E-flite/Horizon Hobby AT-6 1.5m
Check out the “Heavy-Metal Honey”
Check out the “Heavy-Metal Honey”
Just as with model airplanes, pilots of full-scale aircraft aren’t immediately handed the sticks to a high-performance warbird; we have to crawl before we walk. In 1935, the North American Aviation company produced the first of many variants of a single-engine trainer aircraft to train pilots of the
U.S. Army Air Forces, U.S. Navy, Royal Air Force, and others during World War II and into the 1970s. After a few tweaks, the AT-6 (or SNJ) was designated as an advanced trainer and thousands were produced—just like successful model aircraft. Speaking of which, E-flite has entered another exciting new model into the world of warbirds, and this month’s test is with its AT-6, aka “Heavy-Metal
Honey.” AT-6 airplanes are known to be big and bulky, and when the nearly 5-foot-long box arrived, it was time to get excited.
Upon opening said package, I found that the model is made out of foam and has a host of high-quality provisions. As for the shipping breakdown, it is minimal: a fuselage, a wing, and elevator halves are all you’ll need to work with. You’ll have to try pretty hard to spend more than
15 minutes on assembly as everything goes together with a few fasteners. A
3-cell 2200mAh pack provides good punch and flight times, along with being available and inexpensive. Even though anyone could successfully assemble the
AT-6, intermediate or advanced pilots should be at the controls during flight.
UNIQUE FEATURES
The AT-6 is available as a Plug-N-Play (PNP) or Bind-N-Fly (BNF) Basic. The BNF Basic version only requires a flight battery and your 6-channel DSMX or DSM2 transmitter, while the PNP also requires a receiver. For me, it was a no-brainer to get the BNF Basic for the $20 extra. At first view, the actual size of the model is an eyeopener. The thick wing is quite wide with plenty of presence, and the fuselage is appropriately short and stout. The paint job on both parts is visible and clean-cut. Panel lines, pilot bust, and miscellaneous markings demonstrate a venerable scale attitude. The nose is covered with a painted plastic cowl under which is a preinstalled brushless powerplant. The 15-size outrunner motor is ready to go with a 40-amp speed control and a propeller already connected and attached. A chrome prop nut/spinner finishes the front end. A huge canopy/hatch has strong magnetization, and opens to reveal a cavernous fuselage interior. Inside, there are the required electronics, all preinstalled. Empennage servos are located, secured, and linked up to control rods. The rudder linkage is completely done at the factory, and the elevator system is ready for final hookup and adjustment.
Plastic clevises are threaded on metal rods, which ride inside of guide tubes located within the fuselage. An AR636A receiver is situated, prewired, and preprogrammed with the AS3X and SAFE Select protocols. All you need to do is bind it to your transmitter. Radio setups and plenty of good information are outlined in the multilanguage instruction manual. Built in and preinstalled to the wing are the distinctive split flaps and aileron servos, completed with their necessary linkages. A set of electric retractable landing gear features scale-type foam wheels, which are almost 3 inches in diameter, enabling operation from grassy surfaces. Now, you might be thinking there would be a mess of wires to contend with, given all the moving components; however, the E-flite designers created a handsfree connection system. Mating plugs for the electronics are positioned on both the wing and fuse, and they connect during assembly, making the process simple and fast. Also easy is transporting the AT-6 because only four fasteners are employed for wing attachment
and removal. Decals are preapplied over the silver-and-blue paint scheme, which is modeled after the 6147th Tactical Control Group, better known as the “Mosquitoes Squadron.”
IN THE AIR
Short grass, hard pack, or paved surfaces are suitable for ground roll operations. Takeoffs are effortless, and the model retains a “floaty” feeling in the air. It should be noted that the power available is beyond adequate for a warbird, but I know the speed demons out there always want more. Our flight tests proved that this AT-6 flies fantastically with a 30C 3S 2200mAh pack strapped in. You certainly could add more power in the form of a larger motor, larger speed control, and higher-cell-count battery, but be advised that you will also be adding weight.
This weight will increase the model’s wing load, raise the plane’s stall speed, and end up as a flight performance trade-off. Landings should be flown all the way home. Make sure to keep the wings level and your rudder thumb ready just in case any side forces are encountered. The first landing was in a slight breeze and was a gorgeous three-point affair, which was quite gratifying.
GENERAL FLIGHT PERFORMANCE
Stability: I took a couple of extra minutes to verify the lateral balance of the plane, and I also balanced the model in the middle of the recommended center-of-gravity range. With that dialed in, the best word to describe this plane is extremely “solid” in flight. The wide gear stance helps with ground stability.
Tracking: A little rudder is required on the rollout. After the first test flight’s departure and a couple of trim clicks, the plane did what it was supposed to do. Simply point it at a target and it goes there.
Aerobatics: All evasive maneuvers necessary for survival are easily doable, and for fun, you can throw in a knife-edge. While it may not be a true-to–scale maneuver, it looks cool to fly the plane on its side or upside down across the field.
Glide and stall performance: There are
500 square inches of wing area, but remember that this is a warbird and it weighs 3.8 pounds. That said, the AT-6 easily flies around at surprisingly low airspeeds. Don’t go too slow while flying too low to the hard stuff below; practice your stalls up high.
PILOT DEBRIEFING
A few inexpensive 3-cell batteries will keep this “Heavy-Metal Honey” flying all day. Field wing installation and removal is super fast via four fasteners and a true plug-in wing, leaving more room in your vehicle for more aircraft.