ForumPheonix (V2) Rises From the Crashes!
After the trauma of my fly-away Phoenix, I decided to buy another one. The first version of the Phoenix is available at very good prices and it was tempting to replace like with like. However, the gremlin inside us all (surely!) said 'There's a version 2!'. This thought wouldn't go away - so version 2 it had to be. Phoenix V2, even the 2.6m one also seemed to be available at very good prices! One price I saw was almost unbelievable - until you saw the Hobbyking postage costs from the 'Global' warehouse! Eventually I settled for a 2m version from the Europe warehouse which came with 'free' postage!
It was delivered in a matter of days, but as I'm still working on an EasyStreet I haven't had time to get it ready. However, I have had a look at it, and this is what I saw!
The nice posh box in the first picture was wrapped in the tidiest brown paper parcel I've seen in a long time. I've no idea what the '759' means, but the '-2' might mean 'version 2'!
Inside everything was carefully wrapped in bubble wrap. Each item was taped to the inside of the box and the fuselage was wired down so that nothing could move in transit.
I removed most of the parts so that I could see the fuselage which was the last thing in the box. I was impressed with the fuselage of my first Phoenix, but this one is a step above! It looks very impressive. The only thing about it that I was slightly disappointed with was that the servos for elevator and rudder are exposed at the rear of the fuselage. Somehow that never looks right to me. However, this was balanced out by the fact that the wings now attach to the sides of the fuselage rather than on top as with the V1 version. They are also held in place by clips within the fuselage rather than with four screws on top of the fuselage. The wings are strengthened with aluminium rods rather than carbon as in V1.
Another big difference is that V2 has a wheel! It's going to be a challenge to actually make use of it, but it has a wheel!
Mine is the 'PNF' version of the model, and as promised all the servos, the motor and the ESC have been installed. There are even servos for the flaps, although a small section in the wing need to be trimmed to make them work. You might notice from the pictures that the control surfaces now come with hinges installed. Using the foam of the wing to form the hinges was a weak point in V1. I think all of mine had been reinforced with Blenderm tape over the years.
You might spot another minor annoyance in the photos. Tape has been used to cover the servo cables in the wings, but on one wing the tape wasn't very straight and it looks as though it could interfere with the operation of the servo after the arms and push-rods have been installed. I know it's a small problem and easily fixed, but if only a bit of care was used when the tape was installed it wouldn't need to be fixed!
The only job left for me to do is to install the Rx, attach the push-rods and prop, attach the tail-plane and rudder and she'll be ready to fly! I might even stick some of the stickers on!
So, at the moment I'm very impressed with Phoenix V2. If she flies as well (or possibly better!) than V1 I will be very happy!
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Is it as thin as it looks Colin ?
What do you mean by 'thin' Robert?
One day I will type something that makes sense and is what I thought I meant to say.
The Fuselage looks quite thin Colin.
In real life the fuselage is a sturdy bit of plastic! In fact it might be too sturdy and therefore a bit heavy! You must have a look at it sometime!