End of the Javelin E ( R.I.P )

What a sad day it was when my Javelin E have a major accident. All this happened during last weekend when I was try to land the sailplane during a cross wind. It was sudden gust of wind that blew it off track and ended up hitting the fences and toppled. Damage was severe as the fuselage broke into 2 1/2 pieces and several cracks in the middle of the fuselage. The wing suffered severed damage on the tips where it was torn to pieces. Broke the aileron on the other wing. Repairing of the fuselage wouldn't be a prolem but the wing are beyond repair. The main spar in the wing broke and there no way I could access it unless teh whole pieces have been cut up. I have learn a lesson well from this as partly I was careless too.

Anyway, decided to salvage the electronics parts as it was still at a good working conditions. Got my hands itchy again and start browse the web to search for something new again. Finally it got my attention. The 'Stork 2 Pro' from Soaring USA. It was a beauty to look at it and after some calls and emails. I have decided to purchase it. The aircraft should be here in 5 to 6 days time period as it was sent by FEDEX. For the meantime I have manage to browse for the build thread for the 'Stork 2 Pro'. It wasn't that much work that needed to be done as mention on the thread and I believe the building is much easier than the Spirit and both the 'Stork 2 Pro' and 'Spirit' are from the same manufacturer which is NAN Models from CZ.

This time I would try to publish the building process of the 'Stork 2 Pro' :)

Got these photos of the 'Stork 2 Pro' from Soaring USA site. It does look elegant. Can't wait to get my hands on them.

The "E Javelin" from Soaring Composite

Having caught the 'fully moulded sailplane fever', I have sold off my other large balsa sailplane in order to own a fleet of fully moulded sailplanes.

There are differences in flying a fully moulded sailplane compared to balsa sailplane. The balsa kit are normally light and easy on thermal but it does not penetrate well when there is a slight heavy wind not unless if it has a heavy ballast on. In contrast a moulded sailplane penetrates well due to the design of the wings and also the agility of the aircraft. A moulded sailplane is also tough as it has carbon stirps or carbon cloth moulded in the wings and fuselage.

One day about two weeks ago, I decided to purchase the "E-Javelin" from Soaring Composites. Mr Pang, the owner have flown the slope version before. He told me that the slope version have been proven to be a graceful aircraft. Without any hestitation, I decided to purchase it ( as an early Christmas present to myself...hahaha ).

It was rather easy to build apart from the minor modifications. The original cockpit was very tight for my batteries and electronics to fit in. After several days of building time, the bird is ready to take the sky. Waiting for the weekend for it to have its maiden flight was agonizing as I was eager to find out how the aircraft would perform at different stages of the flight.

I went down to BBAFC site in the ofternoon. Mr Pang was there to assist me on the last minute check and settings. Although the weather was not very good and the sky was cloudy, I decided to test the aircraft in flight. Vincent ( a.k.a Sonyalpha ) was also there to capture still photographs of the sailplane in flight. As a standard practice, he blessed the sailplane and the pilot before the commencement of the maiden flight.

Upon the first burst of launching power, the E-Javelin went up gracefully. With a MVVS glider motor ( 690Kv ) with a 15/10 aeronaut propeller, the climb was moderate and consistent. Once it reches a desired height above the flying site, I cut the throttle and the aircraft started thermalling. After some trimmings, it flew perfectly.

After five minutes of flight time, I brought it down and did a full round check before going up again. Everything was fine for another flight.

On the second flight, Mr Pang himself launch the plane for me. I allowed it to climb several meters up before cutting the throttle. The procedure was to allow me to evaluate the full potential of the aircraft while thermalling. Although there was an absence of a good thermal, I managed to catch several thermal bubbles. The aircraft responded well on the thermal bubbles. It glided for around 10 minutes. I decided to try a highspeed low pass above the runaway. It perform a dive and "wooosshhh!!" came the sound from the " E-Javelin ". Mr Pang was impressed with the aircraft and said that he would get another one for himself.

Having succesfully flown the E-Javelin twice, I am looking forward to enjoy its capabilities during the coming weeks. This glider indeed value for money.

I'm back again...this time with a fully moulded sailplane called "Spirit"

Since my wife's successful operation four weeks ago, I had not been flying my gliders. I took a break from my usual flying to look after her. I am indeed very fortunate to have a wife who supports my hobby. I Hope I will be able to share the joy of flying a glider with her. It will be a moment to treasure.

I have resumed my flying activity. While on leave to look after my wife, I assembles and my first fully moulded sailplane called the Spirit. I purchase it online from Soaring USA as I could not get it from any of the local rc shop as none of them carries it. The model E-Typhoon from Soaring Composites is very much similar to it. Since I wanted a glider which is different from it, I called up Bob from Soaring USA and he introduce the Spirit V2. It has the X tail instead of the V tail. I placed the order, made the payment and waited for it to arrive. I was surprised that the kit arrived in five days from the US. It was a fast delivery which I did not expect.

Not wanting to make any mistake in building and assembling the aircraft, I spent three weeks on it. It was time well spent. When the aircraft was ready to take the sky, it was a beauty.

Spirit had its maiden flight on one hot afternoon last week. To my amazement, it flew perfectly without much trim. It is a thermal sensitive sailplane. With one burst of power for launch, I have detected several thermals over the sites. It remained aloft without power for forty-five minutes before I landed it for inspection so that I cold perform some aerobatics with it during the next flight.

After a thorough inspection, Spirit took to the sky again to perform the usual aerobatics which I had practised with my Eagle 5 and the Siren. It performed steep dives, hard G turns, rolls, and some highspeed low passes. I tried doing a tips stall turn but it was rather difficult for it to tip stall on a normal flight. It will perform a tip stall if it get too slow but it was not that severed compared to my Eagle 5 which I bought from Soaring Composites.

Spirit is indeed a beauty to soar with and it is worth the money, time and efforts I put in.

When Spirit saw me assembling the E-Javelin, it was a little disheartened. However, I assure it that it will still received the same affection as before as it is my first fully moulded 'full house' sailplane.

"Eagle 5" fully moulded hotliner

Finally got my hands on the fully moulded Eagle 5 hotliner. Beautiful finishing and it wasn't very difficult to put it together. You would need to use a specific motor as the diameter of the fuselage are small. I have used a MVVS motor which I purchase from Soaring Composite. It fits in well and for the esc, the Castle Creation ones are recommended.

My setup are simple which only uses 1 pack of 3s 2500mAH Lipo. I have known that some are using 2 packs of 3s Lipo for it. The wings servos are wrap up in heat shrinks before epoxied it to the wings and tail.

Did the maiden flight at Tuas and it was a beauty to see it conquering the skies. Did some aerobatics and fast dives and it gives out a sharp screeching sound as it approach due to the design of the wings. Tried doing a slow sharp turn and it tip stall easily which means that this plane needed speed to do a sharp turn. Apart from that, there's no much negative behaviour which I encountered. The only drawback for this model is that you need to remove the wings to replace the battery as there is no opening for canopy.

As for the controls, it's very sensitive especially during a high speed run. You will need to reduce the throw as well as the expo.

Seriously, I would recommend this model to intermediate or advance flyers. If you are a beginner, than you might want to consider the Greatplane "Siren" first before jumping into this bird.

Greatplane "Siren"

After reading a few review about this Greatplane "Siren" I have decided to give it a try. got the model from NTC and the packing of the kit is very presentable. Even the manual are well printed out with all the flying regulations and reminders.

The building process of the "Siren" are somewhat simple as it is and ARF kit except for some slight modifications that needed to be done. Wings comes in 3 pieces and it has a wooden spar for the joints. The joining of wings are very crucial as a little mistake will cost the performance of the plane. Extra focus needed for that.

The fuselage itself have a great livery and it's fully carbon which means that the receiver antenna need to be out of the fuselage. The plane was design for Nicad cell and since we are now using Lipo's, there some modification needed to be done in order to get the right CG. Apart from that, the assembly of the servo and other electronics are a simple.

Did a flight test some weeks back and it was sort of a warmliner. This is base on my configurations and I have read somewhere in the net that they are some flyers who actually pushes the plane to the limit and it became somewhat of a hotliner.

The plane is very agile and it can also thermal very well. Tried climbing and it went straight up will lots of power...suitable for F5B. Did a few laps with power cut and it did actually floats but with a slight fast sinking rate but nevertheless when you hit a thermal, it goes up again. Apart from that, did some aerobatic maneuver and it responed well. Did a couple of highspeed low pass and also tried to tip stall it and it was difficult to get it tip stall. Overall it was indeed a good model :)

I would say that it's a good model to begin with if you are a beginner with hotliner as I am. The next model that I currently assembling is the fully moulded "Eagle 5" which looks similar to the "Siren"

My Baracuda with new livery

Added some colors ( black ) to the Baracuda. New color are at the wing tips and also the horizontal tail fins.

BBFAC open day & Night Flying

Somemore photos taken during the day and night....what a day!


The guys after the BBQ and into drinking session

The night flyers with full concerntration..." Don't go looking at the wrong plane now "

Howey's night flying Heli....a beautiful sight

David with his Easy Glider...very colorful

Howey with his fully light up plane...can see it for miles!

Goh's with his night flying plane...looks like a lantern in the sky

BBQ in the evening...yummy :)

Kalvin's Suhkoi doing a knife edge

Mr Johnny Yong, owner of Singapore Hobby doing a fine tunning before take off

Francis with his Stevia...ready to launch

Vincent Lee with his Soaring Star... up to the sky

Kalvin doing one of his 3D stunt...he manage to grab the tail of the plane while hovering ( never do this at home )

Not sure whose Spitfire is this but it was a beautiful plane

Goh's warbird

Spkye and his new bird ( the green one )

Bukit Batok Open Day Fun Fly

BBFAC have organised an Open Day fun fly on the 11 September and it turn out to be very entertaining. Some other clubs members were there to perform some spectacular aerobatic 3D flight. Overall, there's gliders, helicopters and even gasoline aircraft.

As ususal me and Mr Goh will arrive early to clear up some the place and did some spring cleaning. The crowd came in around noon time and stay on till late evening.

After the day's event, we had an evening BBQ sponsor by the club and did some nice night flying.

Flyer Kalvin with his beautiful SUKOI

This Beautiful Huey belongs to flyer Derrick from the UK

Mr Johnny Yong, owner of Singapore Hobby supply setting up his Comander to do a precision flying aerobatic

Derrick Heli in action