The Falcon

New projects and undertakings can often be difficult, and often the learning curve can be steep. The Falcon is not an exception and the project has not been without its difficulties. Performance and handling-wise I could not have asked for more from the Falcon, it has proven to be a very competitive, sweet handling model capable of holding it’s own with anything presently available on the market. But, it has been difficult to get models out of the workshop in anything like a reasonably short space of time, the labour for construction being very long. Problems with release agents and the moulds have had a significant impact as well. Therefore it’s with much regret that I must put the Falcon project on hold for the time being.

2 Metre DS Falcon

This model came about because the availability of “designed for purpose” Dynamic Soaring RC gliders is very limited. Early testing with a “Mule” based on a pair of Falcon F3F wingtips placed on a temporary fuselage and with an estimated tailplane was very encouraging. Not only did it DS very well but it was a very nice sport model too. The decision was taken to build new moulds for a dedicated DS model. A one-piece wing was chosen as it made construction a little simpler, but also made it much easier to make very strong! The fuselage was also designed to be strong with a canopy arrangement up front rather than a slip on nosecone. A shoulder mount wing, and a generously sized tailboom with a decent sized mount for the one-piece V-tail.

The resulting model has proved to be all I’d hoped for. In a few short DS sessions two of the initial small production have exceeded 200 mph with ease. It’s early days yet as new DS sites are investigated and higher wind speeds in the correct directions are awaited. The important thing from my point of view is that the DS Falcon is totally unfussed at 200 mph plus! Most models that are not “designed for purpose” will begin to show aero elasticity, flutter and reducing control surface authority, not mention a lot of wing bend! The DS Falcon shows none of this as it is designed for purpose.

click on any image for a larger version