Introduction
The Vantage is
an F3F competition glider designed by Mario Perner from Austria, well known and
talented pilot on the F3F scene, also team manager for several years of the
national Austrian F3F team.
The Vantage at Col du Glandon.
It is
manufactured by CCM (Chekh Composite Models — see Resources below
for this and other links mentioned this article) also known for the Optimus F3J
model, the Toy, and more recently for the Liberty F5J,
and distributed by Mahmoudi Modellsport in Europe. As you probably know,
competition is always an eternal quest for un mouton à cinq pattes (‘five-legged
sheep’), but at the end is more a story of compromise, so design choices. This
is exactly what motivated Mario following the F3F world championship in 2018,
when he started to design the Vantage, his second design after
the Thor in 2012, wanting a model this time to address weak to
medium conditions around and below 50s as a complement of other competition
models often more specialized for medium-to-strong conditions. Let’s see in
this review if the target has been reached!
Presentation
We are
lucky enough that Mario shared in detail on the RC-Network forum his choices
and design process, therefore I thought it interesting to quickly summarise
them so you know where you go. Main requirements were to carry as much as
possible of ballast during the starting phase (pumping), around the turn, and
during the whole flight. The Vantage should also track well to
avoid multiple correction at the sticks, and the most important, the plane
should outperform the best sellers in small conditions and should not conceed
too much time to them even in good-to-very-good conditions.
Mario then
created a series of five airfoils going from 8.27% to 6.51% of thickness and
1.65 and 1.56% of camber, distributed along the wing and optimised for a
coefficient of Ca (ie. axial force) of around 0.25 (typical Ca for a F3F model
is between 0.15 and 0.45).
A few
polars of the different sections along the wing.
For the
tail, Mario started from the well-known and popular TP29 at 7%, which he
modified a bit. Curiously, the elevator chord is around 20% only of the tail
chord which is unusual, compared to the 30% trend.
Comparison between the original
TP29 and the modified version used on the Vantage.
Overall,
the model is 2980mm wingspan, 1430mm long, and can carry up to 2880g of ballast
which is way too much for the max FAI weight.
Kit Inspection
The kit
arrived in a solid, five layer cardboard box. Components come in nice bags and
the quality of the different parts is absolutely astonishing.
The kit arrives complete and higly
preassembled. Just missing the spacers.
Every
detail is just superbly done, join lines are almost invisible, and the paint is
beautiful as the colour scheme, in neon orange and red in my case. Fit of the
different parts together is second to none, with no blocking point and no slop.
In brief, the craftsmanship is just fantastic, the best I have ever seen! Below
the weight of the different components:
The Vantage is
available in two versions, F3B and F3F, mine being an F3F layup which is made
of an outer double layer of spread carbon 40g/m² and some reinforcement at the
wing root, AIREX® 71, the inner fabric being a spread carbon 80g/m² with an
extra layer of 160g/m² carbon on ailerons and flaps to provide a better
stiffness in torsion. Also servo locations receive some carbon reinforcement
too. Wings appear really strong and stiff when manipulating them.
Wings are hosting two ballast
compartments, for a better weight distribution.
No ballast
in the fuselage or the wing joiner, a very robust piece of carbon with an inner
foam core, everything is in the wings with rear and front compartments. The
rear compartment, centered on the centre of gravity (CoG), can host 14 slugs of
140g each, when the front compartment receives 10 slugs of 92g each.
In addition
to the amazing finish and fit quality, the noticeable point that really makes
the difference is that the Vantage arrives with servo frames
and and integrated drive system (IDS) from Servorahmen GmbH, wiring harness and
green plugs preinstalled. This makes the assembly must easier and faster, and
finally error free!
Wings
arrive pre-wired and with servoframes and command installed, it cannot be
simpler!
On my
model, the joiner box is surprisingly larger than the joiner by 1mm. I read on
a forum that it was on purpose, a design habit coming from the F3J/F5J
category, but in F3F it is better to have the joiner tightly maintained in the
joiner box because when you land with lot of ballast in the wings, any forward
movement of the wing can damage the fuselage. CCM immediately reacted and has
already made a new joiner with a new size 34mm which is now delivered in the
kit.
The tail
joiner is a 5mm diameter carbon rod instead of the usual 6mm rod we can find on
most planes. 5mm is more than enough given the 28g of each tail, and light tail
plus lighter joiner means less balance lead in the nose. Below, an overview in
picture of the kit content and some details:
A Lightning Fast Assembly
Given the
state of the kit, the assembly is really quick, very few hours maximum if you
take your time. The work on the wings only consists in screwing the servos on
the servo frames. I used the MKS HV6130 for flaps and ailerons. I just ground a
little bit off the screws before using them in order to be sure that they are
not making marks or deformations on the upper side skin. The servos head must
be in the correct neutral position. Then I connected the control rod and
installed back the metal axis, close the compartment with the transparent servo
covers, and that is all!
The MKS
6130 is just screwed on the preinstalled servorahmen frame.
There is a
little more work on the fuselage side. A nice epoxy plate servo tray is
provided in the kit. I used it as my two MKS HV6100 servos were fitting well
without any modification. The plate is glued in place either with cyanoacrylate
or 30-minute epoxy. Then you cut the plastic sleeve and adjust/cut the carbon
rod to the correct length before to glue and pinch the threaded couplers on it.
I replaced the nice M2 metal clevises by two plastic MP JET clevises because
they are thinner, have no slop and fit perfectly in this tiny fuselage without
needing any grinding.
The elevator servo layout which
could be optimized to save some horizontal space.
To be
transparent, I found the elevator servos installation not optimum, losing a lot
of horizontal space between the exit of the elevator rods, and between the
servos. I think it would be possible to save around 1.5cm on length which would
allow placing the receiver vertically between the servo tray and the battery.
Without this optimisation, the receiver is placed horizontally, which means you
need a tiny receiver such as the REX 6 from JETI or an equivalent from other
brands. Some people are removing the receiver case to save even more space, but
I don’t like the solution that exposes the receiver too much. Another solution
would be to use shorter cells, like the Li-Ion 18500, but you lose capacity,
2000mA instead of 3000mA, so precious flying time. Personally, I stayed with a
2S Li-Ion 18650 battery that offers a full afternoon of flying.
The radio installation, with the
receiver installed horizontally. No space left when closing the nose cone!
On the CoG
electronic scale, I needed 110g of lead in the nose to obtain the 99mm CoG
(recommended range is between 98 and 100mm). Finally, the Vantage is
weighing 2270g, which is a good weight for a F3F glider, light enough for small
conditions.
Aside the
model assembly, I have designed and 3D-printed spacers for the two wing ballast
compartments, and also two ‘elastic’ spacers of each type.
Home made spacers and ‘elastic’
spacers.
The Ballast
Management mobile application I’m using, developed by my friend Joël
Carlin and once provisioned with all the plane and ballast data, indicates that
first you load the rear compartment, to reach 4.2kg, while the CoG is not
moving. Then you load the front compartment, but only three ballasts are needed
to reach the maximum FAI weight. Doing so, you need to remove some lead from
the nose as the CoG is moving forward very quickly.
To finish
with the assembly, I fixed the difference of size between the wing joiner and
the joiner box by gluing a flat carbon profile on the side of the joiner with
some cyano, easy fix and perfect fit.
After some
radio programming with the usual mixing (four flight modes, snap-flaps, in
addition to snap-flaps ratio, butterfly elevator compensation and ailerons
differential on digital trims for in flight modifications) it is time to go to
the slope and discover the Vantage!
The Vantage is waiting for its
maiden flight.
Flying the Vantage
I
personally like discovering a new F3F plane during the maiden flight, a mixture
of excitement, a little stress, lots of observation; I like to feel the plane
and its reactions, trying to understand its temperament before to start to dig
into the settings.
Time to launch the Vantage for the
first time!
The Vantage was
first flown for three afternoons, mainly in small conditions around 5m/s. This
corresponds to the conditions it was designed for. The lift was smooth and
consistent, and I must admit that I was impressed by what I could oversee. In
such conditions, with a 2.2 to 2.4kg flying weight, the Vantage accelerates
extremely well and quickly, but more than that, keep the speed a long time even
with no or little lift on the edge. Bank and yank turns are very tight, fast
with no deceleration even with low wind, and I did not notice any tendency to stall
even when pulling the stick hard in turn. The plane is precise and agile in any
condition, even if I recognize that I have a bit more ailerons than recommended
(I like nervous planes). In fact, mechanically, it is possible
to achieve much more travel than needed.
The maiden flight.
Those days,
I could also enjoy some thermalling and few aerobatics even if the plane is not
primarily designed for this.
The thermal
position is working well; the Vantage indicates the lift
clearly. Circling is a no brainer and allows gaining altitude quickly. All
usual aerobatic manoeuvers are possible, benefiting of the good acceleration,
and agility of the plane.
Onboard picture while flying at
Col du Glandon.
But let’s
return to F3F, as few days later, I could fly in a more vertical slope with a
wind around 9 to 10m/s, and then I discover a new plane carrying ballast well,
able to do upturns or energy management turns pretty well with plenty of energy
retention, with a flying weight from 2.9 to 3.2kg. Another good indicator of
the efficiency of the airfoils is that, when ‘pumping’, the Vantage is
going high with little start altitude.
The Vantage in medium wind from 9
to 10m/s.
What I like
with the Vantage is that it can adapt easily to the pilot
style, or to the slope. One day, you fly the plane smoothly in light conditions
with pylon style turn with the less possible of travel along the slope. The
next day, in higher wind and different spot, you can fly the plane
aggressively, from horizontal to vertical trajectories, the Vantage just
delivers!
The Vantage at launch during the
french qualifier for the next WC (image: Matthieu Mervelet)
Mid-June, I
had an F3F National team qualifier contest. We have flown nine rounds in
various conditions on two different slopes. I switched to the Vantage for
the last five rounds and ended at a nice 3rd position in the ranking at the end
of the contest despite two very bad rounds at the beginning of the contest, one
with 18s of marginal conditions (crossed wind at more 45°). I felt in
confidence with the plane and could concentrate on the flying strategy, and
trajectories.
The Vantage
in flight: an elegant and a very competitive plane. High resolution version are
available with a click.
Also,
ballasting without having to add or remove balance lead from the nose, and this
up to 4.2kg is a plus, because in the real life how often are you flying above
this weight, once a year maybe?
My friend Serge launching my
Vantage for the maiden flight.
Some
additional videos of the Vantage in action:
Some laps with the Vantage from
CCM. Flying weight is 2.7kg, and wind is around 7 to 8 m/s a little bit crossed
from the right.
Because We Must Conclude
After
flying the Vantage in various conditions and different slopes,
and in competitions, I can say for sure that the objective to obtain a
formidable F3F competition plane has been reached; I must salute Mario’s work
on the design. Not only is the Vantage kit quality
astonishing, but plane performances are there and do not blush in front of
plane references.
Personally,
I don’t see the Vantage as only a complement of other planes,
because it can be enough on its own and can become your primary competition
plane. In short, definitively a nice and competitive plane to own, and to fly!
©2022 Text: Pierre Rondel Photos : Pierre Rondel /
Joël Marin
Characteristics
Three
View Drawings
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