[brianb427]

Hey guys,

I finally got to fly my Euphoria. Yup! It flies like it looks, great.
I finished the build about a month ago but was out of the country until this week so could not get to fly it until yesterday. I'm very impressed with the float, easy, controllable handling right down to a very gentle stall. Unfortunately when I went for a second flight the motor wouldn't start. I seem to have an issue with my speed controller. I plan to get it ready to take to the Polecat ALES in a couple of weeks if I can sort out my ESC problem. I just wanted to say thank you to Alex for facilitating the purchase and to Dan and Keith who shared their building experience on this forum. Your ideas were a big help in my build.

[Keith F]

BrianB,
Great to hear you completed your build, it is a great flyer.
I am glad to forum discussions were useful for you, perhaps we will meet at a fly-in, East meets west maybe.
Best,
KF

[Alex N.]

Congratulation Brian)) Nice to hear everything is ok and you enjoy to fly with new model! I'm very glad but not surprised in same time because Euphoria doesn't bringing any surprises and has stable quality and stable great flying performances.
Alex

[ddruck]

Congrats Brian on the Maiden, I must say myself it is the easiest to fly large glider. Jealous of you guys going to Polecat. I always want to go but life gets in the way. Keep reading about the Canadian group making waves there. Maybe next year. I still fly one of Dennies Sky Dancers, it would be fun to bring it there. Make a good showing with the Euphoria!

Oh how did the balance worked out, did you end up with rear servos or standard install?

Dan

[Alex N.]

I have to say guys, new version flies better with Cg 106 mm. I do no know why but 110 mm is too back, especially in windy day. I was flying today and have a troubles with 110.

[ddruck]

You guys got lucky with the weather again!

Which is the new version , with molded rudder? I guess mine is the old version.
Alex, I am curious, how do you measure your cg, what you use for measuring?

Dan

[Alex N.]

New version has completely new fin of smaller area, not just molded rudder. Then, lower stab pylon and new stab of smaller area also. In my opinion older version flies better however I still trying to find best CG.

I have nothing special to measure CG, just plywood "U" with sharp top edges. I find it precise enough because fine adjustment I do after some testing flights anyway.

Saturday was windy and hot. I have some troubles with my model in this weather condition. Looks like I cannot reach 200m for 30 sec. Model climbs almost vertical and not fast enough even with elevator compensation. Huge area works against me)) In same time Josef's model with same motor and same prop was climbing great, he got 200 for 20-22s approx. He was flying with older Onyx wing and third party fuse. The wing has MH32 airfoil which is thinner than Euphoria has. I was flying with heavier Euphoria F3J wing. So I have something to think about)

[brianb427]

Originally Posted by ddruck

Congrats Brian on the Maiden, I must say myself it is the easiest to fly large glider. Jealous of you guys going to Polecat. I always want to go but life gets in the way. Keep reading about the Canadian group making waves there. Maybe next year. I still fly one of Danny's Sky Dancers, it would be fun to bring it there. Make a good showing with the Euphoria!

Oh how did the balance worked out, did you end up with rear servos or standard install?

Dan

Thanks Dan, yes it is a very easy and confidence building glider to fly. I'm still trying to work out the best C of G but I started with about 108 mm back and it flew fine. At first I felt it might be a little rearward for my preference but after a few clicks of down trim I and a dive test I'm thinking it might be fine there.

I put 2 micro KST servos in the fin and have 2 Jeti receivers one under the ballast tube and one on top of the ballast tube that went in through the wing rod hole. They are pushed back as far as I can get them. I'm currently using a turnigy "A" Spec 2200 mah battery. C of G came out with no added weight. I have some 1800 mah "A"Spec on order so that will give me a little more room up front and some added flexibility on C od G.

The ballast fits into the ballast tube with little or no change to the C of G. I'm looking forward to trying the fully ballasted Euphoria. The ballasted wing loading should be very comparable to my old Nan Shadow with no ballast. I'm hoping my motor and battery combination will still provide the necessary performance when fully loaded. I just went down stairs and weighed the model:

Ready to fly no ballast - 2.0. Kilograms or 4.4 lbs
With added ballast - 2.8 Kilograms or 6.2 lbs.

This was done on a hand held digital luggage scale of uncertified accuracy.

Brian

[ddruck]

Alex I am finding Euphoria has quite a drag in the climb. Same power motor in my Sky Dancer, just over 3m, close to same weight, Drela AG airfoil, but I am getting 26 sec consistently to 200m on same 6" pitch prop, with 8" it climbs faster.
I am getting 200m at 29 to 30 sec with Euphoria with 1300 battery, 16x6 prop, I think Jozef also has 1300, there is power difference to the 850. Instead of vertical, I was advised to fly 45 deg or so in the climb, it is more efficient and it works. These are not F3J and vertical climb is not necessary. When I used the 300g ballast I only got 180 m. I ordered couple of different props to do more motor tests. This motor can take 4s if needed but I rather stay with 3s. I need to build a thrust meter to see how they compare.
The data from European F5J does not help since they do not have same power requirements.

[brianb427]

Alex, I'm new to using ballast in my gliders. Do you just use ballast as all or nothing or do you use a partially loaded ballast tube?

Brian