Distributed
by Horizon Hobby, Inc.
4105 Fieldstone Road
Champaign, IL 61822
Phone: (800) 338-4639 www.e-fliterc.com
If
you like flying wing designs and are a fan of the Stryker series of
airplanes from Horizon Hobby, E-flite might just have your ticket for
your next airframe. The Scimitar is the latest release from E-flite
that features Carbon-Z technology and promises heart pounding
excitement and flight performance.
Designed
by Q.Q. Somenzini, the Scimitar arrives with a long list of notable
features such as the Carbon-Z construction, dual rudders, single axis
thrust vectoring, and retractable gear. Being a huge fan of the Stryker
series of airplanes and having done a recent article
on the F-27Q,
when the chance to review to the Scimitar came up, I knew that this was
one airframe I definitely had to try. So lets unbox a BNF Scimitar, put
it together and take it out to the field to see what it is capable of.
The
Carbon-Z Scimitar arrives in a nicely decorated box. We will be looking
at the BNF version which includes the 4S3200mAh battery, an AR600
receiver and a charger.
E-flite
always does a great job of packaging their products and the Scimitar is
no different. All of the components are securely held down in various
compartments and I was glad to see that there was no damage from
shipping.
With
all of the components removed, you can see that the assembly will not
take a long time complete as there are only a handful of parts.
Carbon-Z Scimitar
Price: $399.99 (BNF) - $319.99 (PNP)
Key
Features
Dual rudder and vectored-thrust control on the yaw axis
Exceptionally strong and lightweight Carbon-Z structure
Digital high-speed servos installed
Single screw access to the electronic equipment
Effective front and side cooling inlets with interior venting
High-quality socket-head hardware throughout
Distinctive color scheme for superior visibility
Ready to accept optional E-flite electric retracts (EFLG110)
All components, including the nose and control surfaces, are easily replaceable
Overview
The
E-flite Carbon-Z Scimitar is true satisfaction for the RC pilot who
desires flight performance and adrenaline pounding excitement
previously thought impossible from a conventional aircraft platform.
The fantasy-scale Carbon-Z Scimitar, designed by world aerobatic
champion Quique Somenzini, bursts open the performance envelope with an
evolutionary tailless swept wing. At the heart of the advanced Carbon-Z
Scimitar is a specially tuned Q-Power system harnessed inside a
revolutionary single-axis, vectored-thrust propeller system. In
combination with the precision of carbon rod hinged elevons and twin
rudders, a refreshing level of maneuverability can be explored after
less than an evening?s worth of assembly time.
Specs
Wingspan:
42.6
in (1080mm)
Overall
Length:
35 in (889mm)
Flying
Weight:
4.4 lb (2.0 kg)
Motor
Size:
32-size 1010Kv brushless outrunner (installed)
ESC:
60-Amp Pro SB Brushless with BEC (installed)
Prop
Size:
10x8
Recommended
Battery:
4S 14.8V 30C 3200mAh (included)
Experience
Level:
Intermediate
Recommended
Environment:
Outdoor
Assembly
Time:
Less
than 1 Hour
I
have to start by saying that E-flite did a terrific job with the
Scimitar. There are so many little things here and there that add to
the overall quality of the Scimitar that it is hard to list them
all. As you open the magnetically sealed battery hatch/canopy, you will
see that there are three battery ties that are already installed for
you. E-flite has gone the extra step to add small pieces of Velcro to
the sides of the battery hatch so that you can keep the ties open as
you install the battery. There is ample space in the compartment to
slide the battery forwards and backwards to adjust the overall C.G. of
the Scimitar.
Removing
the Turtle deck and the motor enclosure, you can see the AR600
receiver, the 60A ESC and the single-axis thrust vectoring mechanism. I
am particularly excited about the thrust vectoring on this model as one
of my favorite maneuvers on the Stryker is the boomerang which I hope
the Scimitar will be able to perform equally well if not better given
the TV capability.
As
you flip the fuselage over, you can see that there is a large fin on
the bottom which is meant to protect the large propeller from hitting
the ground. There is a small plastic tip on the protector which is also
a nice touch. The Scimitar arrives with fixed landing gear and the
steering servo for the nose gear is visible on the bottom of the
fuselage. The included 10x8 propeller arrives with 'ears' on the sides
of the hub which are meant to help in balancing the hub of the
propeller in what is called vertical balancing.
The
single-axis thrust vectoring is achieved with the use of a single servo
that is located behind the motor mount. If you opt to fly without the
TV, you can either disable the mix from your transmitter or remove the
servo and lock the motor in place using a provided plastic vectored
thrust locking connector. I will most likely enable the TV as I want to
see what the Scimitar is capable of doing with it.
The
Scimitar is a Carbon-Z airframe meaning it employs wood and carbon
reinforcement structures inside of the wing. The wings arrive with the
servos pre-attached and connected using the low friction carbon rod
hinges which are similar to the Carbon-Z Yak. There are two carbon wing
tubes provided that will attach the massive wings to the fuselage. The
vertical fins also arrive with the rudder servos ready to go out of the
box. I was pleased to see that the rudder hinge line is almost
perpendicular to the fuselage which should help in reducing coupling
from the rudder. A set of fixed gear are provided with the Scimitar.
The
only other items in the box is a small set of parts, a spare push rod
for the steering linkage and the 4S3200mAh battery and charger. For
this review, I have also been provided with the 10-15 E-flite electric retracts which should help push the performance and looks of the Scimitar over the top. To utilize the electric retracts, an optional nose strut and steering linkage is required.
Manual
The
Carbon-Z manual is written and illustrated in a very detailed manner as
we have come to expect from E-flite. It contains illustrations and
details on assembling the Scimitar, setting up the vectoring and
control surfaces. Additional information is available on servicing the
Scimitar which is a nice touch.
The
assembly starts with the installation of the optional
electric retracts. The optional nose gear strut
is installed on the nose gear retract and bolted
to the fuselage using four screws. I took the extra
time to file flat spots on the strut and axle to
make sure that the wheel would not come loose during
taxi and flight. The steering linkage is then made
to the pre-installed servo and the actuation of
the retract can be checked.
To
install the main gear, the plastic covering which
hides the retract bays is removed and discarded
and the main gear can be positioned on the fuselage
to measure how much of the axle has to be cut. Using
a rotating tool, I cut the excess off the main gear
struts and installed them in their respective locations
using the hardware provided with the Scimitar.
The
vertical stabilizers and the wings are attached
to the fuselage by sliding them on the carbon wing
tubes. The connections for the servos are made and
all of the servo wires can be safely tucked in the
structure making for a clean overall installation.
The
installation of the wing and stabilizers is completed
by installing several screws. The manual explains
how the propeller should be balanced horizontally
by sanding the tips of the blades and vertically
by sanding the ears of the propeller. My propeller
was very close to balance out of the box and did
not need much sanding to achieve perfect balance.
After
balancing the propeller and attaching it to the
airframe, I proceeded to set the control throws
as recommended in the manual, checked the C.G. which
seemed to be a touch close on the tail heavy side
and set the Scimitar on the bench and started to
wait for the weekend in hopes of good flying weather.
For
the maiden flight of the Carbon-Z Scimitar, we headed out to Tom Bass
field in Houston on a slightly overcast and windy day. Transporting the
Scimitar was not a big problem in the back of my SUV and with no field
assembly, it did not take much time before we had installed the main
flight pack and was on the field ready to roll out.
Once
on the runway, I noticed that the Scimitar seemed to bounce its nose on
the runway as I was taxiing around which made me think I could be on
the tail heavy side as I had noticed before. Before take off, I moved
the battery a little to shift the C.G forward after which I noticed
that this effect was less pronounced. After lining up with the runway,
I applied throttle and noticed that the 32 size motor was making a good
amount of power as it plunged the Scimitar forward with authority and
it did not take much runway before the Scimitar rotated and was
airborne. The manual
recommends that you apply right aileron trim on the Scimitar to
compensate for the torque the motor generates which I neglected to do
on my first flight however I did not really notice a major roll
tendency from the Scimitar on take off or during climb out.
Once
in the air, I pulled up the gear and trimmed out the Scimitar to
achieve level flight . After a few high passes, I felt comfortable
enough to start bringing the Scimitar in for some low passes. The
Scimitar did not have any bad flight tendencies that jumped out as I
tried to slow it down for some photo opportunities. On successive
passes, I opened up the Scimitar for some high speed passes down the
runway. When flying at speed, the Scimitar is rock solid and can
perform some very nice slow rolls when commanded to do so with the help
of the rudders. The rudders were quite effective in holding knife edge
flight and seemed to exhibit a little less coupling than what I was
used to with the F-27Q Stryker.
After
experimenting with the sport capabilities of the Scimitar, I decided to
engage the thrust vectoring and see what the Scimitar was capable of. I
took the Scimitar up high and entered a blender and cornered the sticks
expecting to see a crazy fast boomerang but was disappointed when the
Scimitar would spin and tumble but just would not enter the maneuver.
After several unsuccessful attempts, I turned the thrust vectoring off
and attempted the boomerang again and found success. Similar to the
F-27Q Stryker, the Scimitar can perform the inverted boomerang by
simply cornering both sticks to the bottom left when spinning inverted.
What surprised me was the Scimitars capability to perform the upright
boomerang much easier that I could ever perform it with the F-27Q
Stryker by simply snapping out of a vertical climb and holding in
bottom left throttle and top right aileron stick inputs. Similar to the
F-27Q Stryker, the Scimitar does not need any throttle at all to
perform these maneuvers but I noticed that it does need more recovery
time at the bottom due to its larger size and weight. In fact, I
crashed my first Scimitar when I could not recover from an inverted
boomerang in time so it may be best to start your recovery a few
mistakes high until you get a feel for just how much space is required.
When
it came to landing the Scimitar on the short runway at Tom Bass, I had
a few unsuccessful passes where the Scimitar came in too hot and
bounced on the runway a few times before settling in. On later days
when we flew out of Scobee park in Houston that houses a longer runway,
I was able to fly the Scimitar in with some speed and settle in on
the mains and even keep the nose up for a few feet before finally
settling in for a very nice and graceful landing.
Check
out the video to
see her in action!
Carbon-Z Scimitar (Pilots, Stills & Video: Burc Simsek
and
David Smith)
I
think that the Carbon-Z Scimitar is going to make a great addition to
the E-flite line up. If you like delta wings and are a fan of the
Stryker series of airplanes but are looking for the next step, the
Carbon-Z Scimitar may just be your ticket. Offering the same great
handling and aerobatic capability as the F-27Q Stryker, the Scimitar
will take it to the next level by taking your flying experience to a
larger airframe, adding retracts and thrust vectoring. When it came to
the thrust vectoring capability of the Scimitar, I was a little
disappointed in my initial failed attempts of what I imagined I would
be able to do with the Scimitar with the thrust vectoring enabled. It
is most likely that I will have to learn how to use the thrust
vectoring in ongoing experiments with the Scimitar but that is
something that I look forward to.
Distributed by Horizon Hobby, Inc.
4105 Fieldstone Road
Champaign, IL 61822 http://www.e-fliterc.com/
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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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