Horizon Hobby Conscendo Evolution ‘honest’ review ‘update’

[@thelongestday64]

I have two conscendo evolutions (one is a backup still in its box...) because it is so good! When the weather gets bad and rough and windy, I leave the planes at home and take the Conscendo Evolution out to the field. I can fly with one battery a very long time (3S 2200 smart battery from spektrum). I once flew for 45min, then I landed and still had battery left (well it IS a glider, so with the right thermals you can fly for a very long time)... a great plane. No need to put a 4S in it.

[@notanomad9320]

Conscendo Evolution is one of my favorite airplanes for the price. I put about 15' of red ribbon on the wingtips and flew with no problems. Yea it's not perfect but I would still recommends it.

[@EugeneZhukov]

Thank you for such an honest review. I'm the owner of Conscendo Evolution for over 2 years and I can confirm all the issues disclosed here. In addition, I could add a few more: 1) Wings horizontal positioning - look from the nose, and you will see that the right wing is a bit down the horizon while the left one is a bit upper - about 10 degrees angle to the horizon. I bought a second fuselage and found the same issue there too, so it's a manufacturer's bug. 2) Weak fuselage design, especially in the area of the battery compartment. It breaks in case of a side landing. You can find tons of videos of when people lose their Conscendo breaking fuselage in this area due to a hard side landing. 3) Very small space in both the battery and the receiver compartments. There is no space for adding something there (for instance, a gyro module or flight controller). I even barely can add a battery voltage buzzer alarm there. 4) Plastic gear servos - cheap stuff, that breaks easily after the first crash 5) No real hinges - all turning surfaces such as ailerons, elevators, and the rudder are just foam fixed with weak tape. 6) Wings mounting gear is total madness. There is weak plastic stuff that easily breaks after a couple of crashes. As a result, I spent +$300 and a hundred hours improving the plane by enforcing it with carbon fiber, changing servos, adding plastic hinges to all turning surfaces, etc. My current body is like a baseball bat, being covered by carbon fiber at 70%, especially the frontal section including the wings mounting area. I even added 3 carbon fiber rods along the fuselage from the motor section to the rudder to prevent the tail from trembling and shaking during the flight - it's not a fish, it's a plane! Furthermore, I changed all original servos to EMAX servos with metal gear. I covered all the frontal parts of the wings, elevators, and rudder with carbon fiber stripes to enforce them. Wing mounting area and that plastic stuff had been enforced with carbon fiber too. I got +100 grams to the weight, but now this plane is a robust flying bat. I like the shape of this plane, but it requires a lot of improvements to be done to get it working well.

[@droneschillan1738]

Sorry, but you're wrong. I have several rc gliders, including the Conscendo Evolution, which is an excellent foamy rc glider. It is true that a 4S lipo could be a lot for the characteristics of this glider. I have flown it many times and always with very satisfactory flights.

[@HarryBunnGRVOTV]

Erm, i’m not wrong, I haven’t imagined all the issues with mine, but i’m glad you’re happy with yours.

[@millerrc5829]

Try using his modifications to make it more ridged bet it would fly a lot better.

[@CrazyTechLab]

@@HarryBunnGRVOTV 'It is true that a 4S lipo could be a lot for the characteristics of this glider.' So he agrees but says you're wrong despite the fact you said the exact same thing.... lol. I just received mine and bought it in spite if your review which did put me off at first, but the simple reason is I don't intend to go 4S and it seemed to suite the situations I'd be flying it. Heading for a maiden flight this week but impressed with the build quality so far which seems to agree with your conclusion that as a slow to medium speed 3S soaring/aerobatic glider it should be fine.

[@JasonAndrewReid]

Hmmm this is the first negative review I’ve seen on this plane. Everybody else loves it.

[@bradfordtownsend9698]

Thank you for a candid review sharing to troubles with the glider and the reality of the hobby.

[@1101nz]

Phew thanks, I was considering one of these. Not anymore. Most bendy fuselage ever ?

[@chriscoffey3963]

who makes sky scout???really like that sturdy sky scout

[@HarryBunnGRVOTV]

It’s a multiplex easy star.

[@_Amilio_]

Look how it bends... snap! lol. thanks for the review. what sport glider do you suggest then?

[@HarryBunnGRVOTV]

I would go for the Top Model Twister Hotliner.

[@Reindeer911]

I have some very mixed feelings about this video. The Conscendo was and still is targeted at beginners. That said it definitely looks like Horizon has hot-rodded the design over the years, and so it's pretty much to be expected things are going to break. This plane is NOT a hotliner, and really wasn't intended to be. In that sense I think you might be being a little hard on the plane as you want it to do things it wasn't really designed to do. Also, the price really isn't unreasonable for what you get. This is an expensive hobby to begin with, and there's not a lot of equivalent planes with that level of features and performance for that price point. However you do make valid points about the hobby, especially when it comes to marketing, and you're certainly not the first I've heard in regards to Horizon. I'm also quickly finding out who the (to put it politely) sponsored sales reps are vs legitimate hobbyists. If a given channel is putting out multiple videos per week with different planes in each video, always giving good reviews, and/or seems to push one distributor exclusively, then you're likely dealing with a corporate shill. That's how I figured out what a rip-off Banggood is BTW. As far as the plane itself, most of the issues are just part of the hobby, and you actually did go through and address them. Not sure why you had the meltdown and destroyed the plane after all the work you put into it. On the other hand the flexing does bother me, and some of the quality control issues you brought up are also valid points. Because of that I've decided to go after the Great Planes Kunai instead as I think for various reasons it would be a better choice. So for that, thank you!

[@millerrc5829]

Way to go showing what is hidden behind the good reviews pretty much all of horizon planes are like this thumbs up.

[@TonyWheeler60]

Wow, you don't like it do you? But I do agree with you about the flexy back-end. My servos are fine luckily. I'll look at the issues you found and thanks for highlighting them.

[@HarryBunnGRVOTV]

I got a bit angry after doing the video & destroyed it!! Felt better after that.

[@ralphwright2508]

Yeah I bought one cannot get safe select to work No matter what I try

[@williamwallace9427]

Pay no attention to the review. The conscendo is a lot of fun

[@iD3AD3YE]

So, I would have to say that you are wrong and right. Right, because most of the foamy's coming out of Horizon Hobby lately whether it be this (a glider) to the Air Tractor or even a Jet have all been built with the same type of foam, mid grade servos, and loose battery trays. I tend to watch review after review after review prior to purchasing anything. Where you are WRONG: From the reviews I've watched, and other Horizon Hobby Planes I've purchased recently, I have made these modifications: ( New servos (digital metal gear all around), fixed carbon fiber spars further down the wing, and 2 on either side of the rear fuselage, Blue Loctite on the prop screws and CA Flexible Glue to hold the battery tray in (made this modification because I had another tray pop loose on a different airplane as well) ) After making these small mods which cost about $30 in total, this thing is an absolute champ (Even on 4s) no issues what-so-ever. I have been in the hobby for 20 + years and do planes, helis, drones, boats, and cars. From my experience the hobby is split about 60/40 60% Flying, Bashing, Racing, and 40% tinkering, building, modding, and repairing. Rather than having an overall bad attitude and childish (sorry not sorry) approach of destroying the plane which made you feel better as you stated to someone in another comment, put in the work, and fix it so it will perform the way you want it too. For the money of just under $200. This plane is incredible. For those of you who are watching this review and deciding to not get this plane because of this video. Watch other videos, and read above to make these small modifications and you will not be disappointed!

[@williamwallace9427]

Yep. This is a really fun airplane. Tracks like an arrow. This guy just brings alot of drama

[@AdoptedYooper]

You got off easy… my mostly new Conscendo broke up in mid-air. I lost every electronic item forward of the wing when it plummeted into the woods. This plane is garbage and HH service absolutely sucks. 👎🏼

[@brifli]

I certainly won’t be buying one of these poor quality aeroplanes!

[@ROLXXII]

This rubbish plane sounds like a complete load of Con-scendo.