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Looking for the perfect trainer? or an in-expensive FPV platform? Maybe you are a club pilot looking for something you can just pull out of the car and fly on one of those lazy Sunday afternoons? The Hobbyking Bixler ticks all of these boxes and more! Tested and approved for beginners through to intermediate pilots by Josh Bixler from Flight Test!
The Bixler has all the right ingredients, made from super tough EPO foam, everything is pre-installed so minimal assembly time is required, in fact, by the time you have charged a battery, it should be ready to fly!
Stop Press!!
Allow us to introduce the Bixler V1.1 with a myriad of improvements over the original Bixler. Our v1.1 features relocated elevator and rudder servos, now closer to the tail and accessible via a magnetic hatch on the underside of the fuselage. Why? you may ask - This allows much more usable space inside the front section of the fuselage, something that FPV'ers are going to thank us for! We have also updated the included hardware to include better quality components, such as the new 4 bolt control horns on all surfaces. We also include 2 different propellers, one for high speed and the other for carrying heavier payloads. You - our customers spoke, we listened! The end result is the Bixler V1.1!
Whatever you are looking for, the Bixler has it covered, also included is a color instruction booklet.
Was this bix supposed to come with carbon rod for under belly to tail? Mine didnt, and was wondering if its needed, if I will only be flying FPV circles at field? Also to reinforce wing spar, is ok to simply use aluminum rod or maybe wood rod, as i dont want to wait for carbon rods, as I want to maiden this plane after the long FPV build and such :) Thanks!!!
This one does not have a carbon rod on center line. You will be fine flying without additional spars if your doing circuts at the field. If you want to add something I would sugest a wood rod as the aluminumm and carbon rods will block the signal for an FPV plane (at long distances)
Thanks Pete. On your vid below, did you simply use the screws to attach wings, or glue? I went with the rubber band method, but am worried that the bands will not hold :( so was thinking to also add velcro as well. Thoughts?
1.1 is a little smaller and eaiser to transport. both fly really well as long as you ensure that your CG is correct and your control movments are not excessive.
Richard, I have had better luck getting thru to Hobbyking on matters like this when I ask the live support guys. If you really want it sooner, it is available in kit form(HK-SS-KIT), but you will pay a little more as the only motor they have in stock that fits this (in the USA wearhouse) is 17 dollars(NTM2836-1800 or NTM2836-2200). Might need a prop adapter (GON-D4T6). You will already have to order an ESC with this kit, and dont forget the two servos. It would almost be cheaper to get the RTF mode 1 Bixler and kock the remote on Ebay. I have given serious though to the later as I am also in the market for the plane. You could also order from the international wearhouse and if customs is in your favor have it in 2-3 weeks. Hope this was helpful!
Dan, Make sure you reply in the actual question, it will send the person you tried to respond to an email letting them know that you replied and give you a chance to get credit for helping them out! I hope this helps you out, as your anwser was correct, the 3s 2200 batterys work great in this plane!
You can get the correct CG really well with the 3s 2200mah batteries. I found it difficult to get the correct CG with the recommended battery. The attached video is with a 3s 2200mah 35c turnigy battery and a gopro2 in the waterproof case. I had to stuff the battery all the way in the fuselage(under the wings) to get the CG right. Without the GoPro, the battery is forward under the cockpit
I have a long strip of velcro on the inside of my plane that I use to move the battery fore and aft to get the CG gorrect. I found that the plane flys well with the manufatures reccomended CG, Happy Flying!!!
Go-Pro Bixler=awesome. The glide is awesome with the 2200 and Go-Pro. I like the bounce at 7:46. You can tell everything is perfect, and the waterproof case keeps noise down to a nice hum. Thanks for the video. I fly the new HD keychain cam on mine and really like the Bixler.
Looking for upgrades for the bixler 1.1 ive heard the factory ARF plane does not have that great of quality parts in it. Im new to all this and just looking for something to make this plane even better. Thanks
Unless you add a LOT of FPV equipment to it, the stock motor is plenty strong for this type of aircraft. The whole plane is a nice inexpensive, simple trainer or camera platform. If you're using it as a trainer the ARF is probably fine. If you're doing FPV, you probably want better servos and a bit bigger motor.
RIchard: You want to use a 3S Lipo. A 2200mAh will give you at least 15-16 minutes of flying time depending on your throttle usage. There's plenty of room and lift for a larger battery, but it's not needed.
WWhere can I get a 5 inch prop for the Bixler. The ones I have don't have a big enough center for the size hole to fit the motor? If I drill out the hole to fit, there is nothing left.
nope! just buy a normal TGS 6*4 prop and turn it so that the lettering is facing the front of the plane.
If you look at the plane from behind, the prop should rotate clockwise.
Cheers!
Received my bixler "ARF" today and was suprised to see the fuselage and motor mount are not assembled. Also the leads on the motor are so short they don't even reach into the cavity of the fuselage. I don't mind the assembly just didn't excpect so much with and "ARF".
Tucker, I am in the same situation as you. I just got mine too. The fuselage is not glued. It has double-sided tape that u can pull apart.. You will need some foam safe "Gorilla" poly glue at Home Depot of 2 or 4 oz. size. Read instructions I think u need to wet surface then it swells a little so don't use too much. A Doctor on youtube has a decent assembly video. Just look up Bixler videos. But he uses a Bix II I think, not sure but the same principles. Use blue tape on the outside to secure and cover seams to make a clean look. The bolts in the top are hard to put in on mine. I still have yet to build it though. I am going to design mine with my Granddaughter's advice on paint as we are going for a neon look. I have four colors, orange, green pink and blue. Going to be neat to see what we come up with. Take you time with your build. I see the motor is quite poorly made. Collet looks off as I saw in previous posts. Probably should check yours too.
Thanks, Daniel. You're correct. The double-sided tape was so firm that I was afraid pulling any harder would break the foam. I slipped something between the seams to wedge nicely, and it eventually peeled apart. The instructions show the motor already mounted! Thanks.
Hi guys. I'm a newbie here. From the description, and from my last Bixler (v1), I was expecting the motor to be mounted in the airframe already. However, my order for this unit just arrived, and the motor is not mounted, but the airframe is already glued together. This seems like an oversight. Am I missing something? What's the best way forward ** open it up with a knife and glue it back together afterwards?
Got my bixler back in the beginning of December. HK shorted me 12 of the 16 screws needed to put on contorl horns. I have contacted them over 10 times and they will not send me the screws. My plane has been sitting here unfinished for almost 3 months because of this companies horrible customer service.
Couldnt help it. William have you got access to a local hobby store in your area? If you do, go and get some good Du-Bro control horns. They will come with screws and they are pretty cheap and excellent quality. get horns for the following....6 total max if you are going to use flaps (Not necessary). Just get 4 of them and that takes care of both Ails, Rud, Elev. Thats what I do when I get HK airplane is throw away the control horns immediately because they are so cheap and flimsy. Try flexing them and see that I am right. Get the Du-Bro ones that have the 2 screws per horn, Dont get the horn that has the blade you push through the foam. They usually always suck. Get the horn that has the screws included. You'll be happy you did. HobbyKing customer service is horrible. Get this done before spring gets here!!!!!
You could call Big Mike's Hobbies and Toys in Longview. They are at 1617 Pine Tree rd. Phone is (903) 297-7814. Ask them if they have Du-Bro control horns. If Big Mikes doesnt have them you can order them here I think, but its from international warehouse and the wait is a long time. Use the search function at the top of this page.
Some things HK is really good at. Service isnt one of them. But at least in this case even if they did respond to you and send the fasteners you would still be stuck with their crummy horns. Thanks for the credit and happy flying!
haa ha. Hey I bought one of these for my buddy and we are going to put it together before spring. Also I just got back from my hobby store here in my town and I bought GreatPlanes horns (They were out of Du-Bro) and some metal rods for servo linkage since usually the metal rods on HK planes are too flimsy. I got this stuff all for his plane and now I need to go to Wal-Mart and get a carbon rod arrow shaft to put in the fuselage to give it strength before the 2 halves are glued together.
Contact me via e-mail and we can build it together. It wont be a big deal, it will just take some patience and a little time.
My e-mail:
roywesley2003*yahoo****
Checks h e a d s u p r c d o t c o m. They are a great USA company, great shipping rates and I agree just buy some and save the grief of waiting. I have over the years built up a be stock of all kinds of spare parts so when this happens I always have what I need, I just every month but a few more misc spare parts. It is great too have my own warehouse. Give heads up a try. they are a GREAT company with flat rate shipping.
Good day
John
Du-Bro has numbers for their different sizes. Do you know what size I will need for the tiny bixler control horns? I ordered some Du-Bros and got them in the mail, they are like 5 times bigger than the ones I need. Just a waste of money. Do you know which ones I need? I am looking at the micro ones, but they just stick into the plane, and done have a secure fit.
I just bought some Great Planes nylon control horns but they are at home so I will get back to you on the size. Did you get to go to Big Mike's hobby shop and look around?
I didn't see helderafonso's reply before posting mine**I think the lighthouse at 5:07 into the video is the Aveiro Light at lat/lon 40.642796,-8.747832.
Yes Robert its correct at 5:07 it´*s the lightouse from Praia da Barra in Aveiro, unfortunaly don´*t have any soundtrack because I have to change the music because it was blocked by copyright and now I choose one free music but only has 4:40m!!
My son has an Easy Star, and I have observed several of his mild crashes where the wings separated from the fuselage on impact, probably preventing damage. I bought a Bixler, and am surprised to discover that the wings mount to the fuselage with steel bolts (not even shearable nylon). Do any of you routinely fly the Bixler with the wing rod (spar) installed but the wings not bolted on, so that they can separate if an impact occurs? Thanks.
I would bolt the wings in because they might come out in mid-air. It has happened to many people before. I wouldn't worry about the wings because less durable due to being bolted on. I have crashed my Bixler numerous times where the wings were the point of impact, and the wings are still perfectly fine.
Dan, you are exactly right. The steel bolts rip out of the foam if a wing is caught during a crash. Repair is awkward. After my last crash, I am now using rubber bands to hold the wings in - which was a standard method before the bolts came along. BTW a nylon bolt might work too. The steel bolts are thin, and bend.
I glued two 3M plastic wall-hangars to underside of each wing. Then bands go through the fuse, over to the other wing. (2 bands total, in X configuration.) RCgroups has a very long thread discussing the Bixler/ Sky surfer, and at the front is a list of suggested mods and pointers to descriptions of each.
The Bixler 2 is a little bigger and has flaps. It does fly a little slower, but that's so that it can carry a heavy load. The Bixler 2 is more FPV oriented.
Bix 2 is considerably larger. Not practical to carry in the car with the wings on, for example. Awkward to hand launch. Not as good for fooling around or training* better for FPV.
Inside the nose is where you will find the metal ring (washers). They are added at the factory for weight to get the CG in the correct position. If you are using a larger battery (1600mh) or larger I would remove the washers.
What are people talking about with the metal ring removal from the nose?? Received my Bixler last week and find no metal rings anywhere. Anybody know why ?
HobbyKing usually put washers right up in the nose to balance the plane for beginners who use the recommended 1300mah pack. Most people flying the Bixler pour some boiling water down into the nose to melt the glue, then use pliers to pry the washers out. This allows for a larger 2200mah lipo pack to be used, which increases flight times... I'm not sure if you receiver the NEW Bixler V1.1, which may not have the washers in it anymore...
OK, just confirmed that the new V1.1 doesn't come with the wretched washers up in the nose. I wonder if you got the V1.1 or the original? Where are the rudder and elevator servos located on yours? Up the front, or under the fuselage towards the tail? Regards, -Al
Servos for both rudder and elevator are located up front on fuselage just below leading edge of wings. Mine is the Bixler 2 model. Great trainer - flys beautifully. First R/C I've flown in my life and first attempt was a complete success. Four minute flight was shaky but plane performed extremely well even in
5-6 mph wind. Landing was very forgiving with the big wing surface of this beauty.
Ahh, that makes sense then, I didn't know you were talking about the Bixler 2 :) It doesn't come with the washers... Are you using the flaps? I can't decide whether they're worth it or not. I got my Bixler 2 a few weeks ago too, got it all set up for FPV with a bigger motor and GoPro up front, I just need the weather to cooperate for the maiden flight! Happy flying mate, -Al
I want to change the prop. How to remove this propholder?
Customer Reviews
Overall Rating
rainier
4 likes
Value
Quality
1 thumbs up!
Easy to assemble. Took about 45mins taking my time. One thing I do recommend is to switch out the control horns immediately to Dubro or some other quality brand that you have to screw on. Elevator control horn decided to detach on me during flight. Did not result in a crash but it did take me awhile to get her down safely. Removed the metal rings in the nose. Dont need the excess weight and it allows you to run bigger lipos. Torque rolls to the right.
No comments. Reply..
Overall Rating
gtoguy
34 likes
Value
Quality
1 thumbs up!
Just received my Bixler today. It is a J-Powers Sky Surfer V1 which is exactly what I was hoping for. Very nicely packaged, all parts were there, no shipping damage. Held up to my other Sky Surfer and it is identical except for the stickers. If you buy this plane, you should check out RC Groups thread on it. Search for: "Sky Surfer - aka Bixler" thread. There are lots suggestions post #2 that tell you how to set this plane up. Enjoy. This is my 3rd Sky Surfer, err, Bixler...
2 comments. Reply..
Overall Rating
waynemia
375 likes
Value
Quality
Like it?
Just got this in. It is virtually the same shape as an Easy Star but it has ailerons. The fuse is hollow the full length. There are no internal supports. This may not be as forgiving. The rudder broke off as I flexed it to get it ready for assembly. I will have to hinge it now. I am concerned about the ailerons and elevator. I will add hinge tape to avoid catastrophic failures. The motor wires are really short. I have to cut a hole to be able to access them later. There is no mention of the glue to use. The photos show them using Silicone RTV. The wings are not removeable unless you make modifications. The manual is for the RTF. I removed the washers and glue in the nose. The decals will come off eventually, they are not sticking well.
Very easy assembly. Great instructions. Bought for my 6 and 8 year old to learn on. We'll see how they do. I have flown it through one 1500mAh pack and it flies great. Loops really nicely. GREAT PACKAGING!
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Overall Rating
Thomas
5 likes
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Like it?
Received my Bixler RTF yesterday and spent the evening gluing the tail feathers on and adding a few rare-earth magnets in strategic areas to help attach the wings and canopy. Aileron horn broke off before the servos ever moved. A beautiful plane nevertheless and almost identical to my Easy Star. If the truth be told, the Bixler is finished off nicer than theMultiplex equivelent (Easy Star). The wing decals however were almost falling off while still it their shipping plastic bags. Why not leave the decals off and allow the owner to install them? Worst part After completing construction and binding, I had a plane without a functioning motor! Everything else did work however, although the servo's are all a bit noisy will probably swap-out for something better soon. All in all, a nice plane. I just wished the motor worked!
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