Thought I would share a build log of the latest version of the Icon 2 from Don Peters of Maple Leaf Designs.

I have been flying Supra's for the last 4 years and had on my wish list a larger version of this great flying plane. I am a Drela fan and when the Icon 2 came out, I jumped on board. I have been flying the Icon 2 and its different iterations for the last 2 years and have seen this plane evolve into a World Class F3J/TD sailplane.

Here are some weights of the parts out of the box.

Fuse (no fin/rudder) 12.1 oz (includes ballast tube)
Stab 2.5 oz
Fin/Rudder 2.2 oz
Left Tip 7.0 oz
Right Tip 7.0 oz
Center Section + wiring 27.2 oz
V mount 0.5 oz
Towhook 0.4 oz
Tip Joiners (2) 1.0 oz
Misc Parts Bag 1.5 oz

Total Empty Weight 61.4 oz

The kit comes with CD containing a detailed instruction manual. I will not bore you with repeating these details, but show you general pictures of the build and deviations I have done...

The kit also comes with 11 brass ballast cubes, each weighing 3.3 oz! Ready for any Muncie Masters Winds (Read > 15 mph) for sure!
Total Ballast Capability 36.3 oz.

Servo selection will be 4 JR 378's with Kennedy Mounts for the Wings.
A JR 3421 for the Elevator.
A JR 368 for the rudder.

Fuse is 2.4 friendly, so a JR R921 2.4 9 Channel Rx with one remote will do the trick.

Battery will be a 5 cell (1500 mAH) Elite pack.

Technical Specification from Maple Leaf Website:

Technical Specifications:

Wing Span 3.81 m (150")
Wing Area 81.29 dm.˛ (1260 in.˛)
Aspect Ratio 17.85
Length 1.80 m (70")
Flying Weight 2,100-2,250 gm (74-79 oz.)
Wing Loading 26-27.6 gm/dm˛ (8.5-9 oz./ft.˛)

Regards

Jon

Jon,
I've been lusting secretly after one of these as a couple of members in my local club fly various Supras, and I've always wanted to join that club, and came to the Icon 2 as the best answer. A couple of questions,
Where did you purchase your Icon2? Directly from Maple Leaf or another retail seller. I see that Skip Miller offers them too. Or from somebody else? I had heard here on RC Groups some inference that the early Icon 2s were weak (?) or prone to breakage (?) and that subsequently they have been strengthened? Any truth as far as you know concerning this?
I just need to save the $2k+ that they cost (I believe), not counting the expensive innards. I'll be following this very closely!
Thanks for posting,
Steve

Go Jon Go!!!

This design has been refined and re-worked with input from DP, Skip Miller and others until it is really optimized. I flew mine yesterday for the first time with all the new parts, and it is just splendid. All the fancy new planes fly really well, of course, but this one has a few particular outstanding features. On launch it pulls harder than anything else I've flown. It picks up speed very fast and can really penetrate without ballast. The handling is easy and smooth, thanks to the huge stab on the present generation of planes. And the huge flaps make landing slow and very controllable. Support your domestic manufacturer and all-around nice guy Don Peters, and get one of these.

Steve wrote: "Where did you purchase your Icon2?"

I have purchased all my Icon 2's directly from Don Peters at Maple Leaf Design. Skip Miller Models is the only other source/distributor for the Icon2 in the USA.

Steve wrote: "I had heard here on RC Groups some inference that the early Icon 2s were weak (?) or prone to breakage (?) and that subsequently they have been strengthened? Any truth as far as you know concerning this?"

Their have been many modifications to practically every part since the design was initially released a couple of years ago. Don Peters listened to many people flying the plane and has been very open to making design changes were needed. What you have today is a design that has been thoroughly tested for strength and the rigors of hard F3J tows and is ready for public consumption.

Regards

Jon

Thank you Jon,
I was wondering if I purchased an Icon 2 this year, if it would have all these design modifications. I've started saving for one, but I made the mistake of mentioning how much it will cost to my wife, and lets just say, that was a mistake
Steve

Wing Details:
The center section comes prewired with harness installed. See Pics. Wire is high stand 26 gauge for both power and signal. The thin inline connector is keyed and positioned so there is no interference with the ballast tube or pushrods when the center section is bolted down.

The end of the center section is ready for servo plug in from the tips. I have been flying my F3J sailplanes with similar tip connections (center section fixed and tips loose) for years with zero problems. I prefer this over the wing panel plug in type (for tips).... This allows for aileron servo control incase a mid air tip strike shakes a tip loose or excessive wing flex causes an electrical disconnect .. just a comfort thing....

I am pleasantly surprised at how light the tip panels are..... The tip alignment pins are Carbon fiber rods, the joiner is hollow, and the wiper is vinyl tape gap seal. See Pic.

Since I mentioned weight, here is an excerpt on the wing layup from the manual: "The layup for the entire wing consist of an outer ply of carbon cloth, cores of Airex and Rohacell foam, and an inner ply of light E glass." This seems to be a good compromise of strength, weight, and keeping the wing ding resistant. My understanding from Don is that this is the only layup currently available.

More to come.....

Jon

I couldn't help but put the joiners in the tips and trial fit them onto the center section for fit.... I know from previous builds this was an issue and things needed to be sanded or epoxy added for a no play, smooth fit....Seems Don has worked this out and the fit was excellent. No play, tight, and no sanding required....

Its hard to tell from the pics and currently there is no three view available from Don at Maple Leaf, but the center section on this bird is huge. Center Section 72" length. Tip 39" length. Center Panel 3.5 degrees dihedral. Tips 5 degrees. I thought at first that it would be a little slow up the line with this huge center section but that is not the case. Suffice to say, it will be competitive with any thing out there as we have tested it against other fast launchers...Orca... Supra...
I am a believer now...

Last pic is the servo's to drive these huge flaps. JR DS 378 with Kennedy mounts. This mount makes changing servos a snap if need be....

Jon

Yesterday had a window of decent weather to fly in before Denver got dumped on. (12" snow) So I got to do some high start death matches with my Icon 2 (not current build plane) against Mike Verzuh and his new Satori. The new F3J nosecone sticks nicely. Sorry for the crappy pics but you can see the planform better than in my small basement.

See pics for more descriptions....

Wing will be completed soon and the fuse goes quickly as well....

Jon

Well, who won the death match????

Steve wrote: "I was wondering if I purchased an Icon 2 this year, if it would have all these design modifications."

Yes. All modification shown are in production.

Bob wrote: "Well, who won the death match???? " Call Mike, he will give you the scoop.

Jon

That's one monster stab. How big is it?

is the rudder/fin removable? Otherwise I'm guessing a huge box to store/transport. Must be 15" high!

The stab is about 36" span. The fin is removable. This is the plane to have, if your car is big enough to fit it. The bag is about 75" long.