I have is NO FLAPS ! They should have programmed flaps into the Aura 8 from the factory because unless you have a good headwind on landing this thing comes in fast and rolls a long way down the runway. I'm not going to try to reprogram the Aura 8 for flaperons. I'll probably do what xviper recommends and unplug it , split off the elevators, and dial some flaperons on my TX. The stablization features of the Aura 8 are fine if you are flying in windy conditions , but I I would rather give that up in favor of flaperons. They should offer this plane with or without the Aura 8, thus making it more affordable for those who can't get past the price level. It is well designed and has some nice features in addition to the landing gear the control linkages are a little more solid then what you get on other models. Another thing I don't like is the black plastic tail cone. I replaced it with a Freewing F16 tail pipe with LED lights in it, see the photo. All in all this is a good quality EDF which with a few tweaks can be a n every day fun flying jet.

[xviper]

Hey Guys,

First time on this blog/site,

Love my Flex jet and it performs great but I have an extra JP Hobby EDF unit and wonder if the Flex Jet would benefit from a transplant. My Freewing Stinger came to life big time with the same type of upgrade. Any thoughts?

I can't comment on your question but you should post up some specs on that JP unit (blades, kv, inrunner or outrunner, etc) so the more knowledgeable guys here can do a comparison and give you an answer.

For me, my old Stinger 90 didn't really need to "come to life", so anything more powerful or speedy would have been too much for me. As for the FlexJet, mine is at the bottom of my favorites list of over a dozen jets and since I paid a lot of money for it already, I can't see doing "upgrades" on it. It flies pretty good as is. Just didn't like the Aura 8.

[easy dog]

Hey Guys,

First time on this blog/site,

Love my Flex jet and it performs great but I have an extra JP Hobby EDF unit and wonder if the Flex Jet would benefit from a transplant. My Freewing Stinger came to life big time with the same type of upgrade. Any thoughts?

[jonesjj3]

The L-39 really has my interest and I have some experience with the Aura 8 and if I get the L-39 I would put one in it, do I need it? no, does the plane need it? probably not, will the Aura 8 make for reduced pilot work load in cross wind landings and flying in higher winds than what you may normally fly in (comfortably)? Yes. Where I fly most time it is more windy than not there fore the reduced pilot workload of the Aura 8 would be welcome, I have called Flex Inovations and had questions on the Aura 8 and they have been very helpful.

[ZCOL]

Thank you both for the information, I'm ready to see how the L-39 Albatross matches up to the Avanti, right now I agree the Avanti is a great value and won't hurt as bad if and when damage occurs. I do like the Aura 8 once you get past the programming, I have it in another EDF and it makes for steady flights in any condition.

Thank again gents

[xviper]

Are you good at programming the Aura 8 and understand how it all works? I am not and it still confuses me. I yanked that thing out after only a few flights and put in an "ordinary" Spektrum compatible Rx where I set it up for flaperons. I'm messing around with the Aura 8 now to see if I can do flaperons and keep the stabilization but I'm too scared to put it back into the FlexJet to see if it will work. I'll try it one day in a cheap "tester".
Mine also had a jittery elevator servo. Checking the internet, I found that jittery servos can be dealt with in several ways. The simplest way is to install something on the plane that would give some resistance to the control surface when it was near center. In my case, I found a ziptie that was just the perfect width and wrapped it around the elevator's main rod that goes into the tail to get to the servo. The ziptie is installed in that space between the inner edge of the elevator and the fuse. This cured the stutter. I also ripped out a main gear but that was the fault of hitting a gopher hole. I've never had any problems with the nose gear.
Since removing the Aura 8 and having flaperons, the FlexJet flies just the same and takes off so much more effectively and lands so much slower. I discovered on the very first flight after Aura 8, that the stabilizer was never really needed on the plane. Just for kicks, I installed a HobbyEagle stabilizer on my Avanti S and found that this makes the plane even more rocks solid (if that could actually happen). The Avanti S doesn't really need a stab either but I wanted to see what it would do for it.
I'm sure the Aura 8 is a very advanced device and can do amazing things for some people and their planes but for me, it was a useless addition and made the FlexJet way over priced. I didn't like the way it was programmed our of the box and I did manage to understand it just enough to put in more gain and less throws and more expo that helped to make it fly the way I was comfortable with. I had high hopes for the FlexJet but now realize that it's really nothing special. I hope to eventually salvage the Aura 8 but for now, it's just another piece in my collection of junk. I still contend that the Avanti S is a much, much better model and far better value. I'm about to order the L-39 Albatross and I'm predicting that it will rank right up there with the Avanti S.

[bill34207]

If you want to go through the reprogramming, the Aura 8 makes a heck of a gyro. Plug that into your Avanti and turn it into an even more "solid" flyer.

[ZCOL]

Looking for recommendations from you gents. I've had about 30 flights on the flex jet and am now looking at pulling the electronics and putting them in an ARF jet what would you guys recommend, I'm looking at motion RC ARF birds. From the get go I've had issues with the landing gear and today the front landing gear caused this thing to go out of control on take off, my left elevator servo has a jitter in it I assume trying to find center. Took a good chunk of foam out of the leading edge right wing. I was also looking at just selling it for $150 as a spare parts item and ordering the Avonti so I can run the same batteries. All recommendation are greatly appreciated. Yes, I'm sure operator error was the a factor in some of these issues

[xviper]

I unplugged all the leads from the Aura 8 and hooked it them up to the standard RX I was using with this plane. I split off the ailerons so I could program flaperons and "Y'd" the two ELE servos together (using a servo reverser on one of them). I had to do a mix so that both ailerons came down the same distance when the flap switch was flipped since it seems the two servos didn't move at the same rate (yes, both are on the same holes). Playing with the rates and expo, I was able to duplicate the flight characteristics for the way I fly the plane as what the Aura 8 gave me. This plane does NOT need the Aura 8's flight controller for my style of flying. It's very stable without it. My buddy said he could tell that the landing speed was reduced by about 1/3 of what it used to be.
For those who are handy with the Aura 8 config tool (I'm not but playing with it), you will be able to program in flaperons and duplicate what I did. For me, this is the way the plane should have been from the beginning. With flaperons and my short, rough field, this jet is now considerably more enjoyable and easier to land. It is by no means my favorite jet. It is still fun to fly but there are jets in my hanger that are as much fun if not more fun. It was way over-priced, over-hyped and over-rated (my opinion). Seeing how mine flew compared to how my other jets flew, my friend who also got a FlexJet at the same time has not yet even opened the box.
One big PLUS about this FlexJet .................... It has very sturdy retracts. My field will beat the crap out of almost all retracts. This plane's retracts have taken it without even a hint of coming loose. I would consider getting these retracts for any of my other planes when those ones come to a demise.

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah I'm very impressed by that one, my buddy has it and it's a great flying machine.