Heavier Can Be Better - E-flite Draco Review

Heavier wing loading can fly better than you think. It doesn't have to be a feather to fly well. Draco is heavy, for sure, but you wouldn't think it was if you got on the sticks and ripped it up on a 4000 pack. If you passed on Draco because "it can't hover" or "it's too heavy" wormed into your head, take a watch and see what it's really capable of - and if you like what you see, pick it up via the affiliate links below to support what we do at no additional charge:
Draco BnF: bit.ly/3FeGwCq
Draco PnP: bit.ly/3ZQBt2Y
6s 50c 4000 Smart packs: bit.ly/3JANxOL
Equipment Used:
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Receivers:
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NX6:
Servos:
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Hitec HS-85MGs:
Batteries:
4s 30c 2200 Smart packs: bit.ly/3SsoUrB
4s 50c 2200 Smart packs: bit.ly/3dcdBU3
6s 50c 5000 Smart packs: bit.ly/3A0jVY2
6s 50c 4000 Smart packs: bit.ly/3JANxOL
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rc plane, aeroplane, rc planes, airplanes, airplane, aircraft, model airplane, flying model, tutorial, learn to fly, crash, rc plane crash, plane crash, tail heavy productions, brian phillips, rc saylors, the rc geek, flite test, flitetest, petrincic bros rc, joe nall, mike patey, draco, eflite, horizon hobby products, bush plane, bush flying, hover, torque roll, stol, stall turn, hammerhead, wing over, wingover, snap roll, inverted, full flaps, flaps, aileron, rudder, adverse yaw, tailwheel, tail dragger, wheel landing, bounce, thrust reverse
0:00 Intro
0:49 Wing Loading & Stall Testing
1:57 Super Simple Setup
2:20 Thrust Reverse & Electrical Tape
3:01 Battery Choices vs Wing Loading
4:10 Review Criteria
5:20 Some Downsides
6:50 TwoBros Score

[@baughboom]

How refreshing. I’m so tired of hearing from the Haters Club who seem compelled to speak out every time anyone says “Draco”. They’re so disappointed with it. Everyone at their club has sold theirs, heavy wing load, etc. I don’t care if someone doesn’t like the plane and chooses not to own one. But I’m weary from the complaints. Some guy’s days just don’t seem to be complete until they’ve trashed on the Draco a bit. So thanks for the video.

[@brendanshroyer7696]

There's a guy at my club who has one, and it's just gorgeous.

[@coryturner9140]

One of the best flying airplanes I’ve flown. It’s solid!

[@BrianPhillipsRC]

@ 2:28 - my favorite clip ;) LOL LOL LOL ...but to be fair, we fly in a much tighter spot. Your taxiway (RC runway) must be 1500+ ft feet? Ours is only 275 feet, with a bit of a drop off, so more like 250 feet and our tree line is at either end VS your "alley of trees" along either side of the length of the clearing...which in and of itself presents some interesting challenges and advantages. Some time, when you're passing through Iowa, you need to come fly our strip and you'll see why I get so dang giddy about Thrust Reverse. It's realy a game changer for short runways!

[@TwoBrosRC]

Happy to see you didn't take it as a jab at ya. We think you're a good guy! Definitely interested in taking up your offer to fly at your place sometime. Reach out via our business inquiries if you ever want to stay in touch. With regard to the airport, we definitely have an advantage over where you're flying - except that our trees are significantly taller and much more numerous. You've got a tight space. Hoping to see you pave a runway in that big field behind your house. That should be a lot more enjoyable to fly from!

[@brianturner4215]

Best Draco video out right now! Thanks for pointing out all your reasoning for the score! Love the Brian Phillips pun! I remember watching his Draco video when it came out.

[@ModelAV8RChannel]

They are stunning for sure. The most scale foam plane ever made probably, and the lights are freaking awesome! I agree on the lighter packs, I flew mine on 3700's. Nice flying!

[@TwoBrosRC]

Thanks Adam!

[@gmorphan]

I'm committed to the Draco...having bought way more of them than a sane person should.🙄 As for landing, Kavan air tires and most importantly...I replaced the spring in one shock on each side to a softer spring from Ace Hardware. This gives the gear more compliance and smooths out bouncing a lot. The tires actually help reduce "grab" on runway surfaces, thus reducing stress on the carbon fiber gear.

[@27niner]

Jon, you are one of the few reviewers worth listening too. Great wrap and totally agree with your Draco commentary. Mine wheelers fine on short grass. I’ll get a clip to you.🙏👍

[@TwoBrosRC]

Can't wait to see it!

[@AL-RCjunkie]

Yeah, I don't really care what the Draco-haters say. It's on my Mt. Rushmore of planes to get some day. I've seen some pretty spectacular crashes of them. And they always seem to be right back in the air-no matter how much bad mouthing the pilot does during the process. Great video, Jon 👍 Thanks!

[@erikshute7153]

Best Draco flying on you tube right here! Nice work Jon!

[@TwoBrosRC]

Wow, thanks!

[@Joe_Zajac]

Agreed!

[@nirlachman007]

The Draco is fun and great as long as you know what to expect from it 🙌🏻

[@ficosk8]

Nice, again :D I was also thinking about to increase exponential on my elevator. Yesterday night I finished repairing and reinforcing my carbon landing gear with epoxy and glass fibers. I did a hard bump and it twisted and cracked. I haven't too much flights, but have done them on 6000, 5200 and 3300. The last one probably saved my plane from crashing while recovering her over a forest after accidentally activating reverse thrust :S Best regards from south Germany/Bavaria

[@Joe_Zajac]

Massive ironing boards for wings! Great line!

[@ILLSMOQ]

Another great Video! Thanks!

[@calircpilot4261]

I own one and loved it the minute the box arrived to my house. My two,humble cents are that HH should already have developed a true damping set of shocks (oil filled?) to,replace the spring loaded ones in the original model since these do a total disservice to this incredible design from Mike Patey and the astonishing work from The designers of this RC model. This plane deserves a suspension at same the level of everything in this awesome aircraft model.

[@rafaeltorres2886]

I love your thoughtful insight on how to fly properly the Draco, I will follow your advice. Please review ARF balsa planes.

[@TwoBrosRC]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2fEi2aFo7aUp6M

[@waynemiller6070]

That flat spin at 3:17 was awesome.

[@paanglin]

Outstanding shipmate. Press on. USS Kitty Hawk CV-63. Jan 1980 to July 1983. RC`er for life. and maybe after I am dead too.

[@Mikeylikesit1968]

When you said Brian Phillips, I started laughing 😅

[@BullFrog96]

Shots fired hard in this episode

[@airhammer6203]

Way to show that this Dragon has some teeth. Now if someone could just get it to spit fire..... Great flying Jon. AirHammer out!!

[@HAWAII-uh7sc]

Aloha love to watch you fly. You are sure talented. Also, wouldn't mind hearing more on unlocking Your receivers

[@TwoBrosRC]

Join us on Discord via bit.ly/TBRCDiscord and we'll happily help out.

[@old-rcplane-phart]

Thrust reverse is more fun flying! Complete stop to reverse coming out of a hammer-head! No guts, no glory👍😁🤷‍♂️

[@old-rcplane-phart]

Reflew my twin timber yesterday, with the dual 13x4 (apc) propeller swap. Got bored & did some thrust reversing. U can do some really extreme stuff with a twin motor in reverse!😁🤪

[@adamrodgers2377]

Its a Badass Scale Model, we love ours also! 🤙🏼

[@thereal-stl_slim]

I would like to collect all of Mike's planes scrappy looks fun

[@mfh9780]

Morning! Nice video. Thanks for the review. Found my Draco flies better light with a 4000 6s battery.

[@TwoBrosRC]

Likewise, the 4000 class packs seem to perform best for us as well.

[@mfh9780]

@@TwoBrosRC I could be wrong but I think the plane should be a tiny bit tail heavy. I did the “just plane crazy” gear mod to beef up the main gear. Battery had to be shifted all the way back and I added 1 1/2 oz of tail weight to the horizontal stabilizer. Also removed the 20 oz dubro wheels that I previously installed and use kavan balloon wheels that are similar in weight to the eflite tires, around 5 oz. Plane flies great now. Thanks again for the video.

[@gmorphan]

@@mfh9780 I agree with the Kavan tire swap. Weight is Draco's achilles heel and should be avoided whenever possible.

[@jimmyhaley727]

the elevator control horn broke on mine and suffered some crash damage, been at RC since I left the USN back in 1965, not a nob RCer, asked for some replacement parts and got NO answer or parts, glued it back and still flying it ( replaced all horns with REAL aluminum ones-no problems)

[@TwoBrosRC]

That's odd. HH isn't known for denying warranty service.

[@rcLawnDartPilot]

Somebody that actually agrees with me that it's not flimsy. For tires I replaced the stock ones with DuBro 6 inch balloon tires and deflated them enough to create a flat spot while parked. This added a bit of weight and required me to go with no higher than 4000 mah Batts. Takes all of the bouncing out of my wheel landings.

[@SakkusMind]

The Draco is just a beauty! How do you usally transport those big planes? Also how do you unlock the receiver?

[@TwoBrosRC]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGTMpJWsZrprm68 We just remove the wings and put it together at the field.

[@rafaeltorres2886]

I bought one from the first batch and mine is still in the box ,I just have too many planes , no were to store them but I will eventually fly it.

[@billbollinger7305]

😂 and I thought I had way to many! Lol got 9 hanging and 8 more in box's plus spare room full. Lol got 42

[@JC-td4gg]

I still wish Horizon would come out with a smaller version of this awesome plane as they do with other models.

[@northernfpv9562]

I have one and have flown it a few times, but it's a hangar queen because it's too pretty to crash!

[@TwoBrosRC]

Crash it once and then you'll just throw it around like we do. One year review coming up soon, with some bush flying mixed in!

[@adamcline8041]

hey Jon, kinda unrelated, but I'm curious, have you heard any story about the abandoned Ryan Navion I see in the background of your videos? I always hate to see cool vintage aircraft just sitting out in a field like that

[@TwoBrosRC]

It's owned by a guy at the airport everyone calls "Air Boss" who hoards stuff. It's been sitting out there for years now. It's in pretty poor shape.

[@Joe_Zajac]

I installed heavy pneumatic tires on mine. Now it only bounces once! LOL

[@jeffoh5787]

Hi Jon! Which SMC battery would you recommend for this plane? I just picked up a brand new Draco from a guy for $350! I was looking at the SMC 6s 4400mah HV. Any issues running a HV pack on this plane?

[@TwoBrosRC]

The 4400 and 3600 are both solid choices!

[@spacecadet1249]

I've had one of these for two years and the Tail-wheel has been a nightmare! You simply cannot steer it while on the ground! The linkage between the Rudder and Tail-wheel has always slipped and will not tighten properly. And while E-Flight and Horizon Hobby have top-notch customer service, they haven't a clue how to fix this issue. Other than that, this plane is a dream to fly.

[@TwoBrosRC]

We never ran into that issue once. Sorry to hear you had a rough go of it!

[@Letsroll000]

I have never flown this plane and I'm new to the this world of RC airplanes. But I heard this plane likes to land with some throttle and is not the biggest glider, do you share the same thoughts?

[@TwoBrosRC]

You can see it landing with minimal or no thrust several times here. It'll glide well if you're descending with it.

[@DanielLy1200]

Can you show how to hook up the LEDs into the light module? Mine got unplugged and I can't find a schematic anywhere

[@TwoBrosRC]

Our advice would be to plug them in one at a time until they work how you think they should.

[@Lopez_rc]

I have an eflite carbon-Z Yak54, it easily flies on 7000mah lipos

[@TwoBrosRC]

Guarantee it would fly significantly better on a 4,000 pack. :)

[@revsonsrc9573]

It’s such a gorgeous bird. It’s definitely not the list lol

[@itzjoeylo4501]

I just ordered five different colors of 1 1/2” width electrical tape lol

[@TwoBrosRC]

It's so useful for so many things.

[@itzjoeylo4501]

@@TwoBrosRC I was using colored packing tape for years, now because of you. I’m in with Electrical Tape lol

[@sirreginaldwilliams]

I prefer flying mine on a 3200

[@ror-ys3qp]

It will not survive hard landings on the landing gear. The carbon fiber landing gear is a false indication of strength because the carbon landing gear is mounted to 4 very thin plastic tubes in the fuselage.If you land it properly for a heavy plane you will be fine.

[@TwoBrosRC]

That should be the way you're landing to begin with. It's an aircraft, not a monster truck. 😅

[@ror-ys3qp]

@TwoBrosRC true but everyone is not as skilled as you

[@jaybui7506]

Can I use this airplane as a trainer?

[@TwoBrosRC]

Wouldn't recommend it.

[@wizardz7938]

Wrong Landing gear are a weak point. snapped mine in have landing a foot of the ground on and landed on one wheel.... after the upgrade kit was instaled ZERO mishaps.!!!!

[@TwoBrosRC]

They might be a weak point for you if you're slamming it into the ground - but be aware that it's an airplane, not a monster truck. It has to be flown to the ground, not dropped on it.

[@RubyS.1]

No you

[@TwoBrosRC]

No U

[@terrordactyl4425]

Hi Dee Ho

[@carbonEYE007]

I have ethical concerns with the name Draco As we now see that name means something worse than the devil itself, a legion of them.

[@TwoBrosRC]

Lol wut

[@carbonEYE007]

Lol, perspective is needed: The Draconians. The originators of the word we heard on the news to describe vile acts towards mankind. think the deep state of the deep state. The ones behind the cloaks at the rituals at the bohemian grove . The child trafficking Reptiles It’s the only real thing keeping me from buying the plane., lol But what do I know, I bought edf as a first plane haha A fms 64mm f35v2 Upon wich the Esc fried on the first pack and it spiraled into the ground. I just had to go 4cell and the Esc did not like it

[@djinn201]

Wind loading square rooting dog poop while what🤪🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@habiks]

Get kavan inflatable tires (pretty much same weight as original hard foam) for smoother landings.

[@old_coastie]

Finally a fair eval... old_coastie

[@TwoBrosRC]

We strive to be fair!

[@johnthomas1348]

Nice review Jon. Your comments about landing on pavement reminded me of how my 84” EF turbo bushmaster did the same. Switching to 6” kavans helped but not consistent. I have found that landing with wing in crow configuration, the upward throw of both ailerons keep the wheels planted to runway.