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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Radian PRO maiden flight

I maidened my Radian PRO yesterday during a short dry weather window, so what to say about this new kid on the block ?
First of all, when I launched the plane for a first glide, I immediately though: “what a floater !”. The sink rate is absolutely excellent. The Radian seems to be taped in the sky. The section camber is obviously the reason. Compared to other foam sailplanes I had (EZglider, Arcus, Elektro-Junior S) the Radian is much better. The climbing rate with the motor is about 30°, and the motor is pretty silent. With the single 1300mAh battery provided I managed a 30 minutes flight easily, in calm air.
Circling is a pleasure, the rudder works like a charm. You can even turn only with the rudder. Ailerons and flaps, used in quadroflap mode, are precise and smooth. In calm air, adding more camber didn’t bring much more lift. At the opposite, using the reflex position give a better penetration and allow to cover long distances.
When landing the butterfly configuration slowdown the plane very well, which allow short distance landing.
Overall first impression is very good. The Radian PRO is well born !
More to come with the next flying sessions !



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