Hobby Lobby / Starmax F-5

[Lieutenant Loughead]

Hey guys,

I'm just about ready to "pull the trigger" on the purchase of the Hobby Lobby Starmax F-5...

Before I do, I thought I would post here, and ask if anyone has any experience with it.





The main questions are:

• How reliable is the included BEC, when it comes to handling the NINE pre-installed servos?! (Or, does this aircraft require a seperate battery for the receiver?)
• I have a Castle Creations 10-Amp BEC that's still new in the package -- would that suffice?
• What are the recomended upgrades?

******************
Below is somewhat OT:

As most of you know, I have a soft spot in my heart for P-38's (as my grandfather owned a small fleet of the REAL aircraft) -- but you may not know that my uncle was an air crash investigator for the US Air Force. Any time an F-5 or T-38 would go down, anywhere in the world, the USAF would ship him out to investigate...

So, I have several P-38's... Now I must have an F-5.

[Lieutenant Loughead]

2-Day "bump"...

Seriously -- nobody can give me any information on this?

[Angler-Hi]

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Loughead

2-Day "bump"...

Seriously -- nobody can give me any information on this?

I too was looking at that jet friend. Giving the size, I would go with this drive set here as a decent upgrade:
http://www.rc-warbirds.com/product_i...roducts_id/669

I would imagine it would push this jet at around 70-80mph if not more. I hope this helps.

[Bad_B]

Hi Guys,<O</O
<O</O
Just got back from the field with this plane running the stock setup except for the battery, which is an Evo30 Premium 2000 mAh 4S. Here are my impressions: <O</O
<O</O
Power: The power is fine, but you will need about 40 feet of SMOOTH runway and a 10~15 degree climb out.<O</O
As with all EDF there is a lag or delay between stick input and the actual thrust so have your flight path planned out in advance. Flights last about 5 minutes and it looks great in the air. This plane is no speed daemon like the FunJet or a Alfa A4, but I'm happy with it. <O</O
<O</O
Flight characteristics: Stable in calm air, but due to the large profile is does get buffeted by the wind. Tip stalls at low speeds, but a little nose down and power recovers it just fine. The rudder isn't overly effective, but helps to line up on your final approach. Loops are large a scale, but as the battery power drops she tends to fall out at the top. The plane will spin like a top with its short wings and in my option is probably its best feature. I've flown the plane into the ground for landing and I've dead sticked it too. I tend to go with the dead stick landings as the landing gear is plastic locked into foam. On the dead stick landings I just use rudder and elevator for the final adjustments. The landing gear does not lock open, but it rather held open by the servo arm so make sure you're lined up straight for landing (if you crab it I think they will fold in, then you have a mess on your hands). You do notice a difference in performance once the gear is up , plus it looks really cool.<O</O
<O</O
ESC/BEC: Ok this is where the issues are. Yes, it will handle the 9 servos BUT I've had some problems and will most likely go with the CC 10 A BEC and new ESC. Once the nose gear did not retract and the other time the plane rolled and pulled up when I deployed the gear at low altitude. When I cycled the gear on my preflight none of the other control surfaces fluttered, so I'm really puzzled as to why the plane reacted the way it did on my last flight. I did expect more drag and a slight drop in altitude when I deployed the landing gear, but I called it a day after the loop & roll incident. I also have two StarMax F-18A's, and run them on stock setup. Their ESC has a hard cutoff and one locked me out with no control. On that occasion I tried to re-arm, (throttle all the way forward then back) and that gave me 100% throttle locked with no control over a the ailerons and elevator. The result was a nasty crash. After that I switched the other plane to a CC 25A ESC and I've had no problems even though it has 4 servos. I think if I were to continue to run the plane using the StarMax ESC I'd have the same type issues. <O</O
<O</O
Modifications: There is an adjoining compartment to the battery bay that you could cut through and fit a larger battery in, but I don't know if the proportional power to weight ratio would warrant the modification. I have done this mod on my F-18's so I can use my TP 25C 2200 mAh 3S batteries, but I only gain an extra 2~3 min of flight time and I did puff one battery using the CC-25 ESC, so I have to be careful on the throttle. As an aside I also tried the little screamers in runner and 5 bladed fan on the F-18, and it was underpowered, so I went back to the stock fan/motor. <O</O
<O</O
Instructions: They include a brief pamphlet in poorly translated English. They do mention a CG, but that's about it. My plane does have one horizontal stabilizer that is lower than the other, but I was able to adjust it with trim. <O</O
<O</O
Recommendations: Yes, I'd switch out the ESC and use a separate BEC. I'd also look into finding retracts that lock out in the open position like the Roberts I have on my AT-6.<O</O
<O</O
Let me know if you have any questions.<O</O
<O</O
Cheers,<O</O
<O</O
Brian <O</O

[Angler-Hi]

So I take it you're gonna upgrade the powerplant then?

[Bad_B]

I'm going to switch the ESC/BEC first then see how it performs. I don't want a repeat of the landing gear incident again. I'm also afraid of the hard cutoff, so if I go with a CC ESC & BEC I can program them. I have to run some numbers before I invest in a power plant upgrade. <O</O
<O</O
I'm happy with the plane, looks good and has good flight characteristics, etc. The retracts are a big plus too. I just find EDF flying to be different than prop planes. I am willing to experiment with different maneuvers (knife edges, Cuban 8's) with my prop planes. My EDF planes are flown more scale like and just for the sheer joy of seeing a great plane in the air. <O</O

[Angler-Hi]

Originally Posted by Bad_B

I'm going to switch the ESC/BEC first then see how it performs. I don't want a repeat of the landing gear incident again. I'm also afraid of the hard cutoff, so if I go with a CC ESC & BEC I can program them. I have to run some numbers before I invest in a power plant upgrade. <O</O
<O</O
I'm happy with the plane, looks good and has good flight characteristics, etc. The retracts are a big plus too. I just find EDF flying to be different than prop planes. I am willing to experiment with different maneuvers (knife edges, Cuban 8's) with my prop planes. My EDF planes are flown more scale like and just for the sheer joy of seeing a great plane in the air. <O</O

Well good luck to you friend. I look forward to seeing how she turns out.

Mike

[Lieutenant Loughead]

Well, I bought it -- during the "free shipping" crash sale... So I saved another $8.99 on the deal...

I plan to fly it stock.

[pvtzemerak]

Goood luck lieutenant!
get some pictures for me please! This plane looks like a winner!
~pvt

[Angler-Hi]

What are the chances of a maiden video?

[Lieutenant Loughead]

Pretty good, actually.

[Bill G]

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Loughead

2-Day "bump"...

Seriously -- nobody can give me any information on this?

Well you could look through 500 pages of nonsense at that other place , which understandably I would not care to do either.

I really liked the looks of this jet, and almost got one too. I guess my take on it was that I felt more comfortable building a GWS jet, as you can do a better job yourself. Ended up with a Skyhawk.

3 main reasons were:
1. Factory fans tend to not be balanced and explode, which has happened to some who bought the F5.
2. You can do a better retract system youself, with only 1 good central and "real" retract servo such as the micro Waypoint at Allerc.
3. For basically the same loot, I prefer name brand gear. Got my JS1400 for $59 at the initial HL sale. There are deals like that constantly on good gear.

If they still have the parts, I would buy them and build one yourself.

Edit: I see you already bought it. Well good luck.

[Lieutenant Loughead]

Hey guys. I bought the Starmax F-5, and it flys great. As warned earlier in this thread, my ducted fan unit exploded at about 50% power, during a ground power-up test. After quite a bit of trouble, Hobby Lobby replaced the ducted fan, and now it flys great.

However, takeoff and landings are a different story. I have one "main retract" that does not lock in place -- it folds on 50% of the landings, and it folds on about 30% of the takeoffs. I've ordered replacements from Hobby Lobby (they did not replace them free of charge, BTW) about three weeks ago, but I have yet to receive them...

So, here's my question -- Who makes a GOOD retract that is a drop-in replacement for the Starmax F5?

[TDisaster]

I had the same problem with my retracts. Took them out.

Was a great flying plane. I had a lot of fun with that one.

[Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Loughead

Hey guys. I bought the Starmax F-5, and it flys great. As warned earlier in this thread, my ducted fan unit exploded at about 50% power, during a ground power-up test. After quite a bit of trouble, Hobby Lobby replaced the ducted fan, and now it flys great.

However, takeoff and landings are a different story. I have one "main retract" that does not lock in place -- it folds on 50% of the landings, and it folds on about 30% of the takeoffs. I've ordered replacements from Hobby Lobby (they did not replace them free of charge, BTW) about three weeks ago, but I have yet to receive them...

So, here's my question -- Who makes a GOOD retract that is a drop-in replacement for the Starmax F5?

Hey Guy,

Ive found that most mechanical retracts are more trouble and maintenance then they are worth. If you plan on flying off grass at all, it just increases the problems. I think you probably noticed none of my jets have retracts including the 70mm Panther that came with them. To me, it's much easier to hand launch and belly land (as long as you're flying over grass). Just another headache gone IMO. Retracts do have a "Cool" factor though.

[Lieutenant Loughead]

I don't know that I could hand launch this beast. She's really big -- I think the length of the fuse is about 5-feet!

[TDisaster]

It takes an extra person.

I had to have my Dad throw it while I manned the tx.

[Grasshopper]

Length shows to be 4'-3". You might be suprised how well it will hand launch. You could keep the gear up and have someone you trust launch it for you the first time. The main issue will be what there is to grab hold of. It also depends on how much power you have. If it's marginal on power, it's a little more difficult to get up on step. I would give it a good, firm running toss for the first time. Toss it just slightly nose up to level. Too much angle and you risk stalling before it can gain speed.

[TDisaster]

When I removed the gear, I had my Dad grab it by the gear up indents.

It has good power, but you still have to give it a nice firm toss. I was amazed at how well it could fly slow speed wise, and hand launching was never a problem.

[Lieutenant Loughead]

TDisaster -- I notice you keep talking about your Starmax F-5 in the past tense. What happened to it?

[TDisaster]

Well, I now fly Airtronics 2.4 exclusively. I'm 90% sure it was a brown out on Spektrum. After the crash I tested the ESC and it worked fine till I wiggled the sticks, and the receiver turned off. Was a bad/stalled servo sucking up juice.

[Lieutenant Loughead]

OUCH!

I heard the stalled servos can be a problem on the Starmax F5 -- so I spent a bunch of time before the maiden, to make sure nothing was binding. So far, so good... :o

Still -- I'd like to find some better retracts for my F-5. Hey -- would you be interested in sending me yours, from your crashed F-5? If so, send me a PM, and we can work out a deal.

[PerlAddict]

Originally Posted by Grasshopper

Length shows to be 4'-3". You might be suprised how well it will hand launch. You could keep the gear up and have someone you trust launch it for you the first time. The main issue will be what there is to grab hold of. It also depends on how much power you have. If it's marginal on power, it's a little more difficult to get up on step. I would give it a good, firm running toss for the first time. Toss it just slightly nose up to level. Too much angle and you risk stalling before it can gain speed.

I saw the Hobby Lobby guys try to hand launch it at SEFF in 2008. One guy with a running toss, one guy manning the Tx. SPLAT. Pancaked. Hand tossing this thing by yourself is next to impossible on the stock power system. I haven't heard very many success stories even with two people. I sometimes look at it and think, "I could probably sit on this thing and ride it if the gear would just hold up." It's a hoss.

LL, the Great Planes .10 mechanical retracts seem to be about the easiest and best drop-in fit for replacing the stock gears. I've seen lots and lots of guys using them, and everyone's been pretty happy.

There is also a set that is very similar looking to the stock set but apparently a little heftier according to the guy who bought them over at RCG and posted about them. They are from easytiger.com. I'd just go with the GP .10 mechanicals, though, and be done with it.

I spent a lot of time fiddling with the stock retracts until I got them locking just right, and I'm still considering trying to maiden using them. Can't make up my mind, though, and I might install a GP set instead if the mood hits me.

[Lieutenant Loughead]

Thanks for your post! That's truly helpful information. If I can get a set of stock retracts that actually LOCK down, I think I'll just fly with the gear down for a while...

But I see the GP retracts in my future.

[oeker]

Hi guys!

F-5 still not airborne.

Have replaced the BEC. Spinner cone disappeared at first runup. Lucky no damage to fan. (Hope it will be OK without).

Noticed that LG will not lock overcenter. Even with max 125% throw. I need longer servo horns. Picked up E-flite long servo horns - Dia OK- but the splines does not match. Guess the no of splines (teeth) are approx 40. (E-flite approx 20).

Any suggestions of servo horn manufacturer?