I just love your reviews. So In-Depth and Detailed. The assembly tips, photos, and setup are very helpful. The flying review and comments are the best. Your reviews literally cover everything. Well done and thank you. 👍
Adam. Just a pleasure to watch you fly and put it through it's paces. I'm sold. So refreshing to see Eflite kicking out new balsa birds. Can't wait to get this one. Oh yeah. 👍
Adam wow what a great demonstration of the Big Timbo. Horizon knocked it out with it. Your flying and trying to rip the wings off reminds of how Ali would fly the Timber. Epic video Heidi and Adam. Jeff in LA USA
Although I am not a Timber banwagoner this is a nice well build arf. Nice price point for what your getting and good flight envelope. Excellent review as alway my friend! Always nice to see you putting these through their paces.
Thanks for covering its characteristics on 4S batteries, and the discussion about props. $850 is a mighty heavy lift when you have to also throw in a couple $140 batteries so you can use 6S.
About that price. The ARF version is competitive with similar size electric balsa ARF models from SIG and others. I can tell you that the SIG ARF models are great, but they take a real effort to assemble. Altogether that makes the Timber BNF a bargain, and after a few hours of research that is what I ordered. I wish I had watched your video first. It would have saved me a lot of time.
Yep. We have a lot of experience with ARF's. We knew immediately this was a great deal. It is hard to make a foamy flyer understand that though. I get it, folks don't understand what they don't have experience with. We try in every review to provide all the information a would be buyer could want to help them make an informed decision if a plane is right for them or not. You'll enjoy it. Great flyer, nicely equipped, and two days of work is done for you. All it needs is softer tires. Happy flying man, I hope you'll watch us sooner in the future, and hopefully we can be an asset for you.
Man! ...the goodness just keeps on a-comin', Adam! Love this review. Your summary and insight on "bigger & balsa" and price point is great stuff! ...definitely rings true for my 60" T-6 Texan balsa ARF. Look forward to seeing you out at the field when these frigid temps go away. Blessings!
Adam you knocked this review out of the park, ( as usual) nicely done. I really enjoy your personal style / the way you touch all bases , tips and set up tips. I’m sure we will probably see many more of these to come. I just wish they would down size them to have a more affordable line up.
Great review! I think your thoughts on price are dead on, I’ve built my fair share of ARFs and the ease of building this one, along with your points on quality parts is in my opinion worth the price of admission. I think this will help folks get into the balsa side of the hobby and encourage more people to build ARFs after they see and feel the flying difference of a balsa model!
Thanks very much. I agree, great easy way to get pilots to try balsa and see/feel the magic. Some folks that have only foam experience are hard to convince of this. All you really have to do is price good components, and think of how valuable your time is. Then it is as no brainer.
A very cool addition to the Timber genre... and very ably demonstrated, Adam. I enjoyed both Piper's and Heidi's brief cameos, too 😊 I wonder what's next from HH... maybe a home-build 25ft wingspan Timber light aircraft in the manner of the KitFox🤔 This model is certainly very impressive. Well done HH and Team Model AV8R!
Quality Video Adam.. I really love the timber, one of my all time favorite planes... Really interesting what HH did with this. Sounds like more on coming down the pike. I'm looking forward to more balsa planes for sure... I've build a few ARFs and balsa kits.. Its amazing how much money quality electronics will run you.. This is a great deal for a 2M plane.. Thanks for sharing. Will
Thanks Will! I'm looking forward to seeing what they do as well. I'm glad they are trying to get more newer modelers to try balsa. You don't know what you're missing til you try new things. You are right. Great deal for what you get.
Great review and flying, as usual Adam. But dang… that camera work is outstanding! Hat tip to Heidi! I lost my FMS Pitts to 4 simultaneous servo failures in flight (after tons of work on it). The throttle/motor still worked, but all control surfaces were failed in position (voltage regulator issue in receiver or ESC?) . It was repairable - but I was so frustrated with it, I gave it to a buddy and wished him well. I just might consider this one, next… but I’ve also been eyeing 48-70” class Extreme Flight scale aerobats… they’re pretty sexy! I would love to see you sling a few reviews on those!
Thanks Tony! Man I hate to hear about the Pitts crash. Dang it. I'm a big Extreme Flight fan, I have several, and have owned a lot more. Lol. Comparatively, I'm very impressed with this Timber. Way more capable than they let on when we talked about it before release. The BNF is a smoking deal really. That said, if all out XA/3D is what you want, an Extreme Flight will edge it out in some areas. It will cost more to build/outfit though, plus your time. I'm amazed with the Timber being BNF we are at a point where we can have a really good balsa plane ready to rock in less than an hour.
Another slick review, Adam and nice work with the camera Heidi. I think this is a great timber Timber. HH did a great job, I really dig it!! but unfortunately the price would leave me in the hole. Good stuff bro, AirHammer out!!
Love the Big Balsa bird, I believe I would put inflatable tires on it . This would quiet the landings down and make a smother ride. The only other thing is I believe a 50$ to 75$ Less price point . Would make it easier to swallow. Knowing the upgraded ESC and all . There is not the cost of retracts and such but Balsa’s are more labor intensive for the manufacture’s.
Yep some inflatables would be nice. They actually dropped the price some before release. Considering the labor involved and what it is equipped with, I think the price is fair. Save us a ton of time too.
HI Adam, great video. Love watching you fly. I have one question. Maybe I missed it in the video. I've heard mention of an extra scoop for the cowl. Have you looked into what it might take to add that scoop? Thanks, and keep up the good work. Bert
Hey Bert thanks man. You Dremel out a spot for it and glue it on. There are a couple of marked (ish) spaces on each side underneath, or you could put it on top.
I want to put a 3 bladed prop on mine like on the 1.5m version. I’m running a 6s 4000mah battery, what size 3 blade prop would you recommend? And I agree with the comment about why you don’t have more subscribers, your channel is one of the best out there.
Clay thanks very much for the kind words! Glad you enjoy our channel! The formula for figuring out what three blade prop you need when going from a two blade to a three blade is to go down a inch in diameter and up two inches in pitch. So, the stock two blade prop is a 15x8, so the right three blade would be a 14x10.
@@ModelAV8RChannel thank you so much for the fast reply and the information on how to figure up the prop size. I learn so much every time I watch your channel. I’ve probably watched this video of the Timber 2m SWS at least 20 times and have used your tip form the wing connections and lights. Keep up the great work!!!
Great informative, deep-dive review on this woody. I love the no thottle howl, downhill. Im curious about your flap delay setting. 0.6 seconds seems pretty quick. I've usually found that my bigger birds transition best with a slower deploy. Like 2-3 seconds. I assumed this big ol' stiffy would require somewhere around 4 seconds delay. Is there some advantage on a big plane, to have a quicker flap deploy? Thanks for another impeccable video. Great filming, Heidi 👍
Thanks for the kind words Al, Heidi and I appreciate it very much! So Al as you may know...or maybe not, I'm quite the study on full scale STOL/Bush planes. I LOVE scale bush flying. With planes like a Super Cub, Carbon Cub, Kitfox, etc., the flaps are mechanical. You grab a handle, squeeze a trigger on it, and pull/push to deploy and raise the flaps. You'll notice if you watch STOL contests that a lot of takeoffs happen as follows...Brakes on, full power, tail up, release the brakes, plane accelerates, pilot quickly pops the flaps to full and simultaneously pulls back on the elevator, plane breaks ground, pilot quickly puts the flaps back up and flies off. With hydraulic or electric flaps this can't be done. There are planes with slower flaps in that category, but with almost all small 2 place STOL planes this isn't the case. This is what I'm mimicking with the Timber. Your elevator compensation mix should work no matter how fast they deploy if it is set right. That said...there are two key elements to remember. One is that he elevator compensation mix is meant to work when flying at a slow speed and at low throttle settings. The issue many have is that they either deploy the flaps before they get the plane slowed down or at a high throttle setting, or both. Then it will balloon for sure. Notice in our videos if I'm using this takeoff technique I'm not at full power, I don't need it to takeoff quickly. Also when I deploy for landing I'm already slow. If they are deployed and I'm in slow flight, I'm slow and at a low throttle setting. All that said, with larger GA planes, warbirds, airliners, etc. a slow flap deployment is scale. And of course anyone can program them anyway they are comfortable. This is just how I do it with a smaller STOL plane..or a model of one...even if it is HUGE. Lol.
@@ModelAV8RChannel Roger that. It's definitely a preference thing. But, I'm always looking for insights to broaden my skill set. Plenty of room there. 😂 Thanks 👍
I'm sure they thought of a lot of stuff, but any added step or steps on that assembly line in China adds cost to the project, and you have to consider they're already paying them to essentially build and cover a laser cut kit in the first place... which is very expensive. The budget's only so big. The rest is left up to us... a little modeling won't kill us. Lol
It looked like you had crow set up in the first few seconds of your video on flying. How did you set up Crow, what parameters did you use. Thank you very much.
The only thing I did not like on mine is those awful foam tyres, I changed mine to inflatable tyres, they are completely silent, and it does not bounce on landing.
They seemed not as bright at first, but close to dark were a lot better. I've noticed with balsa planes they never look as bright as a foam plane. Might be because the lights illuminate the foam around the light and make them appear bigger?
Very nice video as always. Would be an interesting comparaison between this new balsa Timber and the Carbon-Z Cessna 150T. On paper they are very similar in size, weight, battery, motor,... Big difference is off course foam versus balsa.
Thanks Patrick! They are both great airplanes. The Timber has more power and aerobatic capabilities. With better tires...like the ones from the 150T, it would be as good at bush flying. Balsa is definitely more resistant to hangar rash, and at this size its easy to bang them into stuff.
@@ModelAV8RChannel it's a bit strange that the Timber indeed seems to have more power then the Cessna. They both weigh about the same. The Cessna has a 525kv motor with a 15x7 prop vs the Timber has a 500kv motor with a 16x6 prop. Difficult to see where the Timber gets the extra power on first sight. The Timber does look very beautifull in the videos, much more then a foam model.
The Timber has a 15x8 prop. The 16x6 is a misprint. Also the motors are completely different. KV isn't the key stat. The Timber has a new Avian 5065 motor, and the 150T has the older EF BL50 motor. These two motors have a different can size and pole count. You may know this, but if not this may be helpful. Pole counts, magnets, the copper wire, and the number of windings determine everything. The KV of a motor doesn't always tell the story. A lower KV motor with different magnets, no of windings, and pole count may be able to handle the weight and resistance of a prop better than a higher KV motor, and thus actually turn more RPM's. The Avian motors are revised "Rimfire" motors. Rimfires always made more power than EF motors size range for size range anyway. The biggest thing though is when you fly them both, the Timber clearly has more punch in every way.
@@ModelAV8RChannel that’s interesting info. Maybe it would be possible to upgrade the Cessna with the new Timber motor. But this would probably also require upgrading the Esc because the Cessna only has a 60A esc.
Awesome Review and great footage of Jedi Master Adam flying only the way a Jedi Master can. I like this plane and will have one in my hanger. My only question is you mention proping it up on 4s for bush flying. What size prop do you recommend? I fly mainly bush planes and off water as well as you know. I am excited to have a Balsa that I can fly off water. That is 2m. The Foamies are a bit heavy at that size and I end up using a 6s 3200 mah to reduce weight. A 4s 5000 is close to the same weight. Again appreciate the awesome review.
Thanks Tug! For bush flying I'd just leave it the way it is and fly it on the 4s 5000. The stock prop is a 15x8. On 4s you can go with a 16x8 and maybe as big as a 17x5 or 17x6. I need to test and see, or if you have a watt meter you can as well. So far I've tried the 16x8 I had and there was still some room (amps wise) to move up from that.
Mine are the old "Watts Up" meters. They are not available anymore. I had a buddy get one of these, seems to work well so far. www.amazon.com/Precision-Analyzer-Consumption-Performance-Backlight/dp/B07RQP6HHN/ref=sxin_14_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.3f105dd1-731e-46ec-8a78-5849a8226882%3Aamzn1.sym.3f105dd1-731e-46ec-8a78-5849a8226882&crid=281WLY16QNB46&cv_ct_cx=rc%2Bwatt%2Bmeter&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sLFC16F0lswvvAViwubW0_9v8MGdamc4owhILQDhb8qAruvo7SM688vtqwBJdC14UzbeaxRQeKH7s7Hkb4hhlA.PnzZhQ5yY96gb7-3wcT_t0hvzuD-N6_Z-02525Gtl4Y&dib_tag=se&keywords=rc%2Bwatt%2Bmeter&pd_rd_i=B07RQP6HHN&pd_rd_r=5179d1b0-3119-46fc-b080-5c708a767c0f&pd_rd_w=mMLnG&pd_rd_wg=3V79C&pf_rd_p=3f105dd1-731e-46ec-8a78-5849a8226882&pf_rd_r=BJ6Z76YGH38B0A0PDWBZ&qid=1705716740&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=rc%2Bwatt%2Bmeter%2Caps%2C98&sr=1-2-364cf978-ce2a-480a-9bb0-bdb96faa0f61-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1
Sadly too expensive for me but I started in this hobby building and flying wooden planes and am just curious how this compares to the new Super Timber foamie?
This is a bit smoother than the ST. Obviously bigger and more resistant to hangar rash. The ST is the smoothest flying foam Timber I've flown, and reminded me of the SWS. It is more slightly more aerobatic, with the potential to be much more aerobatic with the full span ailerons. It is a much better bush/STOL plane with the gear/tires and the interchangeable slats. It has better gear, tires, lights, and field assembly/disassembly. It is more susceptible to hangar rash. For what it is worth, I'm keeping both in the hangar...
@@ModelAV8RChannel Cool, thanks for detailed reply. I am about to significantly downsize my fleet prior to moving (and the number of planes I have that I rarely fly sometimes reaches a tipping point!) but am already looking for planes to replace them with. It will be out with planes like the Timber X, clipped wing cub and Spitfire Mk14 and in with fewer but more modern feature rich airframes like the ST and the 2m Trojan.
4s 3600 would be fine. Might want to start with it forward in the tray and work it back as you fly/test. Flying scale I'd say 5 to 6 minutes pretty easy. Obviously that is subjective, what "scale flying" is to me may differ compared to someone else.
It would take a lot of reinforcement. The dedicated electric designs are built lighter. Not necessarily capable of taking the constant vibration of a nitro. That said with some modelling it could. At this size and weight, Saito 100 would pull it nicely and sound awesome too.
Probably, but it would need some work. There is a difference in how these factories make balsa planes for gas and electric. If a plane is made for gas measures have been taken to account for the constant vibration of a gas engine. When they make a dedicated electric balsa plane they can make it lighter because there is little to no vibration with electric.
@@meazy451I disagree. Electric kinda works. Nitro is dead. But gas is where it's at for power systems in RC planes. There is no comparison. 5 minutes or less to refuel. Longer flight times. Often better thrust/lift to weight ratio. Electric is less off-putting to people in a park, sure. But gas is unmatched imo.
It was designed and produced to be electric, so lighter and much less resistant to vibration as there is little to none with an electric motor and a balanced prop. It can be done, but would need a lot of reinforcing not to vibrate all kinds of stuff loose...especially with a gasser.
Yeah man it's nice to have the choice. I think the way they are doing it is if it is an E-flite it will just be electric, and if it is a Hangar 9 it will be either/or. You may already know this, but they have to build a plane for gas much more robust to handle the vibration. If it is a pure electric it can be built a good bit lighter.
I agree. I have a Balsa USA 1/4 J-3 Cub. Best flying Cub I've ever flown. That is what the newer folks in the hobby are missing. They've never built anything, and most don't want to. If they just built one, they'd know how much work is done for them with a plane like this Timber.
@@ModelAV8RChannel ARF's are nice, I have a few, but nothing like building a plane from a box of Lumber, and then see it fly, best true Hpbbiest feeling ever