so what do you make of the new ritewing Drak then?

[Coyote]

Edited post with the new links . Working now

[rank]

Now with Variable AoA canard, this thing is getting insane!!!
But ... I highly doubt, it will be released by August..

[mutley2]

After buying both a Z2 and a Z3, I'm impressed with the progress made from the Z2 to the Z3, Chris seems to look at any issues with his airframes and reacts.
I still enjoy the Z2 and am having a right giggle with the Z3, so the Drak should be a step forward again, my only concerns are the canards, will this make the Drak a little more fragile???
Keep landing those canards in long grass and they wont last IMo, the original pictures of the Drak airframe looks more what I would want from a Ritewing airframe, keep it simple and strong.  :P

[Billy_boy_2010]

After buying both a Z2 and a Z3, I'm impressed with the progress made from the Z2 to the Z3, Chris seems to look at any issues with his airframes and reacts.
I still enjoy the Z2 and am having a right giggle with the Z3, so the Drak should be a step forward again, my only concerns are the canards, will this make the Drak a little more fragile???
Keep landing those canards in long grass and they wont last IMo, the original pictures of the Drak airframe looks more what I would want from a Ritewing airframe, keep it simple and strong.  :P

what are the benefits of canards anyway?

If there was any doubt Ritewing got their inspiration for the Drak from Star Trek the canards only makes me more certain IMO :D Anyway, If you don't like them I'm sure it's easy to remove them, or replace if it's broken.

I'm interested in your opinion on the benefits of the Z3 over the Z2. From what I have read it's a similar weight to the Z2 but with less wing area so has as many disadvantages as advantages?

[krikey]

Canards can allow you to have a much lower stall speed thus allowing the airframe to fly well fast as well as slowly.

[Billy_boy_2010]

Interesting! Are they shaped to provide lift then?

I do like the look of the drak I must admit.

[Sheldon Holy]

Actually, canards when properly designed will totally prevent a stall from occurring. The reason is that the canard is at a higher angle of attack than the main wing so it stalls first. The nose then drops and the speed is maintained so the main wing never stalls. Of course, due to the fact that the canard has a higher angle of attack than the main wing,  the main wing can never operate at optimum angle of attack. It's for this reason that canard platforms can never be as efficient as a conventional planform.

[stevec]

And if you want to get your sandals and kagool on the canard is more efficient in slower flight because it is actually providing lift. The tail pushes down as the airframe naturally wants to rotate nose down when flying with canards up front they dot the opposite and lift the nose.


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[mutley2]

I'm interested in your opinion on the benefits of the Z3 over the Z2. From what I have read it's a similar weight to the Z2 but with less wing area so has as many disadvantages as advantages?

The real big advantage the Z3 has over the Z2 is the build, the Z3 has buckets of space and is very well thought out and a bit of a Swiss army knife for FPV installation, you can put just about anything where you want, the Z2 was a little trickier on CG IMo.
As far as flying goes, well they are both great fliers but again the Z3 has it IMo because of the lack of "wag", people have said the Z3 wags in flight but I've not seen it yet on mine and I stopped flight logging after 50 flights.
The Z3 is a step forward in my opinion over the Z2 and the Drak I'm sure will be another step forward if Chris has any thing to do with it.

[krikey]

Not to be confused with the French word for Duck "Canard" or the other French word "Connard". When driving in France I was overtaken by a native who shouted out of his window "Connard" and I wondered why he thought I was a duck? I subsequently found out that it wasn't duck but something else.

Don't use Connards on your plane!!!!!

[Ritewing]

LOL, I think Canard and the duck are close, it will land like a duck with its nose up high and wings pushing wind.

The Canards will be made of EPP like the plane and will be an option, its flys great either way, with or w out the Canard.

The gain is if you have a super tight LZ then this can allow a steep angle on approach and a power on no stall high AOA landing.

For UAV Mapping and FPV use this can be a good thing in questionable area's where you do not have a long approach to loose alt and bleed speed.

This is just another step in my ongoing progression ,AKA obsession to make the perfect planes, I appreciate the support guys.

I have been doing a lot of mapping planes lately and this is inspired by that and all that is fpv!
This plane is nice size, it breaks down small, it launches and lands easily.

Last week I flew it at a 35 knot cruise for 55 mins on 7200 mah of 5s lipo.
I had 8.4 in it and it could have gone over an hr.

At this point It is far from hotwiring a few wing panels and flying. ;D

[Sheldon Holy]

Question is, will it be better than the Z3? I'm hoping so :)

[Ritewing]

In price, no, in mapping capabilities yes, in durability yes, ease of build yes.
They both fly great, kinda not a fair comparison in all other aspects.
Get both, they are both great planes. It would not  be good for me to go backwards :-*

[Sheldon Holy]

In price, no, in mapping capabilities yes, in durability yes, ease of build yes.
They both fly great, kinda not a fair comparison in all other aspects.
Get both, they are both great planes. It would not  be good for me to go backwards :-*

What would you say the main differences are flying wise? One thing I've noticed with the Z3 is that it seems to be a bit of a "hot ship" - quite high wing loading and probably not the most efficient thing ever, which isn't really my cup of tea. When I first saw the Drak I was quite impressed at how smooth it flies, so if the end product is something like that then I'd be happy. Was any inspiration taken from the Flying Foam Nurf?

[Ritewing]

The Drak is not landing like a hockey puck like the Z3 usually is.
It is much more well rounded.

Drak Lineage .

No on the nerf question, there has been many many renditions of this beast in tons of sizes.
I have been at it for quite some time, the Nerf maybe inspired by these here.

Look how far this thread dates back to, LOL
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=756354

Oh and here is more.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=599806

The Drak design did not just start this year.