The Calypso’shigh quality parts are very few in number and assemble quickly with no tweaking or adjusting to get everything to fit. The author chose the transmitter-ready version which includes the receiver, flight battery and charger. The charger (shown at the left of the photo) is a field charger that plugs into the car’s auxiliary 12-volt receptacle.
The Calypso is available in one of three versions—the receiver-ready version that requires you to supply the radio system and battery of your choice; the transmitter- ready version where the receiver and bat- tery are provided; and the ready-to-fly ver- sion that provides everything needed to fly the plane almost literally out of the box. All of the versions are four-channel with rud- der, elevator, aileron and motor control. Flaps are also an option with additional ser- vos and linkage hardware required—but more about that later.
Spanning a comfortable 73 inches (1855 mm), the plane isn’t quite in the two-meter glider category, but it is large enough to present an easily visible planform in the air, even when it’s high above and riding a ther- mal. All versions of the model are powered by a C28-30 1300 KV outrunner motor using an 18A ESC, a 9–5 folding prop and a recom- mended 1300 mAh battery. That combina- tion has plenty of power for however you
wish to use the plane, and under full power the manual suggests that the plane should have at least a 5-minute motor run drawing 210 mAh per minute.
It should be noted that while the receiver- ready and transmitter-ready versions of the plane come with a charger, it is a 12-volt field charger, intended to be plugged into an automobile auxiliary port in your car. A sep- arate charger will be needed if you are charg- ing from a 120-volt household receptacle. Removed from the box, the plane only has seven parts for the assembly process, includ- ing the “Y” connector for the aileron servos. It goes together in a matter of minutes since the servos are already mounted and the pushrods installed for all flight controls. I chose the transmitter-ready version since I already had a compatible transmitter for the Tactic TR624 6-channel receiver that comes installed in that version. As such, the first task was to install the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces. Those two pieces inter-
The illustrated instruction manual is loaded with pictures (above) and is an excellent step-by-step guide to assembly of the Calypso, even including detailed instructions on installing optional flaps. The transmitter-ready Calypso comes with a Tactic TR624 6-channel receiver (at right) already mounted with hook and loop material to the inside of the fuselage. The servo extension ends are ready for the aileron servo wires which are threaded through an opening in the back of the cockpit area to the receiver.
FLYING MODELS 27
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