Durafly™ Zephyr V-70 High Performance 70mm EDF V-Tail Glider 1530mm (PNF)

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I Feel the Need for Speed

Sep 13, 2017

I own 2 Zephyrs, the original and this version 2.
What I like :
Smart looks & unusual design
Almost turbine like exhaust sound
Strong Compacted foam
Nice pre-applied decals.
Strong performer with mods
Challenges:
Carries a lot of momentum and distance for landing
Small fuselage space for battery & electronics
Tail heavy with recommended stock setup
Requires a good heave type hand launch
High speed wing & tail flutter (from a dive). I almost lost the plane as it began a violent high speed flutter. Slowing the plane down eliminated the flutter and the Zephyr surprisingly held together.
My Mods
I taped the wings with fiberglass strapping tape at a 45 degree angle per the Supplemental Instructions for the Multiplex Blizzard. Result- No wing flutter.
I then connected the V-tail stabilizer tips with a carbon fiber rod cross bar. The empennage gets a lot of turbulent air from the EDF exhaust and this mod really tames the tail flutter.
I removed the plastic from the ESC metal cooling fins and cut out a square hole in the canopy the same size as the ESC heat sink. I then epoxied the ESC cooling fin heat sink into the canopy with the cooling fins exposed and aligned with the airflow direction over the canopy.
I use a rubber band to secure the canopy hatch in place for high speed runs.
Now, let'r rip !

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Customer Rated

Jul 12, 2016

alles in allem ein schöner flieger hab mir ein wenig mehr speed erwartet . dem kann aber nachgeholfen werden stichwort 4S . Der Platz im Cokpit ist echt minimalst dennoch schaffte ich es einen 3s LiHV der marke Turnigy mit 3450 mah unterzubringen . funktioniert ohne probleme . trotz des vollen cokpits musste noch blei dazu gegeben werden . Alle Servo wurden von mir nachgeklebt ! die Querruder Ausschläge auf 15mm gesetzt . reicht vollkommen . für den preis bei mir damals 99Euro echt cooler flieger mit ausergewöhnlichem design .

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Certified Buyer Rated

May 24, 2016

Absolutely fantastic plane, nice looks and enjoyable to put it together. I encountered a few issues when making the maiden flight, a few tips for the future buyers:

1. Fill in the gaps where carbon rods at the wing and fuse joint are located with some epoxy, otherwise guaranteed crack at first landing.

2. My Vtail didn't fit properly (I reckon) and appeared to have some negative angle, hence had to add some spacers underneath the trailing edge at the wing and fuse joint to save it from having a substantial dive.

3. I use it with Zippy Compact 4000 25C 286g, no weight at the nose required, seems stable.

4. Huge inconvenience of having the engine above the wing, need to compensate with Elevator when gaining throttle, could use some mixing, subject to try and error.

5. Tape the wing joint section all around with some decent insulation tape, will save you having some of the joints cracked, the wing is situated low and each landing is a good chance of circling

6. Boy does it glide! You need a huge distance for it to settle on the ground without a risk of breaking something; otherwise try add a stronger nose and pod to dig it.

7. I had to glue on all control horns and change screws to machine thread ones with a nut on the other side, the original ones just pop out eventually.

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Customer Rated

Mar 15, 2016

I do not reccomend this plane. I have experienced tail flutterand spins, both leading to complete loss of control and often crash. I have also had many troubles with the EDF unit somehow not beeing able to go full-power, resuling in the plane not being able to take off or barely flying.
Other then that the materials and the building quality are very good.

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Customer Rated

Mar 09, 2016

It's a beautiful airplane and makes a beautiful sound there's no doubt about that, they should had made the cabin or the front part of the airplane just a little bit longer and a little bit wider so that you can fit all the equipment inside with no problem. This is the second one that I bought and I'm always having problems with the CG, it's very tell heavy.

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Certified Buyer Rated

Jan 21, 2016

The leading edge wing mounts are no good, they will break on you pretty quickly requiring the wing to be glued to the glider. I did this and it's rock solid now, just a bit harder to transport. Doesn't thermal but would be OK on the slope with good wind. It's really just for doing huge loops and low passes with a pretty cool sound at WOT. I'm running 2 x 2200mah 3s packs in parallel. You can make this fit by cutting a cooling vent for the ESC.

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Customer Rated

Sep 22, 2014

My first EDF. It's tail heavy so I added 15 pennies (about 38 grams) to the nose. I'm using a 3300mAH 3s LIPO. Have to give it full throttle for a few seconds before tossing it hard and upward as mentioned in another review. You'll need a lot of space to fly this as it wants to fly fast. I like so far.

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Customer Rated

Sep 09, 2014

Beautiful plane, easy to assemble, enough space to fit a 3S 3600 30C (esc and receiver beside the lipo). You just need CA foam safe medium glue to assemble the pane.

Flying:
If there is no wind, it fly ok, but it realy need power, its not a glider. Easy hand launchhing and landing.

The cons:
To much flex for the tail and the wing, at full trottle with a slighy nose down attitude the wing start to badly flutter.
I will had carbon tape both side of the wing.

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Customer Rated

Nov 14, 2013

Buy this plane. It's awesome. Fast. Sounds like a jet and flies like a rocket.

Flaws:
1.) Needs reinforcement on the underside of wing connection. 2 soft landings on grass and I cracked some of the foam already.
2.) In a redesign, the wings should be moved back a little. I've had to add a significant amount of nose weight to balance it even with a 4000mah battery thus reducing performance.

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Customer Rated

Nov 09, 2013

Hey everyone. The Turnigy nano-tech 4000mah 3S 40~80C Lipo Pack (TRA2849 Slash/Rustler/Bandit/Stampede compatible) fits in the Zephyr. You will have to re-wire or get an adapter for this battery to connect to ESC. Its tight but it will fit. Super epo foam feels really high quality and the motor is deafening loud. Can't be in the same room at full throttle if you want to keep your hearing (which is awesome!) Haven't flown yet, but so far so good.