Here's a plane that looks
right. More than that, when I got mine yesterday it feels right too. This is the first of
the new versions with a different fuselage and I'm rushing to screw it together in time
for the Eurotour events in France and Spain over the next few weeks.
First impressions are good. The
wing is excellent - very stiff but certainly not heavy. The surface finish is as good as
anything out there and the join is excellent with no overlap.
The fuselage seems very tough
with bags of carbon and kevlar yet impressively light and shouldn't need much lead
to balance. There's also a long overlap and large cuff where the inner nose joins the
fuselage so there's every chance that's robust as well. The tail linkage is very
interesting and if it works as well as the theory it could well start a trend (pull for up
= good!). The tail itself is strong and light and uses a carbon tube in carbon tube mount
that fits perfectly, very impressive.
The profile has good camber and
thickness, the span is 2.8m and the V tail looks to to have the right area for the moment
arm. All in all there's every reason to be quite excited about getting this thing in the
air. I'd better get back to building it then... more soon...
More information from the
designer is here and one
of the best build documentaries around is here.
