Attn Plank Fans... cool HH micro planks

[Centurian]

Maybe not the right place but just wanted to put the word out on a couple HH ultra micro planks I've picked up and having a blast with.

Picked up a UMX AS3X Beast 3D a few weeks ago. It flys amazing, like a plane MUCH larger. Has good power, knife edge loops are stupid easy with it. Lands like a feather. Not a great tumbler, it's a bit light, but it sure flys great and handles wind very well!

After seeing a couple video's on it, today I picked up a AS3Xtra. Power is barely adequate but gets the job done. The amazing thing is the advancement in the AS3X set up. There are 3 flight modes actively available that you can choose from a list of 5 or 6. Anyway, they have incorporated "heading hold"(Integral) modes that allow the little thing to hover and torque roll with virtually no pilot input other than aileron to spin the torque rolls. It will back down in a hover pretty quick, it's that stable. Not quite sure how much wind it could handle but it was blowing a bit today while I maidened it and it took it in stride. I'd guess it's fun to 5mph and flyable to about 10 which is pretty amazing for a 1ounce plane that size.

Sorry for the plank post, just sharing the buzz, this little biatchs rock!! The next generation of micro helis is gonna be cool I'm betting!

[terryv83]

If you're craving more out of the beast, put a GWS5030 on it, for unlimited vertical climbs.

[Dustin Mustangs]

I have been eying up that umx beast for a while. In your opinion, would it be a mistake to get one as a first plank? Never flown a plane other than in Phoenix where I seem to have no problem with them at all. Something tells me I will regret starting off with a trainer...

[edsel.labao]

The as3extra is my favorite right now. With the 45c lipo from eflite it has decent power. Super fun plane!

[JDepto]

Originally Posted by Dustin Mustangs

I have been eying up that umx beast for a while. In your opinion, would it be a mistake to get one as a first plank? Never flown a plane other than in Phoenix where I seem to have no problem with them at all. Something tells me I will regret starting off with a trainer...

Dustin,
I have heard that the Beast doesn't crash very well. Since Blade didn't introduce a replacement for the mCPX 2, I had to at least have something RC under the tree, so the dogs bought me the Hobby Zone Duet. It is $60 bucks, uses the standard 150mAh 1s battery (same as the nanoQX) and flies pretty nice. You can practice with that or you can look at something bigger like the Delta Ray. It is a beginner plane with SAFE tech but it does have an advanced setting where the sky's the limit.

My step-son received the UMX sBach and was flying inverted on his second pack. His experience is using the Ares Trainer 100, the Ares Gamma 370 Pro, Phoenix and RealFlight sims. I heard it handles crashes better but is pretty quick.

Your choice...

[Centurian]

Originally Posted by Dustin Mustangs

I have been eying up that umx beast for a while. In your opinion, would it be a mistake to get one as a first plank? Never flown a plane other than in Phoenix where I seem to have no problem with them at all. Something tells me I will regret starting off with a trainer...

I wouldn't recommend the beast, it's pretty fast and takes a bit of altitude to recover at times. If you're comfy flying nose first inverted circuits with a heli, I'd suggest a EPP profile of some sort, you'll catch on quick and it will take the learning curve. I really don't know what, if anything, is out there in that category as a BNF, hopefully someone will chime in.

[terryv83]

The umx carbon cub is a much better first plank, but the beast isn't too bad if you can comfortably fly a Cp heli in all orientations, just keep the rates low and expo up for the first flight. Also the umx mig seems too take a crash pretty well, but it's harder to fly being it's a edf.

[bmc76]

A few months ago I got a umx beast from a friend lightly used as my first plane, tons of fun, simple fun.
If you don't own a plank definitely look at the hh micros. Dirt cheap to buy and dirt cheap to keep flying. Some of them can be had for $75 to $100.

[xenophobe]

I really like my UMX Spitfire... flies quite nice actually.

[eltreato]

I had a Beast it was gorgeous, 'til one day the battery cover came off and the battery swung out sending it smashing to the ground. The Beast has very very thin depron wings that are very fragile, its wheel pants last about two flights, the spars come unglued from rough landings. It is hard to keep pristine and would be a very bad call for a first plank. That said it flies great for those comfortable with 3D planes.

A few months ago i bought a umx Yak-54 and have been much happier with it, despite getting a bad brick and a failing servo. The Yak has a way tougher motor mount, survives light nose in landings far better, the wing is waaay stronger than the bipe. it doesn't have the nose cone of the Beast that inevitably looks bad and starts wobbling. The Yak also has what many consider to be a better motor, though i can't really notice much difference other than that it sounds better. While it may look like a 1 cell micro from 2007 i have been very happy with the Yak.

[Gladius]

My LHS had a UMX P-40 for sale for $56, and I just couldn't pass it up. I have been pleasantly surprised by how well it flies, since all my experience has been from tooling around in Phoenix. Really can't beat it for a first plank, IMHO.

[xenophobe]

Originally Posted by Gladius

My LHS had a UMX P-40 for sale for $56,

Wow, I would have bought one too! lol

[BadVad]

I want to pick up either a umx carbon cub or the micro icon a5 to take on the boat this summer. I like the looks of the carbon cub better, but the little a5 seemed faster at the HH indoor fest. Would like to pick up the carbon z cub with floats, but it won't fit on our wakeboard boat comfortably. It looks bad ass with floats though!

[Aphadek]

Originally Posted by terryv83

The umx carbon cub is a much better first plank, but the beast isn't too bad if you can comfortably fly a Cp heli in all orientations, just keep the rates low and expo up for the first flight. Also the umx mig seems too take a crash pretty well, but it's harder to fly being it's a edf.

Hi terry - I took your advice and picked up a carbon cub as my first plank - what settings do I use for my dx6i? Any tips or advice before I fly this thing? Thanks!

[bmc76]

Originally Posted by BadVad

I want to pick up either a umx carbon cub or the micro icon a5 to take on the boat this summer. I like the looks of the carbon cub better, but the little a5 seemed faster at the HH indoor fest. Would like to pick up the carbon z cub with floats, but it won't fit on our wakeboard boat comfortably. It looks bad ass with floats though!

Can't speak on the micro icon, but the full size one is absolutely fantastic.

[eltreato]

Originally Posted by Aphadek

Hi terry - I took your advice and picked up a carbon cub as my first plank - what settings do I use for my dx6i? Any tips or advice before I fly this thing? Thanks!

My unsolicited advice is to use the dx6i settings in the manual and avoid subtrim as you don't need it with as3x. My other advice is not to give it any negative collective when you roll it. Seriously though I think you made a good choice with that plane for your first plank, it will give you plenty to grow into too.

[terryv83]

As stated above use the manuals setup for dx6i and don't use the flaps to land for the first few flights, above all enjoy the plank she is a real nice flyer. Just remember when you invert it, down is up and up is expensive. Oh and avoid the floats until you can grease the landing every time, I found out landing on rough water with a cross wind = swim.

[Gladius]

Originally Posted by eltreato

My other advice is not to give it any negative collective when you roll it.

You know... that wouldn't be a problem if you flew in Idle Up.

[Aphadek]

Glad to hear it sounds like I made the right decision. I was so close to pulling the trigger on the Beast 3d but Terry's comment swayed me away from it. I've never flown a plank before but I have flown my share of cp helis.. so I imagine the learning curve won't be too bad. I am going to sim a bunch on Phoenix before I actually fly it... this thing looks super fragile.. I feel like I'll break it on my maiden or get it stuck in a tree or something.

The manual that came with it doesn't have any settings for the DX6i which I thought was kind of odd. Anyone have a link or can give me their settings? I've seen some other people post about their settings but they were old posts and they seemed to be "custom" so would appreciate any tips.

Looking forward to flying it when the weather is better.

[Aphadek]

Oh and Terry - I did order the floats, waiting on them to come in. From videos I have seen you can use them on snow .. and given that I live in Canada... that was a big selling feature for me.

When/if the plane ends up submerged in the water... how do the electronics hold up? I imagine I'm bound to have a bad landing on water sooner or later. I obviously don't plan to fly it on water until I'm confident with it though...

Thanks!