Well, not fair is a matter of perspective. If the parts supplied by Multiplex were made in Germany and had much better quality than anything made in China I'd say you have a point. In reality the parts supplied by Multiplex are made in China as well, the margins just get bumped up after applying a Multiplex sticker.

I've bought a number of drive kits for my Multiplex models, only to find that the quality is similar or less than quality parts (Turnigy SK motors for example) from China at 3x the price. In many cases I ended up replacing the drive kit, minus the plastic bits, with a better performance motor/ESC from HobbyCity.

Sure, you need to know what to look for, and in many cases use a motor calculator to get a good idea of what a suitable motor/prop/thrust combination is for a model, but that isn't exactly rocket science.

So, is it smart for them to market it this way? Well yes from a revenue point of view it certainly is, but it would've been nicer to the customer if they offered the drive kit in a version with the motor and ESC and a version without motor and ESC.

Cheers,

Sander.

Originally Posted by ssassen

...
So, is it smart for them to market it this way? Well yes from a revenue point of view it certainly is, but it would've been nicer to the customer if they offered the drive kit in a version with the motor and ESC and a version without motor and ESC.
...

I don't think the Xeno will become a huge seller like the EasyStar or the FunJet. By selling the basic kit with a small profit margin, they are already doing the slope soarer community a favour.

A model company has to make profit, and in this case, more profit has to be made with the drive sets. Those who don't want to use a MPX-ESC and a Himax motor, have to wait until the other parts become available as spare parts. As mentioned before, who knows, eventually there may even be a drive set without motor and ESC, but while demand is high, I would rather sell complete sets too.

Jürgen

Originally Posted by Jurgen Heilig

Well, coat doesn't really help to keep the thumbs warm.

Glad that I did the maiden this weekend, as - according to the weather forecast - it will get much colder and the wind does not ease off either.

Jürgen

Jurgen ..... so how did the Xeno fly ? ...... did you manage to get any video? .....

We pour souls still only have only a Xeno catalogue ...... our local RC stores are still waiting for delivery ....

Originally Posted by hobie14

Jurgen ..... so how did the Xeno fly ? ...... did you manage to get any video? .....

The maiden flight was basically a non-event. No trim changes required. True vertical climb as advertised. Smooth flying despite windy conditions. Not completely happy about the rolls, but I also hadn't dialled in the negative aileron differential yet.

Too cold to find a cameraman.

Jürgen

Jurgen or anyone....

I apologize if this question has already been asked and answered..but, what is the real purpose of the Xeno's motor shaft design?

Is it to address the foldable wing design, better CG, or maybe this is similar to the Computer Printer industry charging little for the printers (foam wings), but then making it up on the ink cartridges (ie. complexity/expense of the motor drive pod). The extra complexity of the pod's design, justifies a higher cost and possible need for replaceable parts (MTBF of shaft mechanism) compared to other current wing designs.

Just a thought..

Thanks,
-mike-

Originally Posted by boiko

Jurgen or anyone....

I apologize if this question has already been asked and answered..but, what is the real purpose of the Xeno's motor shaft design?
...

Hi Mike,

the idea behind Xeno's power pod is, that it has no effect on the CG. You can do a configuration change (from slope soarer to electric glider and back) in seconds, without having to re-check the CG.

Jürgen

Flew my xeno today, clear skies, no appreciable wind and minus3 hoho only one flight with OEM tuning kit. the model balanced on the nail with no lead my only deviation from the instructions was that I used a 1050 protronik lipo cause I had one. This model gave no surprises and was away without trim changes and was smooth and accurate as set up, the glide is better than I thought it would be and yes, it will vertical for almost as long as you want .In the end the cold got to me and after about five minutes I brought her in for a smooth landing and went home with a big smile on my face. next, to really explore the flight envelope and try her in some wind. value for money? from my point of view definitely!

Two more pictures from the "back end", showing the correct installation of the rubber ring:

jurgen how do you think the clips ect will hold up over time?
and do you have any idea of the forces on those flips in fllight?

Hey Jurgen, how do you think the Xeno will fly in a windy day as compaired to say a Stryker? With its power and profile it seems like it would do very well. Keep up the great work you are doing on all the threads, you are the Man when it comes to getting advise. Thanks Denny.

Originally Posted by cmulder

jurgen how do you think the clips ect will hold up over time?
and do you have any idea of the forces on those clips in fllight?

I think you are referring to the cutouts in the spinner? There is no load on these, as the rubber ring goes from one blade to the other.

Jürgen

Originally Posted by F4J Denny

Hey Jurgen, how do you think the Xeno will fly in a windy day as compaired to say a Stryker? ...

Hi Denny,

I don't know about the handling of a Stryker, but I did the maiden flight of the Xeno on a fairly windy day. The Xeno is aerodynamically very clean and has no problem penetrating the wind. You might get knocked about in turbulence, as the wing loading is still rather low.

Jürgen

Hi all and thank you Jurgen for all your interesting replies... keep up.
I actually just ordered a Xeno with Tuning motor set up. So Santa Klaus will come in advance this year !
The good point is that I also have a Swift II brushless for a while now and received a brand new Stryker F27C brushless not even maidened. I am spoiled this year !
So that I should be able to do some comparison in a few days.
I love the Swift II cool handling and relaxed flights with no complexity. In fact I love it so much (it is my first delta wing plane) that it is the reason why I wanted to broaden the experience. Stryker for speed and Xeno just because I love Multiplex quality products.

So, talking about the Swift II, it is actually very light (230g ready to fly with a 610mAh battery) allowing very slow flight thus relaxed and fun flight. Despite this low weight and large wing surface, it handles wind better than any of my 10 other planes !! and I mean it, it is impressive.
It is very accurate for a simple EPP foamie and you can almost pass between your legs. Next step we will do some combat with my brother (45 actually and I am 38 ) using some tape floating behind our wings ... by the way would you have any advice on which material to use to make 2x 5meters (15 feet) tail to our Swifts ?
I ll tell you the differences and my feeling between Xeno, Stryker and Swift II in the next days...

Could anyone tell me the diameter of the prop hub and the drive shaft?

Originally Posted by Pook

Could anyone tell me the diameter of the prop hub and the drive shaft?

The diameter is 35mm and the carbon shaft diameter is 4mm. Unfortunately you can't mount another spinner anyway, because the supplied shaft is not long enough for any other commercially available spinner system.

Jürgen