An article from the magazine



RAZOR from Trick R/C

Combat flying wing!

by Pierre Rondel


INTRODUCTION


The review that follows is a good opportunity to present you a special type of flying model, designed for flying combat ! I must recognize that that are my colleagues who convinced me to buy this Razor (in fact, we bought 5 of them), but finally, I do not regret this purchase because I went from (good) surprise to surprise as you will be able to see with the following article...


A KIT NOT REALLY CONVENTIONNAL...


The kit of Razor is made in Venice, a suburbs of Los Angeles in California, just imagine: The pacific ocean, the waves, the surf, the sun, girls in bikini on the beach... stooOOP!! We are out of subject... OK, Let me return on earth and analyze the kit contents. We find:

We are far from the usual fiberglass fuselage and pre-shetted wings and tailplane kit.

Before to start the building, let me answer to a question, before certain of you ask it: what is EPP?

You maybe have seen this materials without knowing what it was. In fact, it is sometimes used for computer pakaging. The aspect is the same than whyte foam (polystyrene), the difference being in the ability to very well absorb chocs. This is a material difficult to find (at least in France), and when we find some, it is necessary to buy it in large quantity, and the price is prohibitive! Of course, this materials can be cut with a hot wire, like the other foam type. It is funny to see that it's as difficult to find EPP in europe than Depron in US !


BUILDING:


The design of the razor is original and very well thought. The building needs only few hours, especially because we don't need to reach the perfection as we know how the model will finish (do you see what I mean ?!...) The first step consists in preparing the 2 spars: The first one is composed of 2 carbon tubes linked with a steel joiner and forming an inverted V. The second is also a carbon tube but it is located behind of the first spar and forms a triangle. These spars are necessary for a better rigidity of the wing during flights. Once this preparation done, I assembled the two EPP cores including the spars. Then, it is necessary to glue the 2 hardwood sub-trailing edges, and the pre-shaped trailing edge.

At this stage, We can start the radio installation. First of all, place the different radio elements on the wing to mark the element bays before to cut them. I personnaly prefered to cut completely the wing to obtain holes and use a piece of white coroplast to close the holes on the underside of the wing with filler glue and a small piece of vinyl. This makes a good "floor" to fix the servo, and the result is nice and strong.

Once the 2 servos glued in place, you will have to melt the surface on the core to install control cable housings. I used a soldering iron to do that, but be careful with vapors, because I suspect them to be very nocive.


COVERING


Americans cover generally their combat wings with a kind of Oracover (called ultrakote). I was to busy to spend time to find and buy some, so I decided to cover mine with vinyl. Because the sticking of the vinyl on the EPP is not very good, I applied a warm iron on the whole surface. The result is fine. It's also possible to use a simple large and strong tape. In any case your flying wing will not remain "as new" a long time, you can trust me...


LAST STRAIGHT LINE


Bad news... I needed to put a lot of lead in the nose to obtain the right balancing (about 150 g). The weight in flight is around 950 gr, which is heavy, if we consider the weight of 700 g announced in the building instructions.


IMMEDIAT LAUNCH


This is during a stay in Brittany that I did the first flight of the Razor. Not really convinced by this new type of flying model especially in reason of the weight more important than the one announced in the building instructions, and approaching one kilogram. Well ..., as I had brought the Razor with me, I did not go back without trying it!

After a good launch, the razor flew away from the slope, small correction to the elevator trim because the wing tends to fly down. Super! that flies! and I could add "very well". The flight speed is good, manoeuvrability is correct but the Razor shows some inertia with elevons. Circles are not really easy but stay possible to gain height.

What is surprising, is that the wind range in which one the razor can fly is large, going from a small breeze to a storm wind. I remember a day when I was soaring with gulls on a small cliff on the coast. The sea breeze wasn't strong at all, but the Razor was "happy" to fly above the crest despite of the wing loading.

Even if the Razor isn't designed for that, I tried all the basic aerobatic manoeuvres: The looping is OK and the roll, with a little extra-speed, is a simple excercice. I even succeed the 4 steps roll ! The upside down flight is possible, when the lift is sufficient

But the real destination of the Razor, this is combat: In order to evaluate the Razor, I have tried it against other combat gliders: Against Pibros, it is very difficult to do a shoot because flight speeds are too different. The pibros is extremely manoeuvrable and can avoid , with good reflex of the pilot , shoot attemps from the Razor. On the other hand when you succeed to shoot a Pibros, pibros damages are important.

During a combat session I even "explosed" a pibros with a fast attack, but quickly, you will realize that this kind of combat is not really funny (especially for the others)...

Fortunately, this is different against combat models of same size and weight: Pursuit Races, full speed, where the wings touch themselves sometimes, duels, patrol flights, total war with around 20 other foamies, this is pure fun !

The landing is another story: No airbrakes, in addition to a relatively important speed, it's like a landing on an aircraft carrier! Anyway, the Razor takes bad landings very well!

On the advertising (I just checked ...) it is mentioned that the Razor is indestructible... this is not true! The manufacturer should add the word "almost" ! As you can see on the pictures, It's possible to reach the limit when you fligh combat... but no problem, it's easy to repair if you have the right tape


ORIGINALITY!


This is the word that better characterizes, for me, the RAZOR:

  • of the design first of all, with a perfect size and a section which is efficient, in poor lift or in strong wind.
  • of the kit, by the judicious choice of materials and a well thought and simple structure.
  • and finally for the flying performances. A good kit to not have a bad headache during the building phase and which will give great satisfaction for a not excessive price.

    Characteristic



     
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    Copyright © 1998 R/C Soaring Magazine - Pierre Rondel.
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