Red Swan Laser Cut Balsa KIT 1250mm (Kit)

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Crap

Dec 10, 2017

Extremely low quality kit.
Few pieces are missing from the kit. Also alignment of the parts to each other is far from being perfect.
Instructions are mismatching with real parts. I was trying to finish the glider, bought additional balsa sheets and sticks which were missing as well as few bolts...
But finally chuck unfinished plane to the rubbish bin. Wasn't worth to invest any more to the project. I wish I invested my money and time into own design and building from scratch.
I would not recommend to buy this kit. Currently it is out of stock and hope Hobbyking will never re-stock it again.

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The finished model is really nice, but the 1 page instruction sheet is horrible!

Nov 18, 2016

The finished model is really nice, but the 1 page instruction sheet is horrible. However, even though I had little experience building with balsa wood, I got a good result, and a very nice powered glider out of the deal. The photos are too small to show much detail, and it is difficult to decipher the meaning of them. There are no measurements at all except for the CG which is right on the wing spar. I had to use small 9 g servos which fit, but left a slight bulge in the film covering. The slim wing servos I ordered did not fit dimensionally. The hardest part of the build for me was getting the servo linkages set up correctly. There is not much room in the servo space.

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Certified Buyer Rated

Jul 03, 2016

Nice little kit for the money. need a bit of experience to build it. instructions a little bare to say the least!

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Certified Buyer Rated

Jul 13, 2015

fantastico, ne ho presi 2 a magazzino e uno sempre con me, 1400k lipo 1500-1600 prop 9*4

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Customer Rated

May 26, 2015

This kit is THE kit for those who love the old school balsa kit..
Wood is good in general and laser-cut parts saves valuable time.

That said, this is not for beginners, the building notes are nonexistent and it is necessary to go on the net to find build logs, fortunately quite numerous.

I just have two disappointments, after assembling and flying with the Red Swan:
First, it is quite heavy. Ready to fly weighed approx 700gr.
For a wingspan of 1224mm he had to fly fast enough to generate the necessary lift.

Then, the weak point is the horizontal stabilizer. It is very close to the ground and the landing must be perfectly horizontal on a very flat surface. The slightest clod of dirt or grass can easily pull the horizontal stabilizer off.
This happened to me twice. The first time the tail has been torn, I rebuilt the entire tail section in plain balsa, much stronger.
Alas, he clung to a clump of grass and the section of the fuselage near the tail (with holes for pushrods) broke ... :(

That said, it's a nice old school kit for a handyman with experience and a good flat ground for landing.

I posted 3 pictures of my Red Swan ( The under files section Cardinal ) just before the maiden flight

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Certified Buyer Rated

Aug 04, 2014

NIcely cut kit. A lot of fun to build, and they look great when complete. I wish hobbyking would stock more laser cut kits.

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Customer Rated

Oct 02, 2013

Fine construction, precise laser-cut parts, but wrong building instructions:
First, the 2 fuselage sides must be prepared with strengthening sticks first, then glued together with bulkhead parts, servo tray and motor mount in one step to avoid distortion!
Second, the order of wing ribs is wrong in the picture as well as in text part 2.02. Correct is 6 pc. B3 in the middle, then on each side one pc. B4, 5 pc. B5, each parted by a pair of B7 glued at both sides of the balsa spars, finished by one pc. B6. The construction should be done on a board using needles to fix the parts, thus obtaining a straight wing.

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Certified Buyer Rated

Sep 27, 2013

Fine parts, fitting well, but:

Wrong instruction manual!

The two sides of the fuselage must be built symmetrically without yet glueing the bulkhead parts, the motor mount and the servo base. Only when finished, both sides and the mentioned parts must be fitted together in one glueing step.

Otherwise the fuselage will turn out rather distorted!



Second mistake: the denotation of the wing ribs in the picture of the middle wing part and in textpassage 2.02 is wrong. As there are only 2 ribs B4, but 12 pc. B5 and 4 pc. B6, the correct order must be:

6 (or 8? There are 8 pc.!) ribs B3 in the middle, then, spaced by B7, one rib B4, followed by 5 pc. B5 on each side, each spaced by one B7 part, and one B6 rib to strengthen the edges.

The other two B6 should strengthen the edges of the outer wing parts.

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Certified Buyer Rated

Sep 11, 2013

Soft package, no cover film, no plans.

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Customer Rated

Apr 07, 2013

I missed drawing, so I draw him, I upload to files.
Servos will use HXT500.
Motor temporarily 24 grams hexTronik Brushless Outrunner 1300kv.