Volantex Saber 920 Review • 3D EPO RC Plane Build Notes and Maiden Flight

[@thomasallan8113]

I saw one of these fly today and was impressed. It's slow flight was great and it knife edged wonderfully. It was a PNP version. He had a tail skid. The landing gear seems flimsy. He used a 3S 1300 battery. At the end of that flight he saw that the motor was loose and was caused by the motor mount in the plane getting loose. Epoxy to the rescue. Thinking of getting one.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yeah, they're actually decent little planes especially for the $$.

[@roadstar499]

This plane can do nice tight manuvers like your hummer profile...i use a lot of throws and 30 to 50 % expo on hummer which makes it much less pitch sensitive and smoother to fly..same for this model..these planes are great once you get them dialed in..you can learn all the tricks with a lot less stress compared to conventional sport planes...😊

[@GroundControlRC]

Very nice looking plane and I'm sure very aerobatic. Wow! That elevator was very sensitive. Looking forward to more flight on the Saber. See you in the Air!

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yeah, more to come. I'll take it out again soon.

[@re3065]

I just finished Minwaxing the Saber to keep the paint AND the decals on for the life of the plane. I Minwax most of my planes whether they are painted or decaled or BOTH - like this Saber. Not only does the Minwax protect the paint and decals from chipping it also put a nice shine on both - especially the paint. 😉

[@RCVideoReviews]

Good tip! Thanks for sharing.

[@scable-eq7bp]

Just purchased this plane, nice review, the stickers look like a pain the butt, nice to see Southern Eagle Squadron flying site in the video, really nice flying site ....

[@RCVideoReviews]

The decals are challenging but worth it. Yes, SES field always looks great. We have an amazing crew there.

[@thomasallan8113]

Screw those decals. Paint the upper wing tips some fluorescent color and put a wide dark blue strip on the lower wing. May not look as good but easier to do and to see.

[@thomasallan8113]

Any thoughts toward making this hand launched?

[@goldcoco]

Hi...Nice video....What kind of propeller do I have to buy if I break or loose mine?

[@olphartcoastie8719]

I've had one for about 8 months. The main gear is very flexy and the tailwheel is crummy. Pitchy at first, but as you showed and commented, that can be dealt with. Good idea on the decals (floating and squee-geeing...is that a word?). Take care, fellow Coastie. (Ignoring the squid time.)

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yeah, pretty sure the tail wheel will wind up getting replaced. How are your gear holding up? I'm proud to have served both branches. Would do it again if they asked. ;)

[@olphartcoastie8719]

@@RCVideoReviews Replaced the tailwheel. Thinking about replacing the mains with a beefy piece of aluminum.

[@RCVideoReviews]

I was thinking of taking the gear off all together and replacing with a couple of zip ties.

[@rayster57]

Cute little plane. Load up on expo man...Kit decals are a pain. You did a nice job on them. I built some TechOne's back in the day and they had those slip & slide decals too. The adhesive isn't very reliable either. When they would start coming off I peeled them back to the point they were still sticking and used Elmer's glue stick on the plane's surface and stuck them back down. Works great on foam.

[@RCVideoReviews]

I used my OpenTx Tuner configuration and set expo up on a slider. The 2nd flight was much better. These were not water slide decals, just the standard sticky back deal. So soapy water with a spray bottle helped tremendously. I couldn't have done it without the soap/water spray. Elmer's glue stick - Need to get one ;) Great Tip!

[@re3065]

How would you rate the flying ability and envelope compared to the MX II and Hummer? I am leaning towards this plane because I am not crazy about performing a build of those two planes compared with purchasing and "assembling" the PNP version of this plane. hank you for your thoughts and opinions concerning this plane 😉

[@RCVideoReviews]

If I could only pick one, I’d probably take the MX2 because of its crash worthiness. If crashing were of no concern, I would easily take the Saber-it is more precise than either of the other two.

[@re3065]

@@RCVideoReviews Thank you Sir

[@nicksrc908]

I've had this plane for a year now. I added some weight to the nose since it was so tail heavy. I would call it an entry level 3d plane . An attractive price point.

[@RCVideoReviews]

What size battery did you use? Where is your final CG? Thanks for the report--always like getting first hand feedback.

[@nicksrc908]

@@RCVideoReviews Sorry I can't remember. I packed it up and stored it away for the winter. It's still in storage, and since this pandemic hit, I haven't flown much of anything this summer.

[@re3065]

Hello John - What size mAh battery did you use for the CG that you marked on the plane in your video?

[@RCVideoReviews]

I'm using 3s1300's on this plane.

[@re3065]

@@RCVideoReviews Thanks John - That is the battery I plan on using, also 🙏😊

[@rome5710]

Can we see the SECOND flight with your expo settings that you mentioned was better than the MAIDEN flight?

[@RCVideoReviews]

I didn't film the 2nd flight. Don't worry though, I'll get it back out to the field soon and get more footage. It calmed down quite a bit with elevator expo around 40% on low rates.

[@rome5710]

@@RCVideoReviews Thank you - Also, how does the Skylark S compare to this plane as far as flying characteristics - slow, sport, and aerobatic etc?

[@RCVideoReviews]

@@rome5710 I have a lot more time on the Skylark than the Saber so I don't want to be unfair to the Saber. I would say the Skylark is easier to fly. It has a long tail moment so it's very pitch stable and does very well in general/sport/basic pattern flying. The Saber has a very short tail moment and large surfaces so it is more pitch sensitive, but it's designed for 3D and will perform post stall much better than the Skylark. I guess it comes down to what you want to do with the plane as they are both designed to do different things.

[@lvflyer6519]

@@RCVideoReviews Thank you - I have the Skylark S PNP and I like it. I also was able to get the much larger FMS Olympus F3 V2 PNP but it is still in the box. I would go for the PNP version of this Saber but maybe I should "leave well enough alone" and try my Olympus first - I just am a "sucker" for low price deals and I saw the Saber - do you have any thoughts on what I just said?

[@RCVideoReviews]

@@lvflyer6519 $50, kit, put in closet until you need a project. These little

[@jasonleesuffolk]

Can I use a hobbyking hk-t4a transmitter for this ?

[@RCVideoReviews]

It only needs 4 channels, so it sounds like you can.

[@jasonleesuffolk]

@@RCVideoReviews do you need a Y lead connection to connect the aileron servos cause there wasn't 1 with my plane ?

[@deancooper5513]

Nice work and they are a nice looking plane...I shelled out for another Skylark S (a green one) and have a Sunnysky 2216 1400kv motor for it altho I'm still flying my blue Skylark S with stock 2217 motor. Going to keep the new one in the box and fly the wings off my current Skylark S, maybe by then I'll have to try a 3D foamie.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Did you get the Green one from BG? The Skylark is a hidden gem. How do you like flying it?

[@deancooper5513]

@@RCVideoReviews I got both actually from AliExpress, currently they have a sale on and I got the green one as a kit for $60 AU which is about $42 USD atm and free postage. I like the smooth and straight pattern model characteristics it has as well as how it spins. It's robust and for the money it is a hidden gem as you say. One odd characteristic I note though is in a real tight loop it will turn out of it rapidly, not sure if elevator deflection is the cause. Less aggressive loops it holds them fine. I also dialed in some flaperons (about 5 degrees) to help limit tip stall at low speed but the wing has a good degree of washout already, well mine does anyways.

[@RCVideoReviews]

I'm pretty sure if you're in a tight loop and it turns out, you stalled it. I learned that a long time ago with my Millennium Master--as I kept adding elevator travel it eventually couldn't do a loop at full deflection due to turning out. Reducing the deflection (weight) cured that.

[@deancooper5513]

@@RCVideoReviews good call I suspect that's exactly the issue along with a pilot bashing hard on the elevator

[@RCVideoReviews]

@@deancooper5513 Yeah, you can reduce your throw or just use less on the stick and see what happens.

[@enriquekramer4590]

Particularly in landings, altitude is controlled by throttle -not elevator- and speed with elevator -not throttle. Perhaps you were betting on the opposite. Your landing was great though! You did not use your elevator, just nailed the correct throttle.

[@RCVideoReviews]

I cover that in some detail in my how to land video. Not sure if you know it but I am a licensed pilot + 1000 hours in Navy Helicopters as a Crewman, and over 3000 RC flights. I've also flown RC to 10 miles out using UHF, 1.3ghz video, and a home built ground station. I'm only saying this because while I'm new to things like 3D, I've got some background in the hobby and in aeronautics. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXmpgqlvZdmnppI kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZqVl3mHob6pfZo kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ25aGabZdeaZ5o

[@enriquekramer4590]

@@RCVideoReviews Sorry! I did not know this and I had not seen your previous videos-I am rather new to the channel. Keep up the excellent work!!!

[@RCVideoReviews]

@@enriquekramer4590 No worries...just thought a level set would help avoid starting discussions at a level lower than needed. Appreciate the offer of help.

[@proprotornut5389]

Very enjoyable, thanks.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@johnstahl1046]

Am I understanding that the flysky fs-a6i receive will not work with my spectrum 8g2 transmitter.

[@johnstahl1046]

Great camera work. Chris needs to get a frontal close up of u.

[@RCVideoReviews]

I don't think so. It uses AFHDS2A not DSM.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Nahhhh....no close-ups.

[@FL_Engineer]

So all in with the kit build how much would you say you are in?

[@RCVideoReviews]

VH Plane $50 VH FlySky FS-iA6B - $11 VH 2 Packs 2xGemfan 9x4.7sf - $3.20 VH GeForce E400 - $6.00 AMAZON ZTW 30a ESC - $14.59 AMAZON Generic 9g Towerpro x5 - $7.72 Shipping: Value Hobby $20.00 Amazon - Free (Prime) Total All - In - $112.51

[@marinrealestatephotography]

So which wireless Lav mic system were you using???

[@RCVideoReviews]

It was a Kacallap Dual Wireless Lav system. After some back and forth with their support team, they opted to replace them. The replacement unit came yesterday. I'll repeat my testing and see if this set works better.

[@marinrealestatephotography]

@@RCVideoReviews Thanks for the reply! I have to admit I have never heard of Kacallap before. There's a pretty popular Rode wireless system but it is basically only a single mic, so a good dual mic system would be great. Yes, please do let us know how it works out.

[@RCVideoReviews]

I have a single wireless lav system that I use when I’m by myself but I want that dual setup so Dave and I or Chris and I can both be heard on videos.

[@davidknutz3314]

As Randy Jackson says, that was a little Pitchy Dawg! 😂

[@RCVideoReviews]

It was. Makes me annoyed I didn't have my own darn expo slider setup on the radio. It's on there now though. It did a LOT better on the 2nd flight.

[@rcrotorfreak]

Hi Rc Video Review. Bro you talk to me about slow prop and so forth. Another question. Finally i got my package from Value Hobbie took way pass a week. Probably 14 days I'm in Fresno. Due to storm anyways. Paint!!!!!!!! My paint is so soft and flaking. Late 1990's early 2000 we would use paint that nitro melt. They get soft and flaky. Paint on this aircraft is flaking easy no im not using nitro at all. You ever had that issue? Ugh :(

[@RCVideoReviews]

That sucks. I did not have the same issue. Sounds like you got a bad batch or something.

[@SkySurferG]

As best as I can tell you have your ele linkage on the innermost hole on the horn and the outermost hole on the servo arm. That is giving the absolute max amount of elevator throw. Max throws for 3D is sensible but has disadvantages. Something I learnt from a Wargo video - is to put your ele linkage on the outermost hole on the horn and the innermost or mid position on the servo arm. That will give you the most 'resolution' on the sticks. For a given stick movement you will get less throw and so more 'sensitivity' or feel. Really useful for soft landings and perhaps the best tip I've come across since I started flying after retiring from the workforce. See www.rcflightschool.com/SetupPDFs/Resolution.pdf for a better explanation

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yup, they're set that way on purpose. I'm quite familiar with resolution. Txkflier and I actually discussed this in some detail on the Katana maiden. On planes where I want big throws, I wind up using a little more expo. Good comments though, I'm sure this will be helpful.

[@koalatails6391]

Nice looking plane for the price. Your work on the decals probably doubled the value. The main landing gear looks fragile & your comment about the tail wheel doesn’t inspire confidence.

[@RCVideoReviews]

The main landing gear is 'springy' ;) I don't know what the deal is with the tail wheels on these small planes. The Mx2 and Saber will probably both be converted to skids. The Hummer has a skid and it gives me less trouble than the other two.

[@koalatails6391]

I glued a piece of flat spring steel to my Hummer to lift the tail. It compensates for the larger main wheels I used. That works so well I replaced the wonky rear wheel on the SlowPoke with a skid.

[@RCVideoReviews]

@@koalatails6391 Heavy duty zip ties in a bow shape work really well for these types of planes too.

[@howintesting940]

Nobody complains about the material quality? It is made of extremely poor EPS, not EPO at all...

[@RCVideoReviews]

Not true. This is 100% EPO.