After testing, painting, and flying this a few times, I’m super happy with this plane. It does really well in the wind - really locked in and stable even without a receiver with a gyro. It’s also super tough. I’ve slammed it into soft dirt several times and was walking over to it wincing at the potential damage, only to be surprised that it didn’t have a scratch.
To toughen it up more , I put some gorilla tape along the leading edge of the wing and laminated some milk jug plastic to the bottom, wrapping up around the front of the nose with hot glue. That really helps protect it on landings.
There’s another review saying that this plane takes a lot of throttle to keep in the air, but he may be flying with his prop on in the opposite way that it’s designed to spin, which is sort of suggested to do in the video. With multi rotor props, It’s much less efficient and effective that way. I’m using a 4s 1500 mah battery a 5x4.3 3-blade multi rotor prop and it works well. Use whatever combo of motor direction and prop orientation you need to get it pushing air backward and spinning in the direction it was designed to spin in. I know this because I had it on wrong to begin with and the performance was much worse.
this is the best thing i have ever biult and i wold like to thank whoever it was who made this aircraft i will make sur to get some more of your things
My first kit from Flite Test. I fly balsa glow/gas mostly but what caught my eye on this plane is it appeared in the video to have an Upper-Reflex style wing. As those are some of my favorite wings (best in wind, stabile at all speeds, won’t stall.) I decided to pick one up. Building is a breeze and if you get stuck you can always look the video up which explains everything to you step by step. Rate this 25 out of 10 stars. It’s absolutely amazing in every way. It flies great, I use 1800mah 4S batteries in it and that balances it out perfect. Love this plane. Cannot stress enough how amazing this thing is.Fun to Build, Fun to Fly, and Fun to Customize. LOVE IT!
This is my favorite FT airplane so far. It needs about 1/4" up reflex, but then it just cruses. It is a blast to fly FPV.
Have scratch built 3 of these little flying goblins, one with a 2112-6 2200kv motor, and 30 amp esc(very fast and fun with lights on it.) And with the standard set up. Highly recommend the f-pack. I still have my very first esc and emaxx motor from 6 years back, and they are still working just fine. Great little plane.
My son had tried for a while to get me involved with this hobby and picked up this kit from some chili cook off he was at. I followed the video and installed everything it needed to get airborne. Seeing I loved flying simulators on my computer this FPV stuff turned out to be a piece of cake. Love flying this Goblin. I now of coarse fly a wing and the nano but I really love flying this guy. Since I’m brand new I can’t really talk about all this setup stuff and it’s a basic build. But what I can say is on windy days this guy cuts right though high wind conditions. Feels like a tank when I’m in flight compared to my other two planes and that’s what I love about it. It has the power I need when I need it and preforms everything I throw at it. It’s fun to fly and looks cool doing low high speed passes and pulling out with a few twist and turns for fun. I’ll buy a few more just so I have a replacement if needed. Now I have to start practicing flying by line of site. That’s where flying these aircraft will be challenging but thank god these kits cost is cheep enough to learn with.
I scratch built the Goblin from downloaded plans, now already for the 2nd time because the speed build kit is not available in Switzerland / Germany.
I admit, it's a little tricky with all the curves to cut it out and get accurate. I painted it orange / black / bottom silver to see it well. And it looks very cool. When I launched it the first time with a 3S 2200 mAh battery it flew great. I was surprised that it flew so well and also on slow flight it is pretty stable. I got up to 10 Minutes of flight time with the recommended setup. Of course I destroyed some noses and finally the wings had become bent at the tips, so I had to rebuild it.
It is a great pusher for crazy speed. I like the design very much. Thanks so much to FT for the provided plans.
Great airplane!!! The build is very good. FT keeps improving the build quality and process. I would say this is an intermediate plane. Possibly a second plane if you have help, but likely a third plane. My setup: Emax 2205/2300kv, 3s 1300mah and a Runcam split. Initially I put the CG 5mm in front of the CG marks, it felt nose heavy and faster. I moved the cg to 5-10mm behind the cg marks, it flys very well now. It doesn't seem heavy in the air, and I am able to slow it down quite a bit. I can cruise just below half throttle for long flight times. I had a friend launch it for the first flight so I could get the trims set. That was key as I initially did not have enough up elevator reflex. Now that I have a good trim the plane it is easy to launch. I launch at 3/4 throttle with an overhand throw and it climbs right out. It will descend near vertical with low throttle and full up elevator, as long as you have enough up elevator. I had to add more color as it was a little hard to see line of sight in all black. It is super fun to fly FPV and very response at higher throttle settings. Great airplane!!!
This is a great flying little aircraft . . . once you get it dialed in. My COG is about 3/4 of an inch behind the leading edge. I obtained this from another person who had one. This build is not difficult if you have built other flitetest planes. It is NOT a beginner build. It is also not a beginner plane. You must fly this plane at all times. It can and will get away from you quickly. The stall characterists are great with the proper COG setup. I would rate this as an intermediate build and at least an intermediate flyer. Good luck on your experience.
Great model and loved the way it was put together. I am hoping that you guys do an A10 model as well I loved your youtube on the giant scale one.
I hate to do it, but: "Ehh". The kit is an engineering feat, that is for sure. Well laid out and durable as all get out. But two big issues:
First, the new style video instruction is a little brief, especially for a slightly tricky build like this one.
Second and more important, it just does not fly as well as I'd like. Specifically, because of the enormous weight required up front for the CG to work out, the thing is a lawn dart. It needs a BOATLOAD of throttle to keep it moving, which means a very narrow (read: fast) flight envelope, despite it's small size.