I've had my share of hangar queens but this girl tops the chart as one of my all-time favorites. I purchased this ARF originally back in 2012. The quality of the ARF was self-evident. Top Flite doesn't tend to mess around. From the fit of the parts, to the overall part quality, professional manuals...Really, really good stuff.
The only mod I had to do was to exchange the stock nose strut out for a true oleo from Robart. The beauty of this bird was encapsulated (in my humble opinion) in this video:
Then the unthinkable. On a hot Summer day, I exhausted the batteries, they hit LVC on the extended downwind and that was all she wrote. Because giant evergreen trees at 100+ feet height awaited her, I turned her back to me on an ill-fated attempt to return to home which due to lack of airspeed and a stalling wing...Well, you can imagine the rest...
I was crushed. The only thing salvageable was the electronics. I vowed to have another one someday because she is such a great plane to have.
Fast forward 3 years later...I had the money and I snagged another ARF...Using most of the electronics from the first, here she is reborn. For those of you who own one, you get it. For those of you who do not, I recommend you seriously give it some consideration. From scale appeal to flight performance to quality of build, I can't think of a better value.
The only mod I had to do was to exchange the stock nose strut out for a true oleo from Robart. The beauty of this bird was encapsulated (in my humble opinion) in this video:
Then the unthinkable. On a hot Summer day, I exhausted the batteries, they hit LVC on the extended downwind and that was all she wrote. Because giant evergreen trees at 100+ feet height awaited her, I turned her back to me on an ill-fated attempt to return to home which due to lack of airspeed and a stalling wing...Well, you can imagine the rest...
I was crushed. The only thing salvageable was the electronics. I vowed to have another one someday because she is such a great plane to have.
Fast forward 3 years later...I had the money and I snagged another ARF...Using most of the electronics from the first, here she is reborn. For those of you who own one, you get it. For those of you who do not, I recommend you seriously give it some consideration. From scale appeal to flight performance to quality of build, I can't think of a better value.
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