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J-3Kitten


Micro electronics make this small model perfect for your first micro electric scale build!


By Pat Tritle PHOTOGRAPHY: PAT TRITLE W 34


ith all of the RTF and Bind-N- Fly offerings available these days, the door has been opened for some terrific small models and freeflight-to-R/C conversions using the running gear from these models. As these models come to their demise, the equipment can be stripped out and used in all sorts of things to build some nice indoor flyers that can be flown outdoors as well, providing the weather conditions are favorable. Being relatively new to the R/C micro- modeling, I thought it best to start simple, test the water, and see how it goes. Well what better subject matter is there than to work up a J-3 Kitten ultralight for the first go at it?


The Hipp’s Superbirds J-3 Kitten is an ul- tralight single-place, high wing monoplane designed by Jessie Anglin. The first Kitten was flown in 1986 and has since become


very popular in the ultralight world. The full scale Kitten spans 30 feet with a length of 16 feet, 3 inches and tips the scales at 250 pounds. Power is provided by a 28 hp Rotax 277 single-cylinder engine, with a cruise speed of 60 mph. The Kitten has a very re- spectable climb rate of 750 fpm, and stalls at 24 mph. Very impressive specs, and a simple straightforward airframe too.


Having the power and guidance system in hand from the Horizon Hobby Beast, it looked like a 30-inch span model might be a bit large, so I opted to work up the Kitten at 28 inches, which worked out perfectly. The design, as with the full scale, is extremely simple, and since the goal was to keep the weight down using all off-the-shelf compo- nents, I opted to stay with 3-channel control. The result was a 57-gram model that flies very well outdoors, so should do well indoors as well.


AT A GLANCE Type:


Construction: Wing span: Wing area: Length: Weight:


Wing loading: Motor:


Radio/ESC Battery:


R/C micro electric scale balsa


28 inches 103 sq. in.


15.75 inches 57 grams


.55 gms/sq.in. E-flite BL180


E-flite DSM2 6-channel with linear servos


2S 180 mAh Li-Po DECEMBER 2012


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