The Hacker Hot Wing 750 -McFloater
After my glowing review of the Hacker Evo 1000 you would think that everything Hacker comes out with is gold in my book? Well, I'm a fan. The 750 is a no-brainer when it comes to planes. It's something that is different than everything else out there. I don't think there is any middle ground, you'll either love it or hate it.
The Turnigy Bonsai
The Bonsai is a fun plane, it's fast, agile and can do tricks faster than you can think about them. Its wingspan is 600mm versus the Hacker's 750. There is also a heck of a lot less surface area on the wing. When you fly the Bosnia, trust me, you fly it. Every second it's in the air you're on the controls. The Bonsai is more like a Formula 1 race car and the Hacker is more like a Corvette. It really comes down to what type of flying experience you want.
The Hot Wing 750 is similar in cord size to the Hot Wing Evo 1000. I wrote about it before and simply love that plane. The 750 seems like it's the same plane as the 1000 with the wings cut down lengthwise. What's left is a stubby plane with lots of surface area. It floats nicely and does some tricks, but not to the degree of agility that the Bosnia has. The Hot Wing 750 provides more stability, better float, a larger plane and a higher degree of predictability in the air. When setup right, it's a bit more forgiving which makes it an ideal plane for a newer pilot. It can be a bit wobbly in the air thus I still suggest the Hacker Hot Wing Evo-1000 as a better first plane. One tip I can give you is to put the battery closer to the nose of the plane if you find the plane to be too wobbly.
Flight characteristics of the Hot Wing 750
Takeoff for the 750 can be a bit squirly. You will want to toss it with half throttle if not less with a 3S battery. The thing I've discovered about smaller planes is that you definitely need to put more care into your toss because a lopsided toss may soon find the ground or it will send you off in a direction you weren't planning on going. Keep the plane parallel to the ground with the nose up a bit. I find it's easier to work the controls with my right hand thus I tend to do a sloppy left-handed toss. After some practice, most tosses work out fine.
At the end of the park I like to fly at there are trees about 70 feet up.. Thus I work on getting well above the treeline well before I get to them. My first 15 seconds of flight is usually around 40% throttle. After my first turn it's time to tone down the throttle. I usually dial it back to 30% to 20% depending on the weather conditions. The nice thing about the 750 is that you don't need very much throttle to keep in airborne. Therefore I am getting 35-minute flights on a 1500mAh 3S LiPo. Once it's in the air you have a lot of options. You can troll around the sky until the battery dies, or you can start to axis rolls and loops. I prefer to shoot it up to around 200 feet and start searching for thermals or wind currents. When it finds a thermal it's a bit scary the first time. Due to its large surface area it can catch lift and find itself gaining 100 feet in a matter of seconds. Another option is to shoot this plane up to 400 feet, kill the power and let it glide back to the ground. It can act like a glider, taking 3 to 5 minutes to return back to the point where you need to power it up again or land it.
Though it's not a sports plane, the smaller wingspan make it a bit sporty, ready for tricks. The 750 inverts without effort. It handles flips and rolls well. It's not snappy like the Bonsai but you won't be bored. Thus it's a good step-up plane to get after a trainer. It's also the perfect size to throw in the trunk and take with on a trip. Living in Southern California we go to Las Vegas a few times a year. This is a plane I can take along because it doesn't take up too much room.
Required Mods
Seriously, the servo control rods and control horns are garbage, don't even waste your time with them. You'll need to buy some better control horns I would suggest getting some DuBro's EZ connects as well. Once you figure out how to connect it, you'll have total control of control surface. You may need some spare 2mm carbon fiber rods as well in case the supplied arms come up a bit short. If you're into RC flying you should always have a supply of carbon fiber rods, especially 2mm.
The carbon spar that comes with the plane is a bit weak. I would have buried a 4mm carbon rod in the center of the plane. But, I use the one that is supplied with the plane and thus far, no complaints. I don't see the need for putting carbon fiber in the leading edge or laminating the plane. I do use velcro in the front of the plane to hold the battery along with straps.
Dialing in up-trim (Reflex).
When you're playing golf you can dial a 250 yard shot without thinking about it. But when the green is 180 yards away with sand traps all around it, you will need to be a bit more certain about your approach. You're not looking for a hole in 1 but you would like to get the ball on the green on your first stroke. This plane has a sweet spot about 180 yards out, and yes it's surrounded by sand traps. When the trim is wrong and it flies nose heavy, it's not a lot of fun. When it's slightly tail heavy it will still fly, but it won't fly straight. You'll know you have it wrong because it will have all the charm of a flying pizza box. When you dial it in, you'll know. You can almost hear the choir singing "Halalua." When it's dialed in, it's a great plane!
So, where do you start? My suggestion is to start with the elevons perfectly flat then dial them up no more than 3 degrees. Until you get your plane dialed in you should stick with one style of battery. If you cut the power at 150 feet and the plane is on the ground 15 seconds later your plane is nose heavy. If it's having problems tracking its tail heavy. You can dial it in with trim on your radio until you get it just the way you like it I tend to like to reposition the control rods so that the trim is set in manually. I try to use as little trim as possible on the radio.
Slightly confusing build
The instructions are better than many of the Chinese planes I've purchased, but they can get confusing. You'll want to use UHU Por for gluing the plane together. It's a contact adhesive that works extremely well for EPP foam. Just follow the instruction for the placement of the spars. This may not be the very best first plane to build because the instructions are a bit sketchy, thus if this is your first build you should get help from a friend who has building experience. The overall build difficulty on this plane is fairly low.
The Hacker Hot Wing Evo-1000.
This 1000mm plane is the big brother of the 750. It's a different beast altogether than the 750. I still love the 1000 a bit more. This plane has fins on the leading edge which give it a bit more tracking stability in the air. For a first plane, the Evo-1000 is a much better choice.
The 750 isn't a watered down version of the 1000. The 750 has different flight characteristics. I've outfited mine with a 7x4 prop and a slightly sport 1400 kv motor. A 30a speed controller is all you'll need. You really don't need digital, metal gear servos for this plane.
OmniModel, a great vendor!
OmniModels has replaced HobbyKing in my book as my preferred vendor. They have reasonable shipping rates and great customer service. If your next order is coming up short of the $69 needed to get free shipping try throwing on the Hacker Hot Wing 750. I bet you have most of the part you'll need for this plane sitting around. You will enjoy the 750!
