Passport 2010
 

6 weeks ago when I first arrived Marcelo new he had his work cut out for him. I had a list of things a mile long that just can´t be described in emails or over the phone. Of course the whole Visa project was a big part of it but I also wanted to finish the Passport, as It is still my number one choice for next year (That may change tomorrow)

First of all we corrected the dihedral problem to get rid of the mixing, then we tackled the weight issue (6 ounces lighter now), and last but not least I wanted it to be more builder friendly (laser cut battery tray etc) Well today the last piece of the puzzle arrived and with its new color schemes the Passport 2010 is ready to go.

I really need to get back to the Visa but since all the stuff was out to be shipped I thought I better take some pics while I had the chance. There are now 2 new schemes that it is available in. Each of those is available in two different color variations. Here are a few pics.

C

BTW The pics of Mikes plane is before clear

RE: Passport 2010
 

Looks nice Chip.  Is the dihedral fix just in the wings, so we can upgrade our current Passports to the new wings?

RE: Passport 2010
 

Absolutely, just plug and play.

Chip

RE: Passport 2010
 

Cool, and i read on the VISA thread that they are 5.5 oz lighter as well! My Pasport may make NATS weight yet!

RE: Passport 2010
 

Thats the goal and if you get a set of the new gear you will save another ounce and a half. Its been a long time coming but I think we have a pretty good handle on the weight issue from here on out.

Chip

RE: Passport 2010
 

Chip.
Looks good . Can't wait to get mine

Bob G.

RE: Passport 2010
 

The orange one is yours lol. Now known here as the "Bob Scheme" It is all boxed and will ship Monday. Both Marcelo and I apologize for not getting it out this week. The Visa took everything we had. Hope you like it and if you don't for some reason I have first and second dibs.

CHip

RE: Passport 2010
 

Just a pic of Mike Klien´s new Passport finished

C

RE: Passport 2010
 

My PassPort arrived today. It looks great and I think that it is pretty light. I don't have the old to compare against, but each wing panel weighed about 335 grams (under 12oz per panel without servos and linkages). The fuse was 1325g including the cowl and canopy. Talking with Todd Blose, he seemed to think that the wings would end up about 6 oz lighter than the prior version. That alone should make weight a non-issue, let alone if the fuse, gear, etc. are lighter as well.

Great job Chip and Marcelo. Can't wait to get this bird done and in the air. I also couldn't believe how much larger this plane is than the Integral that I flew last year. I have it on the rack right above the Integral and it dwarfs it. It really looks awesome. I had the good fortune to fly Chip's last year as we prepared for the Nats and I know that this plane is going to be great.

RE: Passport 2010
 

Mike that plane coupled with your awesome talent is going to be fun to watch. Good choice. Mike

RE: Passport 2010
 

Now if all the manufacturers would just provide wing panels with this kind of weight, there would not be any arguments about the weight rules.

RE: Passport 2010
 

What is the price of the new lighter wings.  Do they also include the dihedral updates?

RE: Passport 2010
 

I will leave it to Chip or Marcelo to chime in with the price on the new wings. I am guessing that they include the new dihedral, but need Chip to confirm. I'll say this, I was really pleased with the weight and the finish job looks great as well. I've always prided myself on my monokote skills, but I gotta say, they have someone that can make the covering do magic around the wing and stab tips. I have never seen a better job, not a wrinkle or crease around the tips.....amazing.

Mike M - thanks for the shout-out. I am really looking forward to putting it through the paces. Of course, we have about 6" of snow on the ground and another 3-4 months of this wonderful weather (as do you in Chi-town).

I will post some pics of the plane all assembled when I get it to that point. Going into our busy season at work.....gotta pay the flying bills somehow and for us CPAs, that is done between January and April. The good side of this is that the summer is a little quieter and great for flying!

RE: Passport 2010
 

MIKE,glad you got yours. Mine seems to riding around socal in a truck.

RE: Passport 2010
 

Bob,

I was bummed when I heard that you had not recieved yours yet, it did go with Mikes. Probably the holiday rush and eveytime they looked at those boxes they figured better for 1 to be upset then the 10 that weren't going to fit because of it.

As for the dihedral that is a correction that will be on every plane from Mike's onward. I talked with Marcelo about the cost of new wings and I think we came to the conclusion that they are going to be somewhere around $550.00 completely ready to cover and $750.00 covered with ball bearing horns. I know that at first that may sound exspensive but then I added up all the stuff I bought or had made special last year to save just a couple ounces and it was well over that. As a matter of fact I think everyone I know that was at the Nats flying electric had similiar costs, regardless of who manufactured the models. (I know Dave L. you spent more money buying 7000's so you could fly the sequence twice lol) the exception

We are weighing everything that goes into these models at this point. I know that Mikes Passport wing and my Visa wing were built side by side and in the end the weights were almost identical. These were the first honeycombed production wings and they were cut and sheeted by the guys at the shop not myself and Marcelo. We needed to make sure that how we have decided to build these wings is still suitable for mass production, and I believe that it is.

Mike get that thing stuck together and put up some pics I can't wait to see it assembled, no excuses you have this weekend before your busy season.....

Later

Chip

RE: Passport 2010
 

Ouch, that's gonna sting..........

RE: Passport 2010
 

Chip. UPS says its out for delivery but they keep rescheduling the delivery date. I just hope it doesn't get damaged.
Bob

RE: Passport 2010
 

What in the world happened to UPS ? They used to be the very best but
now I cringe every time something is sent to me by UPS.

tommy s

RE: Passport 2010
 

UPS was employee owned. It did an IPO, went public, all the old employees who cared got rich and retired. Now it's just a job for most, and next quarters profits are what's important....

RE: Passport 2010
 

Diddo that Tommy. Geezzzz what do they have there box masshing machines? Some of the stuff we ship from work looks like they are trying to see how bad it can be damaged like it's a sport. Mike

RE: Passport 2010
 

Mike,

A couple of months ago I ordered some batteries from Hobby City
and some odds and ends from Tower Hobby and the batteries from
Hong Kong got here a week sooner than the other stuff from Illinois.
If you look at their tracking information your stuff will change trucks
probably 6 or 7 times before it gets to you. (If it gets to you).
Almost three weeks to get a piece of 6"x 6" carbon fibre dragonplate shipped
from New York. Kind of ridiculous.

tommy s

RE: Passport 2010
 

I finally got my Passport after some phone calls & e-mails. It arrived late on the 6th & I didn't unpack it until Thur. No damage.It looks nice & can't wait to finish it. Sorry about not posting it earlier but was busy with other things ( house maint.)& going to the AMA trade show.

Bob
G.

RE: Passport 2010
 

Thanks to Chip & Tony my Pass-Port is done. I picked it up at the AVTI field in Lancaster &flew it after Chip made sure every thing was OK ( I think he just wanted to fly it ).We put 6 flights on it with no problems. Thanks again to Marcelo, Chip & Tony for an awsome plane & all the help.

Bob G.

RE: Passport 2010
 

Can't wait to see it Bob. And I am pretty certain that you going to electric is one of the signs of the Apocalypse!!! I can't make Phoenix due to the soaring contest, in Phoenix, that same weekend. Yuma or Lancaster will be my first. Like I said before, don't yell "Deadstick" is you can't hear it!! The quiet is normal for the electric planes. You'll get used to it :D

Bill

RE: Passport 2010
 

Bill, I'm allready used to quiet. What I need to get used to is the difference in throtle response. That is the biggest difference that I have noticed so far. Just need to get more practice.

Bob G.