Rare Bear EPO w/Retracts and Flaps 1400mm (PNF)

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Customer Rated

Sep 26, 2014

This was a brilliant plane for the two minutes it was up for. Fast, looks the part and big! But the trouble was, the amitures who made it cramed the wires againsed the motor ( I couldn't see this because of the large cowl) and it shorted out, also the edge of the motor is extremely sharp so the slight vibration in flight would strip them too (hobbyking dosen't sell the motor that's in it individually so I'm having to take it to a professional engineer) other than that it's a brilliant plane, it's heavy and you'll think it's too heavy but it's fine, actually floats nicely. Btw secure your battery properly

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Customer Rated

Aug 07, 2014

Don't buy this plane. Servo's are not very good quality and were slow. ESC failed on 2nd flight, no power to motor or receiver, therefore no control. Watched helplessly as the plane nosed in hard, fuselage split right down the middle, and the cowl/firewall area completely destroyed. Nice looking, and fairly sturdy airframe, lousy electronics. Was a gift from my wife, because she knows I love the Rarebear. Both of us very disappointed. Buy 2 of the little funfighter Rarebears instead!

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Customer Rated

Oct 17, 2013

This is by far the worst airplane I have bought from Hobby King. The CG sweet spot is horrible. The flight controls are extremely mushy. I only got to fly it twice before something went wrong. First off, the quality of the model absolutely sucks. The colored foam chips off easily, the canopy did not fit, and I had several parts missing (control horns, screws) from the PNF. This is NOT a PNF! This is an ARF that requires quite a bit of gluing. The first flight was horrible. Control was minimal. The plane really lacked control. The control surfaces were extremely mushy. There was lots of play in the ailerons especially. On the second flight, I lost the ESC causing the airplane to roll 180 degrees and proceed to a dive at approximately 50 miles per hour. It was completely totaled. Customer Support was bad. As a pilot for 16 years, I have never seen such a poorly constructed airplane or a poor flying aircraft. Please do yourself a favor and look for something else from Durafly. I may of just had a lemon, but I stand firm on my review and would not buy another Rare Bear.

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Customer Rated

Aug 27, 2013

Trs bon emballage, le rarebear est arriv intact, montage sans diffilcult, les servos ont pas mal de jeux, jai d changer le servo de profondeur qui en avait vraiment trop

Dommage quil ny a pas daration pour le moteur et le controleur. Il me semble pas trs raisonnable de brancher 9 servos sur le bec surtout quon travaille en 6S.

Je nai pas branch les volets car lavion atterrit trs bien avec le moteur au ralenti. Le train est solide (jai test !!) bien que les trappes baillent un peu (pas bon pour larodynamique).

Le rarebear est agrable faire voler, avec la motorisation dorigine, il monte de manire confortable et la vitesse suffisante. Le bruit de lhelice 4 pales est trs joli.

Toutes les figures de base de voltige passent bien et les vols tranches le long de la piste sont un rgal pour les yeux.

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Certified Buyer Rated

Aug 24, 2013

Very interesting aircraft, but there are also disadvantages, weak landing gear. Propeller is different from that in the photo, without marking, only the edges are colored orange. Only because of this I put 4 stars

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Customer Rated

Aug 13, 2013

All I can say is WOW !!
I've been building and flying for 30 years and this foam model is a must have if you are a Race plane type flyer. It's a joy to take to the field.
If your not a builder and want a Very fun plane to fly this is it for sure.
I would really like to see the Hobby King do the Strega or Voodoo P-51 done up with the correct Canopy and the Race would be on for sure !!
Thanks Hobby King :)

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Customer Rated

Jul 09, 2013

cont...
The plane is heavy on the ground but certainly doesn't feels like it once you get it up in the air.
Flies very slowly if you want, stalls are very gentle and lands very slowly and easily using flaps.

So, one advice for anyone trying to make it go faster than stock. Reinforce it.
Vertical stabilizer seems to flutter at high speeds causing it to break.
Its not hard to make it go fast, but the airframe is not strong enough for that.

I will try to do full throttle passes next week and if lucky enough I will bring the plane back home in one piece. :D


I would give it 5 stars but since I had problems with the stock motor I will give it only 3. A new motor is not cheap.

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Customer Rated

Jul 09, 2013

Finally maidened mine this weekend. I ordered a new motor since the stock one was defective. I decided to go for a NTM 50-60 380kv and a redbrick 125amp ESC. AUW is 3200g. CoG ended up at around 90mm from LE.
Took off using only about 40pcnt throttle. Uneventful. Did not used more than 50pcnt throttle on flight, and its FAST! It flies very slowly using flaps, I loved it. You can almost stop it mid air. Landing was not the best one, nosed over as spected but no damage taken.

Charged the battery and went to another flight. This time I tried to give it some more throttle. At around 60pcnt throttle the plane was raging through the sky. VERY fast, then BOOM. Heard something like an explosion and before I could even throttle it back, I saw half the vertical stabilizer falling down and the canopy dangling from the plane. Hit the flaps switch, made a short approach and landed pretty nicely even with only half the stabilizer and broken elevator. Only a nose over. I was very lucky!

Reinforced the horizontal stab, elevator and vertical stab with CF rods and epoxy.
Made a few more flights on Sunday, all uneventful and very enjoyable. Did not used more than 60pcnt throttle. This new motor is way too much for this airframe I think.
This thing is crazy fast with the new motor. Loved it! Have power to spare, unlimited vertical nowhere near full throttle and the sound of the 4 bladed propeller is also

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Customer Rated

Jun 05, 2013

Received mine a couple of weeks ago. One retract bad out of box. Opened support case with HK with regards to this. Sent retract in to WA location per instructions. Have yet to see retract.

Purchased another kit as I liked the look and size. Scavenged a retract from the second kit to get the assembled first one in the air. Assembly was simple - a few turns of screws here and there, connecting and centering the pushrods, installing the prop and gluing on the canopy is just about all the builder has to do.

Battery area is large enough for the 30 and 40C 5000mAh 6S Zippy packs if one will remove a little bit of foam from the front of the compartment. CG in the manual appears to be a little on the tailheavy side. Would suggest moving it forward a few mm to be safe.

Flight is enjoyable - not a speed burner but flies very scale for a Bearcat and looks great in the air. Takeoff and landing is typical of a low wing warbird - hold some up elevator to help her track straight on rollout and keep the speed up on landing or risk dropping a wingtip.

Retracts are holding up to landing on rough dry lake surfaces thus far. They might need a bit of shimming if you're going to be taking off/landing on grass as the tail wheel gets pretty light even on fairly smooth surfaces.

Overall this is a nice kit and I'm satisfied with my purchases. If I had a final wish I might hope that

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Customer Rated

Apr 23, 2013

Maddened yesterday and it flies very well. I did have some problems with the elevator servo. Just replaced it with a high torque servo and reinforced the linkage. The elevator centers perfectly now. This plane has lost of power. I flew for 6-minutes st half throttle using a 5000 mAm battery and all cells read 3.98. Could have flown another 3-4 minutes. Be aware though that there are few parts available for this plane. I hope HK fix this soon.