[Skyking]

I really like my Durafly Seavixen.
Flys well and looks good in the air--very scalelike.

And I'm not a "noob"

[Dutkoski]

After much searching, came across a build thread for a Sea Vixen elsewhere from plans you can get from the UK. Twin 70 mm's power it, 50" wingspan. Although the parts can be purchased too, and they are laser cut, it's definitely an old school build, completely wood. I think I'll order the plans later this month after my Visa cools down.

Figure if I enlarge them to 72" wingspan, I might get two 90 mm's in it. I still have over a dozen Hoaye EDF units left in stock, might as well use them.

Here is a picture of the finished twin 70 mm model from the UK website, they have a online store in the USA, us.trapletshop.com. If you are looking for plans, they have a really good selection of everything.

[Dutkoski]

This is the what the basic framework looks like, yikes, that's a lot of work. Although I will use some plywood and carbon rod, I will be using hot wired cut foam for the most part.

[Dutkoski]

Here is what the real jet looks like for those who didn't know. I think it's the best looking of the twin boom jets, rather sleek.

[4stripes]

Recently assembled this model and am impressed with the fit and finish!
Chris spent the day working on the cockpit while a friend and I glued chunks of foam together.
Added working rudders and re-glued the nose wheel retract mount (moved it slightly forward to accommodate retracts from another model) . Proper pin hinges also added.
EDF is a CS 7010 with Turnigy 2855 2800kv outrunner for 4S. Same fan that we built for the HK Vampire. The fan and retracts were salvaged after the vamp was "retired".
An Eflite 60 ESC will be used along with an Orange RX with built in gyro (gyro also salvaged).
With the eflite 2800mah 4S pack fully at the CG was about 1/8" aft of what the manual specifies. Plane flew well but needed close to 3/16" down elevator trim. One wing needed extra weight to balance. A quarter was embedded into the tip to prevent a persistent wing drop at stall. The timer was set to 3 minutes (timer only runs while throttle is advanced above 1/4).
A 3300mah Zippy was used for the fourth flight and performance was noticeably better. With either battery the plane lifted off the runway effortlessly and cruises at 1/2 throttle.
My overall impression was it is a better plane than the Durafly Vampire but it is still too small for me to want to own one (no offence as I'm spoiled flying larger models).
1.51kg flying weight with eflite 2800mah 4S
Which weighs .33kg.

[Dutkoski]

Found one and purchased it, thanks Peter. I haven't seem it or the reported breakage, but clean breaks are easy to repair but the price was excellent and coukdn't say no. Friends of mine are arranging with Peter to pick it up near Toronto.

First modification, more powerful EDF, the RC Lander 64 mm that'll produce 1100 watts of energy.

I think I'll design a basic flying wing for all the EDF systems I have laying around from upgrading stock models, I seem to have a few I think they will be nice gifts to donate to the flying events.

[Dutkoski]

My friend's son who picked up the model sent some pictures, I can fix that , also a shopping bag containing all the other bits and pieces.

The issue is, once I fix it, and start looking at it, I'm probably going to start thinking about how to make a 90 or 105 mm foam version ...... if someone ever sees me thinking about this, kick me, I have tooo many projects on the go

[Dutkoski]

Just got back from California, hmmmm, should have stayed another week, the temperature difference was a little bit of a shock, was over 40C during the afternoons when we left. Oh well, that's life. But, I picked up the gently used Sea Vixen at my bud's house that I purchased and got it sorted out. Looks worst than it is, all clean breaks, I have a replacement set of retracts if really needed, well, the nose gear definitely needs to be replaced.

I haven't checked out the condition of the EDF unit yet, but think I'll just go ahead and swap it out for a RC Lander 64 mm unit. I'm pretty sure the stock one doesn't produce the 1100 watts of power than the 64 mm unit does. If anyone has tested the stock one, I'd be interested in the readings.

Not going to install all the missiles, just the twin fuel tanks. The missiles look kinda hokey anyway. The vented cheater hole will get cleaned up as well to improve air flow.

When checking the parts, noticed that the horizontal stab weighs a lot, there seems to be a chunk of lead moulded inside the foam part, interesting.....since I don't have the instructions, can anyone who has this model advise me on the proper CG location.

Going to take a piece in to Home Depot and get the sea grey paint scanned and have a sampler bottle of semi gloss latex mixed, easy to paint the model for all the touch ups. Might even repaint the whole plane and make all new decals, might be nicer.....this model will just be my beater plane for the summer, so not really looking at making it beautiful, just functional. But that dosen't mean it has to look like trash either

Well, attached is the picture of all the parts and basically, my starting point.

[Dutkoski]

After cleaning up the inside of the fuselage and removing the EDF unit and ESC, I checked the alignment of the nose section with the rear section. It was slightly bent up due to the break when it kissed the ground. Used 30 minute epoxy and cabosil filler to make up the paste and bonded the two sections together, I put a piece of plastic over the joint and installed the canopy section. Then taped everything in place, the canopy really helped in aligning things up.

Once the epoxy cures, I'll clean up the joint and glue some 1/32" plywood to the inside of the battery compartment to strengthen the area.

Repeated the procedure for the starboard tail boom. I'm thinking of cutting channels on either side of both tail booms and inserting 1/16" diameter carbon rods to add support, they seem rather flexible.

The stock EDF unit is an old style 5 blade unit with a 60 ESC, I believe my replacement will perform better, being a 10 bladed unit and a 80 amp ESC. I will run a 5 cell battery but will restrict the amp draw to around 65 amps.

[Flypaper]

Mine is totally stock and flies very well. The only thing I did change was the colour. The dark blue look like a shadow in the air and easy to lose orientation. I did a search and found there was a target towing version as shown here. No problem with it now. Although I should see if I can find a target to tow, Just to make it more authentic. Better make sure there are no combat guys in the air.