New Glider Project

I've been wanting a large electric powered glider that I can fly from a flat field or in light conditions from the slope. I already have the Multiplex Heron which is pretty good at what it does and is fine flying in a breeze of less than 10 mph, but I just wanted something larger than its 2.2m wingspan, something with a bit more presence in the air. The kind of model that other flyers look at and go, "oooh that's nice, what is it"? And also it is true that larger models fly so much better, (and easier?) than small models. 

I did a lot of on line surfing and it soon became clear that a fully moulded F5J type of model was going to be well out of my budget, particularly when having to add all the other bits and pieces I would need to complete it, like servo's etc. So it was going to have to be a model with a composite fuselage and obechi veneered foam wings, and so it was that after looking at the manufacturers such as Horizon Hobby, (primarily Staufenbiel), Robbe, Topmodel etc, I decided upon a design from the German manufacturer D-Power, the Streamline 350. 

The Streamline 350 is supplied as what they call a ARF+, so it has all the servo cables prefitted and all servo control linkages are also supplied, as well as a propeller spinner, velcro to hold the LiPo in place, and a roll of clear tape to tape down the 4 x wing servo covers. There are options for ordering the recommended motor, ESC and servo's, and I did order the D-Power servo's as they were competitivly priced against the KST servo's I otherwise would have fitted. It'll be interesting to see how they compare performance/life wise. 

I already had a 4 MAX motor at home which I thought would be suitable and had been purchased for another project a couple of years ago and then I never got around  to using it, along with a new 60A ESC and another pre used 60A ESC I had lying around in my box of bits, so I'm hoping the motor will be man enough for the job, but I'm sure it will be, and I've bought a couple of Turnigy 4S 5000mah LiPo packs to run it off. 

My 1st impressions upon opening the box was that it had been packed well and everything was taped down so that it couldn't move during transit. The wings are covered in Oracover and will need me to go over them with a heat gun as there are a few largish bubbles in places, but that's no big deal.

The asembly instructions are only provided in the German language, but they are available in English on line although the experienced modeller shouldn't really need the written instructions as the black and white photo's are enough to go by. 

I began by fitting the motor and all 6 servo's, which was easy enough. There I came to a halt as I needed an XT90 connector for the ESC to connect to the LiPo. That has now been delivered but I don't currently have the time to continue due to other commitments I have made. Lockdown meant I wasn't able to see my family who all live 200 miles north and south of me, so I've had to arrange to visit them. There are also quite a few events which were postponed during lockdown and have now been rearranged, so they are taking up modelling time. I also thought I had a 8ch RX spare that I could fit, but it turns out I haven't so I'll be ordering one of the Hitec clones from FRSKY https://www.t9hobbysport.com/frsky-v8fr-hitec-8-channel-2.4ghz-minima-compatible-receiver

 


















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