Hobbyking Mini J3 Cub - Blue (PNF)

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Customer Rated

Aug 18, 2013

I have yet to fly this plane because the quality is poor.

Every time I take this plane to the field something falls off before I can get airborne. First, the motor mount was cracked out of the box and I replaced it. Next time I managed to get to the field, the whole fire wall came off the plane. It is held in with a sparse bit of glue and four screws that screw into the foam and NOTHING else. They pull out of the foam easy as butter. Third time to the field the entire battery compartment/wing support mount came out of the plane.

This thing has some serious quality issues and falls apart without any sort of wear. I am now out much more than my initial investment trying to get this thing into the air. I am completely disenchanted with this plane. Save your money.

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Certified Buyer Rated

Jun 05, 2013

Cracking little model. Good quality airframe and components. Got rid of some of the excess wiring from the ESC. Speed needs to be kept up, as it can tip stall if not careful.

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Customer Rated

May 29, 2013

Please read other reviews before buying this plane.
1. COG is way out and there is not many places to add enough weight in the nose
2. Ive had alot of problems with the stock motor, poorly balanced prop and motor almost shook itself off the motor-mount at 80pcnt power, its underpowered and i have bent numerous propshafts. i replaced with http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__21645__Turnigy_2211_Brushless_Indoor_Motor_2300kv_AUS_Warehouse_.html
3. This plane is too heavy

plane is well built but should not be in beginner section

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Customer Rated

Mar 03, 2013

This in my experience is one of the worst rc planes I have ever owned. The plane simply would not fly out of the box - it was hopelessly tail heavy. After one crash due to this the nose was badly out of shape and could not be corrected - this meant the thrust line was out for good. Add to this, the very weak elevator was un repairable also. Ended up in the bin on first day. Should have given it no stars.

P.S. Other HK planes I have bought have been great - lucky dip I guess.

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Customer Rated

Feb 24, 2013

Hello

Motor is for garbagge only 6A and ESC is 10A. I dont know why did they included 10A when Motor is only max 6A so you will fried it quickly plus it's under power for demanding flights. I have ordered a bit stronger 24gr with new ESC I hope that that will be good. I hae a lot of plane most of them are Gas and litle of experience so this one looks good for training.

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Customer Rated

Dec 08, 2012

i flew this aircraft for the first time, i found it to fly nice but underpowered. i went to fly it the second time and the ESC burnt out :(, perfect biginner plane

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Customer Rated

Jun 23, 2012

The value of the plane for the money is very good. it is well manufactured and very solid. That being said, it is very tailheavy out of the box and requires a fair amount of lead in the cowl to get to the balance point shown on the plans.

flight characteristics at 3/4 to full throttle are very good. below that it tip stalls badly. take offs from most runways is out of the question and a good solid throw is required during hand launch to gain enough air speed to not tip stall and crash. I would never recommend this to someone to learn on or as a novice plane. a larger motor would help with both power and CG issues but that would limit flight times from the small batteries it can hold.

people please hold reviews until you have flown the plane. , rave reviews of a product after gluing on the tail feathers is misleading and causes people to make unwise choices.

Good flying all.

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Customer Rated

Jun 05, 2012

Ok don't expect the plane to fly with the supplied motor (rtf) it needs a 2211 1700kv motor. I am able to fly it with a 1300kv one so 1700kv would be fine. Plane flies ok with all controls in neutral. Forget flying in wind and make sure the tx controls are turned down or it will be hard to control. I will wait till I get calm weather so I can fly it for a longer time. Easy to put together and I feel the model is a bit heavier in the air for the wing span. The wheel supports are flimsy and crack easily. You will need to shave the front engine cowling and remove the plastic fuel pipes to make space for the prop adaptor. So four stars.

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Customer Rated

Jun 02, 2012

Nice flyer like many others have said but the stock motor lacks power, I put a Turnigy 1700kv motor in. Some mods had to be done but it worked well. My only problems was it crash twice because for what ever reason I lost signal. The first crash I only had a Orange rec, so to give it better range I added the Sat rec to it but that made no difference, not sure if it was because of the close quarters to metal and wires inside the plane or just faulty receivers, yes I did use a brand new receiver and sat the second time around. It would have been a fun plane to fly.

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Customer Rated

May 11, 2012

Very nice looking plane, received it good condition. I did however notice a few flaws in the build. The ailerons control linkage did not have enough clearance to put the wing together without trimming some of the plastic back. The assembly of the struts and they way they are attached is somewhat weak but doable. Strut are attached to the Battery tray along with the landing gear flares(or whatever you call them) This collapses the battery tray inwards because of the amount of pressure from the wing struts. Once you jam your battery in, the compartment reshapes itself to it's original state. I test ran my motor a couple of times before noticing that the motor was loose from the mount, upon further inspection I discovered that 2 out of 4 firewall screw holes for the mounting of the motor, were stripped, I used blind nuts to fix that problem. My first impression was that there was not enough power for this bird to fly and I was right as it went up for a second on it's maiden flight and crash landed. I had purchased a larger motor and ESC when I bought the Cub (Recommended from another review) so I had everything ready, Once I did some Mods (New firewall, and modified the cowling due to the increase size of the motor) I tried another flight, this I got it up but it was had too much control movement (Default settings lowest) and very difficult to control to say the least. I