Cool New Stuff
New products that will fill you with enthusiasm without emptying your wallet.
Maverick Full House F5K
A long list of requirements addressed in an economical airframe.
Since the F5K and eDLG classes started rapidly gaining popularity, FlightPoint of Ukraine had the idea of having a budget model which would address a number of important requirements with a single airframe:
- Easy to build as this design is intended for beginners
- Low weight and low drag to give it an advantage on the competition circuit
- A ‘full house’ wing with modern airfoil to allow for camber adjustments and wider flight envelope for both sport and competition flying
- Rigid construction to withstand high-G manoeuvres often experienced during those challenging upwind slogs
- Compact size of a complete model to make it easy to transport
- Use of low-cost drone components for the powertrain and a wide range of servo choices to keep it affordable
- Last but not least, a compact shipping package to enable delivery worldwide even with the ridiculous cost of shipping these days
The result is the Maverick Full House F5K — a balsa wood airframe primarily consisting of relatively easy to obtain 2mm, 3mm and 6mm sheets. They also added some cost-efficient, standard-size carbon fiber tubes and rods for added strength to the wings, especially on the leading and trailing edges. Despite robust strength, it came in at just 330g all up weight for a complete 1.5m glider.
The original design featured a polyhedral wing, which FlightPoint feels is optimal for thermal flying. Maverick can easily use only tail control surfaces to circle in thermals. However, since the airfoil allowed for nice reflexed camber settings, it serves the pilot as a competent slope flyer as well. To that end, FlightPoint has an optional Warmliner Conversion Kit to make the Maverick a straight wing sloper as shown above.
You can obtain additional information about the Maverick Full House F5K from FlightPoint.
Bernd Backpack
The model aircraft backpack with brand new features for 2023.
Stich & Faden of Malsch, Germany has further developed their popular Bernd backpack and now offers it with additional options for 2023: integrated carrying straps, side tubes tailor-made for glider fuselages and an ultra-light, ultra-thin rain cover are all now available to order.
For those not familiar with Bernd, it has a length of 80cm and a cross-section of 30 x 12cm. Two sewn-on pockets with zips offer space for your transmitter as well as tools and small parts. On the standard model, there are sewn-on webbing straps with carabiners on the side facing the back. This allows the backpack to be attached to another hiking backpack, for example.
The outer layer of the rucksack is made of a robust Oxford polyester fabric, available in six colours. The material is waterproof, durable, abrasion and tear resistant and does not fade in sunlight. The backpack also has an inner layer of soft, industrial-quality needle felt and an approximately 10 mm thick inner layer of volume fleece in the bottom. In a throwback to days where craftsmanship was more than just an empty buzzword, every Bernd is made by hand in their own workshop. More information is available from Stich and Faden.
Portable Dust Collector
Exorcise that dust devil of balsa shavings.
We have made no secret of the fact that we love days when the latest Lee Valley catalogue lands with a thunk on the office step. What usually ensues is low-energy fisticuffs to see who gets to read it first before it lands in the throne room for second reading.
After the post box brouhaha, what caught our attention in the most recent tome is this Portable Dust Collector from Rikon. Old school builders who are still burying themselves in balsa dust — or the 21st century analogues of same — will appreciate being able to use the 9' long, 4" inch diameter hose to move the dust collection to your project as opposed to the other way ‘round.
According to the catalogue description the base unit has a footprint of only 14 1/2" × 18" × 19", and the 16" × 22" collection and filter bag traps particles as small as 2µm (microns) and it is capable of moving up to 660cfm while only producing an air condition-like 78 dB. It’s a beefy unit, though, weighing in at 48lb without accessories. More information is available directly from Lee Valley.
Gaming Controller Designed for Flight Simulators
Level up your sim game with this ‘hand-held cockpit’.
The Yawman Arrow is a new type of hand-held gaming controller. There’s a lot of great hardware out there for virtual flying, but none that you can bring with you. The Arrow combines all the traditional flight controls of an aircraft and melds them into a to-go package. From an integrated trim wheel to mechanically linked triggers for precise rudder control, Yawman has added seven axes and 21 buttons into an ergonomic shape that reflects one of the tenets of good fight deck design — deliver tactile feedback when flying so an aviator always knows the state of their aircraft.
For the upcoming Arrow, all of this has been designed into a package that can easily come with you when you travel away from home (or to your couch) or sit discreetly on your desk. By simmers for simmers, the Arrow is optimized for PCs and laptops running Windows and MacOS, as well as Android tablets running the most modern sims like Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane, Infinite Flight, and Prepar3D. The Arrow is designed, manufactured and packaged in the USA and will be available in the spring of 2023.
More information is available directly from the Yawman website.
Shed Head Shop Apron
An errant drop of epoxy ruined your brand new cashmere sweater?
Is balsa dust your constant companion even when you’re finished sanding for the evening? Perhaps you need a space to stash a snack and a flask (or two flasks) before you head out to the shop for the evening? Or do you simply want to look good while working on your latest creation?
If any of the above applies to you then the RC Soaring Digest Shed Head Shop Apron is the bold response to these common RC soaring shed challenges. Order this beautiful, 100% organic cotton apron and rock your shed in style! More information can be obtained from The New RCSD Shop.
This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it is fairly priced and takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!
The Fine Print All product descriptions in Cool New Stuff are prepared in collaboration with the product’s manufacturer and/or distributor which is/are entirely responsible for ensuring the accuracy of their product’s descriptive text and images contained herein. Note also the New in Cool New Stuff can sometimes mean ‘new to us’ — the French nouvelle as opposed to neuf.
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