Phoenix 2000 EPO Composite Glider. Unofficial Unboxing.

...back to the future

The Phoenix 2000 was the very first RC plane I purchased, and so this is very much a back-to-the-future episode for me.

The Phoenix 2000 is, as it was back then, a very well build and affordable RC plane. It has a sturdy plastic moulded fuselage, which it shares with its sibling the Phoenix 1600, which comes complete with plywood battery tray and rear servo deck.

The fuselage comes with the rear control rods pre-installed and, on PNF versions, the servos installed and connected.

The wings are good-quality EPO with moulded-in reinforcements, and a carbon joiner rod is supplied as well. There's also a sleek moulded plastic canopy which clips onto the fuselage.

The wings have substantial ailerons, with servos installed on the PNF package, although control rods have to be fitted yourself. There's provision for flaps including moulded recess for servo and linkages included - you just need to cut the flap free where they're moulded to the wing.

The kit comes with a folding prop and spinner with collet adapter, and there's a fixed nosecone in case you just want this as a pure glider.

So the Phoenix 2000 comes highly recommended as a high-quality entry-level glider, sturdily constructed yet elegant and capable in the air...

Raptor D-Box Pro 2000. Scenic Afternoon Flight.

...perfect afternoon to fly

Some afternoons are just great for getting the glider out, especially when a beautiful blue sky is dotted with fluffy cumulus pointing out potential lift spots.

A few times I've had some luck with the Phoenix and the Raptor. In fact I've even managed to get some lift flying here in the venerable Floater Jet!

There was one minor glitch; the props didn't fold and so continued windmilling whenever I had turned the power off. This, I think, was a remnant of the recent beach sloping, with some grit remaining in the prop holding up the works. 

This particular afternoon I didn't have much luck thermalling despite the beautiful conditions, but it was a scenic flight nonetheless. Part of the problem is the lit is better higher but at the same time it's harder to assess what's happening from the ground the higher you get.

And, when I've got my mobius FPV system fully sorted, I'm hoping to get it onto the Raptor so that I can try thermalling from first-person view, which should be fun...

Winter Antidote: Fox Glider Having Fun

...perfect sunny afternoon

Friday was one of those days; the weather so changeable that one could literally not anticipate what the sky was going to do next.

Despite the dull conditions, that afternoon I headed out for a fly as things had settled a little. As happens more than occasionally, I swung the Fox in in order to setup the camera; the low afternoon sun had sunk just enough below the western clouds to that warm rays were beginning to hit the paddocks.



By the time I'd got the Fox back in the air and done a couple of circuits, the whole meadow was flooded with almost tangibly soft and golden afternoon sunlight. The beautiful clouds, a moment before hanging grey and dull, now came to life with luminous white crowns and deep grey shadows.

This is the perfect sort of occasion for flying...

Fox Glider with Walrus Props

...seems to work well

Ever since the Fox started using its designated battery, the 1800 Nanotech, it has suffered from a buzz. Initially I thought this was because the motor mount wasn't tight enough, and then I thought that perhaps it was because the firewall wasn't sturdy enough, gluing in a second mount in tandem to beef things up.

And so the imbalance persisted since I'm not sure how to balance folding props. However the other day I found a spare set of Walrus props and decided to install them on the Fox.

This works surprisingly well and they seem to provide quite sufficient thrust for the Fox, which is much sleeker than its portly donor plane.

So, the Fox now has white props to match its colour scheme, and is flying quite happily with cheap plastic instead of swishy carbon fibre...

Raptor Glider Thermalling. A Bit.

...trying it out

The dull grey and rain cleared early this afternoon and I was down at the field with the Raptor glider, keen to get it in the air for a more expansive run now that its new Turnigy motor had been tested.

There were a few fluffy cumulus drifting across the field in the westerly breeze so, after a few runs across the field to double check the trims, I had the Raptor climbing. Initially I had it at three-quarter cruise but, becoming impatient at the pedestrian rate of climb, I soon flipped up to full power.

The 2217 brushless motor, as I've mentioned before, is an impressive little unit, comfortably swinging the fairly large 11x6 props and with the capability to have the Raptor soaring almost straight up. With the glider diminishing rapidly, I eased off the power and, with flaps down, headed under an approaching cloud.

Now, similar to my previous experiences, I have to say that trying to thermal without a telemetry radio is rather hit and miss, with the glider that high that accurately determining its behaviour is unlikely. I did, however, manage to get the Raptor in lift for some minutes before slipping down.

I climbed the Raptor up several times before eventually calling it a day as the lift clouds passed on and the breeze stiffened. Not a spectacular success, but a pleasant afternoon's flying nonetheless...

Radjet Faster

...properly quick

As I suspected on the first flight, the Radjet with its made-over nose is now significantly faster, especially noticeable this afternoon when the weather was a little warmer than its test flight.

The Radjet flew nice and stably, although its extra few yards of pace mean that I'm still not a hundred percent comfortable, finding it going through the turns or sweeping down quicker than expected. I would now call it properly quick.

I also managed a better launch, with a higher angle and enough throttle to get the Radjet up to speed quickly. Having said that, I had to trim the elevators down even more as the Radjet was still climbing in flight, which means that the next launch will be another test.

The only hiccup in an otherwise flawless flight was that the motor stopped abruptly. Thinking that likely the ESC had given up the ghost, I tried the motor after a while and the prop spun to life.

I think it's probably the thermal cut-out and that the sleeker Radjet needs more cooling slots...

Floater Jet Trying to Thermal

...not the right sort of plane

I recently took the Floater Jet to the local field to try it out at thermalling, it being a lovely clear day with things warming up.

There was certainly lift around, with the Floater staying up several minutes at a go. However I can't say the experience was sublime; the Floater is a little small for good visuals as it get higher and, an indication that it wasn't meant for this sort of thing, it has no under-wing markings whatsoever.

Additionally, when gliding, it doesn't have very good penetration either, mainly as it's designed as a benign flyer rather than a sleek performance soarer. This attempt also highlighted, again, how good it would be to have a vario setup. Unfortunately. as far as I am aware, this means having a telemetry-capable radio for which a variometer accessory is available.

Unfortunately this seems only to be the case for the FrSky unit, requiring a couple hundred dollar investment. Perhaps it might appear in my chrissy stocking...

1.5m Fox Glider Unboxing

...a nice quality kit

The R2Hobbies 1.5m Thermal Fox Glider arrives double boxed, it's plain brown box wrapped with a dense foam shell. So, as might be expected, the contents were safe and intact on opening.

R2 take care that all parts are individually bubble-wrapped, and taped in place in the box, so there's no movement during shipping to avoid damage.

The kit is very good quality overall, with the wings looking very neat with a smooth white covering and, this being the PNP version, have servos, linkages and covers all pre-installed. As far as the covering goes, the only disappointment was the tail-plane, the underside of which was seriously wrinkled, although I think this may just need a hairdryer to iron things out.

The fuselage looks of excellent quality, being lightweight and the fibreglass construction making it strong. The surface finish is very good as well. Cosmetically, the only gripe is that there is a thin unpainted stripe running down the fuselage where the halves join, the components obviously having been spray-painted before being fitted together.

Inside the fuselage, the motor is installed with bullet plugs ready to connect to the 30A ESC, likewise is the elevator servo and linkage. A foam wheel is also pre-installed, although this is not shielded inside; I wonder what the risk is of water-splash inside the the fuselage?


The only thing that looks like it needs work is the canopy, which I'm not sure will fit just like that, being just a blow-moulded plastic shell. Options to keep it on, including wire or magnets, seem hard to configure when its that thin and flexible.

The biggest issue, however, seems the incidence of the tailplane, which is apparently negative by 3mm and looking at it certainly confirms that. With this slot being machined out of the moulded tail, one wonders why R2 hasn't bothered to fix this well-known problem before...

2m Raptor Glider

...sleek thermal rider

I've been searching for options to replace the Phoenix after its disastrous crash. It may be repairable, however with its foam wings already susceptible to deformation in the warming weather and combined with a massive crash repair, I don't think it would be flying very straight.

Hence looking at composite gliders, although one soon realises that carbon wings are very expensive, with a two metre ARF carbon glider in the region of five hundred smackers.

The Raptor, therefore, provided an intermediate solution, with a fibreglass fuselage and fibreglass/balsa combination wing hopefully providing more durability than EPO, and the ARF package coming in at just over a hundred bucks.

It'll need six servos, more expensive metal-geared bearing units being recommended, and I'll probably use the spare Phoenix motor I have along with the carbon prop which survived the crash.

To that just needs to be added an appropriate spinner and we should be good to go using a trusty 2200 3S pack to get the Raptor soaring into the air...