custom-vince

here is a clip from Parafest of the Tornado, some initiative impressions, thats before the actual tornado ripped through, well almost, just a big gust and general high winds.

The aux fuel pump was needed as the walbro pump couldn’t keep up at max rpm.

fuel consumption I’m told as I haven’t got mine yet to try. More than Nitro, no more than Moster for cruising about. If you give it full beans a lot, it will drink. No power without fuel. 

Im really pleased with my Nitro economy so it will be hard going back up the fuel burn, but I will be smiling with every litre from what I hear, I’m expectjng to burn 1 litre per hour more than a Nitro with normal fun flying. I will try an eco run also just for the sake of it. 

Nitro on a 3 blade 140. Gain about 2kg for every 5cm of prop. That’s not a constant plus there’s an extra blade. 6+kg more at an estimate. My XL 150 prop is supposed to have 6-8kg more. It feels a load more inflight so those few extra kg are well received. 

It’s normally 4 weeks delivery. I’m guessing the first batch is probably sold out. That is just the e.start. 

The clutch version will follow in a few weeks. 

12.9kg is complete weight with auxiliary fuel pump. Should make a complete machine of about 22kg

I have a 150cm Race 2 titanium frame version with 3 blade 140cm prop coming. Should be a powerhouse in that spec. 

First final production motors are ready today. 

got a bit of a gallery going, so may as well add another. Flying nearer the coast in a quick mini meet and fly. I was on the magnetic 23m, some others got to play on the freeride 19.

sometimes I like to get high... no really its not always low flying. Flew out on this fairly cloudy day, but just got outside my local airport hub and could climb a bit then and look back of the cloud. Love little surprise moment like that, looked stunning.

This flight with a different camera position, chest mounted, nothing much happened, just a bimble about, met some friends in the air.

The key realisation on this flight was how much equipment has moved on over the years. Often talk about economy, efficiency etc. I was flying at an average speed after accounting for wind 48kmh while burning 3lph on a 19m wing.. to put that in perspective one of my early machines way back when would burn 9 litres in 1hour 15min at 25kmh. That is huge leaps in performance. The difference it makes to me is also huge. I launch lighter 24kg with the lesser fuel instead of 36kg brimmed, I go further and get there faster. Locally to me this means instead of flying one village away and back and not launching in anything over 5mph head wind due to slow speed with wind gradient. I now take in 2 towns, 4 villages all on less than 5 litres of fuel.

Couple of fun flights recently. Flew over Grafham waters. Trainers were a bad choice, not ideal anyway but it was nice. The problem is damp grass on landing causes a long difficult slide, that happened last time I wore them and landed late on damp grass. Fine in the dry.

2 hours ago, alan_k said:

Those yellow fields are rape seed for future reference.

Love to see them myself.

Yes I know, I live in the country surrounded by the stuff ?

Townies struggle if I say I love flying over all the rape. They cunjour up a different image. My local farmers have a lot of rape this time of year. Good time of year for a lot of rape in the fields when the suns out. 

See what I mean? I’ll just call them big yellow fields. ? cause they are yellow, big and fields. lol. 

Here you go. Yes it’s a friends house and I have permission to fly low by it. 

Good question. 

I did get a little wallop from that. Felt the heat and got a single bump. As I passed to the side on the way back over you can see my right brake handle lost pressure, I would guess from the mushroom swirl of heat rising, there’s some sink around it. 

Anything bigger I avoid for sure. 

Made the most of another nice evening. Low flying and punching the throttle a bit more while turning etc, I burned a bit more fuel. 

Best I can judge, about 2.7 litres in 50 mins. Landed with a little under a 1/4 of a litre. (Very low ?)

chrome dome is back

None. None on my previous Nitro either. 

Only engine out I have had was fuel tank vent on a black devil. 

I have not flown long XC with it yet.

I launched with 4.5 litres and landed with 2.8 litres left after 45 minutes flying. I took photo before launch and after landing. 

I need another pilot to fly a similar setup and confirm. The freeride seems economical when combined with XL, plus I had 20 mins full trims out. no bar.

A quick video from yesterday, mounted a gopro session 5 directly to the frame, it shows some vibration, not bad though. Flying Nitro XL level flight, Natural sound, no music. You can hear the difference flying out on slower trims and flying back on faster trims. 

Ozone freeride 19m, I’m 84kg plus clothes.

I have a foot camera also gopro 3 Silver , have not seen that footage yet. The newer session WiFi connect to my phone, the older gopro does not. 

Both. E.start and e.start with clutch. 

My understanding is the 150 frame is same reduction ratio, just a prop pitch change where as the 165 frame has a new reduction. 

Magnesium frame is delta shape and all frames forward will be magnesium for nitro & tornado. 140cm and XL 165cm

The titanium Race v2 (R2) will be used from this point forward for all nitro and tornado engines. This is available 140cm and 150cm

Im not sure the XL tornado will be available on release as that requires different reduction ratio to be setup. I haven't flown any tornado as yet. I was referring to XL nitro. I have left all tornado testing to AC, TF and Erics guys in US. they have the weather to get the hours of flying in.

On 28/04/2018 at 18:51, tonyconway said:

So, the Polini is starting on the button now with flash doing what it's supposed to do. Strapped it to a steel gate for safety, primed,  it and got a bad kick. Friend pulled the chord with no fear and she started. Did it again, started. I did it a few times, started first pull with no kick back. The truth is I do believe I was just not using the correct pull technique. Or, it just took a few pulls for the spring to settle. I've had this for over a year and I didn't have this problem before the spring broke so at a loss. Either way it's all good. Video of starting attached. You can start it on a shorter pull if you make a short pull until you feel resistance then let the spring recoil then one long pull.

VID-20180428-WA0000.mp4

Yes that’s definitely flash starter. I think the problem is, it is longer than your arms.

did you set the correct length pull cord? You can fine tune this, on a new starter there is a white mark and often a cable tie to help you align cord length. 

When pulling over the shoulder, I would reach the end of my arm and engine hasn’t kicked over yet, I would pull the cord sideways (aka bow arrow style) with my other hand and it was just enough extra pull to fire the flash starter. 

Bigger prop bring increase in power, improved economy and lower noise especially at level flight due to lower rpmof engine and prop. 

I haven’t launched the 150 yet, I doubt that will feel any different to the 140

i have forward launched the XL a few times now, reversed it once so far. Initially it felt bigger for sure but now I don’t notice it, not sure what changed but my technique improved, I don’t really think about it and proceed as normal like any forward launch. 

My lighter ozone launches easier, that’s a change as I initially flew a different wing. I think a slow rising wing you would notice more. 

With the R2 frame development and the switch from alloy to magnesium. Price will increase slightly. The R2 has a more complicated build process with a few more features plus 2 sizes.

The magnesium delta machine will be the new price competitive option while also greatly improved over any standard alloy product. I think this will raise a few eyebrows.

Magnesium is lighter and stronger than alloy. 

It’s good news. I thought walbro were sleeping. The still are working on improving, good for us all. 

The R2

Titanium Race Version 2. Some photos of the changes above.

This machine was pre-ordered with quick release arms. They come in this new style, custom made shank thread, seems to work well.
Standard arm fitting also use a shank bolt for greater security. 

The top 3 horizontal bars behind the harness are curved inwards towards engine. This does a number of things. Comfort is improved, Mass is moved further aft and closer to engine, the engine mounts are then shorter, it’s a great way to get pilot and engine nearer without compromising safety, it increases forward space on the weight shift arms and allows the hook point position to sit more natural.

The harness attachment point has been raised. This is a clever way to align the thrust mass with the pilot mass, lowering the push point on your back while not upsetting the weight shift connection and existing excellent thrust line. Results are that the thrust more central to your back with zero pitching, less pushing over on launch, the weight shift arms and hook in is lower giving the pilot more room under their arms. The other change it causes is the weight of the machine will sit a little lower when standing and launching, it’s a light machine so not a massive difference plus we just brought the mass nearer the pilot, the bottom of the frame sticks out more than before, this is not good for aerodynamics but with the optional airbag it works well and getting seated is easier. Some trade offs but on the whole positive I feel.

The top of the harness is also secured in place with 2 holders.

Heel protection bars are now double for improved safety for taller and shorter pilots.

The weak link alloy join is also double riveted and is more secure with no wobble adding to overall stiffness. 

Main switch is moved to side in a hip location.

Also a new size. 

Standard is 140cm hoop for 125cm props

Large is 150cm hoop for 3x 135cm prop or squeeze in 140cm

XL 165cm is still delta style frame with 150cm prop. 

I think it Looks a good improvement.

The video news update for Tornado 280 from Aviator. Plus a couple of other goodies.

Still no actual prices listed, that example price is £600 more than current Nitro, theres more to it than just an engine. Other changes, all prices are about to change with new developments. Things get dearer as they get better & there will be a cheaper option available, plus probably a dearer option. We are finalising details. This engine is still yet to be released, prices yet to be confirmed.