SkySurfer (Bixler 1)
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| Stock Sky Surfer with a small propeller |
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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
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| 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
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| 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.
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