Phoenix
Page 3
Before You Begin Construction
P
HOENIX has several critical construction
requirements. First, it must be strong
enough to withstand high speed launches and
aerobatic maneuvers. Second, the wing must
be built precisely as designed, with an accurate
airfoil, to give good overall performance. Most
importantly, the model must be light to obtain
good launch performance. Strong, accurate but
light - are your construction goals!
Why is weight so critical for Phoenix?
Each
additional ounce of weight will result in
approximately a 10% decrease in still air
glide times!
Most of this reduction comes from
lower launch altitudes. In designing Phoenix,
we have taken lightweight building issues to
heart and have selected components and tech-
niques to make it easier for you to be success-
ful. As you sort the wood in your Phoenix kit
notice how the critical pieces (such as for the
tail) are light weight balsa wood, carefully
specified and selected for optimal strength to
weight ratios. At first you may have wondered
about some of these pieces - they are "fuzzy" or
have "threads" on the edges. These are charac-
teristics of lightweight, premium balsa wood -
selected especially for Phoenix.
All of our Phoenix prototypes weighted
between 23 to 24 ounces without the rocket
motor. This is readily achievable with the com-
ponents in this kit if you take reasonable care
in building. So build it strong but light!
Vacuum Bagged Wings
T
HE best way to make strong, accurate and
light wings on a model this size is to use
medium weight balsa wood skins epoxied to
foam cores, with fiberglass reinforcements
where required. A vacuum bag is used to hold
the skins firmly in contact with the core while
the epoxy cures.
If you are not familiar with the vacuum bagging
process, it really is quite simple. First we apply
the epoxy resin and fiberglass resin to the
balsa skins. The skins are positioned on the
cores, and the assembly is placed in an airtight
plastic bag. A vacuum pump with a regulator,
or else a low power pump designed for vacuum
bagging model foam wings, is connected to the
plastic bag. A low pressure setting ( 3 psi or
approximately 6 inches of mercury) is used.
This pressure is maintained until the epoxy has
cured. That's all there is to it!
You may now be wondering if this is sufficient
If you never read the instructions:
Phoenix is a new and exciting category in model aviation, and you have probably
never built and flown anything quite like it before. We really want you to be suc-
cessful with your Phoenix, so:
Please:
• Build strong, light and true!
• Read the flying instructions!
• Follow the safety code!
• Read the flying instructions!
• Enjoy your Phoenix!
