Scimitar
If you decide to go the retract route like Chris, work begins by cutting and bending the nose retract wire (above). E-flite also sells a pre-bent gear wire if you would prefer to skip the extra work. With the nose retract installed, work on the main gear begins with the removal of this wheelwell cover (at right). Note the preinstalled retract leads taped in the wheelwells.
for both options are provided, but in my opinion, this airframe deserves retracts. E-flite 10 to 15 size electric retracts (EFLG110) are the drop-in choice, with some minor cutting and bending involved for a perfect fit. The nose retract in the Scimitar requires
a custom bent strut (EFL1018017) accord- ing to the manual. This strut can be ordered separately, but the stock strut included with the E-flite retracts can be easily bent to fit as well. A cut-off wheel on my rotary tool is the best way I have found to cut the gear wire to fit. Also be sure to grind flat spots on all of the gear where the axle bolts on; this eliminates twisting during service. The Scimitar quickly takes shape next as
the vertical stabs and wings are slid into place. Two carbon fiber tubes slide into the fuselage, and the stabs and wings slide onto these. The rudder and aileron servo leads are rather short as to remain hidden once assembled, and fixed female plugs are locat- ed on the fuselage into which they go. The leads are plugged in as the stabs and wings are slid into place. Care must be taken to make sure that the leads are not pinched. Once the stabs and wings are seated, two screws on each side hold everything in place. Next up is prop balancing. Normally, bal-
ancing your prop isn’t even mentioned in an airframe’s manual, period; but because of
the thrust vectoring on the Scimitar it is of the upmost importance. Any undue imbal- ance could wreak havoc on the thrust vec- toring servo, quickly wearing it out. The manual is very helpful here for those who are not used to balancing a propeller prop- erly, both horizontally and vertically (hub balancing). The included prop (a 10–8) has large “ears” on each side perpendicular to the blades to make this chore easier. Per- fectly balancing my prop took less than 10 minutes. Access to the guts of the Scimitar is super
easy via two plastic hatches held in place with a few machine screws. Removal of the rearmost hatch reveals the thrust vectoring servo and mechanism. If you do not wish to get involved with the thrust vectoring from the get-go, instructions are included to re- move the thrust vectoring servo and install a plastic lock to bypass it. I was all ready to throw this plane around the sky, so I left the Scimitar with the vectoring functional. At this point the only items left to check
off your pre-flight list are the control and thrust vectoring throws and the center of gravity. Although it goes without saying, any time you are messing around with radio settings with a live electric airplane you should remove the propeller for safety’s sake. The thrust vectoring requires that you mix its servo with the rudders to get maxi-
mum deflection of the prop without overex- tending the servo. You also want to assign the thrust vectoring mix to a switch so that it is not engaged the whole time, since the plane does some crazy maneuvers with it on. The only slight downside I could imagine
with the airframe is that the process to re- move a wing for transport is not overly fast or easy due to the short servo leads. Also, be- cause of the Scimitar’s unusual shape, a foam cradle would really help hold the plane as you assemble it. Luckily for me, the Scim- itar does fit into my trunk in one piece, but this might be something to consider if you drive a smaller vehicle. With the included 4S 3200 mAh Li-Po
pushed all the way forward in the huge bat- tery tray, the E-flite Scimitar balanced right around the aft-most recommended point. Being that the Scimitar is a delta, I was not too worried about this. My JR X9503 has triple rates, so I programmed in what the manual suggested along with “more than high rates” just for fun. With a ready to fly weight nearing 4.5 pounds, the model cer- tainly feels like it has some heft. The E-flite Scimitar was one of those
planes where I had no idea what to expect in terms of flying characteristics, so I was ex- tra excited to get it in the air. First thing about the Scimitar is that, as a pusher with large ventral fins, ground clearance is at a
The main retract struts are cut to length and then the units get installed with long screws (above left). This is very easy work and everything lines up perfectly. The Scimitaruses two carbon fiber wing tubes on which the stabs and
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wings slide onto (above right). Note the labeled servo leads and extra wire that must be carefully tucked away. This makes for a neat, clean installation, and leaves no guesswork about setting up the electronics.
AUGUST 2012
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