PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANK FANELLI
Here’s what the Firebird Stratos gives you for the airframe components. Nothing else is needed to assemble it. Anything that needs to be fastened is
Here’s Maureen I can recall a few times in my 21 years working here at FLYING MODELS when a newly released model, geared toward the novice flyer, would come into the office and FM Editor, Frank Fanelli, would suggest I give it a try. Up until now, I always man- aged to talk my way out of it. It wasn’t the building of the model that scared me; it was the flying that was my concern. Frank tried to assure me that flying wouldn’t be a problem this time, because the Firebird Stratos is equipped with Virtual In- structor technology, which would help keep the plane stable while I learned how to con- trol it in the air. Still trying to find my way out of the project, I suggested Frank recruit my co-worker, Tammy Havens, instead. He wasn’t about to let me off the hook this time, but suggested we do it together and we both agreed. To prepare for our first venture into the
model airplane hobby, we each indepen- dently watched the introductory video found on Horizon’s website. I discovered that the plane was designed by Quique Somenzini, a well-known name in the aeromodeling field. Watch- ing Quique’s explanation of the features of the Stratos and his flight demo on the video gave me a little more confidence, but I still wasn’t convinced.
fastened with the supplied tape (yellow backing). Sizing the screws needed for assembly was a little uncertain but there aren’t that many used.
A few days later, when our workload
slowed down, Tammy and I set up a work space in my office and started putting the plane together, while Frank took photos. I’ll let Tammy elaborate on the process of putting the plane together since she did most of the work. I was merely her wing- woman. I will say that the hardest part of the whole job was peeling the backing off the clear tape, which is used to secure the tail and the wing fins. There are 16 pieces in all and you can actually put the plane together in less time than it took me to peel the tape. Even with stopping for photographs, we had the plane put together in less than one hour from start to finish. Since I was still expressing doubts that
the plane would survive with me at the con- trols, Frank suggested I try practicing on a flight simulator first, so I gave it a try as he watched over my shoulder. I don’t think it took more than 15 seconds before my plane was in pieces on the virtual ground. No mat- ter how many times I tried, I just couldn’t connect the movement of the sticks with the reaction of the plane in the air.
TM When we finally got a day with very little
wind and good sunshine for taking picture, Frank, Tammy and I loaded the plane in the car and drove to the local airport. We had charged the battery on the day we put the plane together, but we plugged the supplied charger into the car outlet and connected the battery to insure we had a full charge. At the field, we connected the flight bat-
tery according to the instructions. Frank tested the control surfaces and put the plane in the air to check out the trim. After mak- ing some slight adjustments, he was ready to hand over the transmitter to us. I had al- ready made it clear that Tammy should go first, because I was sure there wouldn’t be a plane left to fly after I was done. Tammy appeared to do very well and she
looked like she was enjoying herself. Then Frank asked her to hand me the transmit- ter while we still had enough time on the battery charge. With the plane at an alti- tude that Frank described as “three mis- takes high” I was able to relax somewhat, knowing there would be time to hand the controls over quickly if I got into trouble.
Instruction Manual•Bedienungsanleitung•Manuel d’utilisation•Manuale di Istruzioni
®
Five lanuages are used in the manual (above left). Number decals can go on the tail. Rounding out the Stratos package is the transmitter (above right), its
FLYING MODELS
AA size alkaline batteries, a 12-volt DC charger for two cells, and the 2-cell 1300 mAh Li-Po. Only this transmitter can be used with the plane.
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