Sky Surfer (Bixler 1) Review

SkySurfer (Bixler 1)

Stock Sky Surfer with a small propeller

Overall score:  87 out of 100


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1. Documentation: 2 points out of 5 points possible.

The documentation was on one large piece of paper with small photos and even smaller text. If this is your first build I am sorry. There’s not enough good information here to firmly understand how to build this plane. The good news is that Andrew Newton does a wonderful build review of this plane which can be found on Youtube. I also did find other suppliers had better documentation on how to build nearly the same plane.

2. Quality of Materials 14 points out of 20

The EPO foam was a bit thicker than the foam used to pack eggs. However, I did have issues with how sturdy this is for a so-called trainer. It’s flight characteristics make it a good trainer, but the quality of materials say otherwise. The control rods are very thin and I would like to get the replaced at some point. The one thing I like the least about this plane is how the servos mount into the side of the plane. If you try to replace a control arm and don’t support it from the inside the servos will fall into the plane. And you get to spend a half an hour gluing the wood that the servo is attached to back into place. I didn’t use the control horns because they didn’t go all the way through the rudder, ailerons nor elevators. I would love to see this plane updated to the new, smooth EPP foam with a bit better hardware.

3.  Build process  16 out of 20 points.

It was different than other planes I’ve built in the past so it took me a bit longer to build. If I were to build it again I would have all the electronics worked out before the plane arrived. I would have both pieces of the fuselage glued together Saturday morning. Then by Saturday afternoon I would be attaching the rest of the plane together over the course of a few hours. By Sunday morning I would wake up early and tune it and take it out flying that day. It’s not a complex build but if you haven’t built a plane like this before it will take you a few evenings to figure out how to assemble it and rework some things. I went for the optional motor mount which did add some time

This is not a beginner's build type of plane. If it's your first plane you will need some help from someone experienced or you can study the build videos and other documentation online carefully. I just don’t think it will be a very forgiving plane if you don’t build it right.

4. Flight Characteristics  30 out of 30

My Sky Surfer

“Everybody should own a SkySurfer” is what Andrew Newton said of this plane. I can see why. This is a floaty-glide plane. It’s not a Wing-Wing on 4S. Hot rodding this plane would be like hot rodding a minivan. If you can appreciate it for what it is, then yes, this is a plane that should be in your personal hanger. But, if you’re not into slow floaters then you should just avoid this plane.

What is exciting about this plane is that it has the ability to fly this one four or five channels. You can put a Y splitter on the ailerons if you want to make it four channels, but why? Here’s your opportunity to fly with ailerons and elevators with use of your rudder something optional. You can get into some more advanced mixing on your radio that most people never get to such as crow and camber. You can work in rudder with ailerons to get tighter turns. If you’re moving up to the big leagues where you’ll be flying with fast planes you’ll want to take advantage of these features. It’s best to learn on a slow, forgiving plane like the Skysurfer before you try it on the less forgiving faster planes 5 and 6 channel planes.

With this plane you can burn up your battery in under 20 minutes, or it can last an hour. You can learn a lot about flying with this plane. You can learn how to maximize the power of your battery, find lift and use mild wind to your advantage. I was able to find thermals with minimal power and make this plane go to as high that I had to bring it back down because I was afraid of losing it in the sky. It’s a more sophisticated type of flying It’s not 10 minutes at 100mph+. I know it sounds silly when I say this, but, it’s really your chance to bond with nature. You can be apart of the sky instead of trying to briefly claim it as your domain.

This plane reminds me a lot of the Radian. Smaller, more capable, and yet also a nice gliding experience.

So yes, I am sold, I am fan. It's the kind of plane that if I ever crashed and destroyed I would buy a new one and build it again.

5. Value 15 out of 15 points

With Nasty Nikki at the controls, you never know what to expect.

For under $50 this plane is a smoking deal. I can forgive a lot of quality of material issues when I see how much you get for how little you spend.

6. Ability to modify  10 out of 10 points.

You can buy the motor mounts to allow you to put on larger motors.  You can put on extensions for your flaps, ailerons and rudders. You can put on camera mounts.  You can make it fly with a large variety of batteries. The plane does well for FPV. I have recently purchased the option camera mount for recording video.  The motor is behind the camera so it’s excellent for an unobstructed view. With the larger propeller (with optional motor mount) this plane is very quiet. Perfect for early morning park flying.

Hobbyking's Batteries-Where's my order?

Sooner or later you find yourself in desperation, you need a new battery.  It doesn't matter if the reason why is because you crashed your plane,  or one fell from the sky and ended up under some bushes in a field.  You will need a new one, or two or three.  The guy at my local hobby store tells me with glee in his voice that they have a fantastic deal on 3S 2200mAh batteries, only $25 each!  In hobby store prices that is a good deal.   In the online world, you could do better.

You hit the websites and $15 seems to be the going price. But, just as you're about to accept this you find that Hobbyking is blowing them out for under $11 each.  And to make it even more interesting they have been giving free shipping on orders over $50 since the holidays.   So yeah, this is a done deal.  You order it.

And a few days later it hasn't shipped.

Wait a minute, are they really this backed up with orders?  No, not really.  The problem is that not only do you know how to find a good deal but so does everybody else.  What I believe is happening is that they are actually selling the inventory that is on the boats coming from Hong Kong to Portland, OR.  So, you'll get a fantastic deal, but you'll have to be patient. If you need a battery, today there is always the hobby store if you have one handy.  Or, you can find some suppliers in the country you live in on eBay.   The reason why these prices are so low is because of the fast turns of this inventory.

Which is why when you find a good deal like this you should pick up another one, because if you have to place another order it may take you a while to see that one as well.

Flysky 2.4G 6CH FS-iA6B Receiver review

Flysky 2.4G 6CH FS-iA6B Receiver PPM Output With iBus Port

Get the right receiver

First of all, a warning-  If you’ve been using radio controlled for a good long time you may remember back to the FM/72mHz days.  Some radios were positive shift and some were negative shift and that was confusing enough. When it comes to 2.4g RC transmitters and receivers, it's much worse.  Not only are the receivers not compatible between manufacturers, but sometimes they aren’t compatible in brands. For Flysky, I will share this table with you that outlines what does and doesn’t work.  

https://rc.305.cz/storage/FlySky_Tx_Rx_compatibility_table.pdf

Thus, when you’re buying Flysky, stick with what you know will work with your transmitter.

What is PPM?

PPM - Pulse Position Modulation -PPM is also an analog signal, but instead of using a separate wire for each channel, PPM stacks each signal one after another to send them all along the same wire. This makes wiring your R/C Receiver to your autopilot much easier! The PPM port is on channel 1.

What is iBus?
IBUS is the new Flysky serial protocol. It’s a two-way communication which means it can send and receive data: one port for servo data output and one port for sensors.

This receiver will handle up to six channels.   Most planes can be handled with five channels or less.  Delta wings usually run on 3 channels. The extra channels can be used for operating cameras for example.   RC Helicopters often need a lot more channels and thus require more sophisticated systems.

If you’re going into killer FPV setup and are setting up iNav, gimbels on servos  and all kinds of other cool things all on one plane , you may want to upgrade your transmitter and receiver package.   The Flysky is wonderful for simple application. I’ve seen people using it for iNav. And it can handle most planes if you just want to fly it line of sight or mild FPV.  My suggestion is that you always have extra receivers on hand because you’ll never know if Flysky will move on to a new technology that isn’t backward compatible. You’ll want some for future RC projects and in case one of your modules gets damaged.

A link to this article can be found on fb.me/RCplanes.n.stuff

Discount Hobby Warehouse-San Diego

Discount Hobby Warehouse

Address: 7644 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111
Phone: (858) 560-9633

Until I walked into the store I had no idea how much I missed a true RC plane store. Some place that was unapologetically about planes, drones, cars, boats, anything RC.    They've been in business for 35 years and are well stocked.

Yes, we now live in a world where you can order just about anything you desire in RC online and find it from multiple sources.   Still, there is something about walking into an actual hobby store.    The store isn't laid out from a Plan-o-gram.   I was in a woman's clothing store recently.  It looked like they spend every night polishing every square inch of the store.  Discount Hobby Warehouse is the polar opposite of this. Not the cleanest store, it has it's own smell and merchandise is all over the place. Not disorganized, but cluttered.  But, when you walk in and see the things you're passionate about covering nearly every square inch of the store you end up being enthused and inspired.  Everything is screaming for you and you find yourself saying "They have this?  No way!"

The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. I had only a couple of small items to purchase, hardly worth getting excited about but they gave me full attention and hand-picked each item from the shelves.

The hobby store, a place you can drive to and pick up what you need is a dying thing.  Which is strange because over time more and more people find themselves owning at least one RC item.  You would think demand would grow?  Many people turn to online solutions for their RC addiction. It's nice being able to walk into a store and the people are the exact same flavor of crazy as you are.   Guys run into each other in the store and say hello "Yeah, I told my wife I was going to the hardware store as well."    It's like a bar without the alcohol.

The prices are very good, they actually beat the online prices for the items I purchased and the online stores still wanted to add on shipping.    Overall, I am excited to go back to Discount Hobby Warehouse and spend even more time.  This is a place I plan on spending a lot of money at in the future.