It's been a few years since the SpeedFreak has had a revival and on the last version v4 (ignoring the v5 mini which I destroyed before I could write anything about it..) was over 580g AUW which for a 60cm wingspan model is a fat bird. This time the objective was simple:
Bring the design back to basics, massively reduce the weight and this time skip a rudder installation. Given the design is still prototype stage this is just a precursor to its bigger brother already in design.
This model is just 50cm long and has a 50cm wingspan, its RTF minus lipo battery weight is only 181g and with battery (950mAh 2S 45-90c) is exactly 250g AUW. I've been able to reduce the weight compared to version 4 by over 50% while the second generation of this version 6 design is going to push the boat even further.
For this model strength was key especially for landings (or even crashes) so a 3mm solid balsa bottom of the fuselage was called for. The tail and all other fuselage are also balsa.
With the vertical fin in place and aligned it was critical to see the weight given the reduced front end weight means any gram extra on the tail is exaggerated greatly effecting centre of gravity.
The wing is to be cut from a single piece of 6mm balsa with the aileron servos inline for no torque loss. I'm using 11g metal gear Corono servos with 4.8 KG/CM torque.
The remaining top panel is to be pinned in place on the front and sliding hinges on the back. On top of that I will be using some tape prior flight as a last backup method having experienced what it's like to lose your canopy cover at over 150mph...
SpeedFreak 6 prototype design for its upcoming big brother
