Well I just finished mine. It was the first one out of the mold and the second one to fly. This one has fixed gear that I really like the looks of.

It builds nicely. There are no formers in the fuse layup. It is a composite using either fiberglass or carbon fiber and a cloth like material called coremat. The coremat makes the structure VERY stiff. The servo rails and pipe tunnel floor just add to the structural integrity.

This one came out 10 3/4 lbs but the fuse was on the heavy side being a prototype. The production molds are coming out about 4 oz lighter then this one was. With a c.f wing tube and c.f. pipe you could easily get this airplane down to 10 1/4 lbs. Not bad for an 1100 square in wing and wide body fuse.

Our own c.f. pipe and O.S.1.4RX and a Karl Mueller header netted 8700 rpm on a 17x10N APC on 15% Cool Power and only 92.5db.
This was after one gallon of fuel and still a few clicks slightly rich.

Flight characteristics are totally different then what I was used to flying (Prophecy). I had to learn throttle management all over. The airplane does not go real fast in the downlines or does it have the zoominess like my Prophecy. Even with a 2 stroke it slows down well in the downlines. I am sure with a 4 stroke it would slow way down on the down lines. It flies very stable at stall and does not drop a tip. Tracks well in wind and wont fall out of maneuvers when it does get close to stall speed like at the end of 1 1/2 snaps. The O.S. provided plenty of power and it is just getting broken in.

See it here:

http://home.attbi.com\~aeroslave

I'm building an Aries too. I've seen this plane fly at the contests this year and they are very impressive. They maneuver very smoothly and it's incredible the way they slow down on the down-lines.

After watching this plane fly I can't wait to get mine done!

I'm almost done with the wings and stab, next comes the work on the fuse.

Here's a picture of my fuse directly out of the mold from AeroSlave. Notice how much surface area the side of the fuse has.

Keith

You gotta go with fixed gear Kieth. This plane looks really good with those Bolly's hangin down.

Let me kow if you have any questions on building or flying her.

Here's a shot of the fixed gear and mount setup.

pic

a pre-paint view of gear and the airscoop to cool the crankcase

Hi Toymaker

Do you have a closer pic of that engine mount in there?

Is that your own design?

You can email me @ [email protected] if you have any pics of it.

Thanks!

PS: Plane is looking good, I had a chance to look at the fuse in Muncie, looks like it will be a nice machine.

Do you have any idea how much trouble I went to cutout and build those gear mounts for the retracts in the wings! Not to mention the weight I added with the mounting plates!

I've sheeted the wings but haven't cutout the balsa that's covering all of my hard work on the retract wells, so conceivable I could still change my mind and go with the fixed gear. Hum, I'll hold off on cutting out the wells and think about it for a bit. You are right that it looks awesome, not to mention there's less to go wrong than with retracts.

My biggest reasons for going with retracts are 1) fear of having a dead stick landing in the weeds and tearing a hole in the fuse by yanking the fixed gear off, and 2) those fixed gear bounce more than retracts which means more deductions on the landing (that may be silly, but hey, it is a factor).

Now you got me thinkin'

Keith

After flying one of these at No. Dallas in September, I bought my kit after landing. Something I've never done before.

This design of Mike Harrisons', kitted by Lance VanNostrand and Gray Fowler, is a remarkable machine. I've not flown a plane with such stability throughout the speed envelope, and got a chance to fly what must have been the SLOWEST Masters' sequence on record.

Even with an unfamilar radio, and travels not quite to my preferences, I recognized the potential immediately.

Large side area - rolling stability
Large wing - slow speed performance
Large control surfaces - smaller deflections, so less manuever drag
Great moments - the tail span, fin height, aileron taper permitted perfect snap and spin damping. Incredible.

I'll be starting on mine soon, and can't wait to do those fixed gear!!!

If you have all ready gone to the trouble of retracts stick with them. I didnt realize you where that far along. This fixed gear dont bounce........ I got super glue on the wheels... Heh! heh!

Hi Toymaker,

Were you at the New Waverly contest this year? I think I got a look at the motor mount pictured above. Would like more info if possible. Email me at [email protected]

Thanks.

Just a pipe tunnel floor and a cross brace to hold the fuse side while setting up the wing tube and servo rails the rear crossmember was removed after everthing was installed. There is a half pipe fiberglass tunnel available also if you didnt want to do the balsa floor.

This is of the engine mount and nose ring setup.

A shot of the nosering, 1/8 a/c ply and med blue fuel tubing.


See some other full shots here on my photo gallery.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/gallery/sh...at=500&thumb=1

one more pic