Rainbow 2 800mm- A great plane, if the price is right.

Rainbow 2 800mm Delta Wing with an original paint scheme. 

As part of the “Cheap Thrills” series of good delta wing kits for under $30 it’s time for my favorite. The Dancing Wings Rainbow 2 800mm kit from Banggood. When I started writing this article the plane was $13.15 on a perpetual sale for the tail pusher model. The price went up (Just in time for the holiday season) to $19. And then to $21. It was down to $15 on Black Friday.  At the time of writing it was $21 a plane with shipping which is a deal, but better planes can be had for not too much more money.  Banggood is known to have sales with massive price drops from time to time. My thinking is that after Chinese New Years (Mid Febuarary) this plane will go back into high production. Then, somewhere in the middle of summer it will just sit on the shelves only to have prices slashed again. It's a good time to stock up when you see it on sale. At $21 it's a bit too pricey for what it is.




Fly it, crash it, repair it, and fly it again. Hell, one of my planes has had more work done to it than Michael Jackson ever did. It’s compelling because it’s large enough for predictable flight but small enough to have a bit of fun.

C20 Motor mounted to hobbywood. 

I am going to cut to the chase with this plane. The stock build is garbage. Sure, if you want a plane that soggy as leftover egg drop noodle soup then just build it. You can watch the wings nearly touch as you make it spin. When you buy this plane you’re basically buying the foam, because the rest of it isn’t worth talking about. The motor mount is cheap, flimsy and is more of a waste of time. The 3 hole mount is really designed for that little 30 watt C10 motor. The control horns are garbage as well. Really, all you want is the foam. The kit comes with thin bands of plastic (carbon ribbons? I think not) that act as spars. Feel free to use them, but they’re not enough. As long as you’re ordering from Banggood throw a couple sets of 2mm Carbon Fiber rods on the order, you’re gonna need them.


The basic concept of building this plane

It’s going to need carbon fiber running through the middle. I built one with CF rods on the leading edge. It didn’t improve it much. Just run them through the middle of the plane on the bottom of the plane. Two is all you need, if you want to go overkill throw two along the top as well. I’ve done this and got an extra rigid plane that does fly nice but doesn’t improve the plane all that much from just two CF rods on the bottom.

2808 mounted to a stick mount works well.

Motors are up to you. You’ll need to keep your motor under 30g if you want to see this plane fly. The plane will fly with a 2808 in various KVs as long as it's under 30g. With that being said the plane really seems to do well with the C20 outrunner motor. It’s the one I’ve had the most success with. The issue will be that the motor mount that comes with the plane is simply too small. There were these really fantastic Layer Board Motor Mounts that I’ve used in the past. The problem is, I believe only one company made them and they are no longer available. Perhaps they will come available again in the future. I found some hobbywood at my local hardware store (Home Depot) and the stuff is bulletproof. That in conjunction with a small piece of balsa wood and a lot of glue seems to do the trick. Another thing to try is a stick motor mount from Hobby King. They are under $2 and work well with a motor that uses a 16x19 hole pattern. The C20 doesn’t use this pattern but the 2808 does.

Use 9g servos instead of 5g servos.

Cut in 9g servos- 9G servos are cheaper, stronger and 5 minutes with an Xacto knife they can easily be made to fit into the plane. The plane can handle the extra weight with a stronger motor.


The elevons need a trim. The elevons are on too tight no the plane which makes it difficult if not impossible to turn. You’ll need to lightly cut the hinge line with a sharp knife to get them to move freely. Just be certain to buy nylon hinges because the elevon can come off in a good crash. Just glue them back on with the hinges and you’ll be up flying again soon enough. Some people online have suggested using carbon fiber rods on the elevon. You don’t need to do this if you just carefully loosen up the elevon hinge.


The last thing I like to use is a bit of Goop on the leading edge to give it a bit more bounce in case I run into something. Use it sparingly because you’ll want to keep this plane light. For the first plane you may not want to paint it because paint adds a lot of weight to a plane.


How well does it crash?


I’m proud to say I’ve crashed nearly all my Rainbows. The plane splits in half with a good crash but goes back together surprisingly well. The carbon fiber helps keep it together in the more serious crashes. So far, after a handful of some pretty gnarly crashes the planes are still flying. And there are times walking up to the crash site where I’ve said to myself “Ok, this can’t be fixed.” Sure enough, a little glue fixes everything.



Flight characteristics

The design of this wing is a less aggressive than the Turnigy Bonsai. So it’s more touring than sport. It will still spin and flip but it's not a larger version of the Bonsai. But it’s thin cores are actually kinda nice in the respect that it penetrates the wind nicely. When you get this plane nicely trimmed you can keep it up in the air for extended periods of time. It will nicely troll around the sky on low power. I am getting around a half hour flight on a one amp battery. There is a difference between just flying this plane and flying it in it’s zone. When this plane is dialed in right, it’s compelling. It’s a much better experience than you would imagine for $13.


The modded version has flights in the low to mid 20 minute range. Now bad. Mine has extra weight due to the paint and extra carbon fibers and lamination. What it gives up it more than makes up for in the sheer agility of the plane. There is no flex as it spins and flips. It flies faster and with more authority. There is an argument to be made for keeping it light as possible. It certainly flies nice and seems more buoyant. The modified plane is for kicking up speed and increasing the fun. It’s why you really should have one of each.

What it isn’t

I know there are many times people ask you about getting into the hobby and you feel compelled to say “Hey, there is a $13 plane online that people love, go buy that.” Without guidance, this plane will be built at face value. At best they’ll have a small park flyer that will struggle to get up to 150 feet. The tight elevons will make it nearly impossible to turn, especially with the suggested servos One good wind gust and it’s gone. If it does come back chances are people will move on from the hobby fairly quickly.


I think delta wings are great for beginners. A lot of the planes out there are rudder and elevator only. A delta wing can give a plane more of an aileron experience. But geez, this plane is so cheesy at face value. Just don’t even go there. This plane needs to be modded from the start.

This plane demands carbon fiber rods (2mm seems to work well) 

The Mod Squad


There are many good kits out there that you can build at face value. But soon enough you’ll start to realize that even these kits have limitations. For example, most of these kits have lousy control horns. Sooner or later you start to realize that you can improve the build if you throw in your own parts. They aren’t really modifications as much as they are much needed improvements. Modifications are the next step. How far can you push the envelope before your ideas simply don’t work? At $13 a pop you can mod a plane on just about any budget. You can try putting on faster motors or doing some neat paint jobs. You can even try to make the plane into a glider. It’s why I suggest buying this plane, two at a time.

The paint gives it a nice look, but adds weight. You'll need a faster motor to compensate. 

What this plane is really about.

CF rods in the top, and painted. It's rigid and flies great! 

The RC plane hobby isn’t the most welcoming hobby to newcomers. There is so much to figure out.  Sure you can buy an all in one kit with everything you need in the box.   The next step above this is buying a “kit” plane and following the instructions.  This is a kit with bad instructions that lead to an underwhelming plane if followed.  So, the point of this plane is to mod the plane to the best of your abilities.   You can stick on carbon fiber rods and fantastic motors.  You can experiment with painting and lamination.  You can crash it and put it back together, again and again.  This is really a plane to learn now to build other planes on.  Some of the concepts I’ve used on this plane build I’m incorporating into larger, more expensive planes.  I’ve certainly learned a lot about the relationship between weight and flying characteristics.  The reason you may want a couple of these planes is to try out build ideas on them and see how they fly.

Due to it’s low price, ease of build, forgiveness after a good crash, and ability to get modded I find this plane to be the very best of the under $30 planes on the market. But, it’s much more compelling at $13 than at $19. The Hacker Hotwings 1000 (Not the Evo version) and the Wing Wing Z-84 have both been sold on special for under $30. They are both night and day better planes than the Rainbow 2 800mm.