HobbyKing — BIXLER 2

Just finished, more or less. Not keen on my Hobby King G-OSD 3 since it doesn't work that well; waiting for a GPS signal takes forever and even then Google Earth shows it's miles out. I removed it, hence the hole in the top. (Now filled with Guardian Pilot)

First test flight took place on the slope in March 2014. A few clicks of 'up' were required and I needed to increase the 'down' elevator on flap deployment from10% upwards. Otherwise much as expected.

Not much to chose in the flying between this model and the EasyStar. It has a tendency to 'rock' from side to side in the same way. Not the best performer either but it is what it is, a cheap disposable foamie with four servos, motor and prop, ready assembled for £50+. Flies better I thought with a little thermal flap.

Assembling the wing every time is a real pain though. Four wing servo and extension cables and their plugs and sockets have to be threaded through the smallest gap below the wing. (The wing screw tube assembly interferes.)

Still waiting for the Eagle Tree Guardian 2D/3D autopilot when this was snapped and hoping it will remove some of the 'rocking'. Later...

Off the slope at Folkestone.
Taranis transmitter.
Mobius Camera.

Mobius HD Action Camera and Boscam 5.8GHz transmitter work well together. I tried this on the slope with the camera/VTX working and got at least 300m with my setup without any break up of signal (my screen goes blue btw). I eventually got my Guardian 2D/3D auto-pilot and installed it... so many wires though.

Pros and cons: It only weighed 1kg in flying condition so that was good. The Bixler is a pain to assemble. When I made it, I did make the tailplane removable with a plastic bolt but the real nasty thing is the four wing servo cables as I said. If you can get the Bixler in the car just leave the model assembled. This is the sort of model you don't really care about, except the gear. You just have to accept that the foam will get dings and dents everywhere. I may post more...