by Sid Sideslip » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:44 am
There have been three Bixlers at my club, one deceased.
The first was apparently a disaster; for whatever reason it was unflyable and was eventually crashed by an instructor, no less. Who knows what was wrong with it, probably COG, but it soured the usual traditional crowd on the type.
When I showed up with an axn there was a lot of scepticism and put-down comments, as people thought it was a Bixler. Until I did a low pass and then took off like a rocket, after having been soaring happily for half an hour or so. They still can't work out if it's a glider or what. I fly the axn there all the time and several people have expressed interest in getting one as a result (especially when I mention the $38 price including a motor).
It's also gone splat twice at a great rate of knots with minimal damage and was up in the air again next day (dislodged elevator servo once, and later a crap launch by a friend in very high winds...it shot right over my head and then played lawn darts). No such luck with lots of other club models that hit the deck at much slower speeds.
Recently, two more Bixlers have been bought by club members. The one that has flown so far gave some lols on its maiden, when the elevator was inadvertently reversed. Subsequent flights went OK, but it sure looks slow compared to an axn at full chat. Just nowhere near as versatile imho, though quite possible better for FPV work.
My only complaint with the axn would be its poor roll performance, even with largish aileron travel. Probably more to do with my aged flying skills, but it won't just do a neat roll without a lot of fine elevator control and/or added rudder. Then again, I do have aileron differential mixed in for neater turns. It's probably something I need to experiment with.
Last edited by
Sid Sideslip on Sun Jan 29, 2012 2:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
What goes up...better bloody stay up (until I say otherwise).