California Cutie P-38 Lightning V2 from Banana Hobby - Ugly duckling or graceful swan?

[Tate]

I bought a V1 a couple years back and that plane was a complete waste of money.
A friend of mine picked this one up as a joke but the joke was on him when it arrived and he got it out of the box.

Banana lists this plain as BlitzRCWorks but the manual distinctly says J Power Group.
Not sure why they felt like they needed to hide the true manufacturer but it seems to be a trend with Banana's models.
Be prepared to spend $10-$20 reinforcing, rebuilding, and generally securing this plane.
It will cost an additional $50-$100 to make it looks like something you can be proud of.

All that said when I got her out to the field (before all the reinforcing I plan on) she flew great. There was a rather worrying flex to her wings even in level flight but I was pleasantly surprised.
This plane could be a winner at about $150 but $292 ($240 right now) is probably more than it's actually worth.

[putput]

Well..... I am glad at the end there was something nice said about it. Both segments were pretty harsh. Yes I think the new rendition is over priced for its current quality level but.... I just picked up the original V2 version, which is the silver Red Bull model. Yup, its a J-Power, and grabbed it NIB for 150 bucks plus shipping.
The retracts seem to be a little better quality that Dynam, not to E-flite standards, but good. Yes there are some assembly tips and mods I did right out of the box.. The rear horizontal stabilizer felt weak, so I glued in a carbon fiber strip, which made it nice and tight. The wings do flex too much, so again a carbon fiber strip is installed to strengthen them. I also placed a little foam-tac between the wings and nacelle to strengthen the hold there. Now she is solid.
Look at the pricing for anyting else in the 55" wing span range, and then the price does not seem all that bad. IMO, the quality is better than many Dynam models I have had....

[Tate]

I'm glad you were able to get such a great price on it. At that price point I don't think I would have been too upset my it.
The repairs you have listed are right inline with what I plan on doing before her next flight, along with installing better hinges and replacing the pilot.
Honestly the wiggle in the nacelles and the insane flexibility in the horizontal stabilizer is the only reason I would rate this model below a Dynam.
If they were to resolve those issues, make a couple cosmetic fixes, and sell for $150 they would have a great model that I would gladly recommend to all of my friends.

[bradl4648]

I still have one of those as well flew great but the foam was like an egg carton. the way things were screwed together awful weak. I can go on and on about it. Overall it did fly well though. That is if you could keep it together and the little foam holding the tail to the fuse is bad too. I ended up giving this to my nephew but I believe it's in blitzrc heaven at this point. I have not had great luck with blitzrc at all. The 1700 mustang the gear was for a 55" and snapped within the first few flights. It would wobble like a penguin LoL.

[Tate]

I will say that the BlitzRCWorks B-25 Mitchel has really impressed, as has their Wildcat which Jared loves the look of so much he hasn't been able to bring himself to maiden her for fear of a crash. Maybe we can talk him into it once it warms up a bit and the runway is clearer.