“I started flight training with a Delta Ray w/SAFE. I chose the Pandora for stability, so I could get use to the increase in speed, but still have the comfort of stabile flight. I use a orange flight stabilizer/receiver, and a 2200mAh, 30C battery. Fly's great in the wind, easy to land, plenty of power. I hear you can fly over 8 minutes, but I keep mine at the recommended 6 minutes. Poorly written manual leaves a lot to be desired. Make sure you place a piece of Velcro on top of the battery so the airplanes (Velcro) battery strap will hold it in place. My maiden flight almost ended in disaster when the battery slid aft and I was out of CG, tail heavy, NOT GOOD!!!! I recommend changing the rudder servo with a 9g metal gear servo. The tricycle gear configuration places a lot of stress on the stock servo and will strip out with a hard landing on the nose gear.”
“I'm new at this hobby, the only experience has been with a Parkzone Micro and 12ided to move up to something that would give me more experience. After talking to people in the local club and reading & watching the reviews, I got a Pandora. This review deals with the build only, I'll post more once I start flying.First off, this was my 2nd order with MotionRC and once again I'm impressed with how quickly everything arrives. I'm spoiled by Amazon and MotionRC easily matches them and the personal note is great! The plane arrived in great shape, a box within a box within foam packing. All my other order items were placed inside the Pandora box and packed to prevent movement or damage. This is the first real foam airplane I've assembled and while the price isn't too high, it did make me pause since it's my first attempt at assembling one. I didn't want a $175 screw up. I read the instructions several times and they are VERY basic. It shows a picture and says something like assemble the wings or assemble the landing gear but doesn't tell you what screw goes where. I thought I had a plan, sort them all by size and number of screws and when it calls for 4 wing screws, look for the 4 that would fit. The best laid plans.... no it wasn't that easy. It was more of a trial & error method. The same with the propeller. The picture shows the assembled propeller w/ spinner but not how to do it. I probably played with that an hour, looking at it different ways,screwing & unscrewing the propeller so it aligns up with the spinner screws. Is it difficult, no, but being a trainer its made for people new to the hobby and the instructions should be more clear and detailed, I'm sure for someone experienced with the hobby and putting planes together, they probably wouldn't even have to look at the instructions. It does go together easy but for a new person, there's a lot of uncertainty and more clear instructions would really help.So far I'm happy with the plane. It looks pretty good and it's not difficult to build but for a newbie that its made for, the instructions are clearly lacking causing me to rate it 4 out of 5 stars. I'll post a flight review after I get a few in.”
“I KEPT LOOKING AT THIS PLANE ON MOTION RCs WEB SITE .BECAUSE I WAS REALLY IMPRESSED WITH ITS FEATURES AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. AND AFTER WATCHING CAPT. MIKES VIDEO 3 TIMES I FINALLY HAD TO ORDER ONE. ONCE I RECEIVED IT (in only 4 days) I LIKED IT MORE THAN EVER AND I CANNOT HARDLY WAIT TO GET IT IN THE AIR. NOW ABOUT MY COMPLAINT. I AM NEW TO THE RC PLANE HOBBY AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT THESE ARE THE ABSOLUTE WORST INSTRUCTIONS I BELEIVE I HAVE EVER SEEN. THEY PUT A WHITE PLANE ON A WHITE BACKGROUND MAKING IT VERY HARD TO SEE WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO THE BUILDER THAT HE SHOULD DO NEXT. THE MAKERS OF THE PLANE SURE DIDN'T WASTE ANY WORDS DESCRIBING HOW TO ASSEMBLE THE PLANE EITHER. I ALSO HAVE TWO OTHER THINGS TO POINT OUT. THE FIRST ONE IS THE CHEAP AND I MEAN CHEAP STYROFOAM TYPE 4in. TIRES AND THE LAST POINT IS THAT IT WOULD HAVE MADE THIS PLANE REALLY STAND OUT IF THEY WOULD HAVE PUT IN A CLEAR WINDSHEILD WITH A PILOT FIGURE. ITS STILL A NICE PLANE AND I DO REALLY LIKE IT.”
“I ordered a second one. I am using an E-flite Safe receiver in the plane and it flies awesome. Very stable.My wife is now learning to fly so we 12ided to get a second Pandora so that I can continue to fly the plane and we will have spare parts if one needs fixing.”
“After a 15 year absence I started back in R/C 2 years ago finding that electric airplanes (as well as a LOT of other changes!) had become common place. I used to instruct on airplanes many years ago and after flying helis and multirotors the last two years I wanted to try airplanes again but without all the mess of starters, nitro, and gunky oil residue. So I bought a Parkzone Radian, a Flyzone Cessna Corvalis, and a Freewing Seagull in the last couple of months and have liked them all. I was pretty impressed with the quality of the Freewing Seagull so for a 4th plane I wanted to try another in their brand of planes. This one is pretty cool too. It's the same wingspan as my Corvalis and Seagull but looks way bigger because of the large wing area and the beefy fuselage. I really like the looks...! Assembly was pretty easy once I figured out what screw went where (not easy) and with the low wing tail dragger configuration I headed to the field we fly at. Our field has pretty long grass and is fairly bumpy with clumps of weeds but the Pandora took it well and lifted off smoothly. Once in the air I realized I had too much aileron but since i had set up Dual Rates I just flipped a switch which cut the rate down to 70% which was just about perfect. All the other rates were left at 100% which made for how I like a plane to handle. No expo was used. I did have an issue on the last flight of the day (isn't it always?) when the left wheel snagged on a viney runner in the grass and caused a ground loop. The stupid pilot (me) forgot to hit the throttle cut and I sort of let all the smoke out of the ESC... Doh! Parts have arrived and the plane will be fixed before the weekend along with installing flaps. This is a very versatile airplane with all its different configurations and I really liked how it flew and how it looked in the air. I kind of like this Freewing brand... They make nice stuff and the foam seems very dense. Anyways, thanks again Motion for bringing so many options for us electric flyers and for the very good service you provide. And yes, the handwritten thanks is a nice touch!”
“This flew perfectly right out of the box. We made sure all the surfaces were aligned properly before takeoff and it flew level and straight. No trimming required. This makes a wonderful trainer.The plane is solid. Well designed and fabricated.I have a problem with the tail wheel however, it is loose and the hex screw is stuck so I haven't fixed it yet.Note: The manual is okay. I suggest you download and read it before purchase to make sure you will be able to assemble the plane. I assembled the plane without the manual because I found it lacking in detail. For example I had to figure out myself which screws to use for the different parts. Nice pictures however.”
“This is a great plane to learn on and have fun with.I started with a Bixler and moved up to a Mentor.. Then I saw this on Youtube and thought it would be a good next plane and I was right. I only plan on Flying it in low wing tail dragger configuration. I like the looks and get compliments on the looks. I got the red because I thought it would be easier to see in the sky. I modified the battery compartment so I can use a 4000 3 cell. I get aprox. 10 min. and that still leaves 3.8 volts per cell. The front of the battery is 1 7/8 from front of battery compartment. I hot glued foam board strips in place to keep the battery caged. This modification only works with low wing.”
