Thank you Jason for your presentation.
Boxes for three models are already in stock, we will construct and present in a few days the box for two models too .
Our boxes have counstucted from special alluminum profil corner and could be easylly used not only for "big" travel. Box have place for all model parts and could carries transmiter and tool box too. The two handles make this easy to load in a car and also easy to move on the road.
Finally It's also an easy way to to storage models in workshop or in a room, and keep these clear from dust etc.

I could not find the box on their web http://f5jpro.com/ I would be interested in the inside dimensions.

Originally Posted by dapan

Thank you Jason for your presentation.
Boxes for three models are already in stock, we will construct and present in a few days the box for two models too .
Our boxes have counstucted from special alluminum profil corner and could be easylly used not only for "big" travel. Box have place for all model parts and could carries transmiter and tool box too. The two handles make this easy to load in a car and also easy to move on the road.
Finally It's also an easy way to to storage models in workshop or in a room, and keep these clear from dust etc.

Here's a thought, can the boxes be shipped to the US as a kit? That would make shipping a little less I'd think?

Thanks,
Jim

Originally Posted by Brady Baggs

I could not find the box on their web http://f5jpro.com/ I would be interested in the inside dimensions.

Our webdeisnger is not available these days , that's why we haven't add in our webpage the box and other equipment
The outside dimensions are 132cm x 37cm x 37xm

Originally Posted by Jim Frahm

Here's a thought, can the boxes be shipped to the US as a kit? That would make shipping a little less I'd think?

Thanks,
Jim

Shipping cost to US is the same, so it doesn't matter if we send it as a kit or as a box

Originally Posted by dapan

The outside dimensions are 132cm x 37cm x 37xm

I’m surprised it’s 132cm long, I expected it to be shorter with the 4 piece wing and 2 piece fuselage.
I traveled to the WC last year with a box 155 cm long, 35 cm wide and 30 cm tall (outside dimensions) with 3 Ultima 2’s inside (longest part is 145cm).

132 is the outside dimemsion, the inside must be 2cm less.
Like I remember Explorer wing tip ( the longer part from Explorer Q ) is about 120cm, with covers must be 1-2cm more
The box is 8-10cm more because we want to have more "place" in the seperate "room" for rudders, transmiter and parts.
I beleive that the minimun could be is 128cm so, for 4cm I beleive is not an issue
In any case after making some of these now, we have the experience to make it "smaller" if someone need less 4cm long box but In our point of view it will be better to have more "space" than less.

Originally Posted by roydor

I’m surprised it’s 132cm long, I expected it to be shorter with the 4 piece wing and 2 piece fuselage.
I traveled to the WC last year with a box 155 cm long, 35 cm wide and 30 cm tall with 3 Ultima 2’s inside.

The longest component of Q is the longer wingtip (the one used with 3.8/4.0 m versions). 125 cm long box is possible but then there is only ~2 cm gap. It is good to have some clearance.

Aaro

Originally Posted by roydor

I’m surprised it’s 132cm long, I expected it to be shorter with the 4 piece wing and 2 piece fuselage.
I traveled to the WC last year with a box 155 cm long, 35 cm wide and 30 cm tall (outside dimensions) with 3 Ultima 2’s inside (longest part is 145cm).

I’ve traveled a lot with model boxes over the years, in several FAI classes.
When doing air travel, a box with outside dimensions under 154 cm for H+W+L is considered a regular suitcase and cost less. An F5J model box with more then 1 model will never fit this size so that’s not a good enough incentive for a small box.
The next incentive is car travel. In order to fit in a trunk of a car side ways, 115-120 cm is the max size. In the back seat maybe 125 for some of the wider cars. Otherwise you need to put a seat down and have a 5 door car or a low trunk access to fit a relatively tall and long box and then the problematic length goes up to 140-155 cm depending on the car.

Best travel design I’ve seen so far was a 4 meter wing and fuselage divided to 1 meter sections but that isn’t necessarily best for an F5J.

I always wondered about the benefit of a 4 piece wing for travel and I’m a little surprised the difference isn’t bigger.

Still a VERY nice looking box and I think any serious pilot should invest in a good box to protect his expensive models. I’ve built some boxes similar to this one for my models over the years, they are not cheap to build but worth investing in!

Originally Posted by roydor

Best travel design I’ve seen so far was a 4 meter wing and fuselage divided to 1 meter sections but that isn’t necessarily best for an F5J.

I know Off Topic

But can you make that statement clear(er) for me? What is the difference between a devided wing in equal 1 mtr. pieces against a tip of e.g. 1.2mtr.
Or are you referring to the fuse were heavy(er) parts are more aft?

Btw, not the reason for my question, just learning - but I think I own the plane you are referring to.

Thank you

Originally Posted by dutchsoarer

I know Off Topic

But can you make that statement clear(er) for me? What is the difference between a devided wing in equal 1 mtr. pieces against a tip of e.g. 1.2mtr.
Or are you referring to the fuse were heavy(er) parts are more aft?

Btw, not the reason for my question, just learning - but I think I own the plane you are referring to.

Thank you

When dividing a 4 meter wing to 4 meters, 1 meter sections is the shortest section length you can get. To reduce the length even further you need to divide into more parts (like the PlusX 5 piece wing for example)
Problem of dividing a wing to 4 equal parts is that it defines the length of the flaps and ailerons (assuming you want simplicity in the control surfaces).
I personally prefer to avoid geometric constraints (such as minimal box length) as much as possible when making aerodynamical design choices as the designers of the Explorer Q obviously and rightfully did.

And some still fly planes with 2-piece wings and/or 1-piece fuselage

The actual game changer is to shrink the old 175cm+ box to 150cm or shorter. Say to 140cm. A smaller box has much smaller negative wow-factor at check in desk. Nice smile is usually enough to get a smaller box in as regular sports equipment, such as a golf bag. Shorter than 150cm boxes can also easily be transported (back seat down) in smaller VW Golf -class cars. This all reduces cost of traveling and makes life more straightforward.

As F5J is a FAI competition class, I do not see a future where best planes are designed keeping transport as priority. But it is nice that Q (and some other planes) are taking steps into this direction. Also worth noting that a more modular plane keeps cost of spare parts somewhat lower (I am thinking of 2-piece wings or 1-piece center panels).

Originally Posted by roydor

I’ve traveled a lot with model boxes over the years, in several FAI classes.
When doing air travel, a box with outside dimensions under 154 cm for H+W+L is considered a regular suitcase and cost less. An F5J model box with more then 1 model will never fit this size so that’s not a good enough incentive for a small box.
The next incentive is car travel. In order to fit in a trunk of a car side ways, 115-120 cm is the max size. In the back seat maybe 125 for some of the wider cars. Otherwise you need to put a seat down and have a 5 door car or a low trunk access to fit a relatively tall and long box and then the problematic length goes up to 140-155 cm depending on the car.

Best travel design I’ve seen so far was a 4 meter wing and fuselage divided to 1 meter sections but that isn’t necessarily best for an F5J.

I always wondered about the benefit of a 4 piece wing for travel and I’m a little surprised the difference isn’t bigger.

Still a VERY nice looking box and I think any serious pilot should invest in a good box to protect his expensive models. I’ve built some boxes similar to this one for my models over the years, they are not cheap to build but worth investing in!

Most designers are from Europe, and they care more about contests within the EU (just like FAI as well) where people drive everywhere (not fly!), and that is the main reason they they don't really care about transportation - they are used to put everything in the car/van/trailer and go for a 2 day drive for a contest.

Eitan

Originally Posted by eitanro

Most designers are from Europe, and they care more about contests within the EU (just like FAI as well) where people drive everywhere (not fly!), and that is the main reason they they don't really care about transportation - they are used to put everything in the car/van/trailer and go for a 2 day drive for a contest.

Eitan

That is not so. Many people in Europe drive to national contests, but to international contests such as Eurotours, flying is also usual. Very often travelling is a combination of domestic train or bus, and international flight. In the destination country you hire a car - often one of the smaller ones because of pricing. Or alternatively you share a larger car with other pilots.

If you want to reach countries like Bulgaria from western Europe, flying is the only practical option. Same to the recently cancelled competition in Greece. Fights within Europe are typically 1-4h flights. As we live in a Nordic country, flying is also the obvious choice to about any competition! For this season I had booked flights to 4 international competitions - all were cancelled

BTW I was once (in F3J time) offered Pike Perfection with a very good price. It was tempting, but I did not take it simply because it did not fit into my Aspire/Xplorer box. I was in Slovakia and travelling home would have been a pain with Pike in separate cardboard box.

Additionally there can be other benefits with modular planes. Taking a short box with you is much more easy if you want take planes to a family trip or travel in public transport. Shipping planes to customer is also a little more economical if box is short. I am not sure, but maybe carbon material can be used more economically when producing smaller parts. The flip side is that there are more parts in modular plane that must join together with tight joints, making quality of manufacturing more critical.

I can see this is the way to go. Customers are ready to pay a little more for planes fitting into smaller boxes and manufacturers have an incentive to produce them.

Some countries don't have the luxury of driving to other countries, but the majority of them do that.
I've attended a few contests in Europe, and I can't remember any pilots from Europe who took a plane (that includes the British team driving all the way to Croatia)