I’ve just returned from the
flying field after what has
been a delightful flying experience. You know when
something is right, when it flies right, is well mannered
and stress-free. A model that has been designed for electric flight doesn’t need to be built to withstand
the same vibration levels as for i.c. Not that this
model is in anyway flimsy. It is perfectly robust in
all the main areas that matter
The entire kit contents are of very high quality. The
cowl is sprayed to a showroom finish. The glass-fibre
components are in epoxy and are extremely light.
The wheel spats are seam free. Hardware pack is perfectly
satisfactory. Sadly the wheel spats will have to remain off on my
model due to the rough old ‘patch’ I fly off. For those
with quality flying facilities, they can only serve to
enhance what is already a very attractive model.
The undercarriage is the ‘Torsion Bar’ system and all
the mounting blocks and holes are already built in to
the wing
The fuselage has a removable top deck
secured by peg and magnets. There is
a long mounting plate for the battery.
This allows a range of battery sizes to
be utilised and the C of G can thus be
adjusted fore or aft. I used a 5S, 4500mAh
Tornado Pro and needed no lead. Plenty of room here for all the equipment you are ever likely to need
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The wing panels are fully finished with servo mounts already
installed. It is necessary to fit the aileron using the
standard ’furry hinges’. The servo wiring should be installed
before joining the panels. A praise-worthy point here is that
the wing bolt holes have already been drilled at the factory.
The blind nuts have also been fitted to the wing saddle in
the fuselage. Having glued the panels together, and offered
it up to the fuselage the wing bolts aligned perfectly with
the blind nuts – that’s precision quality for you.
Hyperion offer a complete power train for those that wish to purchase it. This way you will be assured of a successful outcome. It is a highly commendable idea for the manufacture to offer a ’one stop shop’ for fliers especially new to electric flight. For me I use what is to hand. I have a Turnigy Aerodrive 50-55 rated at 1580 watts, from the new SK series, fitted with oversize Japanese bearings and as smooth as silk.
The motor and speed controller mounted neatly to the front of
the fuselage. The speed controller screws up underneath in
the exit airflow space at the bottom of the cowl. I use the Sentilon
100 amp because I have one, its cheap, the heatsink is
bolted on (not held in place with heatshrink!) and it works well.
The fixing lugs make it easy to install. It is possible to cut a
small triangular panel out of the film covering at this location
and route the battery wires back inside. Makes a neat job.
There is the correct engine side thrust in the firewall and this
is also moulded into the cowl.
The equipment bay is very user
friendly. If you have a lighter
battery, it can go quite a way
forward, although it might be a
little difficult to secure without
fabricating some sort of partial
battery box. My Tornado
4500mAh battery allowed me to
fly for 8 minutes and land with
30% still ‘in the pot’. When
installing the top hatch, you
need to check that the magnets
are actually touching, by using
a thin strip of paper. Mine
weren’t and I had to adjust the
canopy screw holes that I had
drilled.
The tail end bits fitted well. The tail wheel
steering shaft comes up through the fuselage
to engage with the rudder. You have to bend
this shaft ‘in situ’ at 90 degrees which is not the
easiest thing to get right. But it all ended up
ok with no tears shed. It is necessary to remove
the covering over the areas to be glued
The slots for the tail and fin are spot-on.
All the exit slots for the push rods are pre-cut
and I encountered no difficulties setting up
the linkages to the rudder and elevator servos.
Throws on all control surfaces were as per
the manufacturers recommendations
FLYING THE SUPER CHIPMUNK
The model takeoff on our ‘ratty’ old patch requires a ‘fist full’ of up elevator and a gentle hand on
the throttle. With around 1500 watts on a six pound model, it didn’t exactly hang about. It’s what you
need on a serious aerobatic thoroughbred.
It is a very visible model in the sky. This time of year the sun can get a bit low in the late afternoon, I had no difficulty seeing what the model was doing. The trims hardly needed anything radical to get it ’hands off’.
I flew straight & level in a slight climb for 30 seconds without any control inputs. I had exponential
Available, but although
the controls were sensitive
without it, it cried
out to be flown this
way. Sort of said to me
‘’you gotta sharp plane
here, boy, fly it like a
man!’’ And I did , she
would cruise at well
below half throttle.
With such nice controls
you could throw a lazy
flick roll and it was all
so neat. Stall turns
were a doddle, (and I’m
not that good at getting them right). Spin and recovery were totally predictable. Inverted flight
needed a little down stick, but not all that much.
Having a good reserve of power means you can
turn it on when you need it and
that huge fuselage side guaranteed
knife edge performance.
With such a light wing loading,
landings were going to be very
gentle. The torsion bar bent wire
undercarriage should prove entirely
adequate for most flying
sites. I have ended up ‘raking’ the
legs forward a bit as they are getting
a bit stressed, but I say again
that for most flying sites, they’ll be
fine.
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