Customer Reviews

Firebird Phantom RTF Electric

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The Phantom is an extremely fun and easy plane to fly for a beginning pilot. I had never flown a hobby grade plane before, and I successfully flew this the first time out. I have logged ten flights now, and it is still in great condition in spite of some rough landings. On the sixth flight I turned off the anti-crash technology and was doing loops with ease. One tip: buy a spare battery because you will want to get it right back up in the air!

I purchased this model after doing extensive research on the internet for RC planes. I had originaly skipped over this model due to some of the bad reviews and low ratings. However during my search for the perfect RC plane, I had found that many models were rated low by beginners or first time RC flyers. I decided to chalk up the low ratings to inexperience and take them with a grain of salt. This allowed me to focus purely on the features and what each plane had to offer. In the end, I feel I made the best decision and I'm truely happy with the Firebird Phantom.

There were a couple of deciding factors that convinced me to purchase this model. The first was that it has 3 way control, throttle, pitch, and steering. Many beginner planes have 2 way control and your altitude is determined by throttle control. The second factor was the ACT which helps save you in the event you lose control of the plane.

Onto the actual flight review! Assembly was very quick and easy with total assembly time being around 5 minutes. After getting a full charge on the battery I was off to fly. Keep in mind that I've never flown a RC plane in my life. After doing a range test, I found the wind direction and launched the plane into the wind. My first launch was a success! After flying around for about 2-3 mins I decided to bring it back in to make some adjustments on the wings. My first landing was not as smooth as the takeoff! I stalled the plane shortly before touchdown and took a hard nosedive. After carefull inspection, no damage!

I repeated this 3 more times, each time getting a little better at flying and landing. By my final launch that day, I had turned off ACT and was doing loops with ease! My total session time for first flight was around 15 mins. You can acheive this as well by laying off the throttle. This plane does great as a glider which gives you more flying time. A few other tips:

--similar to driving a car, make small adjustments when using the controller. This contoller is proportional, even small movements on the stick will move the plane.
--make adjustments to the tail wing as needed. You'll find two small screws under the tail wing. If you find your plane pitching toward the sky when you give it throttle, try adjusting those screws. Complete details on how to do this are in the manual.
--learn to use the digital trim on the controller. it'll make for easier flight.
--don't fly in winds over 5mph
--if planning on landing in grass, REMOVE THE WHEELS. These wheels will get caught in the grass causing the plane to flip, damaging the tail section.

Again, I've never flown a RC plane in my life! I was really nervous for my first flight and feared that I would crash and burn, wasting 60 bucks. My experience was quite the opposite! I had a blast! I even felt comfortable enough letting my Dad give it a shot and he had just as much fun as I did. It was enough to convince him to purchase one as well. :) I highly recommend this to any first time flyer!

Hello all,
This is a review from a first time RC pilot.
First of all let me give you the most important advise you can receive before flying the plane.
1-Select a day with low wind. less that 7mph, check yahoo.com and click on weather and choose your zip code, usually you want to fly your plane as soon as you receive it, but also consider that is almost sure you will crash your plane if its windy.
2-When flying the plane coming in your direction control is backwards, if you want to level your plane move the stick in the direction is diving, lets say your plane is diving sharply to the right -> move stick to the right.
3-If you are in a situation of panic -> release stick, the plane will level
4-Do smooth turns, the plane is not the slowest on the marked, but is not that fast.
5-Use sun glasses, it will help a lot.
6-Let the plane climb, you wont loose control over it, it wont fly away, let it climb, try turning, up, down etc, once you fell comfortable, you can bring it closer to you.
7-The plane is an excellent glider, when is really up... stop motor and get the fell of the plane without engine power, you will notice it will fly smoothly, this will give you a good idea how it will control once you are trying to land your plane.
8-If you don't have pavement, remove landing gear and hand launch.
9-Leave ATC on TAPE LOWER SENSOR using dark electric tape, this will disable the sensor from working, resulting in you not loosing controll over your plane, but will limit you from doing "aggressively" turns and over controlling. most of the time ATC will be "fool" from reflections and other stuff, this will make you loose control over the plane. Just tape and enjoy.

If there is something else I'll update.

Ok ok the review....

The plane is an EXCELLENT plane, I really can't think of something bad to say about it, my firs flight was really bad, I crashed the plane so hard the wing snapped out and broke the rubber bands, also the plastic stick that hold the rubber bands in place broke off, this was totally my fault, this is a beginner plane but is not a tank. This was related to the controls inverted when plane is flying facing you.

It was an easy fix, I used a tie wrap to hold new rubber bands in place.

Second flight I was aware of my mistake, and having that always in mind I did about 15 landings using 3 battery packs I purchased with the plane, total flight time was about 1 hour, remember that I did a lot of gliding.

This is one of the most beautiful fliers I've ever seen.

GREAT PRODUCT!!!

I suggest this plane for anyone who wants a cheap fast way to get flying. Spend some money on an extra battery, a flight simulator, and turn off the ACT. These steps will guarantee success!! I've had over 30 successful flights with my plane!!

Aside from being so delicate that you could damage it just getting it out of the box, this thing has a major design flaw; the long black PLASTIC [should have been metal] piece connecting the front 'cockpit/engine' section to the rear horizontal stabilizer has a hole near the end where all the wires exit -- which means there's ONLY a tiny sliver of graphite holding the thing together -- so it's like a flying potato chip. My first landing was pretty soft, yet the thing snapped right off. A piece of junk, IMO, yet another joke made in China. Avoid like the Bird Flu.

I received a two channel helicopter for Christmas and have had some fun with it. It gave me the itch to buy a plane and the Phantom was the one I chose. I have flown it quite a few times and the ACT does work and has helped a lot to learn the basics of flying. The only times I have crashed the plane is with the ACT off. Overall the plane can take a fair amount of abuse and is a blast. My wife came to watch me fly the Phantom and I convinced her to try and fly it. She thought it was cool too. One note is that where the flight wires to the tail come out of the boom is weak. I have read this at several places and there are ways to make it stronger. I didn't see a need for it since I had confidence that I would not need it, but on the wife's last flight, she crashed it pretty good and broke the boom. With some 2 part epoxy and something to wrap around the break, it should be as good as new! Overall, for the price I think that this is a great toy. Just read the manual, leave the ACT on, and you should be able to get the hang of it. For $60 it is tough to beat.

I first bought a typhoon 2 3d which is an advance plane which I crashed and up to this day havent flown again due to the dificulty.


I then went to buy the firebird phantom and the first day I flew it the ACT crashed my plane every time. The next day I cut out the bottom sensor and ever since it has flown like a dream.


Its a great plane and i have had some serious crashes with ought the boom breaking on me. Overal its a great plane, parts are readely available and most damage can be fixed with tape and glue.

This is one of the best flying r/c aircraft that I have floown in a lone time! It far surpasses planes costing much more. It is a good bye for the price.

This plane is the best rc plane for a beginner. It is very easy to fly. It flies at slow to medium speeds (15-20mph). It has plenty of power for runway take-offs, and most importantly, it has an elevator which allows for loops and conserves battery power.
It flies perfectly, and for those reviewers that said that the plane dives to the ground as soon as it is lauched, they must not have bothered to read the manual which says to check to make sure the wing is level and centered before flying. This plane does not have any tendencies of diving to the groung when the rudder is applied. Not much throwing power is needed for hand lauching which makes it easy for kid to fly. It is very durable, mine has had many harsh landings and has survived a 40 foot drop after crashing into a tree without a scratch.

Before flying, here are some things to check for:

Make sure the wing is centered and is perpendicular to the fuselage of the plane. (This is very easily done, but if it is not done, it can lead to a crash)

Make sure is no part of the wing is chipped off. (This can be easily fixed with some tape.) The plane can't fly with a chipped wing.

When landing, make sure the plane is level, and use up elevator on the last 6 inches.

The only down side to this plane is that since it is light, it can fly away if goes downwind for too long. On the other hand, there isn't a better plane for the price

In the end, this plane is a very good flyer, and is recommended to anyone who wants to learn how to fly an rc plane without crashing it.

OK, this is a great plane. It flies well and it has tremendous potential as a first trainer. It has virtually no drawbacks and no bad habits in terms of its flying pattern. HOWEVER, the plane has a fatal flaw and that is the very very very very very poor construction of the boom.
The thing is so brittle it will not take a hard landing, let along a crash. If Hobbyzone descides to modify the boom, which should be extremely easy to do, this plane will be the best thing in the market for beginners. As it is now, it is essentially useless because it cannot do what a beginner needs most: withstand a crash.
Given the fact that the boom is bonded to the pod and it cannot be extracted without deamging that part of the fuse, one would think that HZ is just trying to force us to buy the fuse over and over again.