FanFacts W
elcome back to the last issue of this year! It’s always interesting to think back on the neat planes we have seen: (a) at the field last weekend, (b) at the last event attended, (c) in this publication and (d) on the web—and then think about those we’d like to model, and so I have been!
After giving the matter much thought, I’m
in love with far too many! That being said, I think I need (rephrase that to: I need) to find time to find my workshop (anyone got a GPS fix on it?). The first plane that caught my at- tention was one I have mentioned before— the Super Sniper XL 90mm edf from HET (marketed by The Electric Jet Factory). At 58 inches, it should be an easy plane to see, have good wing loading on 8–12 cells, and best of all easy to transport and maintain. Not only that, but the economy of a 90mm fan unit, and the number of new fans coming on the market (HETs V2 for 90mm, Jet Fan, Stumax, TamJets and some Chinese stuff) gives a huge number of options for powering this beauty.
Reports of the flight characteristics are wonderful, and the company responded to problems with the stab design with a com- plete rework of that critical surface. Priced very competitively with other 90mm jets on the market (does that make me sound like a salesman or what?) it is at the lower end of the price spectrum for an all-composite air- plane. Hopefully, we’ll see lots of these in the air next season, because they look and do fly well with a nice speed range. My second airplane is yet another edf, this time for 70mm. I was sent a link with every synonym of praise there is for the Tuf Flight Tiger. This hand launched EPS and regular blue foam/balsa F-20ish looking jet (as are the majority of the sport jets out there) sure looks like fun in the video and is pretty darn inexpensive! Since you can add your own power system to it—everything from Hori- zon’s E-flite Delta V15 fan (the stock Habu powerplant) or a super powerful WeMoTec/ HET/Schubeler setup can be used—which allows for great affordability.
Being a true kit—not an arf—this makes me like it even more, since creativity in
by greg moore You can reach Greg Moore via e-mail at
jetflyr@comcast.net
PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG MOORE
The two factory beta-build Super Sniper XLs sit at a California event between flights while their batteries get charged. While the color schemes make them appear radically different in size, they are identical. Amazing how a color scheme can affect size perception!
powerplants and color schemes is a virtue in my mind! They also have two different edf-parkfliers, so check them out at:
www.tufflight.com.
My third choice goes up in size and com- plexity, but flies so nicely! It is the Toma- hawk Jets 1.9 meter Futura (75-inch wingspan and 81 inches long). When first in- troduced, its big brother (2.5-meter or 98.5- inch span) generated a huge love-hate debate on the web. Its form follows function, but it definitely needs the right paint job to make it attractive. I had first hand experience with one of the first out of the molds, which a club member purchased as his first jet, and was impressed with its sporty performance on an 80N engine, even at our altitude (Colorado Springs).
With his passing, and the sale of the plane, it sort of fell out of my attention span until this year, when seeing it flown with a 100N engine made me stand on the flight line and drool. While not a scale jet, it does every- thing one could ask of it, and lands as gently
as a butterfly with sore feet, even when the winds are calm.
My fourth choice is so ugly that it is beau- tiful—none other than the F-4 Phantom edf from Horizon. Fellow PPRC’er Dan Brunson decided he had to have one, and it flew great, even at 5000 feet on an almost 100- degree day! Let’s face it, Horizon’s stock powerplants just work for the models they’re placed in, and good support from them is available in all 50 states. While not the best color scheme for us mere mortals to see ... Ultracote is paintable and/or replaceable, and there are a number of higher-visibility schemes for this iconic beauty. I expect we will see more of these at the field next year. Also of interest are the airframe-only op-
tions from Exceed RC (and some of the other Chinese foam-arf manufacturers) since you can experiment with power systems to your heart’s content. Aaron Cooke, from Pueblo, CO, decided to do just that. His F-86, from Exceed RC, is beautiful, tough, and fairly cheap, allowing his drawer full of servos to
Scott Marr’s Tomahawk Jets 1.9 meter span Futura(above) flashes down the flight line in an impossibly slow roll just two wingspans high. Stable at both high and very slow speeds, a JetCat P100 shoves it around perfectly! Coming in for a landing in dead calm (and hot) conditions (at right), the 1.9 meter version of the Futuralands at a walking pace, like a butterfly with sore feet.
60 DECEMBER 2012
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