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Post by thevon on Feb 14, 2009 20:47:07 GMT 10
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Post by thevon on Feb 23, 2009 19:40:01 GMT 10
Hooray, I maidened my Vector today! First went to meet with Jeff, Sean, Ken and Greg at the Woodford thermal field which was great. I stuck the Vector together during the proceedings and gave it the first test throw and it flew beautifully without a touch of trim! We had a bit of a drama recovering Jeff's Europhia from where he'd parked it very high and firmly in a vine-infested tree (my sympathies to Jeff - I did the same thing not so long ago ... ) By then the the wind had picked up, so I decided the chance to maiden the Vector on the slope was too good to pass up, said goodbye and headed for Bald Knob. The wind was lighter than I expected and with the Vector’s symmetrical foil I had to search a bit for lift at times, but found that it really responds well to camber. I ended up with 5mm of aileron camber and 10mm on flaps for best effect, and a tad of down elevator comp. It felt light-ish to fly, with less inertia than my old Ricochet, it was pretty neutral in the dive test, just a gentle pullup, but I was using more than a smidge of down when inverted so I took a deep breath and took some lead out of the nose. I already had the CG at 95mm so I guess I put it back to 97 or so, but no problems – it was great. I tried slowly pulling up to stalls and it is incredibly stable … gently falls a couple of feet and mushes back into flight! I was really impressed. I also hit opposite ail and rud near a stall and put it into a sort of spin, from which it recovered instantly when corrected. Almost like flying a combat wing, it’s so friendly! I even switched to low rates, turned off ail/rud mix and DS’ed it over the back of the ridge for a while … what a baby, no problems and it was quite quick! I even ventured a couple of inverted DS laps but that freaks me out! I certainly wasn't worried about snapping that enormous wing joiner! I flew it for ages and never tired of it. There’s so much you can do – it does nice pylon-style turns, more rolls in a row than I’ve ever done with a 2m moldie before, nice inverted laps low over the lip of the slope, and lovely gigantic loops. Basically you feel like you can do anything with it. My only wish is that it had more rudder authority – I had to work at the stall turns until I got more practice (it helps to get the plane really vertical and hit rudder at just the right moment). Mind you, all of this may change with ballast. This thing is gonna rock on a windy strong-lift slope with ballast. I’m really looking forward to that. In flight I dialed in the crow elevator comp and the landings were as gentle as a falling leaf! Much easier than some. Despite the manufacturer's setting recommendations I had set it with some aileron differential – I think it was 20mm up and 14mm down. But when I cranked a bank it threw the nose down and in, so I reckoned the up aileron was dragging more so I landed and dialed in more down, so it was equal both ways and it DEFINITELY rolled much more tightly and straight. I’m definitely VERY happy with mine - can't believe the value for money with the Vector and am very looking forward to a windy day on a steep slope! this isn't my photo but mine is exactly like this one:
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Post by skyboyken on Feb 23, 2009 20:09:11 GMT 10
Cool!
Great to hear it Andrew. I got your text btw bt by the time we got away it was too late to come play with you.
So, which is the better aerobat, Rico or Vector?
Which will fly in lighter wind?
Inquiring minds etc... ;D
Ken.
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Post by felix on Feb 23, 2009 21:01:07 GMT 10
Good to hear she flew so well Andrew……one seriously nice bit of kit that’s for sure! (think the word I used was “sexy” when I held that fuse haha
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Post by thevon on Feb 23, 2009 21:31:26 GMT 10
The Rico is heavier, but its wing is semi-symmetrical, so it climbs better. Overall I think they need similar air to stay aloft. The Rick has more energy which you can really feel with the way it hoots thru the loops, but the Vector will too when it has ballast.
Biggest difference however is that straight away the Vector has a more crisp, precise feel than the Rico. Feels "lighter", faster and more nimble to fly too.
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Post by mikey100 on Feb 23, 2009 22:18:32 GMT 10
Wot a gr8 way 2 celebrate yor birthday!
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Post by thevon on Feb 24, 2009 7:41:38 GMT 10
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Post by mikey100 on Feb 24, 2009 16:06:28 GMT 10
Wot is your flying weight Andrew?
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Post by thevon on Feb 24, 2009 18:11:31 GMT 10
85.5 kg
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Post by skyboyken on Feb 24, 2009 19:32:18 GMT 10
How hard do you have to flap your arms to fly at that weight? Inquiring minds etc Ken.
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Post by mikey100 on Feb 24, 2009 19:47:03 GMT 10
Dats a FAT glider!!!
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Post by thevon on Feb 24, 2009 21:14:07 GMT 10
Haha! Couldn't resist that. I haven't weighed it yet. Will post when I do.
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Post by thevon on Feb 27, 2009 21:42:00 GMT 10
I can officially say I’m in love with the Vector. Very late this arvo I got a half hour’s flying down the beach before sunset close to my place at Woody Point. It’s a fairly low (maybe 8 metres??), gentle slope with lots of trees around, so although it was a good 15kts SE, the lift certainly isn’t strong. It normally takes reasonably intense concentration to fly a decent moldie there and landing can be stressful – it’s safest at low tide, when you can walk down the path and down the steps onto the beach and land on the strip of sand below the rock wall.
The Vector was a joy to fly. Normally you have to be careful pulling off maneuvers too close to the trees but after playing around up higher for a while, I felt really comfortable and confident doing rolls much lower and closer to the treeline below. It really is just as comfortable inverted – you can roll inverted and push the stick forward and climb away … not with the usual loss of efficiency that you get with a lifty wing – the Vector feels no different either way! It makes even less qualified flyers like me look good! It gave me the confidence to have a crack at some 4-point rolls and knife-edge. Never thought I'd be doing that only a few metres above the trees. The plane feels so at home you don't have to work very hard at it.
I have to say that the Vector rates very high on the pose-factor. I can’t give you hard statistics, but there was a high incidence of onlookers stopping and making “awesome!” type comments. With its very visible fuselage profile and aggressive looking wings, the Vector really looks impressive, there’s no doubt about it. I think the Ferrari red main colour and black/ white bars underneath are the best colours. The extra rudder throw did help. I could really get a strong yaw waggle up easily, which gets a few stares. And the stall turns are a real eye-catcher! It gets totally vertical and stops in yaw, and falls nose first (if you get it right) and for some reason it looks great.
I was thinking how the high-performance planes have all progressed towards needle-thin noses and fuses for super high efficiency, but they just don’t have the visual spectator appeal of “real” looking planes like the Vector.
I’ve noted some saying the Vector is fast, but the Vector isn’t in the league of quick moldies. After flying the Vector for about an hour and a half on Monday up at Bald Knob, I tested out my Nemesis which I’d just extensively repaired - and it just about scared the crap outta me!! t's just so darn fast! I had to get used to it again! Give the Vector a bit of reflex and it slips around more quickly, but its job isn’t to be fast – it’s to be aerobatic and well behaved and for that, this arvo it got a triple-A rating from this less than average aerobat pilot! I loved it. It was an intensely rewarding session.
I also have to give the Vector the award for easiest-landing plane ever. I’ve landed on the beach a few times before and it can be a bit hairy with a strong wind coming in obliquely. First time I flew well to the far end of the beach, started fairly high but allowed plenty of approach length to avoid any overshoot problems. But needn’t have worried. The Vector just kept itself pointed slightly crosswind, stayed on line over the beach strip, and settled down like a seagull on a calm day. So totally unspectacular. I was thinking madly about what correction to make, and deciding nothing needed to be done! It virtually landed itself! I guess the symmetrical foil helps by not lifting efficiently, making the crow even more effective. It was so good that despite being nearly dark I had to have another go just to do another landing!
It really is a superb plane for this sort of stuff. I’ve never flown anything that could be tossed around as beautifully in this small site – except foamies and they just don’t fly like a Vector.
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Post by chamm37 on Feb 27, 2009 22:29:50 GMT 10
Well i am glad to hear that you are happy with the Vector ;D hopefully i will get the privledge to see you fly it Andrew Regards, Chris ;D
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Post by thevon on Mar 27, 2009 18:20:30 GMT 10
I'm really loving this plane. I've been flying it more than anything else lately. Been busy with work so not much time to get away, but I've snuck some short sessions at Woody Point and the Vector is the kit for the job. You can cram so much aerobatic action in with so little stress. There's none of the usual "gain height, get speed, do a loop and a few rolls and gain height again" that I'm used to with other planes. It's not scary fast like the Nemesis, and not vague like a foamie. It feels really smooth but you can keep cranking loops and rolls and inverted laps close to the treetops. It looks so schmikko that there are always spectators. So easy to land. I was probably only gone for 3/4 hour and came back feeling very fulfilled! I don't think anyone could be disappointed with a Vector. The only mod I've made to mine is to increase the rudder throw a bit and I also stuck a cm of laminating film onto the TE of the rudder as well, which gives it more of that rear end kick that's so nice at the top of a stall turn. This is a great model. I'm setting up a buddy cable system with another Multiplex Cockpit SX Tx and I reckon I'll entice a few guys to have a fly of the Vector (and Fazo). Most guys naturally feel that it's too risky to fly someone else's moldie but I think the buddy cable will help a few guys find out just how impressive it is to fly a great moldie!
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