F-35 Lightning II 360 Degree Thrust Vectoring Jet (OVERSIZE)

The F35 Lightning II is my 2nd RC aircraft and 1st EDF jet. I will start out by saying WOW ! I purchased the model last season but wanted to get a little more flite time in my high wing trainer. The model is beautiful and pics don't quite do it justice. Quality is good and price point is excellent. My first flite was once again WOW ! kinda like my first flite ever. The Jet flies like a dream and I am impressed ! I am a relatively new pilot and I found the F35 quite stable compared to what I was expecting. I did find the battery to be PUFFED after a 4 minute flite, not a good thing...I called Hobby Lobby and they told me not to leave lipos fully charged for long periods of time BUT they did send me a replacement in about 2 days and in time for the 4th of July..GOOD JOB GUYS....Over all I would give the model a 5 if not for the battery issue but the service I received was a 5 also. This is the perfect 1st jet or the perfect jet on a budget and I intend to fly the fun out of it !!!

I have four flights on mine so far. Just ordered two more batteries for it. I fly with five minutes on the transmitter clock, and agree with another guy that four might be enough. I'm going to put four, wait for the beeps, then land. I've needed three or four approaches on each flight to land almost at my feet on a canvas runway. I've settled on going to medium idle in my downwind turn on final, and not diving down like so many guys do. Gentle turns help at slow speed, with vectoring off on final.

This jet really is an attention getter at the field if you are into impressing your friends. It does look very authentic in the air, especially if you fly about 80% throttle. I blast off only on takeoff. The plane is much more mild-mannered when you go a bit slower than full throttle. Save the full throttle for the low flybys with a nice slow roll thrown in. Expo at 40-50 also helps.

I've had some minor issues. The vectoring servos work OK, but aren't precise or powerful enough to center the vector unit on my plane. I think paint overspray might be the culprit, and need to try to squirt some WD in there to see if that helps. One of the main landing gear wires came loose from the servo. My fault, I didn't check it, but the landing was OK anyway. The gear design (folding forward) helped because it came down and the pressure on the landing was on it and toward the rear -- so even though it wasn't locked, it worked! I ordered a nose cone and some extra elevators. I used the wrong kind of paint and needed to replace the ones that came with it. As a tip, keep any kind of heat source away from the foam. Ask me how I know. The rest of the airframe, packing, electronics, retracts, all fine.

Hobby Lobby had this on sale after I bought mine. Can't imagine why.... this one is worth the money. Five stars, keeping in mind this is a foam jet, not a Violett.

I reluctantly give this plane 3 stars. It flys real nice & lands far better than I expected but you better land super soft or the landing gear will break. I fly off a nice paved airport runway. The nose gear needed to be adjusted to where it locked properly. It dropped the nose down the first time it rolled on it. The original speed control made the motor quit 1 minute into running. Lucky I was still on the ground. Hobby Lobby promptly sent me a new one & it ran properly. (THANK YOU!) The first flight went well & only minor trimming was needed. The second flight went well also with no problems until afterwards I noticed that a hinge was loose on the elevator control surface & had to be glued back down.. The third flight went fine until a crosswind on that day, caused enough side load while taxiing that it broke the side plate of the main gear. I glued it back & flew another pleasant flight without problems. I just needed the plastic side plates of the retracts. Parts are not available! On flight #5 about 30 seconds after take off the motor studdered so I throttled back. It started to run ok so I throttled back up & then the motor quit. I made a dead stick approach & while on final the motor came back online & caused it to float, then sink, then finish killing the landing gear on the mains with a not hard enough to break it, landing. Later I found a poor connector on the motor side of the red wire. I repaired it, soldering in a new connector & so far so good. The landing gear is NOT available for weeks, so there it sits like a big disappointment. The paint comes off super easy & the foam is too soft allowing finger dents just by handling it. It won't stay pretty for long. Cut the stupid Pitot Tube off before it really damages the nose cone. I have been doing this for 30 years so I guess I am a veteran. I rarely have any problems with any of my planes. (I have 8 RC planes & one full size Cessna 150 currently flying) This one though has been somewhat of a problem child & when I can't get parts, well I just lose interest because of the frustration. Hey Hobby Lobby, send me a F18 or a Eurofighter to make me happy again & I'll endorse your products! Right now I'm bummed over this one.

The left aileron was damaged slightly during shipping. All hinges for the elevators were frozen by foam and took some gentle pulling and pushing to gain full movement. I have not flown the jet yet so I can't comment there yet, but the condition of the plane on arrival was somewhat disappointing.

For the price, this is a great bird. Very straight forward build with minor adjustment issues. With a DX-7, it's a breeze to program the expo rates and thrust vectoring. Flight characteristics are in my opinion great for someone who has some experience flying and wants to get into EDF flying. I recommend this bird to anyone that doesn't have money to throw away, but wants a good (cheap) adrenaline rush. I mainly give this bird 5 stars for the awesome price!!! PS....I had no problems with landing gear(retracts) being weak according to some people and paved runway.