ElectriFly’s
Cosmic Wind
Speed is king with ElectriFly’s new tribute to the Goodyear racing class!
By Larry Kruse PHOTOGRAPHY: LARRY KRUSE G
reat Planes reached back some 65 years into aviation history for the inspiration for one of its newest offerings to the modeling public,
the ElectriFly Cosmic Wind. Originally de- signed and built by Lockheed’s chief test pilot, the legendary Tony LeVier and a handful of Lockheed engineers, this tiny single-seat racer was aimed squarely at Goodyear Trophy Formula I racing in 1947. Driven by the competition formula and an 85 hp Continental C-85 engine, the plane never lived up to its pedigree in the races of the times, finishing third and fourth in the 1947 Goodyear Trophy Race. Three planes were built initially, a fourth
later, and finally a fifth version built by am- ateur builders. At least one more version of the design was built in the UK and remains on the civil aircraft registry, but lacks a “Permit to Fly”. Its sleek classic lines, with a flowing fuse-
lage shape, squared and tapered flying sur- faces, and a racer’s trademark bubble canopy were captured nicely by Great Planes in this electric-powered race plane that looks fast, even at rest.
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An overview Presented as an ARF, the plane offers somewhat more than what one thinks of as the typical almost-ready-to-fly model of to- day. Opening the nicely packaged box re- vealed a plane with a very low parts count, which spoke to rapid assembly. The larger parts were taped to both sides
of a clever “floating” cardboard divider which keeps everything suspended away from the top, bottom, or sides of the box and securely safe in shipping. Removing the se- curing tape revealed a one-piece fiberglass fuselage with the battery hatch positioned on the bottom of the nose area, held in place with a peg at the front and two magnets at the rear. The flowing fiberglass fuselage and the compound curved hatch were perfectly rendered and painted to an exact match of the MonoKote covered flying surfaces. My version of the plane was “Missile Red”
in color, although a solid white version is also available. The flying surfaces of both versions are built-up balsa and ply structures, nicely constructed and warp-free. The other re- maining parts consisted of two aluminum landing gear legs and two molded fiberglass
AT A GLANCE Type:
Construction: Wing span: Wing area: Airfoil: Length: Weight:
Wing loading: Motor: ESC:
Battery: Radio:
R/C electric sport scale fiberglass, balsa & ply 36 inches 254 sq. in.
semi-symmetrical 32 inches
29.5 ounces 16.7 oz./sq.ft. Rimfire .10 35-amp
Manufacturer:
1800 mAh 11.1V 25C Li-Po 4-channel, 3 mini servos ElectriFly
Dist. by: Hobbico P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826 217-398-3630
www.electrifly.com
APRIL 2012
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