The shock began when I opened the box. The sheer size of the 65" Vyper was overwhelming. Digging through the kit revealed a higher level of craftsmanship on the airframe, and higher quality hardware than I had ever seen in any ARF. I've never seen an airplane as nice as this.
The awe began as soon as the wheels broke ground. So smooth, so solid, so reassuring...this is the plane I have always dreamed of owning, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here, so let's back up a bit.
Love Won't Wait Forever
With my background in 0.60 nitro powered AMA pattern competition, a 60-65" is what I believe to be a "real airplane." Since returning to the sport four years ago, I have searched and searched for that perfect plane that will replicate the look, feel, sensation and utter awe of the big, graceful super sonic bomber-like planes I so loved in the past. There were many disappointments and absolute, utter failures.
I had hoped that electrics had become better than this. I was beginning to become discouraged, and maybe even ready to quit again, when I discovered the 46" 3DHS Aspera. Now we're talking about a serious airplane again.
Of course, one 3DHS airplane is merely a gateway to the next, and then the next after that, so I started flying a bit of 3D with the Extra SHP, Velox, et all.
When the 46" Vyper came out, that was the plane that would allow me to do precision aerobatics and 3D, all in the same flight. No set up changes, no moving the CG around....no nothing. Just go fly 3D, and throw in precision any time you feel like it.
Now, in the 46" Vyper, it looked like I had the plane I had always dreamed of, only something was still missing. I wasn't sure what that was until the 65" Vyper arrived, I opened the box, and the sheer size shocked me.
One look at the big Vyper, though, and I knew that love won't wait forever.
The B52
The awe began as soon as the wheels broke ground. So smooth, so solid, so reassuring...this is the plane I have always dreamed of owning, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here, so let's back up a bit.
Love Won't Wait Forever
With my background in 0.60 nitro powered AMA pattern competition, a 60-65" is what I believe to be a "real airplane." Since returning to the sport four years ago, I have searched and searched for that perfect plane that will replicate the look, feel, sensation and utter awe of the big, graceful super sonic bomber-like planes I so loved in the past. There were many disappointments and absolute, utter failures.
I had hoped that electrics had become better than this. I was beginning to become discouraged, and maybe even ready to quit again, when I discovered the 46" 3DHS Aspera. Now we're talking about a serious airplane again.
Of course, one 3DHS airplane is merely a gateway to the next, and then the next after that, so I started flying a bit of 3D with the Extra SHP, Velox, et all.
When the 46" Vyper came out, that was the plane that would allow me to do precision aerobatics and 3D, all in the same flight. No set up changes, no moving the CG around....no nothing. Just go fly 3D, and throw in precision any time you feel like it.
Now, in the 46" Vyper, it looked like I had the plane I had always dreamed of, only something was still missing. I wasn't sure what that was until the 65" Vyper arrived, I opened the box, and the sheer size shocked me.
One look at the big Vyper, though, and I knew that love won't wait forever.
There's a lot to be awed by too. My first reaction was I couldn't believe how utterly immense this plane is. I've had 65" planes before, in the old AMA pattern days, but I sure don't remember them taking up this much space. Certainly the fuselage is much taller, but I think it's longer too. The wing chord is definitely much wider, and because electrics use such large diameter props, it sits much higher off the deck than an old style AMA pattern ship. It might be the same wingspan, but it is much bigger all the way around.
Those of you who have seen my reports are probably familiar with the kitchen bar glamor shot I take of most of my planes. I'll assemble a plane and leave it there for a day or so, out in the open where I can admire it. Only problem is that the B52 Vyper is so huge it shuts down the whole kitchen. I can hardly get into the fridge.
Those of you who have seen my reports are probably familiar with the kitchen bar glamor shot I take of most of my planes. I'll assemble a plane and leave it there for a day or so, out in the open where I can admire it. Only problem is that the B52 Vyper is so huge it shuts down the whole kitchen. I can hardly get into the fridge.
VYPER OVERVIEW
The Vyper was designed to fly both precision pattern and high energy 3D. That's two different ends of the spectrum. It's not reasonable to expect a plane to be capable of two such different disciplines, but Scott Stoops hit the design nearly perfect. For precision the Vyper is silky smooth and solid, and tracks like it is tied to giant rails in the sky. For 3D it will drop into an alpha on command quite easily, harrier well and hover as nicely as anything I have flown. While it probably wasn't part of what Stoops was shooting for, set up milder the Vyper also makes a superb sport plane and aerobatic trainer.
The Vyper is an extremely versatile aircraft. You can overpower it and it's a high velocity bullet that is exceptionally solid at very high speed, or you can shoot for a more reasonable 180 watts per pound (WPP) and gets a very floaty, docile and easy to fly plane that still has enough power to punch out of a hover.
I was fortunate enough to get one of the very first 46" Vypers off the boat. I fell in love with this plane instantly, but was tragically stupid enough to destroy it before I had truly learned it's potential. A second 46" Vyper, with a little wiser approach, worked out much better. Dropping from 4s power to 3s and a bigger propeller, the new Vyper became such a sweet and easy flying plane. This is part of what led us to use our existing 55" Extra SHP equipment in the big Vyper...because it would be a perfect 180WPP.
You can read more about our latest little Vyper here:
FLYING
The Grand Entrance.
You probably know how it is at clubs when someone brings out something new. If it is a plane people see all the time, you'll get a few well wishes, and maybe a question or two. Show up with something as off the scale awesome as the big Vyper, though, and it is hardly out of the car before the shock wave makes it's way up and down the pits, and people start flooding in from both directions.
There were lots of ooohs and awes, followed by gasping the moment the Vyper lifted off.
Shock and awe indeed.
This is a bit of an odd deja vu for me because we just finished the 46" Vyper report and I find myself thinking many of the same things about the large one. I could copy and paste the flying text from that article and it would apply perfectly to the big Vyper. That is not being just lazy. That's being accurate. You can find the link to the flight report earlier on this page. If you read that, you'll have a good idea what to expect when you fly the big Vyper, only it's lots, lots better.
The most notable difference is how much smoother and more solid the big Vyper is. Obviously a lot of this is going to come simply from it being a larger aircraft, because everything else being equal, bigger flies better. Everything is is smoother, everything is easier, and everything just looks better.
At high speed the little Vyper is very solid, but is almost alarming how the Vyper holds onto it's groove with an iron fist. When you point the Vyper, it locks in and won't move until you tell it to. I can't overstate how much easier this makes the plane to fly. The plane never fights you by wandering off from where you want it to go, which makes things a lot easier and less stressful for the pilot.
If you add to that how much confidence a rock solid plane like this gives you, you can pretty easily see what a satisfying plane the Vyper is to fly.
NAIL
As I said earlier, I've been looking for that perfect plane that would replace the nitro monsters I grew up flying, only powered by clean, quiet electricity. Just when I thought I had found that in the Aspera, I discovered 3D, and wanted something that would do that too. There is also something really special about a larger plane, and the big Vyper certainly has that going for it. These are the things that cinched the deal for me on this plane.
It's not only the plane's beauty and size that sets it apart from everything else at the field. It's also the Vyper's smooth, graceful, commanding presence in the air that makes her so special. That, and who doesn't like to have the baddest plane at the field?
Looks, size and performance, and a lot of something extra that I can't quite define.
Or maybe it's just shock and awe.
The 65" Vyper ARF
The kit itself is something else. While we are used to high quality in elite arfs, the Vyper is on a completely new level from anything I have seen. Quite simply, quality and craftsmanship is off the scale. 3DHS really upped their already considerable game for this one. The fit and finish of the cowling, canopy and such is micrometer perfect and the covering work is flawless. Again, this isn't something new for 3DHS planes, but you have to see how nice this ARF is to understand what I mean.
I appreciate this maybe more than most people who started with quality arfs and perhaps take this level of craftsmanship for granted. We used to build our own pattern planes, and while it was the flying that was supposed to count at contests, if you had a ratty looking plane your scores would suffer. As a result, we went to absurd levels making the most beautiful things we could. Disgustingly nice planes, but it was a hell of a lot of work. After years of knocking my head against the wall sanding, painting and polishing, something as perfect out of the box as this big Vyper just floored me.
The Vyper makes liberal use of carbon fiber throughout it's construction. In the front, carbon tubes brace the landing gear block, and I doubt you could pull that out without completely destroying the plane and whatever it hit. There is also a lot of carbon bracing along the fuselage sides all the way to the tail, as well as numerous carbon braces throughout the battery and receiver area. The wing spar locating tube on most planes is Fiberglas, but on this plane it is thick carbon tubing to add a lot of extra strength in a critical, high stress area. This is all in addition to 3DHS' usual carbon wing tube and landing gear.
The hardware package, as is usual for a 3DHS plane, absolutely top drawer. Included are nice, beefy ball links for connecting the pushrodes, as well as threaded pull cable connectors. Also included are 2mm lock nuts for the bolts that hold the ball links on. The bolts are a little long, so I used the lock nuts, and then double nutted a regular 2mm nut on top of that. No way that's ever coming apart.
EQUIPMENT
By extremely good fortune, this makes the perfect lightweight, moderate power set up for the big Vyper. I have been going this way anyway on all my planes and this would have been my #1 pick for a power system. It was just a massive bonus that I already had the stuff, and not having to buy this gear made the whole project very affordable.
By using this lightweight set up, we saved considerable weight on the motor, and batteries, all while not giving up anything noticable on power. Our Vyper came out at 6lbs, 15.5 ounces, and might be the lightest one built so far.
Unfortunately the 5s 3850 mah batteries will only give you about 4-5 minutes of run time. This was enough, however, to convince me to make the investment in four new Thunder Power 5s 5000 Pro Power 45C packs. This pushes the weight of the plane up another 5 ounces, but we are already extremely light.
All the video in this report was shot using the 5s 3850 packs. When we get our 5s 5000 packs, we'll shoot some more and report back on how the Vyper responds to those packs.
Torque 4016 Motor
My affection for Torque motors is well documented, and it is no different with the 4016. This is essentially the same Torque 4014 that has worked so well in our 55" planes, but with a different winding to produce more power on 5s operation. On my 55" Extra SHP and 4s batteries, the 4016 was good, but where it comes to life is with 5 cell batteries.
At first I was skeptical that a motor this small and light would haul such a big airplane as the 65" Vyper and it's additional 2lbs or so extra weight. My friend Matt (Byhisgrace) did the math and figured the 4016 on 5s in a 7lb, 6 ounce Vyper would produce a nearly perfect 176 watts per pound (WPP). I have recently found that 180WPP is exactly what I like on my 42" Slick and all my 55" planes. It's enough power to punch out and not struggle when you want some altitude, but it is not so much that it overwhelms the airframe or makes it difficult to fly. Actually, it's just right.
The 4016 is a lower 500 KV, and thus it has it's own, unique sound, something not all that unusual for any Torque motor. The 4016 sounds sweet , but it is surprisingly quiet, especially considering it is such a large motor turning such a huge propeller. Mostly, it sounds unbelievably smooth, which isn't surprising considering that's exactly how it runs. More than my other Torque motors, the 4016 does less whirring more whooshing. Sort of keeps with the super sonic bomber theme, doesn't it?
Airboss 80 ESC
This is another piece that has served me so well. While the Airboss will handle up to 6 cell operation, such a large plane running such large servos is going to over tax the onboard BEC. While I hated to disconnect something I trust so much, both Ben of 3DHS and Chris of Extreme Flight insited it was necessary to run a seperate BEC instead of the Airboss' onboard unit. This was a simple matter of sliding the red wire out of the plug that goes into the receiver and shrink wrapping it out of the way.
This also puts the ESC right behind the Vyper's giant cooling hole in the cowling. The ESC gets absolutely blasted with cooling air in this location. As hard as I fly the Vyper, this is a good thing.
To replace the onboard unit we went with a Castle Creations 10 amp BEC. This unit is sufficient and works well, though we're planning to replace this with a 20 amp unit as soon as we can get one, just for the added safety margin. One nice thing about the Castle is that you can use their Castle Link cord to program the BEC on your computer. We set the the BEC to run the servos on 6 volts, and like this they really scream.They are actually a bit frightening sounding, and speed is about doubled.
As you can see. the BEC is mounted out of the way with velcro, but still in the cooling airflow
Fortunately everything else about the airboss remains the same, from it's smooth, linear throttle response to it's legendary reliability. Airboss ESCs are one thing I have always had absolute, unshakable confidence in. We would not have done this project if we couldn't use an Airboss.
Batteries
The biggest bit of luck we had in this project was how perfect my Thunder Power 5s 3850 20C Extreme V2 packs are for this plane. These packs had seen a lot of duty in my 55" planes, but they have been sitting idle since I converted that fleet to 4s operation. While they won't give us the same kind of grunt that Thunder Power's newer 30C Pro Power packs will, but there is still plenty there. We wanted 180WPP, and these packs put us squarely there.
These packs are about two years old and have been thoroughly thrashed. I think any other brand would have crapped out long ago, but I had enough confidence in these to build a $1000 airplane around them. I got my money out of them a long time ago, and there is more to come. Some people have a bit of trouble justifying spending the extra to buy the best, but once you are dropping this kind of jack, you simply cannot afford to cut the corner and settle for anything less.
One small negative here is that I'm only getting about four and a half minutes of run time. What we really needed for this plane is some Thunder Power 45C 5s 5000 Pro Power packs . That should bump us up to our customary 6 minute flights, and we'll certainly get more power. As of this writing, those are on the way from our friends in Las Vegas, and we'll get some video as soon as those are here.
Servos
Here's another thing we often take for granted. Servos in the old days were twitchy and sometimes they could cause you a big problem when they failed. There are lots of brands, but Hi Tech has clearly emerged as the unchallenged leader. Hi Tech servos work flawlessly and last nearly forever, and again, anything less won't do. On top of that, Hi Tech service is legendary for going above and beyond, so it is no wonder lots of other brands gather dust sitting on the hobby shop shelves.For the Vyper we chose the recommended HS985MGs. These ran about $250 for four of them, even including the Tower Super Saver discount, but remember how much money you are already spending, and buying the best servos simply safeguards your investment. I'm sure if you scratched around a bit you could find them for less.
SET UP
AileronsThe push rod is threaded on both ends and the ball links merely thread on. Ball link is secured on both ends with a case hardened 2mm bolt and aircraft locking nut. Here we use the longest standard arm that comes with the servo.
Simple is good when you are talking about important mechanisms. This is a very secure, low maintenance arrangement, which again is the best way to go when you are talking about something that can cause the airplane to crash if it fails. This is pretty much the same set up and hardware used on the ailerons.
Using the lightweight power set up, we needed to get the weight out of the tail, and this meant using rudder pull/pull cables. I'm becoming much more comfortable using these. After doing a few and learning a trick or two, there is really nothing to it. Again, this is the standard Hi Tech arm that comes with the servo. The only downside to this arrangement is that you have to remove the ball link from the servo to adjust it, but then again, once that is done, forget about it and go fly. You get one of these systems set up you probably won't need to ever touch it again over the lifetime of the aircraft.
Using the lightweight set up, our battery goes right up against the firewall. This left an enormous amount of room to put the receiver almost anywhere we wanted. By placing the receiver on the battery tray, just in front of the wing tube, the wiring and antenna stay clear of getting caught up in the rudder servo, plus it is as close to the CG as you can get it. This was the best place to put it for a clean installation, so that's where it went.
Right out of the manual, though that is just a smidge forward of neutral. I like them like this, but you don't know where absolute neutral is until you find it. We'll move the battery back to absolute neutral and then move it back forward just enough to get the plane to drop the nose a little when it's inverted. Right now I'de say if we aren't there it's really close.
BONUS
One would definately have to be a Vyper fan to have made it this far into the report, so as a little reward I'm posting all the raw artwork I have for this plane.
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