Radio Controlled Foam Planes: Bush Planes-Which one?

Bush Plane-A bush airplane is a general aviation aircraft used to provide both scheduled and unscheduled passenger and freight services to remote, undeveloped areas, such as the Canadian north or bush, Alaskan tundra, the African bush, or the Australian Outback.-Wikipedia

My first look at a real bush plane was this one, piloted by a couple of guys who live in the high desert near Los Angeles. They land on sometimes rocky surfaces and wanted a plane that could take some abuse. In the RC world that may mean planes that land on grass or dirt paths. The large wheels make the plane very forgiving. I am trying to decide on which plane to buy for my fleet. I am looking at four planes. Two sold by Horizon Hobby at hobby stores, one sold by HobbyKing, and one that used to be sold by Banggood but can still be found at Motion RC.

I started off writing this article as a means for determining which bush plane to fly. I went through all the specs and prices. They all had pros and cons. Since I can't fly all these planes to give comparisons between them I will explain what I think the differences will be between them by just going off the specs. The specs for all planes including price of replacement parts are at the end of the article.

My thoughts on each

Durafly Tundra (HobbyKing)

The Tundra is the smallest and lightest option I can find. What I like about the Tundra is that it's the only plane that comes as a kit option. This means I can build it with metal gears servos and other hand-selected components. The good news is that this is the cheapest option, and since I have most of the parts needed to build it on hand it's only the cost of the kit that I need worry about The bad news, it's on perpetual backorder, to the point I am afraid it's been discontinued. HobbyKing is excellent about dropping planes from their catalog from one year to the next. If I could get my hands on it I would buy it.

The price makes it very attractive at $109 for a kit, though I found the larger Dynam Primo for about $40 more for a complete plane, not a kit. So, bang for the buck makes this plane a second place plane. But total cash outlay and being built the way I want this plane comes in first place.

Of all the planes this is the smaller at a 1300mm wingspan. It's also 10 ounces lighter than the other planes and over a pound lighter than the Primo. With a 12" prop it's pushing a decent amount of power for a small, lightweight plane.

I suspect that the landing gear will make it a bit weighed down which means that it will penetrate through the winds a bit better if you fly in breezy areas.

One other big problem, other than being out of stock on this item is that there are no replacment parts in the United States. Everything comes out of Hong Kong which means it's cheap to buy a new kit and scavenge from it than buy replacement parts.

Dynam Primo V2 1450mm

This is the second largest plane on the list at 1450mm, just slightly smaller than the Timber. It has a large motor and a large propeller along with a lot of weight (3.5 pounds). It's the heaviest plane of the four models we'll look at. It's large and inexpensive and probably would make a pretty good FPV platform. The replacement parts for it are cheap and the plane seems so promising. And yet. . .

The Dynam line has never thrilled me. They've had some interesting planes, but none that I ever bought. This plane looks good at first. It's huge and you get a lot of plane for the money. Here in the United States, the replacement parts are readily available. The build quality just isn't there. Andrew Newton pointed out the small battery compartment and poor rear wheel assembly. I've heard from other who have said the landing gear breaks easily and I am very concerned about how the flaps are attached. It looks like that would break easily. It just seems like I would be chasing down too many problems with this plane.

FMS Kingfisher PNP

This one's a fast no for me. The thing that stands out in my mind is the motor. It just seems like it would be underpowered for the amount of weight it's hauling around. Looking into it more, it seems FMS is trying to use the same motor for many different planes. Thus, the underpowered motor as compared to what else is out there. Out of the four planes this one rates last in my book. Pity, I do like how it looks. It's also a somewhat expensive plane loaded with accessories I don't want or need. I know Chloe from RCSafari loves hers and I'm sure it's a fun plane. That being said, it's still a fast no.

Timber/Horizon Hobby

This should be the hands down, easy winner. I will tell you five things I like about this plane

1. It's large and light- For each 100mm in size it's nearly 4 inches. The larger wing can do a lot of favorable things such provide for better stability of the plane which would be helpful for filming. It can also help the plane glide a bit more, and it reduces the plane's overall wingload. On calm flying days this plane can be nice and stable to fly.

2. 2200 3S battery- These are very common batteries in the industry. A lot of planes take this battery and they can be found inexpensively. HobbyKing sells an XT60 version for around $11. But, you may want to put in a battery with a higher C rating to get some more performance out of this plane.

3. AS3X receiver with S.A.F.E. technology option-If you have a Spectrum radio that is digital then you'll have no problem hooking up to this plane. If you have an FRSky you can find a work around to use the module. The included AS3X (BNF) receiver which is a humble 6 channel receiver has a gyro stablizer built in I have flown with the Spektrum ones and they tend to work very nicely It's similar to a flight controller, there are three modes, 1) full manual 2) mild stabilization and 3) overbearing stabilization that limits the amount of banking you can do with your plane. I call this thing an "Out of the box" experience It just works, right out of the box. Due to it's heavy-duty landing gear, high wing build and flight stabilization built in I think this would be a great trainer plane. It's also large enough to take up fairly high and still see it, ideal for newer pilots.

4. Parts are easy to order- If you ask me of the planes which one do I feel will still have parts for sale five years from now I would say it would be this plane.

5. It has some positive buzz going for it online- People seem to enjoy this plane. The only other plane with buzz is the Hobbyking Timber.

What concerns me about this plane

It's the most expensive option. Yes, it comes with a battery, with its own proprietary connector. I have plenty of XT60 connectors to convert it to something I can use, but still, that's extra work on a plane that should get with the times.

It doesn't have an FPV platform- That is a huge missed opportunity on this plane.

I would want a little more power out of the motor for a plane this size. 450 watts is good enough to haul this plane around, and a GoPro or Runcam. But, if you're looking for a gyro-stabilized servo driven camera platform, this isn't it.

And the verdict is. . .

None of them.

I know, I seem like a jerk for saying that none of them really appeal to me. Honestly, I did start the search for a good bush plane and I looked into all of them with the intentions of picking one up. The problem with the hobby these days is that unless you know someone who has a copy of a plane you're interested in and you can get your hands on it and fly it the bush planes are too large to become something you stick in the corner of your garage and forget about.

What I can tell is that the wheels and landing gear are too heavy for a foam plane. They add too much weight which cuts into performance on the plane. The idea with these planes being STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) Is that you can get them in the air from the just about anywhere and the flaps add for a fast landing. This makes them something you can fly at a park though I dare say that the Dysan Primo is a bit too large and heavy to really be considered a park flyer. The HobbyKing Timber seems to walk the line of park flyer and performance. It's available in a prebuilt form.

The flight times of 10 minutes is a non-starter. Sure, if you want to charge up five 2200mah 3S lipo batteries and bun through them in over an hour then you may be ready for some fun. I think this is the largest issue with these planes, short flight times. When you're having an average flight experience but have to land every ten minutes or so just to change a battery I have a feeling that this will get old very quickly.

It appears that the entire RC Bush Plane concept is version 1 right now. Who is this plane for? Is it a heavy duty trainer? Is this an FPV platform? What if you care less about landing on water or snow?

What would appeal to me.

I want three options as kits 1300mm 1500mm and 2000mm. The 1300mm would be a simple park flyer. Maybe I can attach a small FPV system on it but for the most part it's a fun little line of sight platform that gets 20 minutes of flight. HobbbyKing has this with the Tundra, if it comes back in stock. The 1500mm could be a good mid-range FPV platform. It would need to take larger batteries and have more space devoted to FPV gear. The 2000mm would be strictly a long range FPV platform designed around hauling large amounts of gear and weight long distances.

I would want a variety of motor options for each. Though some would build these planes for tricks I would want something that is stable and as efficient as possible. I would want all parts such as skis and water pantoons to be add on options that I can deal with later if I needed them.

What I suspect will happen

I think the manufactures got disappointed with the sales of the bush planes and may not continue with them in the future. My fear is that with the exception of the Timber most of these planes will become orphans where you can no longer buy parts. I'm sorry, they are just too large and too expensive to take that risk. It looks to me that his market is dying off when it's actually a cool idea and should grow. It comes down to, who is this plane for? If it's simply a glorified trainer than it's of limited use. Will it still be compelling once someone is onto other planes?

I like the idea of a platform plane. One that is unapologetically thick and hefty. One that can take a multitude of batteries, and motors. One with ample cargo space to throw in sick amounts of FPV gear. Would people spend $150 on landing gear with gas shocks for such a plane? Yes, probably.

What this looks like to me is that perhaps the Timber was first to market. It was good but it wasn't perfect. I think others rushed to market with designs of their own but nothing was compelling other than the Hobbyking Tundra. It seems like Hobbyking is making good on a version 2 of the Tundra, we'll see if they offer version 2 in a kit.

For now, I will, unfortunately, pass on all of it.

Specs

Durafly Tundra (HobbyKing)

Price $109 KIT/ $210 PNF
Size 1.3 meters
Motor: 3636-950KV 35A, 400W (not included with kit, $25 more)
Prop: 12x6
Battery: 1300~2200mAh LiPoly battery (30C min)
Flying weight: 40.6 oz
Material: (EPO)
Price for a:
Spare Wing: $38 (Global)
Fuselage: $38 (Global)

Dynam Primo V2 1450mm
Kit comes with no electronics, PNF comes with everything installed except receiver. You will need to buy a 3S 2200 30C or higher battery, charger and RC transmitter. FPV tray and other cool accessories are for sale, or were for sale at one point.

Price BNF $219 / $169 PNP
Size 1.45 meters
Motor: 3720-650KV, 42A 650w
Prop: 13x6
Battery: 2200mAh 4S
Flying weight: 59 oz
Material: (EPO)
Price for a:
Spare Wing: $36
Fuselage: $30

FMS Kingfisher PNP

Price $219 PNP
Size 1.4 meters
Motor: 3536-850KV, 45A 450w
Prop: 11x7
Battery: 2200mAh 3S, 35C
Flying weight: 50 oz
Material: (EPO)
Price for a:
Spare Wing: $47
Fuselage: $60

Timber/Horizon Hobby
Price $249 BNF/$219 PNP
Size 1.5 meters
Motor: Brushless outrunner 10 size 110KV, 40A 450W
Prop: 12x4
Battery: 2200mAh 3S
Flying weight: 50 oz
Material: Z-Foam (EPO)
Price for a:
Spare Wing: $56
Fuselage: $54

Included with kit:
BNF (Bind n Fly) all parts needed for flight except RC transmitter, battery (EC3) and battery charger.
This plane comes with floats, an AS3X receiver, SAFE (flight stabilization, geofencing and other nifty features) LED lights, shock absorbers and the floats.

PNP-Same as above w/o receiver and SAFE technology.

Good videos

Tundra (Flight Test)