E-Flite Super AirLiner DF

RCU Review: E-Flite Super AirLiner DF

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Contributed by: Marc Vigod | Published: September 2006 | Views: 63150 |

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	E-Flite Distributed by Horizon Hobby 4105 Fieldstone Rd. CHAMPAIGN, IL 61822 http://www.horizonhobby.com

Design
Appearance
Box-to-Sky
Ease of Flight
Fun Factor
Battery Life
Performance
Crash Proof

Landing gear fragile



		CLICK FOR FLIGHT VIDEO




		Maybe some of us are fans of jet airplanes. Then again, maybe some of us are electric flight fanatics. Then there are some who are fans of, well, fans (ducted fans that is). E-Flite has brought to market the new "E-Flite Super Airliner DF" electric jet which brings all these things together in a great looking electric ducted fan model which the average modeler can afford, assemble and fly. The Super Airliner is a twin ducted fan design. Being electric it avoids the difficulties of tuning glow engines and the cost of turbines. E-Flite states that they chose the twin airliner design for its enlarged wing area and multiple engines for more power in flight. The plane is molded from EPS foam and E-Flite claims a 3 1/4 RTF weight and we'll see if ours matches up to that weight here in our test labs. It is powered by two lipo packs (one for each outrunner brushless motor) connected to separate ESC's. A quick read through the included manual shows what appears to be a simple assembly process to get to the runway so without further delay let's get this party started!



		Type: Electric Twin Ducted Fan Airliner Jet Wingspan: 55 in (1400mm) Gross Weight (per mfg): RTF 3.25 lb (1.5kg) Gross Weight (as tested): RTF Exactly 3.25lbs! Length: 57 in (1450mm) Wing Area: 505 sq in (32.5 sq dm) Electric Motors: (2) E-Flite Brushless 400 Ducted Fan 3500kv outrunners Battery: (2) ThunderPower 3-cell 2100mah LiPo 11.1V ESC: (2) E-Flite 20 amp Brushless ESC with Dual BEC Transmitter: Spektrum DX6 2.4Ghz Spread Spectrum Receiver: Spektrum AR6000 Servos: (4) E-Flite S75 Sub Micro Servos, (1) JR ST-47 Standard Servo


	INSTRUCTION MANUAL & INCLUDED PARTS

The E-Flite Super Airliner DF although big, still comes in just one single box. Granted it is one fairly large box! Opening it up reveals all the major components and not too many small ones meaning it should not take long to put this aircraft together.

To complete the Airliner you will need the required radio equipment which is at minimum a 4 channel transmitter, a standard BB servo and four sub micro servos. You will also need some y-harnesses and servo extension wires. Additionally you will need the motors for which the E-Flite brushless 400 DF outrunners are recommended. A couple of 20 amp esc's (we tested with the E-Flite 20 amp ESC). Two 3S, 2100mah 11.1v lipo packs and a charger to put the juice in them.


	GETTING STARTED

Putting together the airliner is really straightforward and I only encountered a few minor hitches here and there which I'll mention in the text. Below is a quick overview of the assembly.

To the left you can see the Super Airliner as it comes out of the box. Just unpack it and check it over to ensure no damage in shipping before you start it. Ours was perfect!

Laid out bottom left photo are the accessories to complete the project including the dual motors, dual esc's, dual lipo's and required servos. Lots of 2's!!! Double your fun and double your pleasure!

Top right is the E-Flite Brushless 400 3500kv Ducted Fan Brushless Outrunner Motor. The motor will later be screwed in to the already installed fan mounts on the wing using a couple screws (supplied) which you can see in the lower right photo.


DF Outrunner Mounted	Nacelles Glued

In the photos above you can see the fan assembly with the DF outrunner motor installed. The manual notes you may need to positiion the motor or later remove some material from the housing if the blades scrape at all. Ours were close but did not touch when the blade was slowly rotated and checked. Just be sure to check yours and follow the manual if you need to adjust as you do not want the blades touching the housing during operation.

The wires get routed outside the unit through the predrilled holes. After soldering bullet connectors to the wires, the final assembly of the nacelles is begun by gluing the two halves together with some epoxy and using clamps and rubber bands until cured to hold. If you want a neater installation you can use an exacto blade to carve out a channel in the nacelle's foam in order to provide a path for the wires to run to until they hit the channel in the wing which later gets covered with decals.

The aileron servos are mounted in the wing with some epoxy and the S75 micro servos were a perfect press fit. The included pushrods are secured to the servo arm and preinstalled control horns using the supplied pushrod connector. Be sure to use some threadlocker on the nut! Once glued in a decal is placed over the servo and wire lead to hide them. Photo of servo installed before decal cover up is below top left image

The ESC's need to get installed and to do this you need to use the extension wires and solder them to the black/red leads of the ESC. The manual stated that there were two 25" red wires and two 25" black wires. However my kit arrived with just one of each. After carefully measuring, I determined that I could cut the single set in half and create two sets of 12 1/2" that would work for both ESC's and allow them to reach the batteries in the nose of the plane. I'm not sure if the manual is in error here but the 25" actually seemed way to long and would have to be cut down almost halfway when all was said and done.

After cutting the wires and soldering them they are routed through the wing. I soldered Deans connectors to both the packs and the end of the extension wires. At this point hook everything up to the radio to ensure your fans are running in the correct direction. If not switch two of the three pins on your ESC to reverse. Finally a silver decal is applied to cover the wires running through the channels in the wing. The decal is designed to cover the ESC but I cut out the area where the ESC was so it could cool better. You can see the photos in the top row below depicting this.


Aileron Servo	ESC and wires in place	Wires covered

Nose Gear Servo Mounted	Nose Gear Final Installed	Main Gear with flat filed


Nose Gear Installed	Easy access hatch	Vertical Stab Slot

Above in the center row you can see the landing gear photos. The main gear gets a servo mounted on it via blocks that I glued in place (included) and the servo arm attached. The main gear is already mounted to this plate which then screws in with a sheet screw to hold in place in the fuse. I had to cut out a little foam to get the assembly in but glued the piece back in place when done. You may be able to turn the wheel all the way to the right to get it to make the clearance though. I was just working too fast here and did not think of this until after! Duh!

The main gear is assembled and you just need to file a flat on the nose gear wire and then push the gear on and tighten the setscrew which should sit on the flat you just filed. Use some threadlocker on that screw. The gear is machined out of aluminum and has built in shock absorbers! They did a nice job on these especially considering the price of this plane. The wheels are premounted on the gear so nothing left to do there.

The rudder does not come installed but slides in place with some epoxy and its all set. The elevator servo used was a standard JR ST-47 and the larger cutout in the preinstalled tray perfectly accomodates it. The rudder takes a micro servo and I used the E-Flite S75 Sub micro here as well as in the ailerons and nose gear. I had to cut with an exacto about 1/16" to get the S75 in there.

Both servos here use pushrod connectors and all pushrods are factory installed. Also worth noting is that all surfaces are prehinged with control horns installed. While these items are easy to do yourself it is a nice time saver when they arrive completed like this.

Do check all surfaces for free movement. One of my elevators was rubbing slightly against the fuselage so I had to trim about 1/16" off with an exacto blade to get it to move up and down easily.

Only thing left is to install the batteries, receiver and check the radio, control surfaces and CG before flight.


Fuselage belly cavity	Packs velcroed

I installed the Spektrum AR6000 receiver in the fuselage cavity with some velcro. The Spektrum AR6000 is very small and light so it takes only a postage stamp size piece of velcro. Also nice is the small antennae which don't require routing through the fuselage making things unsightly.

The Thunderpower 2100 3S packs were mounted with a strip of velcro looped around it on both axis to avoid any possibility of movement. I used the pink one supplied with my kit and a piece of my own. Between packs to avoid slipping I used some Dubro Velcro on each one to "mate" them as one.

The manual recommended CG is 5 1/2" (140mm) back from the leading edge against the fuselage. The CG has been marked on the bottom of the wing although the plane will be balanced inverted. I shifted the packs in order to achieve this 5 1/2" target CG. The plane weighed exactly 3.25lbs just as E-flite had stated.

For all throws I followed the manuals suggestions for both high and low rate to insure high probability of success. Now we just charge the Spektrum DX6 radio (click here for full RCU review on the DX6 Spektrum Spread Spectrum System) up and our ThunderPower flight packs and off to the field we go to get some jets...

For the flight report I asked that Michael Kranitz take his Airliner over to his local field which sports a gorgeous runway and the most beautiful backdrop to make for some nice scenery for the photos shoot and video. I decided if I waited around in New Jersey for our weather and field conditions to cooperate you would be reading this in 2007 so knowing many were anxious to see an RCU style review on this exciting new product we partnered up to split the build and flight pieces. So from here Michael takes over and you are in good hands. Sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Michael's FlightTake

The E-Flite Airliner performed quite well in the mile-high city. Take-offs were graceful and consumed nearly 2/3's of our 700 foot runway, making them look realistic. Once in the air, the airliner fulfilled every expectation that I had for a scale ducted fan aircraft of this size. In many cases, ducted fans will sag in the high altitude atmosphere, but not the eFlite airliner; it was able to perform loops, rolls and aggressive climb-outs with no problem.

Landings are an entertaining challenge. The airliner has a good bit of speed on approach and the challenge is to slow the airplane enough to land, but not too much that you plunk it down too hard. I consider myself a below-average "approach and landing" pilot so making the airliner look good made me focus every bit of average talent I had. I was able to land in a brisk crosswind and a moderate head wind and keep the gear intact! On one landing, I doinked it on the runway and bent the nose gear. Within 5 seconds, I had it bent back and was hurtling down the runway for another flight.

The airliner is very entertaining. It was a snap to build and it garners eyeballs at the field. Taxiing the beast is particular fun because airliners are what most of us have grown accustomed to seeing in our everyday lives. The dual whine of the fans is also a great diversion from the usual fare. I can't imagine anything that I would change on this kit.

CLICK FOR FLIGHT VIDEO



	The E-flite Super Airliner DF jet carves out its own place in the radio control world. With its scale like appearance and eye catching ways it is a hit at any field it shows up at. Those who own the Super Airliner are treated to a jet experience without the hassle of a twin glow fuel based ducted fan system or the expense of a turbine. This ARF went together well with very few hitches to get it ready for the air. Once assembled the airplane performs as the manufacturer claims it does. Everything from the scale takeoffs, landing, fly by's plus a few rolls and loops tossed in to keep it interesting. If you are looking for something to turn heads at your field, are into jets or EDF's (electric ducted fans) then look no further than E-flite's Super Airliner DF for an enjoyable electric ducted fan jet experience.


	E-flite Super Airliner DF ARF Electric Jet Distributed exclusively by: Horizon Hobby 4105 Fieldstone Rd. CHAMPAIGN, IL 61822 Support Phone: (877) 504-0233 Sales Phone: (800) 338-4639 Website: www.horizonhobby.com email: support@horizonhobby.com Spektrum DX6 Radio System Distributed exclusively by: Horizon Hobby 4105 Fieldstone Rd. CHAMPAIGN, IL 61822 Support Phone: (877) 504-0233 Sales Phone: (800) 338-4639 Website: www.horizonhobby.com email: support@horizonhobby.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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