Hobbyking Phoenix 1600

[Jeffrey Cottrell 2]

Hi Guys

Sadly my much flown and venerable Highlight bit the dust today, literally.
Always liked to have a powered soarer in the fleet, so perusing what's available I came across the Pheonix 1600 from Hobbyking. SKU 043000006-0
Loads of info on this one, and its bigger brother the 2000, on RC Groups across the pond, but nothing much over here.
So, anybody got one?
Thoughts, experiences, tips etc.

Thanks

Jeff

[Stephen Jones]

Hi Jeff,

I have one the 1600 got it cheep as is old version with 2s motor in it.

Not impressed, wanted it for the slope so motor not a concern tried it in 20 mph winds and it lacked penetration .

In fact my Chuck glider The Bolt flew much better.

It may be me of coarse. i like fast models and the Phenix 1600 was slow, or maybe i needed to add a lot of weight in it not sure.

My Opinion for what it`s worth did not live up to the hype.

Steve.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

I had the 2000 Jeff, I enjoyed it.

[SIMON CRAGG]

We run a "one design" monthly comp. for the P2K. Excellent model.

[silent bob]

I’ve got one Jeff.

i made the mistake of using a 3 cell on the maiden, motor lasted less than 6 mins!

mind you, the motor also gave off a lot of vibration.

i replaced it with the motor from my ASW 28 as I loved its looks but felt it a bit clunky to fly.

that combined with a Graupner prop and a vented spinner makes for unlimited vertical climb!

I love the way it flys, predictable and docile, it just doesn’t want to stall, if you want to ramp things up a bit then give it some throttle and perform nice smooth rolls etc....

on a 3 cell 2200 lipo I can be up for at least half an hour with no thermals.

[silent bob]

If you turn the rubbish down this vid shows me flying it on its second maiden with the 3 cell and ASW motor.Phoenix vid

[Jeffrey Cottrell 2]

Hi Bob

Maidened my Pheonix today. On the whole went well, and I'm very pleased with it.
Couple of minor issues to fix but no biggy.
However I did try a couple of rolls and they were 'orrible, not at all like your smooth axial ones.
Wonder if you'd mind sharing your control surface deflections, c/g position etc. Love to have mine flying like yours.

Thanks

Jeff

[silent bob]

Hi Jeff,

C of G is set on the marked positions under the wings, I’ve got it just slightly nose down.

The only surface I reduced a little was down elevator, otherwise all others are unadjusted.

oh and flaps, I’ve found that it will float in light wind with roughly 3 mm down angle, (although I’m no good with measurements) and with full up it will come down very quickly.

Ive found the secret to good rolls are either a bit of throttle or dive a little to pick up speed and push full down elevator whilst inverted 👍

So yes, speed equals smooth rolls, if you try it without a bit of chuff it will roll VERY lazily and lose a lot of altitude as well.

What were the minor issues? I hope this reply helps, ooh, I also reinforced the flap hinges with fibreglass tape 👍

Best of luck for your future flights 🙂

[Jeffrey Cottrell 2]

Hi Bob

Thanks for the quick reply, but it left me a little puzzled. You posted you left the control surfaces unadjusted.
Suddenly dawned on me I did not mention in my earlier post that I had the airframe only version, so had no baseline movements to work from.
If it's not too much trouble, could you measure your movements?
On my c/g balancer, the marked position has the model absolutely level. Might move the battery slightly forward, but no biggy.
As regards the minor issues.
I did a bench run of the power system and noticed a slight vibration which I put down to an unbalanced prop. Closer inspection showed one blade tip had been broken off and was about 1/4" shorter than the other one. That explains the vibration.
Root through my box of goodies revealed Graupner Cam blades in 10 x 6 and 9 x 5 varieties. Sorted.
Other issue is self inflicted.
As you've probably noticed the servos are quite high in the fuz, and the aileron leads exit right above them. In order that the wires would not interfere with the servo arms I made the extensions quite short.
Works fine but a pita to assemble on the field, especially if you have 'sausage' fingers like mine.
Jury still out on how to sort this, but I'm tempted to extend the servo leads enough to put the connectors in the canopy area. Needs some thinking about.
Anyway, all this on the basis of one flight, so probably premature. Going to do some more flying 'as is' before I come to any positive conclusions.

Cheers

Jeff

[Jeffrey Cottrell 2]

Hi Guys, quick update.

I'm using a 2217 1050Kv motor rated at 23a. Static bench test on the supplied prop gave 26a on the meter.
I know it will unload in flight, but still too close to the motor max for comfort.
Anyway, cut the throttle epa till it was puling 20a or so. Turned out to be 65% on epa. Even at that, model still climbed pretty much vertically.
Now retro-fitted with alloy spinner and Graupner Cam blades and pulls only 22a at 100%.
Given the climb performance at 65%, looking forward to first flight with the new set-up.

We'll see

Jeff

[jeffrey cottrell]

Stephen Jones

Hi Steve, PM sent

Jeff

[silent bob]

Hi Jeff,

I think that you are over thinking this issue.

Its a great simple model! So, BNF or Airframe only? It doesn’t matter when looking at surface movements.

I bought the PNP version, yes I had to replace the motor..., but! It’s so forgiving that maximum throws are the order of the day.

My final thought on this model is that it handles predictably and slowly.

however, pop a bit of power? And it will help you to take your first tentative steps into simple, yet more advanced manoeuvres .

May I ask what your previous Model was?