Hello everyone!

I'd like to know what you think about RCRCM´s Predator II and Strega. I'm thinking about buying one of these two planes, so maybe someone with experience could give me a word of advice on wich plane is more noble and wich one is trickier, wich one is faster (I know lots of you would say it depends on the pilot, but I'm looking for a more ¨technical¨ answer) or better, wich airfoil has more energy retention, wich one accelerates faster than the other, wich one can take F3F punishment better (toughness of the airframe) etc. Also a little word of advice on ballasting these planes for
38+ MPH (60+ KmH) winds.

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to answer my questions.

Carlos A. Pérez

Tracer from soaring usa is better than both, and same price.

Better how? faster? quality construction? materials used?
Sorry about all the questions, I'm just eager to learn. Thank you

between the p2 and the strega, I think they are both equal in terms of build quality, because they are both made in the same factory by the same people AFAIK. I have seen both from a new batch and the quality seems very nice.

At the end of the day I think both models can win races in the right hands. It REALLY is down to the pilot more than the model I reckon.

Ballasting for 60kph+ is probably "a lot". You could fly empty with those models, but you can probably put a lot of weight in and it is probably desirable in a lot of conditions (E.g crossed, turbulence etc.).

Tracer is built by nan models. Rcrcm are built to suit a price in china. The guy who designed them no longer works for them. I have had a tracer and built nice great quality. Setup and pilot skill can make any current f3x plane look great. So go with which one you feel looks the best.

I've built quite a few including latest wing construction with internal ribs and beefier spar and joiner box.
The sections are quite different P2 is skinnier, marginally. Also tail section slimmer on P2 but the fatter Strega tail does make it very well behaved.
The Strega has the perfect positioning of the spar and connector to slip in wing ballast of around 20mm X 10mm right on the cg at around 113mm. The P2 is a trickier to do as the space is not big enough around the cg. So you could fly with 1.5kg + with a little modification which would be better than the standard 900g or so for the winds you want to play in.
But P2 has a notable following for F3F too and new wing can only improve it's reputation.
Both models need some fettleling to get that top European fit and finish- like wipers need sanding, hinges too but it's no drama. Only other modification I really like is to replace the pushrods with 2mm snakes.
Both planes are vastly improved in the latest guise and have had external input from a number of sources. The wings are really stiff.
In fact so nice I bought a Strega carbon myself.

Thank you all for answering so quickly, I've actually copy+printed all your advices to have them at hand at my workshop.
Tony correct me if I'm wrong, but are you saying that the PII has a Strega tail?
From what I've been reading, the PII has a different tail than the PI, but I didn't knew it was the Strega's tail.
Would you mind telling me what didn't you like about the pushrods? I tought all of RCRCM´s gliders came from factory with carbon pushrods, so in you opinion, what's not to like about them?

AlpineDSacro, thanks for your advice on the tracer, it's a beautifull plane. I'm interested in your personal experience with this plane (habits or the abscense of them, energy rettention, glide ratio, setup ease, etc.) Also if you happen to know about competitions this plane has entered and results.

Satinet, I reckon too that piloting skills are needed a lot to be competitive, but try entering Viking Race with a 2m Spirit....you catch my drift?

Hey Charlie

No the tails on the P2 are different to the P1 AND the Strega. Very different!

The tails on the P2 are high aspect ratio with a very thin section. The Strega takes a different approach with a more regular aspect ratio to the tail, but 10% thick. They have a very (VERY!) nice feel on the elevator. One of the unique things about the Strega in my opinion is that is ALWAYS feels like it has some buoyancy on the elevator - this is a very nice confidence inspiring feeling - even in crossed conditions with lots of ballast, the model maintains this feeling. This is something that all Strega owners comment on...

As for the P2 - have a read of this here on my blogsite about the new P2 - it has some interesting history:

http://sloperacer.blogspot.com/2011/...edator-ii.html

Originally Posted by Dynamic_Charlie

Satinet, I reckon too that piloting skills are needed a lot to be competitive, but try entering Viking Race with a 2m Spirit....you catch my drift?

true, but once you get to a certain level with planes they can all win races.

If you want to have the one with the best record i guess you have to get a predator, as they have won a few races and done well at major events, but of course in the hands of very good pilots.

No Charlie, Tails are very different ( I hear an echo!).

Carbon pushrods are fine especially as the elevators are pull for up on both the Strega and P2.

The idea behind the mod with snakes is to give a stiffer control for down elevator as there is no factory installed guides/supports for the carbon pushrods. It's also lighter at the back end using snakes.

Only thing to watch with the build is that the space where the wing wiring and the ballast tube meet inside the fuse is very tight. The carbon pushrods have only a small clearance and there is every chance that they can chaff against the wiring. Of course this isn't an issue with snakes but with all the builds I've done I have run the pushrods in plastic guides just under the plugs. Really easy to do, no chaffing and some support too.

Anyway both P2 and Strega have great reports for F3F. Strega is definitely the more popular round here. Just can't wait to maiden mine.

Hello again guys, and thanks again for taking the time to anwer.
I have to say that I really appreciate all the help, I've been flying for 16 years but I'm just getting started on F3F, so what I'm looking for is a competitive airframe that will allow me to get trough my learning curve and if it can take my abuse, allow me to actually compete with it.
I've been learning how to program the mixes, do the turns and mantain altitude with a home made plane I call "Amazonia", but it just won't do, it's like a warrior glider you get what I mean? It flies anywhere with whatever conditions, but it aint actually an "F3F intended" glider.
I believe I'll go with the strega, I'll be able to get my hands on one in a few months I hope, but I wanted to start researching, and your help has been invaluable, for that you have my gratitude.
I've got one more question for now: what layup should I choose? I've heard single carbon will do the job better than glass layup, but are the G's experimented in F3F strong enough to break a glass fiber glider? well, an F3F glass fiber glider?

Yeah I know, what a noob, sorry about that. But at least I've got the desire to improve my skills at the thing I love the most in this world : flying R/C gliders.

Carlos.

I don't know why I wrote "strega", I meant I'll go with the Predator II. hehehe.

I flew my glass P1 for F3F and it took the G loads just fine. If I had it to do over though, I would go with carbon. I simply bought the glass version for the cost savings.

Colby

carbon

Spar is same in glass wing and has ribs just as carbon wing so very much improved. But the carbon wing has torsionally stiffer flaps and ailerons. Noticeably!
Weight difference is about 80g per panel.

Have you seen new P3 made in colaboration with Aviogate (formerly CTI Habe) http://www.aviogate.com/?