You may recognize the looks of the Handy King from a few years
back when a 36" airframe named "The Handyman" was released and reviewed
here at RCU by Mike Buzzeo. The recently released Handy King seems to be a
larger version of the Handyman and is available in both what the World
Models calls "Kit" and "Pre-assembled Combo" versions. The Kit version
is essentially and ARF which requires all electronics to be provided by
the user where as the pre-assembled combo arrives with a motor, four
SV3031 servos, propeller and spinner. The user will have to supply a
receiver, 40A ESC and a flight battery.
The overall shape of the Handy King 40 suggests that it is a hybrid
between a pattern and 3D airframe. The long sleek and narrow fuselage
along with the air foiled tail suggest that it should perform well in the precision department where
as the over sized control surfaces suggest that it should be able to 3D
just as well. Being a fan of both flight styles, when the opportunity
to review the Handy King 40 came up, I signed myself up to the task to
see how it would perform in both departments. So lets unpack the
pre-assembled combo version, put it together, take it out to the field
and see what the fuss is all about...
The Handy King 40 pre-assembled combo arrives in a sturdy box.
The
few components required to assemble the Handy King have been
individually wrapped and taped down and I was glad to see that there
was no damage to the components during shipment. I was impressed to see
that the control horns had been pre-attached and protected with small
blue pieces of foam.
With
all of the components removed from the box, you can see that there are
only a handful of components which should make your time from bench to
the air a short one.
The World Models Handy King 40 EP
Price: $229.99 (Combo) - $109.99 (Kit)
Key
Features
Factory pre-installed 4 Mini Servos SV3031
Brushless Outrunner Motor 37/48 Deluxe KM0374810
Propeller Adaptor HW2340102
Specs
Wingspan:
46.5 in (1,180 mm)
Length:
52
in (1,320 mm)
Flying
Weight:
53 oz (1,500 g)
Wing
Area:
565
in2 (36.4 dm2)
Radio
Requirements:
Minimum
4-channel
Recommended
ESC* :
40A
Recommended
Battery*:
14.8V 4S3200 mAh Battery
The
pre-assembled combo version arrives (removed for illustration)
with the KM0374810 brushless motor which is rated
at 450W by the manufacturer. The front of the fuselage
contains a battery hatch that is secured by two powerful
magnets. Removing the hatch, you will find the pre-installed
motor to the front of the battery bay which already
has a Velcro tie for the flight battery. The main
gear arrives with the wheels already mounted and is
a single wire piece which is inserted into the wooden
reinforced slot on the bottom of the fuselage.
The
wings arrive with the aileron servos pre-attached,
wired and ready to go out of the box. The provided
servos are the TWM SV3031 which are good for 0.16
sec/60 degree transition time and 2.3 kg/cm torque
at 4.8V which should more than suffice for this airframe.
The horizontal and vertical stabs are air foiled and
the control horns along with the tail wheel have been
pre-attached for you.
The
tail wheel looks pretty sturdy at first glance and
should do a good job of steering the Handy King around
and absorbing those less than stellar or more forceful
harrier landings. Two sheets of decal sheets are supplied
with the Handy King. There are two color options which
are yellow and gray available during purchase. A quick
assembly of the components gave me a glance of what
the completed airframe would look like and I have
to say I could not wait to get on with the assembly
and take the Handy King out to the field.
Manual
The
Handy King manual is a well illustrated step through of how the plane
is assembled. Though it lacks verbal descriptions of the process, the
illustrations are clear and it should not be a problem for the user to
follow along to arrive at the final product without any issues. For the
pre-assembled version, many of the steps have already been done for you.
The
assembly starts by running some tape over the aileron hinge locations.
The tape is provided with the ARF and I found that cutting the tape in
smaller pieces made the process significantly simpler.
The same tape is used to stiffen the elevator hinge.
The rudder also gets the tape treatment. Note that the tail wheel is already attached in the pre-assembled version.
T8FG
Overview
The
original 8FG was already the best 2.4GHz radio value available. Now,
for the same cost, the 8FG Super offers six additional channels ? plus
new software with menus tailored to Futaba's super-fast CGY750 gyro.
Recommended by Bobby Watts, Matt Botos and Kyle Stacy, it's the first
radio that really supports flybarless helicopters. And it's perfect for
all other applications, too...a smart choice for ANY forward-looking
flier.
Key
Features
Expanded with 14 total transmitter channels ? 12 proportional and two switched.
Included
R6208SB receiver's PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) channels support up to
8 standard analog or digital servos ? and it handles up to 18 channels
when used with an S.Bus system.
Gyro menu supports 3-axis gyros and is perfectly tailored to the CGY750.
User menu allows pilots to customize and display frequently used functions.
VPP (Variable Pitch Propeller) compatibility can be set to three conditions for throttle and pitch curve.
Numerous factory-defined mixes help you program like a pro.
Low latency and cutting-edge 2048 resolution combine for fast, accurate Real-Time Response?.
Accepts 32MB to 2GB SD memory cards* ? add as much memory as you want.
With
all the hinges taped up, the horizontal stabilizer assembly is epoxied
in the tail followed by the vertical stabilizer. In a mater of minutes,
the tail section is ready to go.
The
main gear is inserted in a wooden slot under the fuselage. A wood
retainer is then inserted and screwed in place. Two foam pieces are
then glued on to the wire struts and the Handy King is up on its
feet in no time.
Since
the elevator and rudder servos, along with the control horns, have been
pre-attached, all that remains is to install the control rods and
adjust the clevises. The wings are installed on a carbon fiber wing tube
and are held in place using rubber bands. A special tool is provided to
allow you to pull the rubber band through the fuselage and hook it to
the other wing. The task seems daunting at first but using the special
tool, it took me only a few minutes to get the wings on. I did notice
that even with two rubber bands, I was able to pull the wings out so I
decided to glue them in place as I do not plan to take them off for
transportation. Additional rubber bands could be use to make the fit a
little tighter if desired.
The
pre-assembled combo arrives with the motor but requires the user to
provide a receiver and ESC. I used an E-flite 40A ESC and a Futaba
R617FS receiver and made the required connections before binding the
system to my Futaba T8FG and making sure the propeller was spinning the
right direction. A special connector is supplied to make the ESC motor
connection but I found that I can simply insert the female bullet
connectors of the ESC to the motor connector without having to attach this extra piece. The
ESC is then inserted through the cooling hole in the front and can be
secured in place using double sided tape or Velcro.
I
mounted the R617FS receiver in the fuselage using double sided tape and
routed the ESC lead through an opening to the front of the battery
compartment. I had to use a small servo extender to reach the receiver
on the throttle but overall the installation was simple and clean. The
final step was to install the provided prop and spinner. The cuts in
the spinner have to be enlarged a little to properly accommodate the
provided propeller which can easily be accomplished using a rotary
grinder. The complete assembly took me less than an hour. The provided
decals have to be cut and can be attached to the fuselage following a
detailed illustration in the manual. Each decal is clearly numbered to
avoid confusion. It took me longer to cut and apply the decals than to
assemble and setup the airframe but the results were worth it in my
opinion as the decals really help in adding some visual interest to the
stock yellow paint.
The
maiden flight of the Handy King happened to land on a clear and calm
January day in Houston with the temperature hovering around 70F and
negligible winds. With a wing span of 46", I was able to easily
transport the Handy King without having to remove the wings so field
assembly was a non issue. Once at the field, we ran through the usual
pre-flight checks and prepared the Handy King for its first
flight.
The
recommended battery is a 4S3200mAh battery which I already had in my
stock from other projects. The battery fits in the front of the
fuselage on its side without any issues but I did find that with the
battery placed around the mid position, the Handy King did balance a
little on the tail heavy side. I decided to give it a try before adding
any further weight to the nose to bring the CG spot on to the
recommended location. A quick application of our Watt meter showed the
engine producing 540W and drawing a steady 38A from the battery at full
charge.
Once
we had the field to ourselves during a null of the regular flying
activity at the field, we rolled the Handy King out on to the field for
the maiden flight. Ground handling with the steerable tail wheel did
not pose any issues. After applying throttle and watching the Handy
King pick up speed and its tail off the ground, I applied a touch
of elevator and the Handy King was airborne and climbing towards its
first turn. After applying some trim and achieving level flight, the
fun began where we started to explore what the Handy King had to offer
in terms of sport, precision and 3D capabilities.
Flown
as a sport plane, the Handy King will definitely please most as it
provides a wide flight envelope ranging from super slow and
controlled flight to wide open throttle and what seems like unlimited acrobatics. I had
used the recommended control throws as my second level rates with low
rates for precision and maxed out rates for 3D. Using the second level
rates, I was able to track through loops and rolls nicely without any
nasty tendencies to snap or stall.
Dropping
to low rates, I put the Handy King through some verticals and point
rolls and did not see any major issues. There is minimal correction
required during point rolls and up lines seemed to be pretty straight
indicating that the side thrust of the motor is about right. The
slightly tail heavy configuration did result in a good amount of down
elevator being required for inverted flight. Knife edge flight is where
the Handy King seems to shine with the wide fuselage providing a good
amount of lift to allow for slow and controlled knife edge passes over
the runway. There was coupling from the rudder to both roll and pitch
but not significant enough to make me want to mix it out.
After
flipping the rates to high and experimenting with the 3D capabilities
of the Handy King, I was pleased to find that there was minimal wing
rock in upright harriers and the Handy King was a very easy airframe to
perform inverted harriers on. When it comes to hovering, I initially
noticed a tendency to drop towards the right, but after a few attempts,
I was able to get steady and low hovering action a couple of inches off
the ground, The provided motor is more than capable of pulling out of a
hover when commanded and does not really induce a lot of torque on the
airframe when stalled out. I did find that I had some difficulty
getting flat spins perfectly flat.
After
flying for around 8 minutes, I landed and put the battery on charge and
was surprised to find that I had only consumed 1.6A from the pack. On
further flights, I was able to extend the flight time to ~10 minutes
and still stay within the %80 margin of the battery which always came
out cool to the touch.
When
it came to landing, I did notice that the wire struts do oscillate a
good amount unless you approach and touch down perfectly straight which
is usually hard to do in cross wind situations. I think some stiffening
of the struts might alleviate this issue but so far it has not
been bad enough for me to do anything about it.
Check
out the video to
see her in action!
Handy King 40 EP (Pilots, Stills & Video: Burc Simsek
and
David Smith)
I
think that the Handy King 40 EP is a pretty nice airplane which can be
appreciated by a wide variety of pilots. It is big enough to present
nicely in the air but small enough to fit in the back of a car or SUV
without having to take the wings off. I have to admit that the color
scheme does take some getting used to but there is no question about
its visibility which is a nice plus.
In
terms of performance, the Handy King is an airframe that can fly a wide
envelope ranging from sport to 3D. I think the performance of the Handy
King will please most and will make a nice "go to" plane. I was
impressed by the performance of the KM0374810
motor in terms of power and the flight duration that it provided. About
the only thing that I can find fault on this airframe was the main gear
where it would vibrate quite forcefully upon less than perfect touch
downs.
Overall,
I was rather pleased with the Handy King and can recommend it as nice
mid sized sport/pattern/3D hybrid that is easy to assembly and a
pleasure to fly.
Futaba
Corporation of America
Distributed by:
Great Planes Model Distributors
P.O. Box 9021
Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Phone: (217) 398-8970
Website:www.futaba-rc.com
ZAP
and Pacer Adhesives Distributed by Frank
Tiano Ent.
3607 Ventura Drive E.
Lakeland, Florida 33811
Phone 863-607-6611 www.franktiano.com
Newton
Supply Company
13953 SW 140 Street
Miami, Florida 33186
Phone: (800) 888-2467 www.epogrip.com/hobby
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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