What to buy - 2 metre DS ship

[SuddenImpact]

Hi guys,
Me and a friend are looking are buying new DS ships, 2 metre span ( suits our DS site )
have narrowed it down to either an Opus V
or a Blade. Would really appreciate any comments, top speeds, details on these 2 ships

Thanks Karl:)

[bjaffee]

Hard to go wrong with the Opus. For details, see my Lift Zone review...http://rcgroups.com/links/index.php?sid=137034917&t=article&cat=237&id=4083

AFAIK, the top DS speed for an Opus is around 165mph (though I believe that was an older version that did not have flaps). I've had my own clocked at 141mph.

Blade seems like a good plane...I've never heard anything bad about it, but they aren't too common around here, so I don't know.

Another 2m plane to look at is the new Brian McLean molded Extreme.

[SuddenImpact]

How much is the extreme

[bjaffee]

Last I heard, it was a bit over $500.

[Raymund Reyes]

see www.slopeflyer.com

for the extreme info..here's the direct link

http://www.slopeflyer.com/artman/publish/cat_index_53.shtml

runs $575 + $20 if you want the optional carbon stab
Hope this helps..

Godspeed and see you on the flipside,
Ray

[Dugman]

There was or may be still is an extreme for sale on the rcse or for sale section ready to go for $600. I flew an Opus last week for the first time and thought it had very good flying characteristics. Stable and great energy retention. I just bought a used one myself and should be ariving in the mail any day now.
Good luck

[nwoods]

Hello Karl, I happen to know quite a bit about the Blade line of sailplanes. I am not normally on these forums, but a fellow groupie saw your question and gave me a heads up.

You asked about the differences between the Opus and the Blade. The newer Opus has a very nice finish quality, with wipers, decently operable flaps, a nice carbon saddle area and that stout one piece wing. I have seen many Opus's fail during DS'ing, but only after going REALLY FAST. For a long time, Doug Reel had the fastest F3F time in the USA with an Opus (34.xx). I had one for about a year, it was a great plane, but that big one piece wing didn't fit my new car and I had to part ways with it.

Now on to the Blade. It comes in several variants, the 60" version with a 2 piece wing and 2 piece V-tail, great for traveling and smaller slopes, very comparable to the Nemesis, but nearly $175 cheaper (if you include all the servos).

Then there is the 2M version. This is one piece wing, one piece tail. Very strong airplane. Finish quality is not quite as complete as the Opus, in that there aren't any pre-done wipers and stuff. The Blade offers one distinct advantage, a nose cone! It's much easier to put the gear into the Blade than the Opus.

Here are the specs:
"1,90 m (75in), mod. RG-15 (7%), flying weight from 1400g (45 Ounces). Extremely strong one piece carbon reinforced all fiberglass wing, carbon reinforced all fiberglass V-Tail and fuselage."

Where do you get the Blade and how much does it cost?

I am partnering with a guy named Bob Breaux, and we are just starting to form an online store that will sell them at a great price. We currently have about a dozen in stock, in your choice of color...if you like Yellow with red tips :-)

The online store will be here: www.soaringusa.com

Our introductory price is $400

You can send an email to bob@soaringusa.com to arrange purchase now.

Wait! Did I say THREE variants? Yes indeed. There is a brand new 2.5M (98") version coming out that is head to head competition for the Wizard Compact. It even has a two piece v-tail, though they are not full flying stabs. This is a VERY nice looking plane and we hope to get them as early as June. We have already confirmed our first order of them!

Either way (Opus or Blade), you will be happy. They are both great planes. Personally, I like the Blade for all around flying. The RG 14 on the Opus was just a bit too finicky on inland thermally dependant slopes for me.

Regards,

Nathan Woods
nathan@sloperacing.com

[SuddenImpact]

Thanks Nathan have sent e-mail

Thanks for the opinions guys

Karl

[SuddenImpact]

Does anyone know what the wingloading is on either of these ships

[bjaffee]

Opus is 14oz/sq" with no ballast (it usually weighs in about 48oz). That's not exactly light, but then it's a really strong airframe that can take a lot more abuse then most other moldies. Unless you have a really small hill or very light lift, the wing loading isn't really a problem (I fly mine on an inland hill).

[SuddenImpact]

thanks Brett, we're just waiting on a couple of suppliers to come back to us on price and the final choice will be made.:)

[Gary Legerton]

"The Blade offers one distinct advantage, a nose cone! It's much easier to put the gear into the Blade than the Opus."


Not if you use my new Opus install kit. Makes a clean install with no holes needed to be drilled into the fuse with unsightly bolt heads hanging out, and is only a 2 glue operation.It also provides provisions for bolting down 20oz of extra ballast! I think the one piece nose makes the fuse incredibly strong. I have burried one into the ground before all the way up to the leading edge of the wing with the only damages to the fuse being cosmetic scratches.You can check out pictures of my install kit at the slopeflyer.com web site. http://www.slopeflyer.com/artman/publish/article_219.shtml

I have flown Opuses for quite awhile now and it is probably my favorite all around fun sport plane. I have gotten mine to 165 mph. on the radar gun before.(The wing was begining to flutter at that speed though.) I have blown one up DSng before but this was in a 50mph. wind at Parker Mnt. with a pretty turbulent shear line. I wish I could have had it on a radar gun to know how fast it was going before She blew!I have just picked up from RC-Direct a Carbon DS version that I have not yet finished building.But this version is stiff as hell. The torsional rigidity is incredible! I think this version should be able to take all that you can throw at it.
As far as the Blade is concerned I have not even seen one fly before so I do not know how they perform.I think that with the RG-15 section it might be a better light wind plane and should pop the turns a little better.But for DSng and speed I think the Opus would probably be faster and stronger.I did a repair job one time on a friends Blade that he had picked up from someone that had been in a mid-air. The construction was very clean but not nearly as durable and strong as the Opus.The day after I gave him the plane he moved away to Oregon and smacked the plane in the ground while DSng at Cape Blanco so I never got to hear how well the plane performed.

Gary Legerton

[nwoods]

I agree that your nose kit for the Opus is sweet! I wish I had one when I built my nose rig for my old Opus.

Gary, what about the Opus you blew up at Mammoth? Or am I remembering that incorrectly?

Anyway, it comes to price and convienance and local conditions, which is pretty much true for any plane you buy!

I agree 100% that the Carbon DS Opus with all the wipers, bottom hinged flaps, and so forth is great plane. But for general purpose flying, and racing, the Blade 2M is equal in performance, and can handle most pilots DS abilities/potential...all at a price that is well over $100 dollars cheaper (based on Carbon DS Opus price with Gary's nose kit and ballast plates).

For me personally, knowning that my thumbs won't be setting any DS records anytime soon, the cost differential makes flying the Blade much more tolerable. I might stuff it DS'ing, but it won't hurt quite as bad :-)

See you June 17th at the Vincent F3F!

Nathan Woods

[Gary Legerton]

I wish I could blame the incident at Mammoth on the plane,but unfortunately that was caused by my own thumbs and the unprovoked attack from the top of a plane eating pine tree located in the DS zone:(

Gary

[SuddenImpact]

Gary how much is your install kit

[wish]

Hi,

I'm just new here and saw the post on the 2m DS planes.

If the Blade as mentioned is the X-Models (http://www.xmodels.it/pages-x-eng/e-x-blade.html) version, than I can only say that this planes flies great, easy and fast, but I've never seen it in DS situations.

What should be kept in mind is that the wings are highly sensitive for pressure points, because of the way the it is produced (not fully glass but with I believe a thin balsa underlayer). In that case I would prefer the Focus (http://www.aerosportbecker.de/Seiten/focus.html) (Germany), with only 1.64m SW but fully glass, which is less sensitive. I do know the Opus, although I never checked the sensitivety of the materials. Still I think this might be important to know for a DS plane, because of the 'strange' locations where DS can be done and landings might be hard :)

Greetings from Holland where DS can only be done behind a wall of trees or the dunes!

Bob

[Gary Legerton]

The Install kit is $60.The ballast kit which includes 5-4oz lead plates which give you 20oz of additional ballast and some nice brass thumb screws is $12.

Gary

[JDubman]

Keep in mind people the Blade has a few molds out there and is made by two different companys. X-models makes the one you see in Nathans post which is all fiberglass with carbon reinforcement. Than there's the one that is made by the people who make the Caracho. Espen Torp was flying the 2nd of the two at the DS fest and hit 147mph. Keep in mind that version had carbon skinned wings and fuselage. I used to own the 2m X-models version but sold it because it didn't fit in my truck. It was a great model and I wish the guy I sold it to would finish paying me for it!

[nwoods]

Correct, SoaringUSA.com is the USA distributor for the X-models version of the Blade, which is a fiberglass over balsa wing reinforced with Carbon.

Nathan Woods

[SuddenImpact]

Well we've gone with the blade, if we blow them up we'll chalk it up as experience and go to an opus, but I think with the DS site we fly here we'll be happy if we crack 100. Also got a mini blade will report back on performance and strength once we're in the air.
Going to use HS81MG servos, any comments?

[nwoods]

If you are going with Hitec, I would reccommend HS-85's in the fuse and 2M flaps, and HS-125's in the ailerons for both the 1.5M and the 2M. In my expereince, HS-81's don't quite have the holding power, have some drift problems, and tend to burn out faster than the 85's. All these traits are magnified if you are going to DS. I personally like the JR 341, 351, or digital 368's over the Hitec HS-85, but I do really like the digital HS-5125 and non-digital HS-125 wing servos.

[SuddenImpact]

Any Blade guys got a pic of how everything fits in the fuse?

Thanks

[nwoods]

I have these two images (ironically showing HS-81's).
The ballast tube, if installed, goes underneath the nose where the reciever is shown in picture two.

[nwoods]

Picture two

[maherrpca]

Hi,
I have owned my Blade(75") for more than 3 years and i love it, No flap version, the nosecone is the best part. I installed the ballast tube where i can reach it when removing the cone, add or remove ballast. Not as stout as the Opus but worth every penny. Not far from the Opus though, i haven't seen the Ds version of the blade though. Good stuff. Dsed it many, many times. I use Hs 85 MG, all four> I can hold 17oz's of lead in 9, 1 inch slugs.
Parker,Cape Blanco,etc...

[Bro]

Maherrpca:
The new Blades are now coming in with Carbon fuses-trays and ballast tubes. This will be at no additional cost! :cool:

But for some real pucker factor try the DS all carbon version.. Now even stiffer than ever! :D

Good Air!
Bob

[madmontero]

Maherrpca:
The new Blades are now coming in with Carbon fuses-trays and ballast tubes. This will be at no additional cost! :cool:

But for some real pucker factor try the DS all carbon version.. Now even stiffer than ever! :D

Good Air!
Bob How much for all pure carbon 2m wings?

Any discounts for previous customers and "future" Trinity owners ;)

Jason

P.S. That Carbon Fuse is STROOOONG !!!

[maherrpca]

Thanks Bro,
When i stuff my Blade in Dsing, i will for sure buy the Ds version. Good stuff!