Guanli Icon A-5 Seaplane. Part 1... the "Snow" test flight.

[sross148]

Other companies have made much better versions of the Icon A5 (eg Parkzone). cheers

[sross148]

Nice video. I really regret not reading enough review on this plane! Also wasn't as low a price as it should be. You are right, it cannot fly off water in OEM form. The radio is crap. Your review is right on.

I managed to get mine to take off the water, though. Upped the ESC to 25 amps and cut the foam to increase the step size. Also taped the foam to make it a bit more slippery and water tight, and removed the pontoons. RCgroups has all the details - not enough room to detail it here.

[sco215]

looks like it would make a nice fpv platform what do you think?

[bigdbla]

How doe this plane glide?

[virtualbush]

By the way, always use metal clevis with tubing safety covers in cold temperatures. (anytime really) The plastics break very easily in subzero conditions. Lost a nice model when a clevis broke in the air. It was observed on video and determined the elevator link broke and extended beyond the control putting the ship in an immediate nose dive. At low altitude there was no time to roll and knife to avoid a straight in. She went home in a garbage bag. Destroyed/cracked the OS engine even.

[longlive2012]

How expensive is this airplane?

[helipilot94]

time to fly it over water

[mrfourtysevenman]

DAVE PLEASE READ THIS

if i could give you some constructive criticism please fly your plane low when you film so we can see the tree line and maybe even the ground. its uninteresting watching a black dot in a blue screen.

[3fitzgrld]

die hards

[catamaranman333]

Pause at :46 and read the side of the box! (XD>

[airborne373]

The dance music SUCKS!

[TRAPBOULTERNAS]

i have an idea! if you have a trainer maybe you could make a series of rc flight training videos!!! that would be extremely helpful!!!!!

[innervoid375m]

To see this plane flying off water and the mods needed to help water take off search for " GuanLi Icon A5 amphibian from Nitroplanes "

[atvmaster281]

Dave i want to buy one before i go on vacation in a couple weeks can you post a video of them taking off and landing on water?

[wqdy949]

when will u show in on water

[fakemarriland500]

does it mark the places to put the floats and stuff

[jims123]

Dave,

I really like you and your videos are all superb!

..but I know you would want to tune into the furor brewing over on

RG Groups in the Icon A5 thread over this plane.. please do leave a comment there and let us know what you think of this plane's takeoff ability off water now that the snow and ice is gone Ok? Thanks JimS

[connickjoseph]

Dave your pond should be wet now make us a video, no one else seems to be able to, I own one and have tried everything and it won't come off the water. Give us some commentary or answer my email.....joe

[gszajer]

when u start flying on the water the clay with turn like all muddy, ive tried it in my cub and my cub is raised soo... im just telling you

[maslinandrey]

nice strart for seaplane )

[shaneeeeak]

sweet! its like a tiny hu-16 albatross. 5*  great vid as usual. Keep up the great work lads!

[mysticsailor1983]

music choice is awsome , love your videos !!

[garyshoaf]

Cool plane! A Catalina is also available for $10.00 more. Could you do a vid on it too? Our club field has a small pond (for R/C boats). It's a bit tight to land a float plane, but I may just have to try it.

[TheHouseBlog]

@garyshoaf The Catalina is pretty good, but throw out the included Tx/Rx and use name brand one. The included Tx/Rx is only good for 1000 feet which is ridiculous.

[jims123]

great build documentary . interesting in the ari. I think I'll get one.. hope it takes off as quickly on water..

[tinosnit]

Powerlines. lol

[SEBratt]

Looks like fun Dave! I liked the features on the box, but also noitced that at about 4:50 the manual said "Center OR Gravity". HAHA! I think that made me laugh as much as the features. Great vid again sir!

[zyoungson215]

wet decals seem a bit stoopid for a float plane dont they??

[HangarX1]

@zyoungson215

I'm really hoping that you wrote "stoopid" on purpose.

[livvidd]

pause the vid at :47 seconds the description of its "features" is hilarious.

[UnkinglyLike]

hahaha 'water surface take off makes flight more funny' xD

[timidbuck]

lmao

[coreykoepsel]

i would love to come fly with you dave,maybe you should have a contest...

[shockflyyer3d]

they look ugly they dont seem to fly very well even under the hands af dave. but hay you got to try it to know.

[delsolly]

again a really great movie dave and jeff,,

[eggyhed]

Pretty cool guys, I was going to get a boat for the pond this summer, now your saying we have to have seaplanes too!!......LOL.5*****'s.......­.......Bob

[cholubaz]

If I had the money the Icon A5 would be the LSA that I would buy. Im going to train for my Pilots license soon and I havent decided if Im going to get a full PPL or just start with the Light Sport license.

[SoCalsandman780]

Nice job, you guys! I know everyone wants to see them on the water! Spring is just around the corner! 5 stars.

[mfasouletos]

I don't know. You changed a LOT and I'm still not impressed with the way it flys Dave. UNLESS it's $99. I'm guessing it's not since it's nitro hobbies and their planes gave me problems in the past. Just my thoughts. Good review though and the plane looks good but looks aren't good enough for me.

[DarthTedd]

Now that's R/C deciation! Cool video ...

[FAZER00432]

hey Dave nice video as always can't wait for the next one. 5 stars.

[whizbang47]

Much appreciated here!

[jgoudeau207]

Wouldn't it be great this summer if your little rc camera was attached to the seaplane! Maybe FPV?That would be some great fun & videos too?! 5~stars for effort! "Wheels up!"

[gamermanist]

boy i cant wait until he takes it to the water and flys it.and how much was it?

[slapstik89]

It certainly did have plenty of power, you took off in about 3 feet - and could probably take off vertically.

Nice tip regarding pushers and control surfaces - just crashed my newly built f-14 today because of lack of air flow at low speed (made it a pusher).

[rcwilli1991]

is it a good plane??

[Mostlyfun]

Look at that guy's we all crash and did you notice that Dave did not blame the plane, he figured out what was wrong and fixed it.

It is very common to get a plane that has a messed up CG just fix it, don't blame the plane don't slander the manufacture. Trust me we have it much better than we did when I first started RC flying 25 years back. Thanks Dave for another great vid.

[hiddenasskiker]

i got a question can you use any speed controler to any motor?? electrik whise?

[popcornreviews]

Nice, thats what I did with my Htwo-O seaplane from Britflight!

The boaty undercaridge make great ski's!

[moolikeacow2]

Nice job guys.  Those are bad ass looking.

[tchaser97]

Hi I really love rc helicopters. I would really like to purchuse one. I have got it down to 2 helicopters. The exceed rc Blue Ray and the Walkera Creata 400 premimum. Whitch one is better and can they both do flips and tricks?

[startazz]

Yeah very nice ;-) i'm liking these birds alot and they seem to pull straight off the ground with no worries and can't wait to see you and Jeff fly these babies on the water ;-) 5*

[metalmikexx]

For about $140k you can get the full scale version. It's a nice plane.

[acexprt]

Wana know something funny.. ha.. my best friend Loves RC planes.. that he orders at least 1 every 3 months.. NO JOKE! whether it be a tiny or HUGE... any who.. the funny part is.. he doesnt EVEN fly them... haha..

Any chances of doing the Guanli P 51 or F4U?

[sheik480]

Can I have a couple? ;D

[aaronthegreat1997]

just askin, how much did your sukoi cost you?

[beverke7]

nice vid, a lot of power too.

Look forward to see how she does in the water guys. 5 stars

[lowrider1812]

that was cool. we lost all our snow now that i made ski's for my rc truck i have no snow. lol good job dave and jeff.

[iamtherealzim]

I love your vids! If you crash at least you explain why (unlike another channel that does it just to make their videos interesting...).

[ramis182]

great job on the video. that's kind of weird how you had to had like 3 ounces of clay onto the tip, that was really unexpected when you stalled landing it but i guess that was from the lack of nose wight, anyway great video, you should do a video on the 4-site or j-3 piper from parkzone. anyway, great video and flying to you and jeff.

[calebiskkkool]

I WANNA SEE SOME NITRO!

[stickwalker]

You have as much fun as a rich kid... and you're fun to watch... Great video, thanks for posting it.

[taofledermaus]

Loved the video! Really liked that choice of music at the beginning too. Thanks for bringing us another fantastic review!

[p3x197]

wherer do u live?

[tw8e60]

Great review, whoa... that's really strong foam!!!

Good point in reagrds to the aileron and ruder use, I had no idea about it... That's something that I will put into the "RC important information" on my brain

[ray671984]

brill video dave :)

[pudd750]

"on the Tx" battery meters , that is

[lordchris]

you dont have to drive wide open? wheres the fun in that!

today i throttled back for a bit and my bf109 piled in! check the vid i uploaded today :(

[remotecontrolaholic]

i hate those wet decals

they are so hard to do correctly

[mountainflyyer]

wow i just found out about the real thing yesterday and theres already an rc model thats awsome

[anariaq]

Love the look of that airplane. Wished you used the onboard camera. Anyways cant wait to see this on water.

[pudd750]

onboard cams on water rock!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gripchion]

Dave have you ever built / flown a wildhots if you have how did it fly?

Thanks

Jay

[BellowingBeaver]

gnarly, that thing does appear to have a bunch of power..... however I still want that hawk sky plane they have at nitroplanes.

[gripchion]

Its a good looking plane. I'm looking forward to seeing it fly off of water.

[pudd750]

phloaties - some of my phavorite planes - soup and sandwich, peanut butter and jelly, planes and water- WHOA!!! 72 MHZ IS WEAKENED SUBSTANTIALLY IN SUB- FREEZING TEMPS? PLEASE RESPOND!! explains the hard glitch yesterday , tho i checked each AA when i got home, and all were under 1.4 volts, and a couple were under 1.3 volts - and the voltmeter said it was all good - wont trust any of my voltmeters anymore - those batterys are clinically dead !!

[Ispintechno1]

COOL!!! Can't wait to see these ducks get wet!

[BellowingBeaver]

so use the rudder eh? Awesome, I have been doing that... glad I didn't listen to my buddy about "never using rudder... it isn't needed"

You're the man Dave... AND JEFF! v:D

[radampl]

Very nice  model end flght :)

[savageZA76]

8:14 Ouch!!

[IRisingFuryI]

Could you fix the tip stall by spoiling the lift on the wingtips? Essencially changing the profile using duct tape or something, so the tips either stall first, before the rest of the wing, or stall after the rest of the wing...

[NightFlyyer]

@IRisingFuryI You could, but tail heavy is tail heavy and that was all that was needed.

[IRisingFuryI]

Ah, ok.

Can't wait to see it take off and land on water. Gonna be a spectacular sight :)

[nishbrown]

Rofl @ the "features"!!

C'mon Jeff, use that rudder!

[NightFlyyer]

@nishbrown If you dont fly helis and stunt aircraft, many pilots simply dont use the rudder, so dont know how or forget about it. But your right...the Features is the best part... Thanks.

[nishbrown]

Good point!

Rudders can be priceless in faster winds.

Is dynamical even a real word?

LOL!

[taofledermaus]

"Luxury and delicate surface coating! " We'd make a fortune if we moved overseas and proof-read for these companies huh?

[olijay96]

6th comment wooo!!

[Winston51249]

I'm ready for spring!!! We would have to drive a long ways to find open water this time of year. 5*

[NightFlyyer]

@Winston51249 Me Too. Wanna fly the warbirds today?

[Winston51249]

Sure. Give me a call. Um....5* again.

~Jeff

[thatssirforyou]

very nice dave :D im a big fan of all your vids they all rock :D i used to watch and comment with another acount but i made an new account :P subscribed on this new account too ofcourse!

[NightFlyyer]

@thatssirforyou Thanks very kindly. I appreciate that.

[pudd750]

i just checked out the 2410- its capable of 66% efficiency - seems very low - i wonder what governs the efficiency rating - surely theres less powerful motors with higher efficiency

[THELAPTOP2]

wow first comment!!!!!!!!!

looks like a army plane 5/5 stars!!!

[m43991]

Nice plane great vid Dave and jeff 5*****

[NightFlyyer]

@m43991 Thanks very kindly.

[pudd750]

couldnt find the prop specs but them big slow props sound the best

[eddynelly1717]

wow thats a very cool design and the power is outstanding!!! looks pretty aerobatic for a sea plane!

[NightFlyyer]

@eddynelly1717 Thanks. Yep it does a pretty nice loop. Cant wait for some warm weather flying now.

[eddynelly1717]

yea this cold weather is really annoying me!