E-Flight UMX Habu DF Review & Maiden Flight

Tony

Staff member
The moment you all have been waiting for. To know what plane I purchased with the help of my wife lol.

One day in the hobby store to get a new fuel pump, I had to walk down the isle with all of the BNF planes. One caught my eye. The UMX Habu DF. This thing just looked awesome and I wanted it. But, with the limited money that we had at the time, I put it back on the shelf and went and picked up my fuel pump. As I was walking up to the register, the wife asked me "didn't you want that plane?" :shocked:

So after a while of reading, I purchased the plane, 3 30c batteries and a charger cable (yes, you have to get a special charger cable).

First thing is first, this plane is NOT for beginners. It's fast (for it's size) and it's a "point-N-shoot" plane. You point it, and it goes there. This is a low wing EDF jet and should only be flown by intermediate+ pilots.

Pulling this plane out of the box, there is not much to it, but don't let that fool you. With the AS3X gyro, an 11,000kv brushless EDF motor, and, 2s battery, this thing is a blast. The controls at 100% are very twitchy and need expo. The manual calls for 10% Expo, but I would suggest 15-20%. On low rates, no expo is needed.

On the tarmac, this plane taxi's very well with the steerable nose wheel. If you want to hand launch it without the gear on, that is as easy as pulling the wheels off and landing in grass.

In the air, this thing will surprise you with it's size. Being an EDF, it does not have vertical capabilities, but it's quite capable of most maneuvers. Including loops, rolls, stalls and so on.

Inverted flight is a little tough since this plane is quite nose heavy. You have to hold a LOT of up elevator to hold it level while inverted. But it is do-able.

Lets get on to the video, it will help better explain this plane better than text. Enjoy and let me know what you think about it.

UMX Habu DF Product Review & Maiden Flight - YouTube
 

murankar

Staff member
One thing that was bugging me was nor retracts. With this being a micro there is no room for them other than that looks like a great plane. Could you have gone 35c on the packs?
 

Tony

Staff member
I don't think they make a 35c pack. They have 25 and 30, and even the 30's are getting pretty warm. But, not warm enough to make me worry.

As for the wheels, you can take them off and hand launch it and it does look much better in the air. I will bet you get a bit more speed as well. I might go back to the field tomorrow, and if I do, I will take some video of it without the wheels and belly landing. Lets see if I can rip that other cover off lol. Retracts would be nice, but this plane couldn't handle the extra weight.
 

Derek

Well-Known Member
That's outstanding, Tony! Great looking plane and I'm glad that you got out for some flying.
 

coolgabsi

Super Mod & DEAL KING!
I had been stopping myself from getting a micro. Still am. But you might have just tipped the scales . You suck! Hahahaha jk!

Good video review though! Nice to see that steerable nose wheel. And like uri said! Man if this had retracts it would have been PERFECT!! ;D
 

Tony

Staff member
That's outstanding, Tony! Great looking plane and I'm glad that you got out for some flying.

Love getting out and flying. Hoping to get out today and do some more. Have the big edge in the car just waiting.

After seeing the post you put in the for sale section Tony, it would seem I missed the boat

Yup, I went ahead got it. Had a credit with HK, so why not lol. It was free lmao.

I had been stopping myself from getting a micro. Still am. But you might have just tipped the scales . You suck! Hahahaha jk!

Good video review though! Nice to see that steerable nose wheel. And like uri said! Man if this had retracts it would have been PERFECT!! ;D

Gaba, this is an awesome little plane! It's just easy as pie to fly, very stable and predictable. I'm not an EPP or EPO fan, but man, for something to just toss in the air, this thing is great! More than likely going to be my go to plane for when I want to just fly.
 

Tony

Staff member
I'm not sure about great flying. Those gyro's in that plane work magic with my flying. And on this video, was the only bad landing I have had with this plane. I have two more videos that I shot right after this one that are just flight videos and the landings are spot on. This was the first time landing with landing gear and I didn't expect it to bounce like it did. Now I know to flair it right before touching the ground. I will try to get the other videos uploaded some time this week if I have time.
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
What a little screamer. Looks like a lot of fun.
My neighbour used to have something a bit like that only much louder.
Used to annoy the crap outa me by flying it over my house.
I did ask him not to fly it over my place but he ignored that.
He didn't ignore the 12 gauge pointing in it's general direction though.
Not that I ever used it but he stopped flying over my house. :)
 

Tony

Staff member
Holy crap, Sept. of last year was the last time this was updated? Wow.

I just walked into my closet and saw the habu box. Man I really need to get some toys back out and play with them...
 

murankar

Staff member
That's because of no play! Come on you know you want to. Hope the packs are good.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Forum Runner
 

Tony

Staff member
Yeah well, there is a reason for the "no play". From this forum, to new projects to new businesses and so on. Just don't have time to fly anything. I am hoping to take the truck racing this saturday, but I'm just going to have to play that one by ear.
 
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