Customer Reviews

fun plane Review by lamon

Quality
Value
Overall

I have enjoyed this jet. It is fast and fun I am using a 2500 30c lipo and it works great. the foam is good and I have flown it 10 times and it is still in tact . one of the best jets for 100 bucks. (Posted on 6/19/2013)

Great first EDF Review by Robert

Quality
Value
Overall

Have now had a chance to fly this plane and it flies great! Needed just a click of aileron trim and it was dialed in. Very stable flight and super easy to land..just line up with runway and at about 20 feet thrust to idle and hold pitch and it floats right in. It also flies very well at about half throttle to extend the flight times. (Posted on 3/20/2013)

Why aren't these popular (build AND maiden review) Review by JASON FARRELL

Quality
Value
Overall

Unlike most reviews I/we come across these days - I'm not going to end this review by saying "I can't wait to get one" or "I can't wait to fly mine" which usually leaves me flopping back in a chair with my hands on my head saying WT_!

To the point -
I would recommend this plane... it is very POWERFUL, it is truly THRUST VECTORING, and it is THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK when it comes to a 64mm EDF jet!

Don't let the major lack of info or flight reviews/footage scare you away.
I have personally spent HOURS searching for reviews or flight footage beyond the "maiden" advertisement video which didn't show much of the vectoring performance.
With that being said you can search JSN&LEX or use the link http://youtu.be/g1VMgaP6s-o to view footage I (Jason Farrell) have posted on YouTube. It is not intended for professional reviewing purposes so I do apologize for the occasional F-BOMB which, in my opinion, it's better than the Top Gun theme song you've heard a hundred times.

Assembly -
this can be done in an hour... under 30min if you have glue Kicker or "accelerator" to speed up the process if you can avoid touching the paint in those areas during application.
Like many airframes using "full moving elevators" a set of thin barbed hinges are included... toss them! Replace those with one large or two small flat square hinge(s) to ensure stability at high speeds.
With the radio ON and all control surface sticks/trims center adjust the control surfaces level with the rest of the airfoil... full-moving tail surfaces with the inner-flat portion of the airframe... and the nose-wheel while you taxi around.
Unfortunately the Thrust-Vectoring Nozzle has to be eyeballed with up pitch if anything. A few adjustable linkage clamps on the servos will help with fine-tuning as well (requires cutting Z-bends off and possibly rotating the servo arm a few teeth)

Servo configuration -
appears a little complicating ONLY because Starmax, amongst many other companies implementing thrust-vectoring with Delta-Mixing, assumed the flyer(s) would be wielding a 6CH (or more) radio with optional mixing/programming for ELEVON (ALL control-surfaces are ELEVators/ailerONs)...
First make sure each side (LEFT aile and elev / RIGHT aile and elev) are Y together then plug them (left Y and right Y) into your receiver Aile and Elev receiver ports with MIX ON or preferred port #s for Programmable radios...
In my case Aile and Elev (Turnigy 9x) ELEVON = ACTIVE, AIL1 = 100/100, AIL2 = -100/-100, ELE1 = -100, ELE2 = -100 depending on which order you plugged them in.
Once properly configured you will program Mix for Rudder+AUX#/port# (yaw vector) and Elevator+AUX#/port# (pitch vector) to be enabled by a 2-3 position switch.

Preflight -
First off IF you notice the EDF has 2s performance on 4s (as mine did) test another battery then another ESC no lower than 35A in short bursts to rule out rather the ESC is faulty or not properly programmed. After a few failed maiden attempts I ordered a $20.00 (shipped) 50A H-King ESC while the other was being exchanged allowing me to maiden a few days later.

Flight -
This airframe requires little pitch when taking off otherwise levels out, no torque-roll, or other bad tendencies. Good rate of climb due to the EDF system favoring thrust over speed and the airframe favoring lift over aerodynamics. Approaches require floating in under low/no throttle or, if preferred, a high-Alpha in calm conditions.

Vectoring -
After testing a few Dual-Rates (50/75% and 75/100%) I found that vectoring was more effective and stable at 100% Vector, Elevator, and Rudder throw as you can see towards the 2nd half of my video (mentioned above) otherwise I flew with rates set to 75% to maintain control/authority at lower speeds. A flat-spin is easily achieved by decreasing thrust/speed or climbing/banking causing a natural stall VS forcing a high-speed stall and hoping it results in a controllable flat-spin.
The vector system works as good as a larger more expensive EDF-TVC system as long as you remember, that even though its smaller and lighter, the same physics apply to most RC aircraft as they do a full-scale aircraft.

Overall I plan to keep one of these in my collection because within 2 flights it has already become a favorite. No need for a more expensive thrust-vectoring 70+mm EDFs which leaves you thinking twice about using the TVC system. Besides, how many people can brag about having a 64MM EDF jet equipped with Thrust-Vectoring?




(Posted on 3/14/2013)

Good plane for the price. Review by Robert

Value
Overall
Quality

Bought this as my first EDF jet due to the great price. Build was not bad once I figured out the electronics. Had to buy a servo reversing Y harness to get the ailerons to move in the correct direction. Fit and finish of the foam seems very nice and once the electronics were figured out it only took about 2 hours to complete the build. I am using a 4s 2200 40c battery and it takes up the entire battery compartment so CG will have to be done by adding weight. Look forward to getting it in the air. (Posted on 2/8/2013)

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