The Caldera S is a collaberation of efforts from Dieter Perlik, Philip Kolb, and Benjamin Rodax. The model is manufactured in Turkey by Fineworx, and is available in the US from Kennedy Composites. This Glider is designed as a sport sloper with a DS capable version and would be very suitable for a 2 meter class slope race. The model is such a SWEEET Glider. It is easy to fly with really nice handling characterisitics. The Caldera is so smooth, slippery, and groovy you just want to roll, pull, and pump as you tear the slope up. The following shots were taken by new buddy Jeff today at the small slope at Carlsbad California.

The Caldera S is a fully molded carbon skinned model. The build consists of the usual installation of equipment, but there is some fabrication needed to fit the glider out. The Caldera S is a tight fit and you must assemble the model in such a way that you do not build yourself in to a corner. My suggestion is to start at the tail end, and begin construction by trial fitting the Vtails and bending up the wire control horns. Check that the elevator hinge is free, and that there is no binding. Look at the finished control horn installation. As you can see there is not much room. I did one side at a time, and practiced the bending with a paperclip to get the bends right. The balls can be soldered or JB welded to the 1.5 mm horns. Like wise use JB weld to secure the threaded rod into the end of the carbon pushrods. Make sure the control horn goes far enough in to the elevator so that it has a good moment to work on. When you have the bend right secure the horn into the elevator with a slurry mixture of Epoxy and cotton flocking. I added a few carbon tows to mreally secure it in place. When everything is bent right and secure check that everything moves freely and there is no binding.

The next step is to finish off the front end of the fuselage. I have found the best servo for actuating the V-tails is the JR 285 MG digital servo. Others servos will work but be careful, as there is not much room to play with. Start fitting out the front end by trimming the canopy access and trial fitting the servos in the 3mm plywood tray. Check the trays fit in the fuselage. Leave a little room under the tray so you can run the wire harness for the wing servos above the tray clear of the pushrods. When the tray is in the best position tack it in place with Cyano. Now remove the servos and secure the tray in place with fiberglass strips and epoxy. Make up the clevis ends of the push rods by soldering clevis on lengths of 2/56 push rod wire. Cut the wire in 2" lengths this is seems a good length to give adequate length for good epoxy adhesion.Note in the pictures I have used a Dremel sanding drum to produce a good surface for gluing. Referring to the pictures you can see I mark the total length of the push rod with the elevators taped in neutral and the servos mounted, and centered. Trim the push rods to proper length accounting for the length of the clevis to be removed. When everything fits and is centered mix up some JB weld epoxy and work it in to the end of the hollow push rod. Make sure the servos are centered and the elevators are taped and centered, now put the fuselage in a safe place overnight so the epoxy can cure.

The next step is to make up the wire harness and make sure the wing root and fuselage are fit properly so the multiplex multi pin connectors will seat and line up. Leave a little extra length on the Fuselage side of the harness. I find 2 inches extra makes it easier to stow the RX where it fits best. Solder up the harness and double check that it works well and is ready to be permanently installed. Wax around the face of the connector receiver in the side of the fuselage, this will make it easier to clean up any extra epoxy. When you are convinced that everything lines up well glue one side of the Fuselage harness in position. I use 5 minute epoxy to secure the connectors. When the first side is cured move on to the opposite side. Next wax the wing root area, and apply 5 minute in to the receptacle of the wing. Using the wing rod and pins slide the wing in to position and make sure the connector seats while waiting for the 5 minute to cure. Now move on to the last side and you should have a good fit with solid electrical connections. Clean up any excess epoxy and double check that the wire harness is functioning. The Fuselage servos can now be mounted .

You have to mount the control horns in the aileron and flaps. It makes me Nuts when the wing surfaces don't track so I am real careful here. A control horn out of position can really affect the tracking. Start this procedure by marking the position of the horns on the flaps and ailerons. Using a small Dremel cutter clear the skin to take the horn.
I always make up a jig to ensure that the horn is in the right place, the right spacing above the surface. Trim the Horn to the proper length and spot glue it in place with Cyano. When the Horns are in the right place bond them permanently with a slurry of slow-cure Epoxy with cotton flocking, and add a few carbon tows for peace of mind. Look at the pictures to see how the jig keeps everything consistent.

Neat :-)

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If you are not planning on DSing JR285MGs are a good choice for the ailerons and flaps. If you need a little more speed and power you are going to have a rough time finding a better servo than the JR 378 thin wing servo. The 378's will fit, if you use a wood mount and trim the edge for the front and back of the cover completely away. Don't forget to run the aileron servo arm perpendicular to the servo, and the flap horn one spline towards the leading edge. If you look at the pictures you can see the proper arm setting and that I tie the connectors with Kevlar thread. Use tape to mark the center of the arm in the servo well. A little wax on the servo case will help release the servo if you get extra epoxy on the case when you glue the mounts in with 5 minute epoxy.

Great-looking plane, Larry. One of those "looks right" planes. Would love to see some video of you flying it!

btw, when Larry speaks about sailplanes, people should listen. We've never met, but I know how much he knows.

Thanks Reed, I hope to fly with you someday. I really do like the Caldera, it is very tolerant of tugging on the elevator, but still accelerates well, and really gets it on, out of a turn. Back to the build the next note is on wing linkage. On my Caldera S I used 2.5 mm rod and MP Jet Clevis. I lock one side by soldering and then adjust the surface to neutral by adjusting the other clevis. When all is adjusted then I lock the other clevis with Cyano. Maybe a little overkill, but I feel this linkage is suitable if there is a chance you might slip over to the backside. Notice the skins are trimmed close to allow the clevis the movement it needs to keep from binding. You will see in one of the photos I have modified a clevis to allow extra movement without colliding with the top of the flight surface. In this instance it is the flap that needs extra movement. Also note that there is no molded flap wiper. This is common practice on this size model. Most people use a narrow piece of Tessa film tape as a gap seal if they use one. You may have seen this on a Pike SL, where it has proven to work well.

The last area to deal with is making up the Rx battery pack, and tidey up the Receiver installation. For the Rx pack I used an Itec 5-cell 1600ma NiMh pack. I modified it so that 2 cells were oriented end to end and 3 were side to side. This allowed the pack to slide farther forward in to the nose cone which has a significant taper. I used an AR 7600 Spektrum Rx which is a great match for this model. If you look at the photos you will see that the main Rx and the Auxiliary RX sit side by side with the Antennas pointing forward, away from the Carbon airframe. When I slide the nose cone in to place I plug the battery lead in to the empty socket at the top of the RX. I fly the Caldera with my JR 12X which offers all the capability I need for this glider

Just for Fun I thought I would show you some photos of the guys who bring you the Caldera S.
The first photo is of my friends Murat Esibatir and Philip Kolb. Philip has moved to Istanbul and together with Murat run Fineworx. In the other photo you will see some of the Turkish composite molding technicians as they prep a set of Caldera S molds. You should realize that you are not seeing the showroom at Fineworx that is the work area. The guys have built the most modern Composite factory in the World. I have been to some full size Glider works and frankly Fineworx is more state of the art. I hope you have enjoyed this build of my Caldera S. Remember mine is one of the first and it is fair to assume that Philip and Murat have made improvements and changes since my model was made. My Caldera came in at 1417 grams or 50 ounces ready to fly. You can bet that I will have this model on the slope as often as possible...It is a great past time.. and besides they know me there. Thanks for the space Larry

By the way.. you probably noticed the sign for the Special Room. Yea, I tried the door it was locked....Hmmmm knowing how clever the guys at FINEWORX are, I bet there is some cool stuff in there that wil eventually be brought out for the word to see..