Just to let everybody know that the new Vertigo 3D's are now being shipped out of radical r/c from Dave Thacker. I have put extensive Design into this model and has proven itself at all fly-in I have went to. This 26" 4 Channel airplane will Tourqe Roll, Harrier with extreme ease!, Harrier roll, Blenders, pop-ups, water falls, etc... I can do everything with it that I can do with a 40%, with a lot less invested. The whole outfit includes: 1 laser cut kit, 1 black diamond motor, 4 servo's, 1 li-poly 3 cell, 2 9.4.7 props, 1 y-harness, 1 plantraco reciever, 1 extension. $238.00 for the electronics, and $59.00 for the kit. An inexpensive, fun to fly, 3D airplane. You can e-mail Radical R/C @ [email protected],
or check out his web site www.radicalrc.com and got to rc electric kits. This airplane will rocket vertical at the begining of the pack and mid pack, by the end of the pack (20 minutes later) you can still harrier around. If you have anymore questions you can e-mail me at [email protected] Thank you all and have a great week.



-Jason Noll
Designer of the Vertigo 3D

Jason, Ive got one of these kits now sitting on my bench. I ordered mine two days after watching your dad fly his at our Cruisade for Childeren RC Airshow in Louisville back in June. At that time Radical was just releasing the kit and making changes to the recommended battery and motor setup. Needless to say I was impressed with Franks enough, and I believe he was using a 2-cell at the time, to go ahead and order one.

I just checked out the site and see that they now have recommended complete packages for the plane which is really good for an Electric Newbie like myself. I would like to know the difference in performance regarding flight times and power with the 3 different motor options if you'd be kind enough to share. Also, are most people building the plane around the battery or setting them up so you can swap packs?

Really looking forward to some electric 3D with this bird.

Thanks,
Scott Kimball
Louisville Ky

Scott,

The new final setup for the vertigo 3D is going to be a 1200mah, 3 cell li-poly w/ a black diamond 301 motor. This is the best setup!! On a full charge it will shoot vertical out of your hand to a dot! It is incredible. I have to hand it to Dave Thacker for masterminding the whole power setup. The battery, whether it is a 2 or 3 cell gets velcroed to the bottom of the fuse right behind the front former. Either battery works great, but if you want drop dead power, the 3 cell is the ticket. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Thank you!
-Jason Noll

I would also like to add that i am going to be going turn-Key vertigo's. But there is a line....

Thanks,
-Jason Noll

Turn-key as in drop in a reciever or crystal and fly? Now that sounds pretty good, but I'd probable hate to hear the price of that jewel.

The kit itself looks exceptionally well cut and looks as if it will almost ""snap" together. I have only looked at it but Im guessing no more than an evening or two to frame it up.

I gotta say though....Im a sucker for wheelpants and I love the way you designed these little balsa pants.

Maybe I need to call Radical today to order my electronics package. Whats a good charger that doesnt take too much time if I wanted to buy multiple packs?

I'm going to do the turn-keys for $525.00. That includes everything! even crystal and receiver. (Kit, electronics, covering, glue, TIME, props) If you think about it... on some models you'll spend over half of that price in just motor and speed controls.

A great charger that I have been using is the "Apache" li-poly charger. I have 7 packs, and I can charge all 7 after I get done flying that evening and ready for the next morning. it takes anywere from 1 hour, to an hour and a half to charge a battery depending on how much you run the pack down. If you call dave, just tell him you want the charger I have been using. He'll know what your talking about.

About the wheelpants, I am a stickler for them as well. I WILL NOT fly an airplane without wheelpants. (unless it's a cub). I have designed them so that they are light, but durable. Also, make sure you glue them on with canopy glue, or a rubberized glue of some sort, that way if you have a hard landing for some reason it just pivots them on the axle instead of ripping them off.

I have just completed the first 125% vertigo yesterday and i love it! It's just as fun as the little one, but not as much of a hot rod. The flying weight for the SO Vertigo (slightly oversized) is 14 oz. It is a big kite! Same construction, just bigger ( a lot bigger). It uses the same power system as the little one and still does everything! They will be available soon, but i want to do more testing before i let people invest their money in them.

Thanks!
-Jason Noll

I've just ordered a Vertigo 125%. I'll be using a Hacker B20 18L 4:1 that was in my Exhila. I have 2 TP 2100 3s1p packs to power it with. Any thoughts/recommendations?

VERTIGO 125

Well, after spending an astonishingly little amount of time on this thing...it's ready to fly. I have some last minute radio programming (JR 9303) and I'm ready to see if this thing 3D's like you guys say it does.

I am struck by how easy everything goes together. This was my first balsa kit (my others have been arfs or foamies.) The instructions were a bit vague in places, but experienced builders would almost certainly see this as an easy building kit.

There were some issues which surprised me, since the kit overall is so excellent. For example, there is no accomodation for a tail skid or wheel. Little things like that.

Anyway, tomorrow AM will likely be the maiden for this animal.

I have never covered a model before, so my covering job will seem pretty "basic" to you monokote Yodas out there. I just didn't want to get in over my head until I get some experience. (Now I have some, so I'll get in over my head on the next plane!)

Hacker B20 18L 4:1
Jeti 18 ESC
TP 2100 3S (1st generation)
GWS R6P rx
HS55's
AUW 20.0 ounces ...fully charge ;-)

I don't like Z-bends.

Here's a removable alternative to Z-bends.

Tail Wheel

Here's a tailwheel cannibalized from a Slow Stick carcass

The wire was inserted through the bottom, through the horizontal stab, and into the top sheeting (slightly) to prevent the LG from twisting on the "roll axis."

The small balsa scrap holds the wire down and distributes the load applied to the fuse.
Attached Thumbnails

Here's how I connected the Carbon Rods to the servo arms and control horns...The connectors are made by Dubro.

Well, I've flown this plane several times now. Here are my thoughts...

First off, I must say that it is a strong plane. A mishap of sorts has proven that out.

The plane balanced perfectly on the spar with no mods done to alter CG. The 3S1P Thunder Power 2100mAh pack is attached to the floor of the fuse using velcro. The rx is on the bottom of the wing...again, with velcro. This allows the batteries to be changed without disconnecting any servo wires.

OK...flying. If you can't make this plane harrier, it's because you forgot to take off. In fact, with the CG on the spar, harrier flight is about all I could get! So I moved my battery pack forward 1/2 inch and found a sweet spot - where the plane will fly on the wing nicely, yet still harrier easily.

I used some motor down thrust after the first few flights. Made all the difference in the world! This, combined with moving the CG forward a smidge, really makes the plane shine for me.

This plane is about as easy a plane to hover as any I've ever flown. I could take off, and just hover a pack away if I set my mind to it.

It has some severe coupling issues in KE flight. This is not a surprise, since there is so much weight in the bottom of the plane - way below the roll axis. This makes the plane easy to harrier, but brings on other issues like severe roll coupling. I'm considering building a battery tray just under the wing to see how that affects rudder coupling and the non-axial roll tendency. I could try aileron differential for the axial roll issue, however with the batts so low in the fuse, this will likely be an inherent trait of the plane. Again, I will likely move the battery upward just to see how the plane reacts.

TOs and landings are very easy. You don't need much power to get this thing to leave the ground. The LG seems quite strong, though I haven't really tested that (since it is so easy to land.)

Since there are so few kits for this power package, I would likely build another Vertigo 125 if this one was destroyed somehow.

Overall, I like the plane and would recommend it to someone looking for a kit (not an ARF) in this size range.