PLEASE NOTE: The Version of the X-Fly EAGLE in this video was the EARLY release model. X-Fly has since fixed all the major issues, so if you purchased this plane after this video was made (way back in 2023) then your X-Fly Eagle should be SUPER EASY to fly. But if you watch old videos of this model made in the late summer of 2023 you'll see plenty of crashes.
Lol, as if they make any difference during the day anyway, just induce a bunch of turbulence, just what a small EDF model needs, offset CG and tip turbulence, smh..
A guy at my local club has one and he takes off right off our grass runway, very easily I might add. Grant you our runway is manicured and cut short. Almost like a putting green. He also taxies in on the grass, and does 360 degree spins on the grass to show off. It is hilarious! Behaves like a hovercraft on the ground/grass. Tommy is a superb skilled flier, he can make this flying wing do most anything. And flies it @ 100 + mph in the air. He flew it again just yesterday at our field.
I maidened my X-Fly Eagle yesterday in stock configuration with 4s2350Ah pack. The hand launch was one of the _easiest_ launches I've had. For over a decade, I've hand launched over a dozen types of mine and others people's planes and this Eagle was way up there in ease of launch. A big part is the gyro and also the twin outboard motors don't torque the body of the wing so much which is very common in the usual single motor centerline wings -- which are 99.9% of the flying wings out there. Without motor torque effects, both left and right-side rolls where symmetric in speed which is very welcome performance. This is unlike other wings where one roll direction is noticeably faster than the other direction due to center-line motor torque. The X-Fly Eagle's flight is exceptionally solid for not just a wing but all RC aircraft. Its very flat profile makes it cut through wind without being buffeted so much. I did not notice much turbulence even in winds. The body is very rigid like a piece of wood even though its made of foam and carbon fiber rods. Well done on X-Fly for construction of the body. There is very little flex in the body from wingtip to wingtip. I'm flying with a gyro but I have gyro on my other wings and other wings at my field have gyros and they do not track as well as the eagle does. It flies like its on rails. The hardest part was landing. This thing is very slippery in the air and just wants to keep on going and going! But I did manage one or two landings right in front of me when the wind was right. But many landings soared way past me into the weeds. The elevator is very touchy. I have high like 60% expo but will likely dial it up further or introduce high/low rates. It will want to pop the nose up on a slight gust of wind and either keep going or come down hard if the pilot over corrects. I have not flown with the gyro disabled yet. I'm glad I saw this video and decided to see what the fuss is about. I am happy that X-Fly has the balls to put out a product that is different from the same-old same-old that fills this hobby by now. Well done to X-Fly.
Oh of course, the ability to due a coordinated turn instead of the usual crude bank-n-yank flying wing was another big draw for me to the X-Fly Eagle since it has yaw control with differential thrust and is yaw axis stabilized as well in gyro rate mode. I tried some knife edge passes unsuccessfully but maybe due to my unfamiliarity with this plane. I will try it again but it might be difficult since the side profile of this plane is so tiny giving even less lift in knife edge than usual.
If you are unaware, The X-Fly Eagle was revamped shortly after launch due to videos like mine that highlighted the issues. The version you flew is designed to fly very well without issue.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 Thanks for the reply and the video. It was useful to watch and read all the comments too. Based on this video and some others, I triple checked the control surface movements and motor differential output. I used the stock servo throws but used a large amount of expo. I ended with -64% on the ELE and 50% on AIL. I also ensured my CG was ~6mm forward of the manual's recommended CG position. Another fellow flyer is getting one after seeing this fly. I may get a second plane: one for regular flying and the other for FPV! :)
Not wonky or a nightmare at all if you get the CG right.Gyro works great too,if you check everything first.Lights and camera behind CG won`t help at all.Don`t diss a perfectly good product.
If you watch my channel, I’ve flown about 70 different planes in a year (all videos on this channel). This was one that arrived incorrectly wired which I then fixed. I’ve let plenty of people fly it and they all find it was a good concept but the resulting product certainly has an unexpected stall factor in the slightest turn with reduced throttle. Beginners should avoid this one.
Not sure about the motor placement on that one, but this style wing is a blast. FPV wings are becoming the next big thing. No going slow. It's all or nothing.
I've watched a few videos about this wing. The gyro would definitely help you with this plane. I would like to see you install the gyro and do another review.
They are nicely in sync. As noted in the vid, it flies great when moving at speed, but when speed is low it becomes unstable in turns. I believe it Would work better at low speed with differential thrust turned off. I may put it on a switch to turn on off based on take off and landings.
I just seen another guy video flying this eagle and he said it was night and day with the gyro, and he said he'd never fly again without the gyro and made it so much better.
Have you tried continually reducing the throws? That usually works for me with wings. I over control most of my wings on the initial settings and have to reduce them. Flying wings tend to need, or rather, they accept very little control input without inducing a negative affect.
I really need to make a follow up video. If you watch my channel you’ll see I fly more than the average person in the RC hobby. The point of this vid was more for newbies based on buying the first generation of this product. XFLY corrrected many of the issues I mentioned after this video so buying one today will give enjoyable results out of the box.
If you’re looking for an easier to fly EDF flying wing, you may want to check out the Skynetic Neptune sold by MotionRC. It’s a bit bigger and flies on a 3S 2200mAh battery. Very low wing loading so it’ll slow down for an easy belly landing.
Being a fan of unconventional, experimental designs, this reminded me of some early German flying wing design. Checked out the reviews including this one and decided to go for it as the price was reasonable IMO. I do have some prior experience with wings and made sure CG was good and I tamed down the controls a bit as recommended by reviewers. Read the manual, verified everything was operating as far as stabilization, differential thrust not reversed, etc. I launched it in "lock" mode as xfly calls it, which is the same as SAFE, auto level, whatever you want to call it. Launch was easy, perfect and she climbed out at the correct angle just like an aircraft with SAFE would. Once airborne I switched to stabilization mode (like AS3X with no self-leveling). She flew well but was still quite sensitive even with substantially more expo than I generally use. Second battery the flight was much calmer after decreasing rates, increasing expo. BUT, I still crashed it and I don't believe it was really my fault. Since this wing uses differential thrust out at the tips it is very effective but one thing weird is when throttle is initially applied it doesn't do anything, like there is a weird delay before the motors activate and I guess this is the controller "initializing the motors" according to other reviewers so it's normal I guess. Well what happened on my flights were everything perfect until landing when I came back to zero throttle and basically gliding in to land as this bird wants to keep flying. Everything was looking great but as I came back on a bit with the throttle she immediately went out of control as though the throttles were re-initializing and the differential thrust just went nuts. It did this everytime if I was gliding power off for a time and then brought back the power. I think it might be a case where if you go back to zero throttle for too long and then come back on it has to re-intialize and gets wonky while this is happening or else if you bring back throttle and you have even the tiniest amount of rudder it will go out of control. I will post video. I think it will be fine I will just be sure to land with zero power on and do not touch throttle or rudder when landing.
I flew mine yesterday (I fly it often). I'm the only person at my flying field that can fly it without crashing.... however if I do some crazy 3D moves and it ends up in a spin, it will not recover and it will crash, and also if I bring it in for a landing and drop throttle to zero, both motors act as air brakes and it will tip over on landing at least 1 out of every 3 landings. I've glued mine back together many times.
No expert by any means, so season as needed ... but in the directions, it looks like the ESCs are set by default to a soft 1.5s ramp-up time - am I reading that correctly? Is that appropriate for an EDF, or more for something with momentum, like a car? And is that every time? I would also imagine differential thrust on the wingtips would be dangerous at low speeds, as any rudder input is going to stop the one motor adding a lot of drag at the wingtip - and skew/drop that tip badly.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 I'm way late here. I just got the Eagle unboxed. How do you land it if you don't touch the throttle? no rudder on landing Don't chop the throttle until your ready to stall it out?
@@BooDevil65that's good thinking. I'm going to check that engine brake isn't set in ESC's It sounds like that would impossible to land It almost sounds like Captain Drones ESC got programmed to stop the blades quickly. Or one of the motors. Quite a few planes I program the ESC to stop the prop quick and use reverse thrust
@@HciContractorTo land, line it up straight with the grass runway, and you can kill the throttle. If there is a crosswind, you’ll have to be very careful because when you run up the left or right morning to compensate, the other motor not spinning will become a break when speed is low & it will flip over.
Great review! I love that you wasted no time in getting right to the point as to pros and cons. I bet that was a very tricky plane to fly. I am impressed with XFly so far. I love their bush plane, Tasman! Cheers! 😎
Abdolutely so hard to fly! After s few crashed & one short flight, it was fixed & tried again today here in Australia with the result of 2 broken jets… i had the smart 2200 right up front & still using the terrible gyro. Bought mine from RC Castle together with the 850mm Twin Nova. All fixed & ready to film again. Many thanks for your informative video🇦🇺🇨🇦
I would set an idle up switch to a low throttle value so that the motors decelerate but never stop completely, that would allow differential thrust but reduce the braking force and hopefully reduce the stall tendancies. It is like the difference between stopping your multi-rotor motors on zero throttle and having them still turn slowly but without producing lift - they also re-start much quicker too. That might help tame it a bit?
Sorry but that was nowhere near 100MPH, I used to fly 80mm EDF Squals and it was clocked the fastest at 77MPH and it was like a rocket on the flycam. You can buy build flying wings with single propeller in the center, which also flys faster and is impossible to tip stall. All built for around £140, and doesn't need a gyro. lol.
@@cambsflyer42 On another channel they were cloking 90mph with GPS. I have sonic wing single motor with prop and yes it is of course faster and n o differential thrust and potential associated difficulties but the point is this wing is just uniquely different and not like it's the fastest wing design so If people wan't maximum wing speed prop driven is faster and more efficient.
Great suggestions buddy, my flying wings were Swift 2's, the small is the size of the one in the video. And the larger have a 5 ft wingspan, with heafty servos for the surfaces, and a large outrunner can they go like a bat outa hell, plus really cheap and easy to fly. Practically impossible to stall, and takes loads of punishment, without mostly any signs of damage. 😊
Enjoy wings, love twins, but EDFs are for mugs who don't have a good player/headphone set to scream in their ears when flying. That stab unit looks like a Radiolink Byme-D or some clone of same? Edit. Nope too many channels and adjustments for a Byme. What is it?
Hi Steve. That plane takes a licken and keeps on ticken. I had a delta wing plane once. It was a handful even with the gas motor in the center nose. It's days ended in a Steve Austin type crash..........👍
I admit that I am not an RC pilot. Was building a flying wing but never finished and decided to concentrate more on creating video. That being said I thought that instead of using tjhrust for steering/rudder control, a flying wing made more use of elevators/flapperons for turning? My wing plans were based upon using a “pusher style” prop. Then not pusher no the wing hard and save it n battery.
Hi Steve. I have a question about my Autel Evo lite plus and my Autel Evo Nano plus. I want to sell them because I have the DJI Air 3. My question is, if someone buys them will they be able to attach an account to them and fly them?
Yes. They work the same as DJI drones which means the buyer simply attaches their Autel account to the purchased drone using the App (same process as if they bought it new).
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 Thanx Steve for info. I didn't know you could do that with DJI as well. I had heard that they become locked and need to contact DJI. Love your channel
I think the secret to making this plane fly great is to not incorporate the differential thrust. Just eliminate that function and use the elevon mixing as your control. With a plane capable of doing 100 mph you need very little movement on your elevons, no more than 10 degrees either way....
The differential thrust is for the flat spin option and other cool 3D effects. I’ve tried it, but only way up high. Turning differential thrust off is certainly doable.
The diff thrust needs to be dialed way back, as well as the aileron-rudder mix if you have any. Might get away with just a crazy amount of rudder expo and then trim the idle to where the motors are always spinning somewhat. Those elevons have a ton of throw for something that fast and short coupled.
I love to fly delta wings, but this would be a nightmare! The way your onboard camera looked in the air, seemed like there was no stability at all.. Yet another great video that should serve as a warning to most RC foamie pilots, unless you're a masochist! :)
LOL my interest is flying quads but still enjoy your fixed-wing overview videos. Of all of the fixed-wing overviews I've watched so far, this one is easily the least appealing.
Tricky to control as poor thing doesn't know which port and starboard are with lights being reversed :) ...seriously though Steve is it any different with all lights and camera removed?...must be a some extra drag and weight penalty with the lights on.
Definitely not for me. I crash easy to fly stuff enough now. Saying that, it looks awesome though and would be fun for experienced pilots like Cap Drone😅. I have a question about the double sticky tape you use. Can you put a link to it? It seams to hold your stuff well. Thanks for the review👍👍😀
EDF`s, especially small ones need airspeed to fly properly and a flying with with two small EDF`s isn`t for beginners, they`re very sensitive with regards to CG. Don`t understand the point of putting those lights on the wingtips and at the top at that, maybe you fly it at dusk I dunno lol, butwith the lights where they are and that 360 can offset on there, it won`t be flying BETTER, that`s pretty certain, you won`t reduce tipstalls at the very least :p After a year of flying you should honestly be able to see what the plane is doing as long as you can see the actual model, it`s not like orientation is an issue with fixed wing models. Other people fly it perfectly well, so I feel that this video is a bit picky, but that might just be me, it`s always good to have different opinions and experiences anyway (:
The hilarious part is that XFLY changed the design after my review. As noted in the vid, my plane was one of the first available. The ones people by today, don’t have the same out of the box issues.
This must be the ONE video of yours I missed, of course, because mine just arrived earlier today 🤣🙄 Would you recommend reinforcing some places on this plane?
hi Steve i think i will give this one a miss to much to handle for me but it look's great so if you keep smashing it i will disintegrate it even though it's cheap to buy and darling wife won't be happy great review as always
been flying for 40 years and I could tell just by looking at that it would be a nightmare lmfao, we have motors in the middle for a reason.............
Steve, Steve, Steve. 5 mins for an RC Plane? I won't even get started on the name but Steve I nominate you and I'm calling you the Flying Squad Father to pilot to demand no less than 7 minutes of flight time when the plane is made of foam! If your hand is forced, I could be okay for 6.45 minutes.
It works like this in the RC Hobby: Anything that requires skill to fly (I.e., it is up to the pilot to keep it in the air with no assistance from GPS or altitude hold), the average flight time for an FPV Drone, RC Helicopter and RC Plane is 5 mins. I used to think that was short but now I’m happy with it because the adrenaline rush is high during those 5 minutes.
I'm just starting to understand that higher performance is gonna mean less flight time. For me, I've started to get more into RC planes because it's slightly more casual and I don't have the need to just hammer the throttle because for me I'm still so new I need more air time and I destroyed my first drone on the first flight in like two minutes lol. Time just stopped and it tumbled down the tree lol but I'm in drone crash therapy and I'm feeling better now lol. Thanks for taking the time becz you just exude the joy of your flights and you're just a super kind person I can't help but feel thankfull for finding your reviews. I don't know if you've seen the Drone Camps channel but Justin is just super cool and no one leaves any crap hole comments so you two are awesome and pay it forward which is me to my core too!
Wow I guess that kind of shows why it took so long for the flying wing to actually work. The stealth bomber was the first once it has enough computer power to make all the micro corrections needed for stable flight at lower speeds. This was the downfall of the Germans original flying wing bomber design towards the end of WW2. You did it like a champ Steve. The wing flex was pretty extreme on the wing with the camera. I guess that was due to the few big crashes you had earlier.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 I read it. Right. But the title is what everybody sees. I think the difficulties you had come from the fact that drone pilots use rudder for turns more than aileron on wing models...and this models flies fine when you touch the rudder only for knife edge and flat spins and use aileron and elevator for turns and flying around.
outboard location of the sources of thrust is DUMB/wrong. additionally, yer stoopid lights are not MASS-less.! putting extra mass at the wingtips of a small model is the OPPOSITE of smart.! the location of that mass AFT-of the cg is also NOT smart.! 3:56 ??? appears to be pilot error/over-control.
Those little led lights weigh 4 grams each, so he added 8 grams to a flying wing with a very high thrust to weight ratio. That is if you can comprehend thrust to weight ratio and what it means. And btw, 8 grams equals .28 of an ounce.
This wing is amazing and one of the easiest wings to fly I've come across. Flies super locked in and stabel, floats forever and is as basic as you can get for landing. The only issue with this wing is the pilot, my friend. 😜 I think you're blaming the wing for lack of skill and/or not having it set up correctly. Like when you said the differential thrust was reversed. I mean, how is this a flaw or even a problem? Just reverse the rudder channel. Done. I had to do the same on my radio. Why was this even mentioned and made to look like it's the wing's fault? 🤷♂️ I mean, I totally understand and I know why flying this wing would be an issue for drone pilots... I have also flown FPV drones myself, but unlike with drones where you use yaw a lot, you cannot do that with this wing while in flight, that is mainly for performing stunts. However, if you dial down your rates, increase your expo and you are very careful, then you could use it in turns a little bit. I mainly used my rudder to do "hammer head" turns as I go vertical. Lots of fun. But you cannot expect to use yaw when landing a wing and not have it "stall" (as you put it,) or just flip and fall out of the sky. That's not what that's for. With all that being said, there are a couple of things to note. 1. The wing flies best in "Stabilise Mode". The "Lock Mode" feels kinda weird and I'm not a fan of that, and the "Normal Mode" (or gyro off) is ok and it flies alright as well. But Stabilise Mode is where it's at, it's so good!! 🙂 2. It needs a little nose weight. My biggest and heaviest 2200 4S packs (Turnigy Graphene) pushed all the way forward are still not enough to hit CG, so I had to add a little bit of nose weight and now I can use a variety of 2200 4S batteries. Getting the CG right on this wing is crucial. I've got about a dozen flights on mine and it hasn't missed a beat - no crashes, no mishaps, nothing. Absolutely amazing wing!
A nice long and detailed comment - only missing 1 thing! Since, as you rightly state, the correct COG is vital with these things, perhaps you would be so kind as to post EXACTLY where you found it to be for your perfect flights? EDIT! The user manual for this plane (viewable as a pdf document) IS available in English and Chinese on the maker's Chinese site. Also a somewhat incomplete manual for the stabilizer used. This gives the correct COG as 162mm back from the nose - MARK IT before you shorten the nose in crashes! How does this compare to your perfect flight settings?
How this "RC PILOT" gets aircraft sent to him for review is honestly way beyond me! LOL. Too funny. Folks, please disregard this content, as he truly doesn't have a grasp on what he is doing.
Perhaps you had a stroke or a brain anyriusm during the video when I talked about "I bought this plane myself when it was first announced", and that I was an early adopter of this product (one of the first to have it), and that the gyro for the differential thrust was installed incorrectly. You did see me still fly it in the wind even with all the problems, right? And finally, as you are aware, I'm one of the VERY FEW in the RC Hobby on TH-cam that does it all. Drones, FPV Drones, RC Helicopters, RC Planes, RC Cars, RC Boats are all what I do. I may not be great at any but I can certainly hold my own against most people in the RC hobby who only have one skill set.
PLEASE NOTE: The Version of the X-Fly EAGLE in this video was the EARLY release model. X-Fly has since fixed all the major issues, so if you purchased this plane after this video was made (way back in 2023) then your X-Fly Eagle should be SUPER EASY to fly. But if you watch old videos of this model made in the late summer of 2023 you'll see plenty of crashes.
Thank you for the reply
You're killing me with the red and green lights reversed!
Obviously not a Navy man :)
@@stevenmcmullen1939 ...or anything flying man?
Lol, as if they make any difference during the day anyway, just induce a bunch of turbulence, just what a small EDF model needs, offset CG and tip turbulence, smh..
Hey Cap stick to drones. My son and I got our eagle's this week. They fly like a dream when set up right.
A guy at my local club has one and he takes off right off our grass runway, very easily I might add. Grant you our runway is manicured and cut short. Almost like a putting green. He also taxies in on the grass, and does 360 degree spins on the grass to show off. It is hilarious! Behaves like a hovercraft on the ground/grass. Tommy is a superb skilled flier, he can make this flying wing do most anything. And flies it @ 100 + mph in the air. He flew it again just yesterday at our field.
I maidened my X-Fly Eagle yesterday in stock configuration with 4s2350Ah pack. The hand launch was one of the _easiest_ launches I've had. For over a decade, I've hand launched over a dozen types of mine and others people's planes and this Eagle was way up there in ease of launch.
A big part is the gyro and also the twin outboard motors don't torque the body of the wing so much which is very common in the usual single motor centerline wings -- which are 99.9% of the flying wings out there. Without motor torque effects, both left and right-side rolls where symmetric in speed which is very welcome performance. This is unlike other wings where one roll direction is noticeably faster than the other direction due to center-line motor torque.
The X-Fly Eagle's flight is exceptionally solid for not just a wing but all RC aircraft. Its very flat profile makes it cut through wind without being buffeted so much. I did not notice much turbulence even in winds. The body is very rigid like a piece of wood even though its made of foam and carbon fiber rods. Well done on X-Fly for construction of the body. There is very little flex in the body from wingtip to wingtip.
I'm flying with a gyro but I have gyro on my other wings and other wings at my field have gyros and they do not track as well as the eagle does. It flies like its on rails.
The hardest part was landing. This thing is very slippery in the air and just wants to keep on going and going! But I did manage one or two landings right in front of me when the wind was right. But many landings soared way past me into the weeds. The elevator is very touchy. I have high like 60% expo but will likely dial it up further or introduce high/low rates. It will want to pop the nose up on a slight gust of wind and either keep going or come down hard if the pilot over corrects.
I have not flown with the gyro disabled yet. I'm glad I saw this video and decided to see what the fuss is about. I am happy that X-Fly has the balls to put out a product that is different from the same-old same-old that fills this hobby by now. Well done to X-Fly.
Oh of course, the ability to due a coordinated turn instead of the usual crude bank-n-yank flying wing was another big draw for me to the X-Fly Eagle since it has yaw control with differential thrust and is yaw axis stabilized as well in gyro rate mode.
I tried some knife edge passes unsuccessfully but maybe due to my unfamiliarity with this plane. I will try it again but it might be difficult since the side profile of this plane is so tiny giving even less lift in knife edge than usual.
If you are unaware, The X-Fly Eagle was revamped shortly after launch due to videos like mine that highlighted the issues. The version you flew is designed to fly very well without issue.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 Thanks for the reply and the video. It was useful to watch and read all the comments too.
Based on this video and some others, I triple checked the control surface movements and motor differential output. I used the stock servo throws but used a large amount of expo. I ended with -64% on the ELE and 50% on AIL.
I also ensured my CG was ~6mm forward of the manual's recommended CG position.
Another fellow flyer is getting one after seeing this fly. I may get a second plane: one for regular flying and the other for FPV! :)
Not wonky or a nightmare at all if you get the CG right.Gyro works great too,if you check everything first.Lights and camera behind CG won`t help at all.Don`t diss a perfectly good product.
If you watch my channel, I’ve flown about 70 different planes in a year (all videos on this channel). This was one that arrived incorrectly wired which I then fixed. I’ve let plenty of people fly it and they all find it was a good concept but the resulting product certainly has an unexpected stall factor in the slightest turn with reduced throttle. Beginners should avoid this one.
Put diff thrust on a switch and turn it off during launching and landing.
Probably would be awesome with both engines on centerline!!! I love my powered Zagi!!
Excellent learning video. Thank you Steve.
Not sure about the motor placement on that one, but this style wing is a blast. FPV wings are becoming the next big thing. No going slow. It's all or nothing.
Speed is the key with a EDF wing, Thanks for a honest review Steve. X-Fly Eagle Twin is on my pass list.
No tractor man even in the video from the 360! That wing looks amazing to fly!
I've watched a few videos about this wing. The gyro would definitely help you with this plane. I would like to see you install the gyro and do another review.
Wonder if the ESC's are out of sync.
They are nicely in sync. As noted in the vid, it flies great when moving at speed, but when speed is low it becomes unstable in turns. I believe it Would work better at low speed with differential thrust turned off. I may put it on a switch to turn on off based on take off and landings.
Maybe try to disable the differential thrust and run it with the motors always at the same speed and turn with ailerons only.
I just seen another guy video flying this eagle and he said it was night and day with the gyro, and he said he'd never fly again without the gyro and made it so much better.
Very futuristic looking. Whether this engine arrangement would make sense in reality...
Thank you for the insights !
Those lights are contributing to your control problems by introducing airflow disturbances at the wingtips, take them off and try again.
Maybe disengage the differential thrust? Use elevons only?
Certainly would help, but then you lose the corning fun
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 HaHaHaHa right! best music yet tho = go figure
Your videos keep getting more 'movie-like- = Awesome!!
Good evening captain it's looks cool nice review
Have you tried continually reducing the throws? That usually works for me with wings. I over control most of my wings on the initial settings and have to reduce them. Flying wings tend to need, or rather, they accept very little control input without inducing a negative affect.
I really need to make a follow up video. If you watch my channel you’ll see I fly more than the average person in the RC hobby. The point of this vid was more for newbies based on buying the first generation of this product. XFLY corrrected many of the issues I mentioned after this video so buying one today will give enjoyable results out of the box.
It’s a brilliant aeroplane, but only with the gyro, dead easy to fly and great fun. Great value for money.
LoL I couldnt imagine flying one of these. Ill stick with the drones. GREAT Vid as usual Steve!
If you’re looking for an easier to fly EDF flying wing, you may want to check out the Skynetic Neptune sold by MotionRC. It’s a bit bigger and flies on a 3S 2200mAh battery. Very low wing loading so it’ll slow down for an easy belly landing.
Yup, I have the neptune (love it). I’ve made videos of it on this channel.
did you reset the speed controllers first? can you switch the brake off on the esc?
Being a fan of unconventional, experimental designs, this reminded me of some early German flying wing design. Checked out the reviews including this one and decided to go for it as the price was reasonable IMO. I do have some prior experience with wings and made sure CG was good and I tamed down the controls a bit as recommended by reviewers. Read the manual, verified everything was operating as far as stabilization, differential thrust not reversed, etc.
I launched it in "lock" mode as xfly calls it, which is the same as SAFE, auto level, whatever you want to call it. Launch was easy, perfect and she climbed out at the correct angle just like an aircraft with SAFE would. Once airborne I switched to stabilization mode (like AS3X with no self-leveling). She flew well but was still quite sensitive even with substantially more expo than I generally use. Second battery the flight was much calmer after decreasing rates, increasing expo.
BUT, I still crashed it and I don't believe it was really my fault. Since this wing uses differential thrust out at the tips it is very effective but one thing weird is when throttle is initially applied it doesn't do anything, like there is a weird delay before the motors activate and I guess this is the controller "initializing the motors" according to other reviewers so it's normal I guess. Well what happened on my flights were everything perfect until landing when I came back to zero throttle and basically gliding in to land as this bird wants to keep flying. Everything was looking great but as I came back on a bit with the throttle she immediately went out of control as though the throttles were re-initializing and the differential thrust just went nuts. It did this everytime if I was gliding power off for a time and then brought back the power. I think it might be a case where if you go back to zero throttle for too long and then come back on it has to re-intialize and gets wonky while this is happening or else if you bring back throttle and you have even the tiniest amount of rudder it will go out of control. I will post video. I think it will be fine I will just be sure to land with zero power on and do not touch throttle or rudder when landing.
I flew mine yesterday (I fly it often). I'm the only person at my flying field that can fly it without crashing.... however if I do some crazy 3D moves and it ends up in a spin, it will not recover and it will crash, and also if I bring it in for a landing and drop throttle to zero, both motors act as air brakes and it will tip over on landing at least 1 out of every 3 landings. I've glued mine back together many times.
No expert by any means, so season as needed ... but in the directions, it looks like the ESCs are set by default to a soft 1.5s ramp-up time - am I reading that correctly? Is that appropriate for an EDF, or more for something with momentum, like a car? And is that every time?
I would also imagine differential thrust on the wingtips would be dangerous at low speeds, as any rudder input is going to stop the one motor adding a lot of drag at the wingtip - and skew/drop that tip badly.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 I'm way late here.
I just got the Eagle unboxed.
How do you land it if you don't touch the throttle?
no rudder on landing
Don't chop the throttle until your ready to stall it out?
@@BooDevil65that's good thinking. I'm going to check that engine brake isn't set in ESC's It sounds like that would impossible to land
It almost sounds like Captain Drones ESC got programmed to stop the blades quickly. Or one of the motors.
Quite a few planes I program the ESC to stop the prop quick and use reverse thrust
@@HciContractorTo land, line it up straight with the grass runway, and you can kill the throttle. If there is a crosswind, you’ll have to be very careful because when you run up the left or right morning to compensate, the other motor not spinning will become a break when speed is low & it will flip over.
Great review! I love that you wasted no time in getting right to the point as to pros and cons. I bet that was a very tricky plane to fly. I am impressed with XFly so far. I love their bush plane, Tasman! Cheers! 😎
Fun video ! 😃
This one skipped Q.C. And went straight to retail.
🤣
I wonder if maybe remove winglights , perform better
Port and starbord lights are reversed . I think
Abdolutely so hard to fly! After s few crashed & one short flight, it was fixed & tried again today here in Australia with the result of 2 broken jets… i had the smart 2200 right up front & still using the terrible gyro. Bought mine from RC Castle together with the 850mm Twin Nova. All fixed & ready to film again.
Many thanks for your informative video🇦🇺🇨🇦
Best of luck on your next flight!
Very unique Steve.
Are those motors similar to drone brushless motors with little propellers attached to them?
Pretty much
I would set an idle up switch to a low throttle value so that the motors decelerate but never stop completely, that would allow differential thrust but reduce the braking force and hopefully reduce the stall tendancies. It is like the difference between stopping your multi-rotor motors on zero throttle and having them still turn slowly but without producing lift - they also re-start much quicker too.
That might help tame it a bit?
Sorry but that was nowhere near 100MPH, I used to fly 80mm EDF Squals and it was clocked the fastest at 77MPH and it was like a rocket on the flycam.
You can buy build flying wings with single propeller in the center, which also flys faster and is impossible to tip stall.
All built for around £140, and doesn't need a gyro. lol.
@@cambsflyer42 On another channel they were cloking 90mph with GPS. I have sonic wing single motor with prop and yes it is of course faster and n o differential thrust and potential associated difficulties but the point is this wing is just uniquely different and not like it's the fastest wing design so If people wan't maximum wing speed prop driven is faster and more efficient.
Great suggestions buddy, my flying wings were Swift 2's, the small is the size of the one in the video. And the larger have a 5 ft wingspan, with heafty servos for the surfaces, and a large outrunner can they go like a bat outa hell, plus really cheap and easy to fly. Practically impossible to stall, and takes loads of punishment, without mostly any signs of damage. 😊
Nice 1 Steve
Enjoy wings, love twins, but EDFs are for mugs who don't have a good player/headphone set to scream in their ears when flying.
That stab unit looks like a Radiolink Byme-D or some clone of same?
Edit. Nope too many channels and adjustments for a Byme. What is it?
Can't wait for next video
Put the gyro back in (correctly tuned) if it's too much of a handful. 😋
Hey Steve you should review the Cobra X Goggles. They say that you can wear glasses with them and I'm really curious about what you think about them
thanks for the review, just wondering what you are using to stick your insta360 to the plane?
Double sided tape
I like the details
Looks too difficult to bother. You'd love the Eflite Opterra 2m flying wing.
Great video, man i can feel the compensating stick movements even with no hand cam lol. true nightmare
You should do a video on the wakera t210 drone it's a good drone.
awsomeeeeeeee steve.
Hi Steve. That plane takes a licken and keeps on ticken. I had a delta wing plane once. It was a handful even with the gas motor in the center nose. It's days ended in a Steve Austin type crash..........👍
I admit that I am not an RC pilot. Was building a flying wing but never finished and decided to concentrate more on creating video.
That being said I thought that instead of using tjhrust for steering/rudder control, a flying wing made more use of elevators/flapperons for turning? My wing plans were based upon using a “pusher style” prop. Then not pusher no the wing hard and save it n battery.
This plane is simply a different concept
Hi Steve. I have a question about my Autel Evo lite plus and my Autel Evo Nano plus. I want to sell them because I have the DJI Air 3. My question is, if someone buys them will they be able to attach an account to them and fly them?
Yes. They work the same as DJI drones which means the buyer simply attaches their Autel account to the purchased drone using the App (same process as if they bought it new).
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 Thanx Steve for info. I didn't know you could do that with DJI as well. I had heard that they become locked and need to contact DJI. Love your channel
Bit different and seems to be a cool plane but has wierd stick moment and different design
Súper cool
Awesome.
2:40 Not that it matters, but your red and green lights are on the wrong sides. :D Now, back to the video...
NICE...
I think the secret to making this plane fly great is to not incorporate the differential thrust. Just eliminate that function and use the elevon mixing as your control. With a plane capable of doing 100 mph you need very little movement on your elevons, no more than 10 degrees either way....
The differential thrust is for the flat spin option and other cool 3D effects. I’ve tried it, but only way up high. Turning differential thrust off is certainly doable.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 I would venture to say if you eliminate the differential thrust it will fly better and the stall tendencies will be eliminated.
The diff thrust needs to be dialed way back, as well as the aileron-rudder mix if you have any. Might get away with just a crazy amount of rudder expo and then trim the idle to where the motors are always spinning somewhat. Those elevons have a ton of throw for something that fast and short coupled.
I love to fly delta wings, but this would be a nightmare! The way your onboard camera looked in the air, seemed like there was no stability at all.. Yet another great video that should serve as a warning to most RC foamie pilots, unless you're a masochist! :)
I was gonna buy one of these and put lights on for night flying but after watching your video, it ain't for me, I will stick to my AR wing!
I have been flying prop powered wings for years
Thank you for the honest review I will pass on this one. I have been flying prop powered wings for years.
Not related to this video. Hello sir. Question: What kind of radio do I purchase that will bind to many different planes? Ty
If you live in the USA then Spektrum is an option.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 I do. Thank you!
Very nice plane !!! I have never seen planes like this with "jet" engines, but only with propeller engines. Bye Capt. 👍👍👍
LOL my interest is flying quads but still enjoy your fixed-wing overview videos. Of all of the fixed-wing overviews I've watched so far, this one is easily the least appealing.
Yikes!!! Yes, you’ll need at least 5football fields in length 😂😂😂!! Still a great review sir👍👍👍👍
Thanks 👍
Tricky to control as poor thing doesn't know which port and starboard are with lights being reversed :) ...seriously though Steve is it any different with all lights and camera removed?...must be a some extra drag and weight penalty with the lights on.
No difference with lights removed. The lights were just put on for the early morning flight, but were not needed... they weigh but a few grams.
Definitely not for me. I crash easy to fly stuff enough now. Saying that, it looks awesome though and would be fun for experienced pilots like Cap Drone😅. I have a question about the double sticky tape you use. Can you put a link to it? It seams to hold your stuff well. Thanks for the review👍👍😀
EDF`s, especially small ones need airspeed to fly properly and a flying with with two small EDF`s isn`t for beginners, they`re very sensitive with regards to CG.
Don`t understand the point of putting those lights on the wingtips and at the top at that, maybe you fly it at dusk I dunno lol, butwith the lights where they are and that 360 can offset on there, it won`t be flying BETTER, that`s pretty certain, you won`t reduce tipstalls at the very least :p
After a year of flying you should honestly be able to see what the plane is doing as long as you can see the actual model, it`s not like orientation is an issue with fixed wing models.
Other people fly it perfectly well, so I feel that this video is a bit picky, but that might just be me, it`s always good to have different opinions and experiences anyway (:
The hilarious part is that XFLY changed the design after my review. As noted in the vid, my plane was one of the first available. The ones people by today, don’t have the same out of the box issues.
That B2 shape no rudder is really hard to fly.
That's why there's a gyro included
This must be the ONE video of yours I missed, of course, because mine just arrived earlier today 🤣🙄
Would you recommend reinforcing some places on this plane?
Only after you crash. The motors on each wing will be the first to go in a crash.
Did the bring out a new model within 7 months ??? It would have certainly be the V2 then
The FIXED model came out one month after my review.
I read up on this thing a bit, it was my understanding that you CAN turn off the differential thrust, anyone know differently?
Or is differential on rudder?
Certainly you can turn it off by unplugging it. It is, however, designed for differential thrust, especially if you wish to do silly flat spins.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798
I'm sure I will want to do the crazy stuff. If I get one I will find a way to get it on a switch.
Thanks.
@@brucepearson6322 hey did you ever get differential thrust on an switch?
That'd be awesome 😎
hi Steve i think i will give this one a miss to much to handle for me but it look's great so if you keep smashing it i will disintegrate it even though it's cheap to buy and darling wife won't be happy great review as always
Yup… I destroy so you don’t have to 😀
Can Jedi Steve fly it better? 😜
I found this video FUNNY. Thanks for that. You have convinced me not to entertain this aircraft for purchase 😂.
Where was tractor man this day ?
He was probably off getting his blades sharpened
been flying for 40 years and I could tell just by looking at that it would be a nightmare lmfao,
we have motors in the middle for a reason.............
gut it and rebuild the air hogs x-wing. thats what i would do.
I need to put brushless motors in that baby (X-Wing)
I think I’m going to try my hand at a dual EDF wing lol 😂 not going to buy this
Steve, Steve, Steve. 5 mins for an RC Plane? I won't even get started on the name but Steve I nominate you and I'm calling you the Flying Squad Father to pilot to demand no less than 7 minutes of flight time when the plane is made of foam! If your hand is forced, I could be okay for 6.45 minutes.
It works like this in the RC Hobby:
Anything that requires skill to fly (I.e., it is up to the pilot to keep it in the air with no assistance from GPS or altitude hold), the average flight time for an FPV Drone, RC Helicopter and RC Plane is 5 mins. I used to think that was short but now I’m happy with it because the adrenaline rush is high during those 5 minutes.
I'm just starting to understand that higher performance is gonna mean less flight time. For me, I've started to get more into RC planes because it's slightly more casual and I don't have the need to just hammer the throttle because for me I'm still so new I need more air time and I destroyed my first drone on the first flight in like two minutes lol. Time just stopped and it tumbled down the tree lol but I'm in drone crash therapy and I'm feeling better now lol. Thanks for taking the time becz you just exude the joy of your flights and you're just a super kind person I can't help but feel thankfull for finding your reviews. I don't know if you've seen the Drone Camps channel but Justin is just super cool and no one leaves any crap hole comments so you two are awesome and pay it forward which is me to my core too!
@@gregm9638Thank you very kindly
I maiden mine yesterday and the trick is to fly it without the gyro and 20% rates
Yup… the gyro can be a hindrance, especially if it was connected in reverse as mine was.
Wow I guess that kind of shows why it took so long for the flying wing to actually work. The stealth bomber was the first once it has enough computer power to make all the micro corrections needed for stable flight at lower speeds. This was the downfall of the Germans original flying wing bomber design towards the end of WW2. You did it like a champ Steve. The wing flex was pretty extreme on the wing with the camera. I guess that was due to the few big crashes you had earlier.
🔴🟢
So much for research and development. Beta testing anyone? 🤣
A very good flying wing. You should stop clickbaiting with this title.
Read the first comment which is from me.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 I read it. Right. But the title is what everybody sees. I think the difficulties you had come from the fact that drone pilots use rudder for turns more than aileron on wing models...and this models flies fine when you touch the rudder only for knife edge and flat spins and use aileron and elevator for turns and flying around.
outboard location of the sources of thrust is DUMB/wrong. additionally, yer stoopid lights are not MASS-less.! putting extra mass at the wingtips of a small model is the OPPOSITE of smart.! the location of that mass AFT-of the cg is also NOT smart.! 3:56 ??? appears to be pilot error/over-control.
I suggest you get yourself one and let us know how you do
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 Now now, Me Old Canuck! DO NOT encourage Our David to crawl out of his cave to further "enlighten" the general populace! 😱🙄😉
Those little led lights weigh 4 grams each, so he added 8 grams to a flying wing with a very high thrust to weight ratio. That is if you can comprehend thrust to weight ratio and what it means. And btw, 8 grams equals .28 of an ounce.
a quarter (US coin) weighs 5.7 grams for a comparison.
Wing flex is terrible
So in other words the worst concept out there. Differential thrust is the problem. I might would consider if the motors were synchronous.
My 40-years-ago-groundschool-self immediately said, "What idiot put the engines so far from the wing roots!?"
This wing is amazing and one of the easiest wings to fly I've come across. Flies super locked in and stabel, floats forever and is as basic as you can get for landing. The only issue with this wing is the pilot, my friend. 😜 I think you're blaming the wing for lack of skill and/or not having it set up correctly. Like when you said the differential thrust was reversed. I mean, how is this a flaw or even a problem? Just reverse the rudder channel. Done. I had to do the same on my radio. Why was this even mentioned and made to look like it's the wing's fault? 🤷♂️
I mean, I totally understand and I know why flying this wing would be an issue for drone pilots... I have also flown FPV drones myself, but unlike with drones where you use yaw a lot, you cannot do that with this wing while in flight, that is mainly for performing stunts. However, if you dial down your rates, increase your expo and you are very careful, then you could use it in turns a little bit. I mainly used my rudder to do "hammer head" turns as I go vertical. Lots of fun. But you cannot expect to use yaw when landing a wing and not have it "stall" (as you put it,) or just flip and fall out of the sky. That's not what that's for.
With all that being said, there are a couple of things to note. 1. The wing flies best in "Stabilise Mode". The "Lock Mode" feels kinda weird and I'm not a fan of that, and the "Normal Mode" (or gyro off) is ok and it flies alright as well. But Stabilise Mode is where it's at, it's so good!! 🙂
2. It needs a little nose weight. My biggest and heaviest 2200 4S packs (Turnigy Graphene) pushed all the way forward are still not enough to hit CG, so I had to add a little bit of nose weight and now I can use a variety of 2200 4S batteries. Getting the CG right on this wing is crucial.
I've got about a dozen flights on mine and it hasn't missed a beat - no crashes, no mishaps, nothing. Absolutely amazing wing!
A nice long and detailed comment - only missing 1 thing! Since, as you rightly state, the correct COG is vital with these things, perhaps you would be so kind as to post EXACTLY where you found it to be for your perfect flights?
EDIT! The user manual for this plane (viewable as a pdf document) IS available in English and Chinese on the maker's Chinese site. Also a somewhat incomplete manual for the stabilizer used.
This gives the correct COG as 162mm back from the nose - MARK IT before you shorten the nose in crashes! How does this compare to your perfect flight settings?
Junk
Treasure
How this "RC PILOT" gets aircraft sent to him for review is honestly way beyond me! LOL. Too funny. Folks, please disregard this content, as he truly doesn't have a grasp on what he is doing.
Perhaps you had a stroke or a brain anyriusm during the video when I talked about "I bought this plane myself when it was first announced", and that I was an early adopter of this product (one of the first to have it), and that the gyro for the differential thrust was installed incorrectly. You did see me still fly it in the wind even with all the problems, right? And finally, as you are aware, I'm one of the VERY FEW in the RC Hobby on TH-cam that does it all. Drones, FPV Drones, RC Helicopters, RC Planes, RC Cars, RC Boats are all what I do. I may not be great at any but I can certainly hold my own against most people in the RC hobby who only have one skill set.
Maybe it's easier indoors?
BAHAHAHAHA --good one
Schadenfreude? 😈🤣🤣