Time of the year again

Its time of the year again, looks like its almost there, the winds are coming straight through from northeast, once the rain clears, hopefully the slope season will be here. Dust off those gliders, recharge those batts.

Predator 2 DLG - Build and fly review

Just came back from test flying the Predator 2 DLG. This kit is available from Soaring Composites.

Building

Not so many build pics as I built it stock following the build thread here. Build process was not too hard as the instructions in the build thread was clear. I used HS45hb x4 , 4.8v 300mah rx pack and berg 7 rx. The space in the fuselage was small and it was a tight squeeze to get all the wiring in. I ended up slightly nose heavy and had to add 5 gram lead at the tail to get the CG to 72mm from LE. The boom was cut at 68mm so those using heavy electronics may want to leave a longer boom. AUW was 285g.Flying

I did a few javelin throws to get it trimmed. After adding in few clicks of up elevator, it was gliding like forever. As this was my first DLG, and have not tried DLing before, i had some hesitation discus launching it. Kept doing some more javelin throws till pick up enough guts to just do it. Started with small on the spot discus throws. Slowly got the hang of it and progressed to full discus launches. Was surprised i managed to get quite high launches towards the end as this was my first time doing DLs. Woo hoo it was getting addictive to launch the glider up high. When my TX batt dropped low, i told myself it will be the last launch, but every time i picked up the peg, i just wanted to go at it again!.

Didn't managed to get any good thermals as it was fairly windy and cloudy. The P2 penetrated the wind well and was responsive to any slight draft of wind. It was quite agile in turning and stall characteristics was predictable. It was great first session getting to know the plane, even managed some hand catches towards the end. The only spoiler was that the wing hit a stone on one of the landing. I think it was like the only stone on the field.... duh, some luck.
Overall, its a good value first DLG kit, not to difficult to build, good flying characteristics.

Charging my batts now, looking forward to the next session later...

Back from Korea

Got back from F3F Typhoon race 2 weeks ago. It was a great trip, eye opener for us and we learn so much from it. More TR updates at the team blog. After we got back, i seem to be a bit lethargic for RC. It seems that its not only me, but the rest of the team members as well.I guess its cos of all the anticipation, excitement, adrenaline flow is now over, we need to recover abit.

Well on a personal level, i'm glad i got this trip started and ended with what we set out to do. I hope this will pave the way for future pilots from SG to venture overseas and take part. It showed as long as we put our hearts to it, we can do it even without the proper resources (like a F3F capable slope in Sg)

Time for a break from the slope, another 6 months before the slope season comes at the end of the year. New goals to set, new targets to be achieve.

Final preparations

Some final preparations before going to Korea next week.

Added in the ballast tube for javelin. Ballast will add another 800 grams , with full ballast AUW will be 3.6kg.



Packing and made the box to carry the planes.


Final charging before packing it in

Sloping in April Again

We did it again, winds came back in April for 3 years in a row now and we managed to have some extra time at the slope. Although the winds are not as strong as in Feb, it was smooth to fly.

I managed to maiden my 3m Javelin before bringing it to korea for the race.




This season was a short one , ended 1,2 weeks after CNY, being able to slope again after 1.5 months was great. If we are lucky we may be able to get 1 or 2 more weeks with flyable wind on some days as past 2 years the wind stop around mid Arp. Hope for the best and the windgods may just give us some time extension again.

Die hard slopers group photo