The Sea Fury’s radio compartment (above left) showing the elevator and rudder servos as well as the Spektrum AR6115 2.4GHz receiver. The Sea
battery. The prescribed setup here is that if the battery and foam block are not posi- tioned correctly the canopy hatch will not seat. When everything is where it should be the battery cannot move and the c.g. is right on the money (c.g. marks are molded on the top side of the wing). I set all the throws per the manual, with maximum deflection as my third option. I waited with great anticipation for a good
day to maiden the Sea Fury; this unprece- dented warm March weather has meant some rather windy days in New Jersey. I was finally able to make it out on a perfect day with my wonderful camera woman and fiancé, Jennifer. After a thorough pre-flight I laid the Sea Fury down on the paved run- way and taxied into position. With a light headwind, I slowly ad-
vanced the throttle and found the Sea Fury lifting off of the ground at about ¾ of full power. I quickly flipped the switch to raise the gear and grabbed some altitude to work on any trim anomalies. Surprisingly, no trim adjustments were necessary. The
Furyhas a nicely detailed pilot figure and cockpit (above right). This hatch has two pins in the rear and a rare-earth magnet at the front.
rest of the fight was spent getting flight shots (just in case the worst should hap- pen) while simultaneously trying to get a feel for the aircraft. Two things became quickly apparent. One
is that the E-flite Sea Fury has excellent slow-speed characteristics with no tendency to snap or fall out of tight turns at low speed. Second was that, with the E-flite 480 on the business end, the Sea Fury is an absolute rocket! Vertical performance is absolutely unlimited and I noted no tendency for the Sea Fury to pitch up or down at these speed extremes. It flies so solidly that before you eat up your first battery you will find your- self confidently doing low, all-out passes. I found the recommended low rates rather
bland with the high rates more scale-like. Maximum deflection turns the Sea Fury into an aerobat; you’d be surprised how well it snaps and spins! Despite a moderate and growing breeze, the little Sea Fury flew like a much larger model. I brought several batteries with me on maiden day, so I also got a feel for how the PHOTO: JENNIFER ALLAN
Sea Fury lands. Again, I found that it han- dles like a much larger warbird, but without any of the nasty tendencies of a more heav- ily loaded model. The Sea Fury settles in nicely onto the mains while keeping up a lit- tle throttle with little effort on the pilot’s part. Just smooth predictable landings with no squirreliness to speak of. The small (but scale-like) main wheels on
the Sea Fury might not be well suited for tall grass fields, but with the retracts up, hand launches are super easy with all that power and you could just belly land it. In terms of flight times I had my timer set at 7 minutes with tons of capacity left. Overall I am totally impressed with the E-
flite Sea Fury. The ARF did have a few mi- nor snags which are likely due to it being a re-release, but the Sea Fury’s outstanding looks and flying characteristics make it more than worth it. If you want a beautiful foam warbird that flies like a warbird while being small enough to fit in your back seat, I highly recommend E-flite’s Hawker Sea Fury.
The ready to fly Sea Furyprior to the maiden flight (above). Despite being a foamy, it
is very scale with all of the Royal Navy livery in the right
locations. E-flite’s Sea Furylooks great in the air and could almost pass as the real thing (at right). Whether just above stall speed or with the throttle firewalled, the Sea Fury flies awesome!
FLYING MODELS 51
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