ElectriFly’s
Widgeon By Frank Fanelli
Owning a scale electric amphibian is no longer a fantasy!
PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANK FANELLI & JIM WIGGIN O
nce upon a time I owned a large scratchbuilt Grumman Widgeon. There were big plans for the plane: retracts, flaps, optional retract -
able wing tip floats (an option on some of the real ones), fabulous paint scheme, etc. It did- n’t happen and after a while I traded it. But the fascination with the Widgeon and off- the-water flying endured. Well the stars do align sometimes. Electri -
Fly had just come out with their new 51-inch G-44 Widgeon for two Rimfire 400 motors. And I had a week’s vacation in October, at my boyhood home in New York, complete with an accommodating lake. How could I miss?
When the Widgeon came, I got started
right away, but weather and wind didn’t leave much time to finish and fly it by the end of the week. That gave me a chance to look the contents over more thoroughly. What I and you will find is that the Widgeon is a combination wood/fiberglass model. The wings are traditional built-up balsa, while the complete fuselage is very nicely molded fiberglass. That’s a very welcome change from many
of the foam planes and a good choice for a re- ally watertight and waterproof hull. It would be best to note here that the Electri- Fly Widgeon is strictly a water plane. There is no provision for landing gear, but that doesn’t mean that the fuselage couldn’t be modified for a fixed main gear, and a tail wheel added. But that’s a project for anoth-
30
er time. I was more intent on enjoying the Widgeon on the water. The rest of the kit is very complete. The
only shopping needed is for the two Rimfire motors, the two 25-amp ESCs, and the radio gear. With all the choices available in ser- vos, the manual makes it easy, citing two Futaba 3114s for the ailerons (21 ounce- inches) and two 3115s, one for the elevator and the other for the rudder (39 ounce-inch- es). The single battery needed is a 3200 mAh 3S Li-Po. While taking all the pieces out of the box,
I was impressed by how drum tight the MonoKote covering was. From the time I got the Widgeon in the mid-Fall it stayed that way until mid-December when the humidi- ty levels dropped. Then it wrinkled a little, but some work with a Coverite iron set at 320 degrees took care of that. One suggestion before diving into the as- sembly would be that all the small sheet metal, machine, and socket head screws be separated and identified before starting as- sembly. During the building process, the manual explicitly specifies what screws are to be used in individual steps so rather than hunt around for them, it’s easier have them ready when needed. The manual is pretty good with its in- structions and pictures so it was an enjoy- able process putting the plane together and the instructions don’t leave any perplexing questions about what to do and the order in which to do them.
AT A GLANCE Type:
R/C electric scale
Construction: balsa, ply and fiberglass Wing span: Wing area: Airfoil: Length: Weight:
51 inches 373 sq. in.
semi-symmetrical 36 inches
Wing loading: Prop:
Motor: ESC:
Radio: Manufacturer:
4–4.5 pounds 25–28 oz./sq.ft. (2) EP 8–6
(2) RimFire 400 (2) 25-amp
4-channel, 4 micro servos ElectriFly
Dist. by: Hobbico P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826 217-398-3630
www.greatplanes.com The wing is the major part of the whole as-
sembly process since there’s a lot going on there: motors, cables, servos, floats. About the most difficult part of the assembly process was snaking the wires for the servo cables and the motor through the center sec- tion. Thankfully ElectriFly has put lengths of string from the servo bays and motor na- celle area to guide the cables and wires into and out of the respective holes. Three suggestions here that made the process easier for me. First, identify the
JUNE 2012
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