This is an all fiberglass molded Speed 400 pylon racer made in the
Ukraine. It has a very thin wing section (RK-40)
with a bare minimum wing
area. Completely built it has a wicked look that begs for a race. It's
flying habits live up to its sleek looks. This is the most awesome
flying plane I've ever flown. If I'm not mistaken, it's also
The
One
hottest model in the world on the speed 400 pylon course. Powered
by a simple Speed 400 motor and 7-500AR cells, it will astonish
everyone that sees it fly! It comes with a neat little custom carbon
fiber prop adapter/spinner. I installed the servos with direct linkage
to the ailerons and a .050" carbon fiber push rod for the elevator.
The vertical and horizontal stabs were supposed to be glued on
but I wanted to be able to take the plane apart and pack it for
traveling. I tapped out the vertical stab with a 4-40 tap and used
nylon screws to hold it all together. The servos were simply
glued onto the wing and fuselage. I got this one in Jan. 2000 but was
afraid to build it and try my hand at pylon racing until Feb. 2001.
It
was probably a good idea as I may have run it into the ground before
I was ready for this kind of performance. I finished building it the
week before the Mid Winter Electric's in anticipation of bringing home
a
pylon prize. Pretty arrogant of me , huh? This gave me less than a
week
to practice on a race course. I flew it quite well in freestyle blasting
around the sky. I put in a half dozen flights the first day just getting
used to
it's handling characteristics. It will hand launch without too much
trouble
and flies like it's on rails. The trouble showed up when I tried to
keep
it on a pylon course the next day. This "Go Fast and Turn Left" stuff
was
a bit more difficult than it at first seems. I put in 20-30 flights
that week
trying to get myself tuned up for the races. Well, what can I say.
I put in a
few good laps the first heat and couldn't keep it on the course. I
pulled up
and out to bring the plane home and keep it and everyone around safe.
It's
hard to admit, but this is going to take me awhile longer to become
comfortable in keeping on the course at race speeds. I'm trying to
organize
a Northern Californian Electric Pylon Circuit to get in some more practice.
I will get the hang of this, one way or another!
The 1st Nor Cal Pylon racing was setup and ran in Santa Rosa on April
8,
2001. It was easily the fastest SP400 plane there by far. Rob from
Hanger
One Hobbies radared it on the first familiarization flight at that
field. I was
just doing a warmup and wide flat turns. He caught me on the second
lap
at 93 MPH flat and level without a dive! It uses VERY LITTLE aileron
and elevator movement at speed. I had to cut down my throws with the
radio to 40%! Just hotdogging around is no problem but flying it low
and
fast around the poles, well, lets just say I need some work here. I
just
wish those 500AR cells weren't so darned hard to find. I need more
to
replace aging cells of my own.
