Been following the development of this class and was interested enough to get my hands in balsa, with my first build being an Oly II (about 2/3rds finished - all parts are nearly done, and just covering after) electric.

What would be a good first F3-RES plane to build that is not overly complex considering it would be my second build.

Thanks,
Don

If you have built an Oly you will be fine with any of them. The tolerances will be much better on these than the Oly and they just kind of fall together.

Pick one you like and go for it.

Cheers,
Jim

Like Jim said any of them. Not to say airtronics didn't make a great kit but they don't compare to this current batch of kits.

I would recommend a kit that is easy for you to get? All the Hollein kits are always around so the Andres is their higher performance model.

Don:

I've built the Pures, Slite, X-RES, RESi and AndREaS.

In my opinion, the Pures is the easiest to build, and the easiest to build precisely. It will take roughly thirty hours; in about 15, 2-hour increments. It can be built on any flat surface on which you can spread the wing drawing. Nothing needs to be pinned down. All holes (including the all-important holes for mounting the V-tail on the boom) are drilled for you. The kit includes jigs for ribs and boom/fuselage alignment. Want really easy? Order the flat sheet tails and use the kit-provided push rods - easier to build, with a weight penalty of about 1oz/30g. Most hardware is included: push rods, wing bolts, spoiler servo, alignment pins - everything except (oddly) a tow hook. All parts (balsa and plywood) are CNC-routed, and fit-and-finish is excellent. Wing spars are carbon tubes that fit very closely into ribs; just use thin CA to attach forever.

Second place for you, in my opinion, is the X-RES. Construction is 100% wood. Parts are once again CNC-routed, and fit pretty well (I just finished my third, and have another on order from a customer). I can do one in roughly 30 hours, like the Pures. Unlike the Pures, you must pin parts to a board - and then un-pin to do the other side. Not traditional, but the result is (usually) straight and flies well. Parts match to the drawings is good. The horizontal tail is all-flying, and difficult to align properly. There is a build issue that could have been overcome in the design and parts cutting, but the issue can be resolved by any builder. Covering is easy with mostly straight lines. The hardware package is complete with adjustable tow hook.

For flying, I find both impressive. I have a lot of hours on the Pures, and it does me fine in both light and windy conditions. I use a 40-gram ballast package on a Pures with a 410g airplane, and fly in 15mph winds. Without ballast, it climbs in fairy farts. The X-RES is also very light, and three builds now have yet to exceed 400g flying weight. It thermals on the hot air emanating from the old guys watching from their lawn chairs, I swear. It does not have the penetration abilities of the Pures, but its spoilers bring it down dramatically for precision landings. I still fly both, and both launch straight up, hands off.

The Slite (designed to be "slightly better than the Pures") is more complex, and has a higher parts count. Build time for me is 40 hours, not a minute less. Designed by the same guy who built the Pures, but more sophisticated. And yes, it is indeed slightly better than the Pures, but you have to watch close to see the difference. The Slite can be had with either V-tail or conventional. I recommend the built-up V-tail.

I do not recommend the AndREaS to you. Laser cut, but the three examples I have handled had real problems with the laser cutting: heavy charring, incomplete penetration, especially of the plywood parts. Mine all built straight in the end, but they required extra time and effort, and are about 15% heavier than the Pures, Slite or X-RES. I do not recommend it for a new builder, or even a second build. It flies fine, though, even the green-and-purple one.

I've assembled two of the RESi as ARFs: nice airplanes, given they are ARFs, but not up to the other four in performance. Ten hours from box to flight-ready, most of that sanding the over-large wing rods.

Compared to any American kit in my experience, all four are incredible feats of engineering. I can no longer tolerate die-cut ribs after building these airplanes. And, the materials are simply astonishing in their quality. Hard balsa where required, soft (but warp-free) where required. I know the designer of the Pures and Slite, and he hand-selects his balsa sheet by sheet. The result is a kit that really fits, part to part. If the part doesn't fit, you've got the wrong part.

There are build threads on all four. Go look at them.

Our team agreed to try the RESoholic, after the designer of the Pures and Slite recommended it. Really, he did. We have a couple of those preparing for a build thread right now, but it is non-traditional. We also have a pair of the RESolution waiting their turn on the bench. No experience yet, but the drawings and parts look very, very nice. Very traditional, except for the carbon tube spars.

Yours, Greg

The RESolution is also a very simple build. Not perfect and you will need to take some care with the root ribs, but a very nice build overall.

I should be posting a translated build manual for it in my build thread within the next few days.

Oh man I'm disappointed in the Andres. I've built 2 Hollein kits and they were great.

XRES is an easy build. It's a built up fuse so you should take care with alignment and the leading edge is sanded so you need some attention there.

Pures looks like an easier build with the wing construction and boom. I think Seta has them ready, I could be wrong?

Slites require a wait, order on now anyway and have that as your second

Great luck with whatever choice either way.

By the way Hyperflight has a lot of models in stock. Neil ships fast and the postal charges aren't that bad. He of course sells servos too and some other misc things to complete your build including oracover/ultracote.

Originally Posted by Bmwjoon

Oh man I'm disappointed in the Andres. I've built 2 Hollein kits and they were great.

XRES is an easy build. It's a built up fuse so you should take care with alignment and the leading edge is sanded so you need some attention there.

Pures looks like an easier build with the wing construction and boom. I think Seta has them ready, I could be wrong?

Slites require a wait, order on now anyway and have that as your second

Great luck with whatever choice either way.

By the way Hyperflight has a lot of models in stock. Neil ships fast and the postal charges aren't that bad. He of course sells servos too and some other misc things to complete your build including oracover/ultracote.

Thanks everyone....could someone give a link to PuRES?

http://www.seta-tech.de/

Originally Posted by Bmwjoon

http://www.seta-tech.de/

Thanks....is there an x-tail version?

Originally Posted by donsinger1

Thanks....is there an x-tail version?

As far as I know the Pures was designed and is only available in a V.

Don,

I just finish a MadRES, and it was a quick and easy build. It has a solid balsa wing and ready to fly came out at 12.45oz. You can see photos over in the MadRES build log. I don't know how it will stack up against the other F3-RES planes on the market. I have only hand launched it a couple time in high winds and turbulent air, but looking forward to some hi-start launches once... if... the weather ever gets better.

I would like to build a PuRES, but have not been able to order one. I am also waiting for a Samba EVO and a FRESh, both are on the way, so only time will tell about ease of build and performance on those.

Chris

I'll put in a vote for the BJC (Baba Jaga Competition. Its a really interesting build, but I have no other F-RES builds to compare it to. Its a thinner wing section than the Drela based Ac36 - 37 -38 sections used in most of the other models. That's necessitated some things like rib tabs to allow building concave wings. Worked out very well, and its building into an elegant and straight model.

Originally Posted by Chris Staats

Don,

I just finish a MadRES, and it was a quick and easy build. It has a solid balsa wing and ready to fly came out at 12.45oz. You can see photos over in the MadRES build log. I don't know how it will stack up against the other F3-RES planes on the market. I have only hand launched it a couple time in high winds and turbulent air, but looking forward to some hi-start launches once... if... the weather ever gets better.

I would like to build a PuRES, but have not been able to order one. I am also waiting for a Samba EVO and a FRESh, both are on the way, so only time will tell about ease of build and performance on those.

Chris

Chris: very cool! Been covering the Olympic and about 1/2 way through. Looking forward to building and flying an F3RES. A 2m at 12.50 Oz should float like a butterfly. BTW, the rain and wind will stop, hopefully in time for our first ALES contest.

Anyone have any experience converting one of these F3RES gliders to electric power? I have a Slite on order.

John:

There are several threads that address your question. I can't refer you to any of them, as power is something I have simply not dabbled in - yet. I will say this: be careful not to over-power your sailplane. There are power systems that literally fir inside the spinner of a folding prop, and those will lift a Slite with great abandon.

Also, many of the 2-meter, F3RES sailplanes come in powered versions.

Good luck.

Yours, Greg