E-flite Draco X 2.0m

[Oxotnik]

Storch! Storch! Storch!

[SanExup]

Wild Man I agree. My plane collection is probably half Flightline/ Freewing and the other half a mix of arrows, eflite, fms, and a dynam tigermoth. The ones I've flown, so far, all fly great. Most need some modeling right out of the box or along the way. I have had small issues with all the different manufacturers, servo replacement, missing parts, misaligned decals, etc. So no one escapes that I guess.

In terms of commerce, I lean towards MRC in terms of quality of purchasing experience. And so maybe that's part of the source of my loyalty. In addition to having a great lineup. I would like to fly all of the Fw/Fl planes, that does say a lot.

But I completely agree with you. Eflite, Fms, and Arrows are great planes, sure some weaknesses but again no one escapes that. It's great that they exist and push the market. The planes just keep getting better and better. The batteries, radios, flight controllers etc, better and better.

And I'm glad we don't have to choose to be a Stol guy, a warbird guy, or an edf guy. Except when loading up to go fly for the day! I love doing high descent angle approaches as much as I like trying to do smooth scale aerobatics with my warbirds. My edf flight time can still be measured in minutes not hours, after this summer I will have more of an opinion, but so far so good. I enjoy the stress of flying an EDF.

All in all, we are pretty fortunate to have what is available to us these days. And I agree, what you are getting with the Draco can probably easily justify the cost. Though I still wish it were cheaper. Bloody hell.

[Wild Man]

I fly for relaxation, for the enjoyment I get out of flying and seeing what and how far I can push the limit of the planes capability no matter what it is. You say you like the stress of flying an EDF Why? They are easier to fly then a Pylon Racer? I fly the EDF's to see how fast they will go and what they can do and the enjoyment I get out of flying them. The most stressful thing I have is trying to decide which planes to take to the Field LOL!!!! One very exiting plane to fly recently is the new V1200 From E-flite I have had it out many times and have tried a few different batteries and prop sizes and have got it up to just over 160 mph in a knife edge racing pattern. Flying the MRC Skynetic Havok after flying the V1200 seems like flying a Cub LOL!!! War Birds are Cool and so are Float planes I have many float planes I take to the lake and in the winter fly them off the snow Ski's are a joke. All in all the most enjoyable planes to fly are the ones that have a wide envelope of flight characteristics Fast, slow, knife edge, High Low Hover, very aerobatic those are the ones I love to take to the field every time I go and others

[Oxotnik]

I watched the HH YT live show on the Draco last night. I’m now sold on it. I’m still not buying the first batch, but I’ll likely get a second or third round one.

[SanExup]

Wild Man The stress of flying EDFs, I joke sort of. It's more that they are new to me and on average they tend to be more expensive. So it's purely psychological. It's funny, a prop maiden flight doesn't make me nervous if I feel like I've set up the plane correctly. To me, it's just trim out flight and familiarization to the plane. But with my EDFs, every flight my mouth is dry and I'm a little gripped the whole flight. I'm sure at the end of this summer I will be just as relaxed as with prop planes. Or, and I hate to utter these words, if I crash one it will irritate me enough to just fly the wings off of the next victim. And then I'll be over the stress.

[xviper]

I watched the HH YT live show on the Draco last night. I’m now sold on it. I’m still not buying the first batch, but I’ll likely get a second or third round one.

You got stamina, man! I couldn't deal with over 2 hrs of what possibly and likely to turn out to be a very long infomercial. At least waiting for the later batches, you can see all the real world reports before finalizing your decision. For me, I decided to get in on the first batch, but then, I'm a glutton for punishment. "Too many planes, too little time".

[Oxotnik]

You got stamina, man! I couldn't deal with over 2 hrs of what possibly and likely to turn out to be a very long infomercial. At least waiting for the later batches, you can see all the real world reports before finalizing your decision. For me, I decided to get in on the first batch, but then, I'm a glutton for punishment. "Too many planes, too little time".

I’m not afraid to buy into a first shipment of a new warbird (Blackhorse Do-33, EFlite FE-190). Overall, I’ve been down on EFlite, thinking that their warbirds are priced too high. I actually don’t feel that the Draco is priced too high. Since I’m primarily a warbirder, I’m still not sure how much I’ll fly it, after the newness had worn off. However, it looked like HH/EFlite have pulled out the stops in the features that they’ve put into the Draco. I do think that I’ll get one in the near future though.

[Aros]

At first glance, the price point may make some clutch the pearls but that's simply due to a lack of understanding of what goes into making models of this caliber. I speak not only of this model but of course Freewing, FlightLine and other manufacturers that bring quality model foam aircraft to the market. While I fully admit, I wish this was a FlightLine release, in the end, it's a win for all of us because it simply means all the manufacturers are trying to outdo each other with each new release. If a competing brand is upping their game? GREAT! It just makes everyone else work harder to bring that same level to the market and rise above it. As a RC pilot and avid flyer and customer of electric models I am thrilled with that prospect.

I'll definitely be getting my hands on one of these when the feeding frenzy dies down. Looks like an absolute blast!

[Griffon Wings]

Aros, agree with you, wish was flightline too. But, keep in mind with have Mr. Alpha behind our shoulders, meaning, something great will come out soon or later .
Being an eflite plane, legs are shaking, not my cuo of tea, i hope for the best .
The difference for me, when i buy Motion products i’m very excited and thrilled, looking out the window for delivery as a dog waiting for his owner....., i can’t say the same for “ them “ . But i did order it so will see .

[BluesDragon]

Check out this video the pilot, Mike Patey, put out on it. He mentions that HH is giving him a piece of the proceeds as well. I believe this is why the price point is a bit higher and making some people cringe. He is, in turn, giving away quite a few of them to those with proof of purchase. So you could win a free backup! The vid is pretty cool, unfortunately he did wreck Draco before the release.

[Aros]

Not to disparage someone trying to do something good but I admit I am a bit "meh" about the "Buy one and enter your name in the hat for another one" angle. Why not simply offer a raffle? Put your name in the hat to win? Why limit it to people who already bought one? Seems odd.

[xviper]

Not to disparage someone trying to do something good but I admit I am a bit "meh" about the "Buy one and enter your name in the hat for another one" angle. Why not simply offer a raffle? Put your name in the hat to win? Why limit it to people who already bought one? Seems odd.

Agree! If I bought one, I wouldn't bother entering to win another one. But it's similar to the "Ferrari" concept. You get to buy a new one if you already own one. I always shake my head with that one.

[Wild Man]

Not to disparage someone trying to do something good but I admit I am a bit "meh" about the "Buy one and enter your name in the hat for another one" angle. Why not simply offer a raffle? Put your name in the hat to win? Why limit it to people who already bought one? Seems odd.

that's your Opinion I'm sure there are many RC Pilot's with just the opposite thinking. Mike Patey is trying to promote this hobby. Not trying to disparage you, but I for one like what he is doing, trying some thing new, and I am sure it will help him move many of the new Draco Bush planes he has helped deliver to the RC world

[Bellairvideo]

Ah well, after watching the release live here on a Sunday arvo. I ordered it on Monday for delivery around May. At A$899 it is the most expensive model yet (and probably the last at this price point) But at 73, I want to get as much out of the hobby as I can and enjoy it. My largest RC (Cessna 150Z just posted a video flying at our beach on Hobbysquark) so I will use multi cameras with the first flights if our Winter doesn't get in the way....especially the rear hatch entry to the cockpit with an Insta360 GO inside. Should be fun. What mainly sold it was the rear entry canopy & the easy wing removal for transport vs the Cessna 150z with it's lots of fiddly bits.

[Aros]

RC Geek's Assembly and Flight Review. Looking forward to adding this one to the hangar down the road...

[xviper]

I will find out this Friday or early next week if my LHS got any allocation of this plane. I'm first on their list to get one if they get any. I've heard that some hobby shops won't get their full order due to the high demand. The second shipment of BNF won't likely see daylight for 6 months or more. The PNP will be available in about a month but I'm not so sure I want one of those as some of the features (especially reverse) is programmed into the stock RX in an unusual way. It's a 6-ch RX but it uses some cross over between throttle and ESC reverse going thru Ch.7 via the serial connection.

[pdansalvish]

xviper

Throttle reversing is built into the ESC. A switched is assigned in the transmitter to activate it.

[Wild Man]

I have received an email from HH that due to the High demand there will only be one sent per customer. I have received my shipping conformation and tracking # for mine. I am really looking forward to getting this Ultimate Bush plane. I believe it will be an exceptional flying plane with a wide envelope of flight and the reversing feature will be a real kick to have, in fact I just finished setting up a Carbon Z Cessna 150 with a reversing feature. I have only tested it in the back yard, and it works great It is from AvroStar an 80 amp rev. esc. also have two more to put in my AL-37. FUN FUN FUN

[xviper]

xviper

Throttle reversing is built into the ESC. A switched is assigned in the transmitter to activate it.

That's with the pre-programmed provided stock RX. I don't think it's quite that simple if you use a different RX. The reversing isn't just assigned to a switch. It uses the serial output of the RX to wake up AUX2 in the TX. If you use something like a Lemon, another Spektrum RX or one of the HobbyKing Spektrum compatible RXs that has no serial output, it may not be possible. When you do it, tell us how you did it.

[Wild Man]

pdansalvish xviper The man is correct the reversing has nothing to do with the receiver used. It's all in the esc with an extra plug in to the receiver for an extra channel to be used for the reversing. That it why they specify you have to have at least a 7 channel radio to use the reversing feature They have been making rev. esc's for a couple years now I know I have 5 or six of them and they will work with any receiver you want to use, as long as you have enough channels to operate it from your Transmitter. xviper if you would like I can show you a photo of one