My first encounter with the Neptuno was back in March, at our team trial for this year's WC in Portugal, my friend Louis brought his own design – the Neptuno – to compete at the competition. Along with Louis, two of his friends also flew the same design at the contest. Although, they didn't fly too well due to windy condition, but the plane showed a lot of potential none the less. Upon closer inspection, I discovered the plane has an all wood construction. It also has a painted in the mode configuration, similar to my Altair 200. The power plant of choice at that time was YS only, which requires using YS's own nose ring, mount and engine bracket. Even though, I was a bit taken aback by Louis' own wild colouring - his two friends were flying the standard factory scheme – but I was still quite impressed with the plane. Although, I didn't pay too much attention to the plane at that time, but I was hoping I would get to examine the plane again after the WC.

Due to some last minute commitment, one of my regular team mate - Dragon Li - couldn't make the trip to Portugal, and was replaced by Louis. Even though, I was disappointed of Dragon not making the trip, but I was happy I get a second chance for a closer look at the Netuno again. Instead of bringing the one with the wild colour scheme, Louis has decided to fly the one with the factory offering, and also informed me that there will be two schemes available for the public - see attached pix. Not only did the plane caught the attention of Derek Koopowitz and myself, it also generated a lot of interest for Naruke and Bryan Herbert. After a long discussion between myself and Derek – for a total of 5 minutes – we both placed an order.

Adrian

I've been trying to find some info on the model.

What is the price? it's not listed on the jetlegend website.

Adrian, you finished your other Altair just in time

Since these two Neptuno will be the first batch to come to the States, Derek and I have convinced Louis to agree to paint both planes to our own colouring specification. First, to set them apart from the available scheme. Second, to test the factory's painting standard. In addition, we've both ordered the two elevator servo in the stabs conversion, instead of the regular single servo with one long push rod. However, Louis has informed me that presently, they will not be accepting any custom paint scheme ordering, but customer can choose between a one or two elevator servo configuration as a no cost option. After two months of e-mail exchanges between Louis and myself to finalize details, the two crates arrived at my door steps two weeks ago via DHL. Since Derek is currently in the process of moving into a new house, after some negotiation, I have agreed to let him store his plane at my place for a hefty rental fee …

The plane was well protected inside by foam blocks/ padding and bubble wraps – I'll be having a blast popping those bubbles for the next week or two. After retrieving everything from the shipping crate, I have noticed the factory have also include a huge and complete accessories bag – everything from fuel tank, main/ tail landing gear & wheels, rudder cable, to ail/ ele/ rud horns, down to even the turnbuckles for the ail push rod. If you're a quick installer – except myself – you should be able to put one together within five to seven evenings.

The paint work is not flawless. However, it is more than acceptable. Especially, for a specially requested paint scheme. As for the rest of the quality of the plane, except for some minor details – I'll go more into that as this build thread starts – not much to complain about.

The price is US$2,000.00 plus DHL shipping to US for US$500.00. I paid another US$150.00 for my own paint scheme. However, as stated above, they are currently not accepting custom paint scheme order.

Derek Koopowitz is their sole US agent, contact him at - [email protected] for ordering info.

Saw this plane in person in Portugal, and I have to say I was very impressed. The Chinese team practiced at the same site we did so I got to look at it for quite awhile and everything was built very neatly and professionally. I wouldn't doubt the quality of these airplanes.

Some specifications:-

Length: 1,990 mm
Wing span: 1,870 mm
Wing area: 66.4 dm square
Stab area: 16.5 dm square

My plane:-

Fuse: 1,240 g
Wing: 920 g
Left stab: 130 g
Right stab with stab tube: 140 g
Left gear: 60 g
Right gear: 60 g
Wheel pants: 20/20 g

Equipment:-

Futaba 14MZ
Rx: R6008HS
Battery: 4.8v, 2,000 mAh nimh
Ail: BLS 154 x 2
Ele: BLS 153 x 2
Rud: S9156
Thr: S9650
Engine: YS 170 cdi
Header: Hatori # 822 or # 823
Pipe: Hatori # 821
Pipe mount: Nishioka 29 or 37 mm
Tank: K&S 600 cc
Spinner: TY1 plastic spinner


First order of business is installing ail servos. Since servo horns, rod ends and turnbuckle push rods are all included, installation is a breeze. Don't forget to glue a small piece of foam inside the ail servo leads opening, so the leads will not accidentally drop inside the wing. Next step , tail wheel, ele servo installation.

Before installing servos, I always lined the wing saddle, stab contact surfaces with thin foam tape for a tighter fit, also for some shock absorption.

The kit comes with a very nice threaded tail wheel assembly, all you need to do is to screw it onto the bottom of the pre-threaded rudder post. Easy as 1-2-3. Unfortunately, "easy" is not my middle name, plus I like "blings" on my planes. Therefore, I ended up using my usual gold Nishioka tail wheel assembly. Although, it cost me 30 minutes between drilling and gluing the parts, but I think the end result justify the extra effort.

Hello
I saw that (www.SapacAmerica.com) sell it for $1,800.00.
That must be a good price for a plane that encludes all the servo horns, rod ends etc, dont you think?
Go you have the electric verson? If not, do you know the differens between them?
Finally, estimated final weight?

Regards Roland

The $1800 is the street price. The purchase price with free shipping is $1780.

http://shop.sapacamerica.com/browse.cfm/4,1790.html

Hi Adrian !

Good to see that you finally started with building ;-) Mine made already over 150 flights.......

I attached some pics made during the recent Chinese Nationals which looked more a Neptuno Cup than something else.

To be frank I bought the Neptuno as a cheap training plane as I unexpectedly sold my Oxai Zeque and I was still waiting for the delivery of the Altair. Well, the Altair arrived and spent most of it's time packed in the box as I really enjoy flying the Neptuno. As was also the case with Louis I made some significant steps forward in my flying, which I contribute to stability of the plane, enabling you to concentrate on flying the schedule instead of dealing with the plane.

To all USA customers,

My name is Louis Peng - representative of Jet Legend, a division of Spark Model Co., Ltd. in China - manufacturer of the F3A model - the Neptuno 170. There seems to be some confusion lately on the US distributorship and pricing for the said model which I'd like to clarify.

It is our great pleasure to formally welcome Mr. Derek Koopowitz as our sole appointed US agent representing our model - the "Neptuno". Effective immediately, please contact Mr. Koopowitz - [email protected] - respecting any US pricing/ ordering info on the "Neptuno" until further notice. We have some exciting news with this plane and will have additional news in the next few months as well.

Thank you for your attention, and wishing you all many happy landings and lots of 10's.

Sincerely,

Louis Peng

Jet Legend - A Division of
Spark Model Co., Ltd.

Look forward to your exciting news.

Eric

The elevator push rod is done.

It is always time consuming to set up the ele servo and push rod, you want it to be as precise as possible. Especially, if you opt for the two servo in the stabs configuration. I still recall the first time I tried to set up a two ele servo pattern plane, it was on a Piorun Olympion, back in 1998. I believe the servo used were the analog S9102, and I could never get them to track correctly. Not until the digital servo came along, and it was an instant success on my Angel's Shadow. Since I have had good luck with my Altairs' two ele servo set up, I requested Louis to make my Nep with two servos, instead of one.

Even though, installing two ele servo is nothing new to me, but each plane is slightly different than the other. The most time consuming part is the initial trial fitting, especially on the first stab. There is a servo tray already built inside each stab, all we need to do is to drill the mounting holes. Since Jet Legend has already supplied us with servo horns, clevises, rod ends and turnbuckles, which makes the installation a lot easier. However, instead of using the supplied horns, I used the trusty MK and Hirobo parts with a red M3 cap. The MK usually comes with a M3 screw for the horn, since I was never a big fan of screws in fear of stripping the head, I switched it to a M3 socket head instead.

After installing the servos, I have the following suggestion for Jet Legend:-

A) Lower the servo tray inside the stab more. Presently, the linkage is not quite in line with the servo arm, it's on a slight angle. I have to shim the connector with washers

B) In turn, I had to spend quite a bit of time enlarging the servo arm openings

C) The servo lead exit hole on the fuselage is too small also. Again, more time spent on drilling and sanding

The next step is rudder cable rigging. Stay tuned ...

Hi Adrian,

Before the dual elevation function available in latest Futaba Tx, I used Futaba SR-10 or MSA-10 for two servo elevator set up.

Eric

Hi Eric,

Life's sure a lot easier with all these computer radio nowadays. I still remember using my dad's Kraft Signature Series, didn't even have a hook for a neck strap, had to use a Tx tray then.

Adrian

Old modelers have come across many challenges in R/C. Enjoy it!

Hey, I resent the word "old" ...

Adrian, How do you like to programmable servos so far?

I'm assuming you're talking about the S9070? I have not yet try them. However, Akiba told me he's been using them on his ProLine Evolution's elevator for awhile, and was very happy with it.

Heee Adrian,

Instead of using shims, why not use that alu thingy you put on the outside of the the ball bearing link instead in between the link and horn ? ;-)


When will the rest be ready ? Should take no more than 2 days.....hahahaha

I did switch it.

I don't install as fast as you guys. Since this is their first with two ele servo, I had to do a lot of trial fitting to make it work, I should have the rud done by tonight. As long as I don't have to keep answering your questions ...

BTW, aren't you suppose to be busy looking for a phone for a certain young lady? ...

Young lady had problems with her stomage, so I was release to do some flying training with my friends in Guangzhou. Also Alex Lau and Dragon Li were there. Made good progress with the P-11 schedule, flying the Neptuno ofcourse.

There was also a contigent of Japanese expats, who fly at the same field.

By the way, I saw the electric version of the Neptuno and Louis was so friendly to let me fly it a few times. Feels very good, same characteristics as the glow variant but a bit more stable and precise.

You noticed that the prototype color scheme on the wings is mine - Louis owes me royalties! LOL He told me that he'd peel the film off and send it to me as payment... I told him to just send me the plane instead. I should have it in about 3 weeks.

The e-Neptuno willl be available for purchase soon afterwards in the USA...

Really nice plane Adrian. Thanks for sharing the info about it. Can't wait to see it fly!

C