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Speedster
Speedster Specifications: 50 inch wingspan / 26.5inch length / 312inch wingarea / 17ounce weight / 8ounce wingloading. An elliptical, flying wing with a MH-32 airfoil.
Controls: ailerons and elevator.
Equipment: Four Cirrus CS-10BB servos, Hitec 555 receiver, 6v or 7.2v speed 400 motor, planetary 4:1 gearbox with Graupner 11x8 folding prop or direct dive with a 6x3.5 Robbe folding prop., 7 - 500ma or 600ma Cells, Viper Micro Demon 102 ESC w/BEC an Brake.
Construction materials: Balsa, spruce, 1/16 plywood and covered with Monocote.
Comments: The Speedster was designed with the F5B speed 400 event put on by the San Diego Electric Flyers in mind. High glide speed is very important in the F5B event but the Speedster just doesn't quite get there. The Speedster is a lot of fun to fly. It does loops, rolls, and flies inverted well. It soars well and detects lift well. The Speedster has a wide flying envelope from high speed to slow thermalling and is easy to handlaunch. The climb rate with the 11x8 prop and 4:1 gearbox is quite impressive. With 4 servos the speedster does not use the elevon function but instead has two elevators and ailerons and with smaller elevator sections the CG can move further rear for better performance but still suffers some pitch instability at high speed.
The power system was later changed to a 7.2volt speed 400 direct drive to a 6x3.5 Robbe folding prop. It is now flown for sport and is exciting to fly. Its unusual appearance attracts a lot of comments.
The Speedster being a flying wing suffers from the typical problems of flying wings. The CG must be placed far enough forward to dampen out the pitch sensitivity and that seems to also dampen its performance.