Can you Guess what it is yet?

Ooops. After a flurry over emails over the last few days, I have managed to get hold of one of the first production samples of a glider. It's on it's way to me as I type, so I'll do a little build thread. Anyone care to guess what it is?

Andy

warp 4

Never heard of it! I thought Warp 4 were an American company that made little 400 sized brushless motors, roughly equivalent to Mega 16/15 series, but not as good!

So no, it's not a Warp 4. It's also not electric. And purple (hopefully)....

Andy

hmm not electric

60"span?

M70 Jart ?

good shout there is a purcle one so thats the puppy i reckon

M

There was only one left and who else but Andy would buy a purple one

Just checked and they are still showing one in stock on the inventory page over at Sloperacer

It is not a Jart (although they do look nice!). Some more clues: It's smaller than 60" and it has some carbon blingy goodness on show, as well as the purpley-ness. Oh, and it only needs two servos....

"Wildthing" MkII with a couple of rolls of purple tape

mini blaster

Wildthing, I think not! I didn't even know that pruple tape was available. I've seen it in Orange, but that's about it....

Mini Blaster, now you are getting close

Andy

HLG is gay!

DLG is Manly though.....

ha ha clever!

Bored now tell me what it is!

BB

Me too.

It's one of the first production samples of an ELF, from Vladimir's models in the Ukraine. It's the same bunch of chaps who made my Graphite, and also made the Blaster DLG's.

The ELF is a mosquito class DLG, a tiny bit smaller than my Mini-fireworks, approx 1m span. The difference will be that the ELF will be about half the weight of the MF (approx 4oz all up), so it will be capable of staying up using the hot air from people talking in the pits Ther are afew prototypes knocking around, which had a V-tail, although that is rubbish for discus lanuching, so the production models have a tail more akin to the blaster. An all moving stabiliser, and a conventional fin/rudder. The wing is a carbon D-box item, with capped ribs at the back. Loads of dihedral, no ailerons and plenty of purple!

Fingers crossed it will be here tomorrow

Andy

http://f3j.in.ua/index.php?id=190

Intresting!

Will you be buying a pair of shorts like the boy in the photo?

Already got a pair that are just the ticket. I'm banned from wearing them outside of the house, or when we have people coming round

I've just picked up a couple of servos for this little DLG, ripmax SD100's. Nice and light, very thin, yet they have a surprisingly strong and precise geartrain. I'll probably have to chop the lugs off, but hey.

Andy

servos are spot on, called dymond in eroupe!

M

I've also seen them on sale in Steve Webb's in Frodsham under the "Logic" brand. The only think I don't like about them, is that the arm retaining screw is tiny! Sausage fingers and tiny screw do not play well together.... Oh, and the leads are a bit short too. That shoudln't be an issue in this build though, the model is tiny!

Andy

very nice!!!
It has a funny name

Be interested to see this one!

Will it be up to "elf and safety" rules at the field

Brian Colclough wrote:Will it be up to "elf and safety" rules at the field

"Groan" lol

For those that didn't see this last night at the field, a big, but very light box turned up on my doorstep yesterday. The majority of the contents in the box were fresh air, but also taped up nicely was one of the first production ELF gliders. The ELF is made by Vladimir's Models, and is a mosquito class DLG that weighs next to nothing! The ELF is from the same stable as the Blaster 2, and a number of other excellent little gliders! It is a pretty simple model, just a wing, pod/boom/tail feathers and the controls are rudder/elevator only. Estimated all up weight is going to be around 95 grams (3.5oz), and the wingspan is 1m. The wing loading is going to be in the region of 2.7oz/sq.ft, which means it should stay aloft on the slightest of updrafts! It will be available from Neil at Hyperflight imminently.

The parts that turned up in the box were very high quality indeed. The boom is a wrapped carbon affair with a pre-milled slot for the fin, and a flattened section at the front for mounting the RC equipment on. The fin looks like it has a rigid foam core with a vac-bagged glass finish, and live hinged rudder too.. The horizontal stab is similar to fin, although it is designed to mount to a carbon little standoff/pivot providing an all moving stab. Both the fin and the stab have carbon inserts to stiffen it up, and some kind of filler on the leading/trailing edge to provide a degree of ding resistance.

Also included is a rather neat little pod assembly that has been moulded from transparent plastic. It is designed to be bonded to the boom, and has some threaded lugs to locate the wing onto. There is also a nosecone from the same material. The plastic is relatively thick, I was expecting a wafer thin part, but it is nice and sturdy (perfect for my landings!) The wing fit is brilliant, no gaps or fettling needed.

The biggest bit of the kit, and the nicest, is the wing though. It has a large amount of dihedral, but as it is a rudder elevator model, that is to be expected. The construction is a blend of carbon, balsa and film. The spar is made up of carbon, with a vertical grain shear web. This interfaces with balsa ribs that have carbon cap strips, and a moulded carbon D box. The trailing edge is a carbon strip, and aft of the spar is covered with film. The D box and spar are nicely curved, and at the wingtip there is a slot for bonding in the launching blade. The centre of the wing has some reinforcement for mounting it to the pod/fuselage, and a recess to clear a receiver in the pod. The whole affair is amazingly light, and incredibly strong. It also looks rather nice

The accessory pack looks to be quite comprehensive too, some carbon rods for the pushrods, end fittings, screws for the wing, the rudder horn, two launch blades (one for each end of the wing so it can be an ambidextrous model!), the elevator mount/hinge/horn and a few other little bits and pieces too.

I've not had chance to weigh any of the parts yet, so I'll get that done when I get some workshop time on Sunday. Suffice to say it is featherweight though! I'll be fitting a pair of Ripmax SD100 servos for control duties, and a trusty Jeti Duplex R4 . The power source is also a new product that will be available from Hyperflight called the Shread RC Smart Lipo. It consists of a single 240mAh lipo cell, and a small chunk of electronics to provide a regulated 5v output at up to 1A. It also has a warning buzzer to report the cell voltage/low voltage, and a little 2 pin jack. The jack has a jumper fitted to power the device down (remove it to turn on) and the same jack is also used to charge the pack. Interestingly, the charge control is all done by the device, so you just need to connect it to a 5-15VDC power source. The charge rate and cut-off are all controlled by the Smart Lipo, and protection from over-discharge are all integrated too. All this weighs a paltry 11grams, and fits perfectly in the nose cone of the ELF

I'll be taking some pictures of the build, and describing what I am doing, but that won't start until Sunday, but for more information, here are some links:

www.hyperflight.co.uk - UK distributor of Vladimir's models (ELF, Blaster etc) and Shread-RC.
http://f3j.in.ua/index.php?id=190 - ELF product page on Vladimir's website
http://shread-rc.com/?p=6 - Shread-RC product page for the Smart Lipo

More later