Aviatik Composites makes an impressive debut with their brand new, all-composite ship.
The market for all-composite F3F gliders is going well. Just look at the longer delivery times and rising prices from some manufacturers. Moreover, competitors are, in their majority, often very conservative and it is not uncommon that they buy the same glider as their neighbor, not because it is the best glider, but because they do not want to take any risks. As a result, we sometimes approach one-design competition, which is a pity. It is therefore interesting to look at the newcomers and see what they offer. It is with this perspective that I propose you to discover a glider recently introduced on the market, manufactured by Aviatik Composites, based in Slovakia: the Wasabi. We will also check, in the following review, if the performance is as spicy as its name suggests!
Overview
The Wasabi standing on my
preferred fence.
The
aerodynamic part of the Wasabi was thought out in
collaboration with Dirk Pflug (Pitbull 1 & 2, Quantum, Orden and
many other top gliders). The glider has a wingspan of 3M, which is a little
more than the usual average, but remains however in the ideal dimension range
for slope and F3F. The wing shape is elliptical with rounded wing tips and less
pronounced sweep back. The ailerons and control surfaces of the tails are not
going all the way for practical reasons according to the manufacturer. The
fuselage doesn’t give in to the “slim” fashion and is comparable to a Freestyler
3 or Pike Precision 1 fuselage. It hosts a ballast
compartment like the Pitbull 1, in addition to the joiner and wings
ballast. We will see later that the fuselage ballast may have its interest.
The Wasabi waiting to be
thrown in the air.
It is
important to note that the Wasabi can easily exceed the FAI
limit of 75gr/dm² if all the ballast compartments are full. It is therefore
necessary to remain vigilant in competition in order to respect the FAI rules.
The Wasabi is proposed in several versions starting from the
simple carbon 160 at an attractive entry price, to the double carbon 160/160
while passing by lighter layups such as the simple or double carbon 90. In
short, everyone will find a shoe to fit their foot according to flying habits
and objectives. Personally, I choose the double carbon 160/90 version which
offers a good compromise between robustness and weight. Now let’s have a look
at the composition and quality of the kit.
Top Notch Quality!
The kit is
top notch quality and comes with accessories, balance lead, setting template.
Once the box was opened, I discovered the Wasabi was perfectly packed (This is an important point because when you know how parcels are transported and handled by the carriers, you don’t sleep at night anymore!!!!) The wings and tails are delivered in their nice protective bags (the fuselage bag is optional), and you can find the nice carbon servo frames and the LDS MP Jet system with all the necessary hardware to mount the servos in the wings. The wiring harnesses partially prepared and welded. The fuselage and wing ballast and spacers (joiner ballast is optional) are included and there is even a neutral adjustment template for the wing and the tail!
The Wasabi
arrives with wing and tail bags. Fuselage bag is an option.
Let’s now take a closer look at the molded parts: they are very well made, with very nice paint and burr-free, very clean cut-outs. The wings let us guess an attention to details with, for example, the carbon root rib perfectly made with the opening hole for the green MPX connector. Even the ballast compartment or the joiner box show sharp angles and a mirror-like surface finish! The joiner can be inserted without force and without slop. The wing centering pins are of course already in place. The wing joiner is particularly wide, one-piece and inspires confidence.
The wing
root rib is carbon and shows the excellent craftsmanship of the manufacturer.
On the tail
side, there is also a carbon root rib. Elevator horns and centering pins are in
place. The only drawback (I had to find something!) is that the ball clevises
are not completely freely accessible once the tail is in place. Only 3 or 5 mm
are missing for a perfect accessibility.
The
fuselage assembly is well advanced since the ballast tube is already installed;
the servo plate finished with brass inserts for M2 screws is ready to receive
the servos. The fuselage join line is almost invisible showing superb
craftsmanship. The elevator control rods are made of Teflon coated fiberglass
rods, sliding in a plastic sleeve. Personally, I like this solution which I
prefer to the rigid carbon rod. The front fuselage is full carbon which was a
bit of a surprise for me. This means that the antennas need to be placed
carefully. Now, I guess it must be possible during the order to specify that
you want a 2.4 friendly fuselage, which will ease the radio installation. The
centering lead is supplied.
The ballast
tube is already installed, and the servo tray is complete with M2 screw brass
inserts / Ballast is provided except the joiner ballast with is an option.
All parts
mount together easily and fit perfectly once assembled, no slop anywhere, in
short a very beautiful kit!
A Quick and Clean Assembly!
I started
by preparing and finishing the cable harnesses for the fuselage and wings. The
one for the fuselage shares the + and — for 2 servos, which I found useless
because it creates an unnecessary point of failure and draws less current. So I
changed one of the cables to have 2 x 3 wires per green plug, without sharing
the + and the -. This is now fixed according to the manufacturer.
Then, as on all my F3x gliders, before the installation of the green MPX
connectors in the fuselage wing root, I always glue two small 1mm plywood
plates crossing from side to side with a 2mm recess on each end to serve as a
stop when gluing the plugs. I also use a 3D printed template which guarantees
that the plug is perfectly positioned and perpendicular to the fuselage wing
root while curing.
The space
for the radio equipment is limited because of the ballast tube.
Mounting the elevator servos in the fuselage is a delight. No holes to drill, no housing to enlarge or adjust, MKS HV6125e servos insert effortlessly, without damaging wires, and are simply screwed with M2 screws. As I didn’t have any screws supplied in my kit (I don’t know if it’s an oversight or if these screws are not supplied) I simply used some Futaba metal servo horn screws that have the right diameter and length and that you can find in a small bag in a specialized store. To finish with the elevator control rods , I mounted the tail on the fuselage, taped the control surfaces to the neutral position with some paper tape, then measured precisely the length to cut and to strip the Teflon layer to glue the brass threaded coupler supplied with some rapid epoxy. I replaced the M2 metal clevises by MP jet plastic/metal clevises which I commonly use on all my gliders and which I am particularly satisfied with because they don’t take any slop over the time.
The
excellent MP jet LDS system is provided with nice carbon servo frames for wing
installation.
We can now glue the servo mounts, with the servo in place with its servo head, but without its axis as far as I’m concerned, the frame coming any way to lean against the wing spar. Once dry, I could finish mounting the servos, with the right neutral position offset on the radio. It remains to glue (for those who wish) the green connector at the root, with 2 small wooden wedges behind the rib to increase the gluing surface. When gluing, take care to protect everything with thin tape and release agent (polyvinyl alcohol) so that the plugs do not remain glued together. The glue used is 30 minutes R&G epoxy and cure all night long before to remove the wings from the fuselage, clean the glue excess, remove the tape.
A happy
Wasabi owner!
Although
the fuselage volume is larger, the available length is limited due to the
ballast tube and the required clearance distance. My receiver battery is 2S
Lion 18650 in-line. I have shortened the balancing lead by 1cm to gain some
space, and I have placed this removed lead on top of the battery. The receiver,
a REX6, is located horizontally above the battery, just in front of the servos.
The excess wire is hidden underneath. For more detailed pictures, you can
retrieve the assembly log photo album here.
In the Air
The wasabi
diving to enter a F3F run. It shows very good acceleration.
My Wasabi in
double carbon version 160/90 weighs 2.5kg empty, which is a little more (50gr
to 100grs) than the weight provided on the manufacturer’s website, but nothing
critical here. Please remember that the weight can differ for example depending
of the color: White is lighter, orange or red is heavier.
The first
flight took place in ideal conditions on a nice welcoming slope and with a good
wind. For this first flight, I ballasted the glider for a flying weight just
under 2.9kg. As soon as I launched, the Wasabi showed good
energy and speed, to the point that I started to do some laps to see the
potential. And I was not disappointed to discover a plane showing high speed on
trajectory and grip in high load turns, in addition to a real agility and
reactivity on the ailerons and the elevator. I was able to do a series of laps
without seeing the Wasabi running out of steam.
In lighter conditions, the Wasabi is also doing well, but its weight (2.5kg in my case) however penalizes it a little in turn where it shows more inertia. If we consider that the ideal weight for a wind of 3m/s is about 2.3kg, it means that the glider starts to ‘breathe’ at 5m/s, empty, that we start to ballast it from 6m/s of wind, per 100gr per additional m/s as a first approximation, to be adjusted according to the shape of the slope, its altitude, and its efficiency.
Overall,
the Wasabi is really performing well in the F3F task combining
an excellent momentum energy restitution, accelerations, and speed retention in
turns.
In sport flying, the Wasabi is also very pleasant, as well in thermal ‘hunting’ and circling as in aerobatics. Rolls or 4 point rolls are perfectly centered and the inverted flight can hold endlessly when conditions and the flying volume allow it. Vertical maneuvers are also really good with a large amplitude and good speed. ‘DSing’ the Wasabi is also a joy as you can see on the following video. Plane is empty at 2.5kg and the wind is around 20km/h:
Short
landings, thanks to the butterfly mixing, are a piece of cake. Just remember
giving some horizontal speed just before touching the ground, especially when
the glider is ballasted to avoid the glider hitting the ground heavily and
vertically.
In short on
the flight chapter, this Wasabi possesses all the qualities
you would expect from an all-composite glider of this wingspan.
The year
2020, also called the ‘COVID year’, was very poor to non-existent in terms of
F3F competition (no Eurotour or World Cup, no national league except a few
competitions before the lock-down or this summer), I unfortunately did not have
the opportunity to use it yet. But I’m totally confident that the Wasabi is
competitive and will quickly prove its value over time!
The Final Word
To
conclude, the Wasabi F3F is a really nice surprise, with top
notch kit quality and a glider full of resources, competitive in addition in
term of F3F performances. It is a very efficient alternative to gliders usually
met on the F3F competition circuit. Its price positioning makes it an even more
attractive glider. So, if you are looking for an all-composite glider for F3F
competition or more generally dynamic slope flying — because I remind you that
these are extremely versatile gliders and well — the Wasabi definitively
deserves all your attention. Good flights and happy landings to all of you!
©2021 Text Pierre Rondel, Photos Joël Marin and Pierre
Rondel
Top notch
quality and excellent flying performance!
Characteristics
- Wingspan:
3000mm
- Length:
1452mm
- Airfoil:
DP
- Wing
area: 56,2dm²
- Tail
area: 5,5dm²
- FAI
area: 61.7 dm²
- Max
FAI weight: 4627g
- Empty flying weight: from 2250gr to 2500gr
- Manufacturer: aviatikcomposites.sk
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(source: Aviatik Composites)
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