Oxai Splendor- New Quique Somenzini F3A Design!
Big news from Champaign, Illinois today. Quique Somenzini's newest creation, the Splendor in cooperation with Oxai took to the skies for the first time yesterday evening with a fantastic result. Many have seen the color scheme leaked, as well as some images of an airframe on the hobbynet-jp blog, but here is the official report directly from the source.
Born from a passion and experience that spans over 30 years at the F3A level, the Splendor is a very advanced airplane that will be a strong contender for many years to come. Several features make the airplane perform like no other on the market, from Quique's ideas regarding the general layout, to the four ailerons, and finally the retractable fins. This is one of the largest F3A airplanes on the market and has a very large fuselage volume and large wing area compared to virtually all modern F3A aircraft on the market. This yields an airplane that flies at a very constant speed, yet possesses extremely strong snapping performance across a broad airspeed range. Also, the fuselage actually flies in knife edge, resulting in a very low beta. Because of this, not only are rolls virtually effortless, but the presentation of the rolls is much nicer because the fuselage generates lift in all attitudes. This performance is attained without the use of the fins; the fuselage is just that efficient. Also, the airplane requires absolutely zero mix- making the presentation and management of the airplane much better. There is a huge difference between an airplane that has mixing to correct coupling issues and one that accomplishes it aerodynamically. The one that does it on its own flies much more pure. I honestly didn't believe there would be a difference, but there is.
As many know, the transition from summer to fall generally yields unstable weather conditions. Illinois is no different, and we were fortunate enough to fly the airplane in 20 mph winds in the beginning, to relatively calm conditions. It handled everything beautifully despite the aircraft's large size proving that one doesn't need a tiny wing to penetrate the wind or snap well.
Quique put four flights on the airplane today, and I was fortunate enough to fly flight number five. I can't comment on the full potential on the airplane as there is still quite a bit learning to do as it relates to all of the setup possibilities. Quique has investigated many possibilities with programming, and I'm sure I can comment once the testing is complete. There are much more possibilities for four independent ailerons than one may initially think. Right now, we have an incredibly capable flying airplane that requires no mixing and still vast amounts of potential.
As an added bonus to the exceptional flight performance, the airplane is one of the most aesthetically beautiful airplanes on the market, from the pleasing industrial design to the airplane, to the unique and vivid color scene designed by the one and only Mirco Pecorari of Aircraft Studio design in Italy. Quique and Mirco have worked on many projects together, and when you allow them to pull out all of the stops and add a highly capable manufacturing partner like Oxai to the equation, you are graced with a truly special aircraft.
There are very few times in my years of knowing Quique personally (over half of my life) that I've seen him this excited. Though he has been dormant as a competitor in the F3A scene for a few years now, his mind is still very much in tune with F3A. This time away has given him time to refresh and think of things from different perspective, take what he has learned and translate that to a clean sheet a clean sheet of paper concept.
I am truly blown away at how well the airplane flies and look toward to reporting more as we fly. It is truly in a league of its own. Quique (and I!) are excited to present this aircraft to the world and I am honored to have had a small part in the process.