Looks
really cool
Goes like stink
Rock-solid handling
None
Every
now and then, an R/C pilot's mind turns to thoughts of going really
really really fast. For some it's a passing fancy, and for others it
turns into a lifelong quest. Sometimes the results of that urge
culminate in a high-dollar turbine. For others, it's a ridiculously
overpowered foamie delta-winged craft.
What if your wallet can't support a turbine, and your attitude about
foam turns sour beyond coffee cups and takeout boxes? This is where the
mini-hotliner enters the fray.
Hotliners are high-performance powered sailplanes designed to fly
extremely fast, but as competition-level aircraft, prices can rival
that of a turbine aircraft. Mini-hotliners, aka "warmliners," are
designed to feed the need for speed without eating all the cash in your
bank account.
Electrifly has put their engineering team to work once again, and the
result is the appropriately-named Rifle, a compact, all-fiberglass
mini-hotliner powered by their affordable Ammo motors.
Wingspan: 31 in
(785 mm) Wing Area:
112 in² (7.2 dm²) Weight:
17-18 oz (480-510 g) Wing Loading:
21.9-23.1 oz/ft² (67-70 g/dm²) Length:
24.5 in (620 mm) Motor:
Ammo 24-33-3180 Battery used:
Electrifly 3S 11.1V 1800mAh ESC used:
Electrifly SS25 Radio equipment:
Futaba 8FG, R617 FASST Rx, S3107 Servos
Propeller:
APC 4.75x4.75
Hobby
saw
1/16"
drill bit and drill
#0
Phillips screwdriver
#1
Phillips screwdriver
Straightedge
/ ruler
Thin
CA
Pliers
Servo
tester and receiver battery (optional)
No
time for shooting off my mouth. Let's get
started!
This
thing is going to be swiveling heads in no
time.
Usable
packing material! Two strips of 1/8" lite
ply for the scrap box.
What
kind of rifle would it be without some ammo?
Here's
the primer...
...and
the pow(d)er!
What's
red and white and fast all over? The Electrifly Rifle, of course!
Electrifly certainly picked a can't miss color scheme for the Rifle:
White with enough red to make the plane visible in the air, plus black
pinstriping to make it look good on the ground. Plus, it matches all
the Electrifly accessories.
I got a kick out of the "free" sheets of 1/8" lite ply that were used
to stiffen the sides of the box during shipment. Those went right in my
balsa box.
The
S3107 fits right in the elevator tray with no
modifications.
Futaba
servos have an odd number of splines. If the
horn won't go on straight...
...try
flipping it 180 degrees.
Once
you know which arm you need, nip off the
excess arms.
Add
the pushrod and thread it into the tube.
One
screw holds the whole works in its place. I
later flipped the Z-bend for smoother operation.
Assembly
begins with the elevator servo and pushrod. While the instructions warn
that it may be necessary to trim some of the mounting block to clear
the servo lead, the Rifle is designed from the get-go for the Futaba
S3107 servo. The '3107 case has a chamfered edge where the lead exits,
allowing it to be directed straight down, straight ahead, or any angle
in between. By directing the lead in the down direction, the servo
popped right in.
The instructions were a little sketchy on whether or not to use the
rubber isolation mounts, or "rubber baby buggy bumpers" as I call them,
to mount the servos. After trying the servo fit both ways, I decided to
use the isolation mounts, as they clearly held the servo more securely
than bare screws.
A not-so-well-known fact about Futaba servos is, they have an odd
number of splines on the output shaft. This means that the servo arm
will mount at a perfect 90 degree angle one way, and slightly
off-kilter the other way. If you discover that the servo arm isn't
perfectly perpendicular to the case, take the arm off, rotate 180
degrees, and reinstall. Odds are the arm will be perfectly square to
the case.
This is the technique I used to determine which arms to cut off the
stock 4-way servo arm. There was a 50/50 chance of getting it right the
first time... Guess how I fared. At least it's not a complicated
assembly.
A fluorescent green addendum to the instructions greeted me when I
first opened the box, instructing me to discard the stock black 1mm
elevator pushrod, and use the heavier silver pushrod packed on top of
the instructions. There was no black pushrod in the kit; evidently
Great Planes is removing the lighter pushrod prior to shipping the
kits.
While the instructions clearly show the elevator pushrod installed with
the z-bend pushed through the servo arm from the underside, I found
that this created binding in the pushrod tube. By installing the
pushrod with the z-bend inserted through the top of the servo arm, the
binding was eliminated.
A
kink in the pushrod just past the fin
puts it at the right angle for the elevator.
"EZ"
style connector on the elevator. There's no
room for a Z-bend.
Two
sheet metal screws secure the stab.
Tight
installation. Helps to have nimble fingers
and a good Philips screwdriver.
T
is for T-tail.
This
is going together quick. I'm already up to mounting the horizontal
stabilizer.
It's a tight squeeze under the elevator, but if you follow the
instructions to the letter, it all fits together nicely. After making
the prescribed bend in the pushrod, it will guide the stab assembly
into place as it slides into the EZ connector. Some old-schoolers may
prefer a Z-bend but it's just not an option here due to the close
quarters.
One thing I would recommend is to pre-thread and CA-harden the holes in
the fin BEFORE putting the stab in place. The screwdriver
is a lot less likely to cause damage when it slips.
Leads
shortened to 1" on the ESC. Makes for an
easier install in limited space.
Everything
soldered up and ready for installation.
The
power pack on its way to its final resting
place.
The
first screw is the most difficult, but once
one's in, the rest are easy.
It's
a "cozy" fit, but nowhere near tight.
Motor
installation is the trickiest part of assembling the Rifle. That long
narrow nose is just slightly larger on the inside than the motor is on
the outside, and there's just enough space for the electronics. Even
though the instructions state that shortening the motor leads is an
optional step, I highly recommend it. When you shorten the leads to 1"
as directed, the ESC
tucks nicely up in the "roof" of the nose area with no excess wire to
deal with. If you've ever had to figure out how to deal with trying to
coil up uncooperative wires in tight locations, you'll appreciate the
foresight that Great Planes's designers put into this airframe.
It turned out much easier than I'd been told by others who have put
this plane together. Maybe I just have nimble fingers, but my
reputation as a ham-fist doesn't give that theory any credence.
Actually, it's the generous cooling holes that give access for easy
positioning of the motor.
Don't forget to follow the wisdom of the instructions, and check the
rotation of the motor before you install it. Everything has to come
back out to swap leads if the rotation turns out to be backwards. If
you roll the dice on a 50/50 shot, guess what'll happen... I'm glad I
checked mine, otherwise I would've ended up with a Elfir instead of a
Rifle.
Testing
aileron servo fit.
Lines
indicate forward, middle, and aft CG
locations, starting from the top.
Using
the inner holes on the servo arm give plenty
of throw and plenty of torque.
I
think the wing preparation took a whopping 6 minutes, 14 seconds... The
most time-consuming part was waiting for the thin CA to flash over
after hardening the holes. Using the equipment that the plane is
designed around cuts build time by orders of magnitude. It's obvious
that the plane was designed around Futaba S3107 servos, for example,
because the servos slip perfectly into the trays and the screw
holes are already marked in the servo tray on the wing.
Definitely exercise the hinges before hooking up the pushrods. I found
the ailerons to be a bit stiff at first.
Gluing
the wing
Aileron
Servo installed
RX
installed and wired
Motor
stick
No
time for shooting off my mouth. Let's get
started!
Motor
installed
No
time for shooting off my mouth. Let's get
started!
No
time for shooting off my mouth. Let's get
started!
No
time for shooting off my mouth. Let's get
started!
No
time for shooting off my mouth. Let's get
started!
No
time for shooting off my mouth. Let's get
started!
No
time for shooting off my mouth. Let's get
started!
So
close to done, so very very close to done...
Small planes like this make me appreciate 2.4GHz
technology even more. With the old 72MHz, 36"-ish antennas, not only
would you have to figure out how to thread it through the tight
fuselage, but you'd also have an unsightly white wire dangling out the
rear of the plane that's longer than the plane itself!. As fast as the
Rifle promises to be, it wouldn't be a good idea to do anything to
reduce the range of the radio system, so it's almost mandatory to have
the antenna dangling.
The antennas on the R617FS FASST receiver from Futaba are only about 6"
long, and tuck conveniently inside the Rifle's fuselage. Great Planes
was even thoughtful enough to provide an antenna routing recommendation
for the FASST receivers. Using short pieces of the included tubing CA'd
to the side of the fuselage turned out to be a clever and convenient
way to hold the antennas out of the way in the limited space.
From a structural perspective the final step in assembly is to add the
landing skids. These three fiberglass skegs are bonded to the wingtips
and tail of the plane with thin CA after carefully locating the skid
and scuffing the area where bonding is to take place. Two drops of thin
CA and 15 seconds of breath-holding is all it takes to secure the skids
firmly in place.
Amazingly enough, the battery slides right into the nose of the Rifle
with no interference at all. It's almost as if the plane was designed
around this set of components (and if I were a betting man, I'd put
money on that being a fact).
The
Rifle's paint scheme looks pretty visible.
It
should be easy to tell top from bottom.
The
instructions mention the Rifle's thin profile
at certain angles.
Kinda
disappears from the front too!
I
knew there was a use for this strange device
hanging in my basement!
This
die-cut balancing jig comes with the Rifle.
With
the battery against the motor, it balances
right in the middle of the range.
Narrow
strips of vinyl tape give the jig traction.
With
all the wiring in place, it's time to close 'er up and get a look at
the complete picture!
Astute observers will probably notice that the skids are missing from
the assembled plane. Honestly, I was so excited about getting the plane
assembled, I plum forgot to install them! So in reality, these pics
were taken out of sequence. I'll fix that when I get out to the field
for the real photo shoot.
When you get into planes this small and this quick, balance becomes
absolutely CRUCIAL. GP includes a purpose-built balancing jig kit
specifically for the Rifle. It's a simple matter of gluing together the
die-cut aircraft ply pieces with good old fashioned medium CA. The
balancing dowels need to be sharpened before they're glued in. Normally
you'd spend a few minutes with a sanding block, or a rotary tool
sanding drum, or even a benchtop belt sander. I used a pencil
sharpener!
After slipping the battery
into the bay with no particular attention to its exact position, I
checked the preliminary balance. The battery turned out to be right
against the motor, and the balance was right in the middle of the
recommended range.
Young
children and people with weak constitutions should look away now
because I can't even THINK what was going through my head when I first
saw my Rifle take flight. Fellow club members Bill Stauber and Scott
Miller took the roles of launcher and test pilot, respectively. Bill
has a Rifle of his own, and Scott test flew it for him, so I knew I had
the right guys for the job, while I ran the video camera.
Within seconds of launch, I'd already lost sight of the Rifle with the
camera. Even when I could keep up with it, the Rifle covered so much
ground in such a hurry that my camera's auto-focus kept losing it.
Thankfully there's plenty of battery for several minutes of flight, so
I was able to get three minutes of good footage. Even the slow fly-bys
are F-A-S-T. Forget following it with the camera on a low high-speed
pass, that's for sure. You'll give yourself whiplash.
Once all the niceities were out of the way, it was my turn at the
sticks. With all the problems I had keeping the camera on the plane, I
was a little nervous about being able to keep up with the plane.
There's something about being in control that heightens your senses,
though, and I had absolutely no trouble keeping both eyes on the Rifle,
and keeping the "expensive side" up.
In a word, flying the Rifle is a thrill. It needs a good heave to get
going, but once the prop gets some traction, we're off to the races. As
hokey as it sounds, the Rifle tracks like a bullet. The recommended
elevator and aileron throws don't seem like much, but they're plenty
when your primary goal is to maintain a smooth pattern. You're not
going to be doing snap rolls or rolling harriers with it.
Landing is about the hairiest part of the entire flight, and something
I truthfully have not yet mastered. My test pilot "greased" it in like
he knew what he was doing, but so far I've managed to knock landing
skegs off trying to come in too fast. Entirely my fault. The landing
approach needs to be as long, as low, and as flat as possible to allow
the sleek Rifle to bleed off as much speed as possible before touchdown.
One thing not often mentioned in reviews like this is crowd impact. The
Rifle is a crowd-pleaser, for sure. When flying in front of an
audience, you are guaranteed to hear a few mumbled expletives about the
speed of the little plane, along with several exclamations of "Where is
it?" or, "I lost it!" You can't buy moments like that!
As
exciting as it is, this is not a plane for everyone. I say that not
because there's anything bad or wrong with the Electrifly Rifle, but
because it takes a good set of eyes and the utmost concentration to
keep it in view, along with a steady pair of thumbs on the sticks.
There are planes that anyone can enjoy flying, and there are planes
that you need to wait for the right level of experience before you can
enjoy it properly. This one falls into the latter category. I
absolutely love the thoughtful engineering, the handy size, the way the
Rifle handles, and the thrill of putting the spurs to it and chewing up
sky, but it is definitely something you should have a few planes under
your belt, including at least one fast sporty type, before you attempt.
Intermediate to advanced pilots will simply plotz over the performance.
Electrifly
and
Futaba
Distributed exclusively by: Great Planes Model
Distributors
P.O. BOX 9021
CHAMPAIGN, IL 61826
Phone: (800) 637-7660
Sales Phone: (800)338-4639
Website: www.electrifly.com
email: productsupport@greatplanes.com
From your introduction:
"Electrifly has put their engineering team to work once again, and the result is ... all-fiberglass mini-hotliner ..."
Someone thought it was... haha.
Has anyone that had flown this compared it to the Realflight 5 simulation of the Rifle? This is one of the squirreliest R5 simulations. Is this true to life??
Ron
The comments, observations and conclusions made in this review are solely with respect to the particular item the editor reviewed and may not apply generally to similar products by the manufacturer. We cannot be responsible for any manufacturer defects in workmanship or other deficiencies in products like the one featured in the review.
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