The Orden Goes Electro!
RTGmodel adds an electric option to their new F3F design.
With the new F3G category coming up, every model which offers an electro fuselage is now raising the interest of pilots. Not only for competition, but for sport flying, such electro F3F/B gliders can save you the afternoon, and in some situations save your plane.
RTGmodel recently introduced an electro fuselage for its flagship model, the Orden, that I reviewed two months ago in RCSD (see Resources at the end of this article for the link). Consider this new article as an add-on as I will not come back on the rest of the model assembly, and will focus only on this e-fuselage.
So let’s have a look to this new fuselage which brings a smart innovation in the radio installation.
Molding quality is, as with the glider version, top notch. The front part, 2.4 Ghz friendly, is more square to easily host the battery. Spinner diameter is 30mm, with a nice aluminium part that fits perfectly.
The fuselage features a very smart elevator servo tray that you insert by the side. Two epoxy trays are provided, one for 10mm servos (e.g. MKS MKS HV6100) while the other one is made for another brand and model of servos.
This layout frees lots of space on the front side for the battery (I guess that a 4S battery made of 2 x 2S battery is possible.) On my side, it will be a 3S 1800mAh battery.
In fact, I have decided to use the same combo than for my e-Quantum, that is to say:
- Motor TS 1520–12T + microEdition 5:1 from Reisenauer
- ESC SunRiseModel 60A BEC 7.4V (Reisenauer)
- Propeller GM Competition 16x10
- Accus Tattu 3S 75C 1800 mAh or Tattu Funfly 3S 100C 1800 mAh
I took the opportunity of a rainy holiday week to stay in my workshop and complete the assembly of the electro fuselage.
The assembly went well but the installation of the elevator servos needs particular care and attention as it is very, very tight. I had to grind the opening in order to insert the servos in place once the tray glued with rapid epoxy (R&G 30 minutes). Below are some pictures of the elevator servo installation:
I installed the antennas on each side of the fuselage at 90° to each other. I think this should work even if the battery is located between the antenna. On the front or rear side, antennas are not masked. On the side the battery envelope is acting as a reflector to the antenna so reception should be fine. Testing will tell if it works. If you have any doubt you can always exit the antennas, but on my side I’m always afraid to damage them, that is why I prefer to keep them inside the fuselage.
On the scale, I’m reaching 2.3kg flying weight with the standard wing (double carbon C80 wings). This is 150gr heavier compared to the glider version. I needed to add 30grs in the nose to obtain the 99mm CG. This means eventually you can use a 20 to 30gr heavier and more powerful motor (i.e EZ1530 instead of my EZ1520).
I had no surprises with the maiden flight of the Electro-Orden: With the same CG and same settings, it just behaves exactly the same. The e-Orden is particularly silent when the propeller is folded, thanks to the GM competition folding prop.
I just needed one battery 1800mAh for the whole afternoon. Good climbing rate, as it was on the e-Quantum (exactly the same setup).
More pictures are available on Google Photos (see Resources section at the end of this article.)
To complement the pictures in flight, here is a video. Many thanks to my club mate Didier for providing all the video footage using his Mavic drone and Osmo Pocket that afternoon.
The Final Word
The electro fuselage is the ideal complement of the Orden, and will allow you to fly the Orden in any situations, and conditions with no risk. More generally, I warmly recommend you, if you own already a F3x plane, to buy an electro fuselage if it is available.
©2021 Pierre RONDEL
Resources
- Orden by RTGmodel, Fly Different! by Pierre Rondel.
- RTGmodel (Orden manufacturer’s website)
- Additional photos on Google Photos.
All images by Joël Marin & Pierre Rondel unless otherwise noted. Video courtesy of Didier Trouilloud. Read the next article in this issue, return to the previous article in this issue or go to the table of contents. Downloadable PDFS: just this article or this entire issue.
