JR Models, Brittan-Norman Islander 2

This is an ARF with a fiberglass fuselage and built-up wing and tail
surfaces. It was originally designed for 2 Speed 400's running in
parallel on 7 or 8 1400-2000 mah cells. It also had no landing gear,
hand launch only. I had since modified it with 2 geared AP-29's
 and then 2 Velcom 2020/27's running on 8 cells each. Another
nice detail is the scale landing gear I designed and built with the
dual main wheels. It looks so much better this way. Scale
takeoffs and landings areso easy, and the extra power doesn't
hurt it at all.

The first 3 flights were done at Bay Area Radio Controllers field in
Richmond Ca. at their annual "Toys for Tots" flyin on 12/4/99. The
flights went without a hitch, she flies almost like a trainer. The last flight
stretched to 8.5 minutes, with a beautiful touchdown and plenty of power
left to taxi back to the pits! I had to forgo finishing up the last trim color
and assemble the night before just to make this event. Isn't that just the
story of my life. I originally had 8" X 10" APC  props with 2.5:1 gears
and have since switched over to 9" X 10" APC with 3.5:1 gears. This
change lowered my static amp draw 6 amps thereby allowing longer run
time. The larger more efficient props also cut down on the takeoff run
and giving it greater climb angles. It can even take off in tall grass as seen
at the Sacramento Valley Soaring Society  field on 3/4/00. The pictures
above are of the full scale plane that I'm  copying the paint scheme from. I
don't have the paint completed yet, I'm just having too much fun flying it. The
following pictures were taken at the 2000 San Diego Mid Winter Electric's.

I have flown this plane so many times that the motors finally wore out. On
10/22/2000, they were replaced with Velkom cobalt 2020/27 motors. This
lowered the motor weight by .8 oz. between the two. The magnets are so
strong that you have to grab the shaft with a prop driver to manually spin
the motor! I also switched back over to 2.5/1 gearboxes. I expect much
better performance from the new powerplants. As soon as it get a few
flights, I'll do a report on that.

Here's a picture of the two motors sitting next each other for comparison.

This is what the kit was to look like.

As she looked 2/16/00  (pictures by SWEETIE)

Custom landing gear

Takeoff at SVSS field

Flyby

Setting up for landing

At the Byron CA Airport, above and below.
This is as it looked at Erv's Stud Fly, 5/6/00.
 

At the dock on Contra Loma Reservoir above and below.
This is as it looked at Erv's Stud Fly, 5/6/00.

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