Multiplex Blizzard

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You are going to love this!  The Blizzard is a small, fast, high performance Elapor foam glider from Multiplex that flies a treat. 

The Blizzard can be built with a motor (including an insanely powerful 470 Watt version) or as an unpowered slope soarer.  It arrives in a surprisingly small box - the wing is in two parts but gets glued to form a one-piece wing, 1.38 metres wide.  The model is sleek with thin, fast wings - it looks exactly like an expensive, high performance moulded glider, except that it is moulded out of foam - come to think of it, that means it is a mouldy!

The Blizzard is made from Multiplex's well known Elapor foam (which is apparently polystyrene blended with high density polyethylene), except the Blizzard's foam is smoother and harder than the Elapor found in previous Multiplex models.  Assembly is straightforward.  However you receive an 8 metre reel of coiled thin fibreglass rod which you have to snip into pieces and glue into channels in the wing and fuselage to stiffen the model, and this is fiddly and time consuming.  The wing ends up with a strange herringbone pattern on it due to these stiffeners - unusual but effective.  The wing also has two long carbon spars in it.  This wing is not going to bend!  The fuselage has a tough plastic nose cone and a similar piece to hold the V tail.  The V tail can be built with one servo (no rudder) or two servos (elevator and rudder).  The model is easy to convert to and from power if you wish.

The flying is the Blizzard's forte.  It flies like it looks - heck, even better than it looks - fast, purposeful and aerobatic.  As a slope soarer it handles higher winds than you would imagine, and flies so incredibly well that everyone who has seen it in action has been quite stunned by its performance.  In short, the Blizzard offers £400 moulded slope soarer performance for under £80.  Multiplex has another winner on its hands.

[YakMad]

Gary,

    Thanks for that info Gary,  I have one on the bench although going electric, the foam is very dense and the wing bracing is very clever, the included box section cartbon spars are a very nice touch. I am going with a set-up somewhere between the two recommended by Multiplex, just because I have the bits in stock (in the shed). If only the rain would stop it's pouring down here.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Thread here Gary, yes I've seen one fly and it's certainly a bit nippy.

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Sorry about that, I was in the review section so I thought I was posting a review, but it appeared on the forum ... it's all too complicated for me on a Friday ...

[Tom Satinet]

[quote] it looks exactly like an expensive, high performance moulded glider, except that it is moulded out of foam[/quote]

 come on. It's looks very good for a foamie, but it doesn't look "exactly" like a mouldy by any strech of the imagination. I had a look at one in modelspot. While it's undoubtably impressive, a glass model it ain't.  

[quote] In short, the Blizzard offers £400 moulded slope soarer performance for under £80[/quote]

 lol.  be real.  I'll give you a race against a 400 (ish) quid model and we'll see who wins.  As the owner of punctillo said; it flies like a 60 inch moudly, but not quite as good.  Obviously it bounces a lot more, which is great (and the point).   

 [quote]flying is the Blizzard's forte.[/quote]

 no really?

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Actually you have a point there - I meant that its shape is the same as a mouldy, but the actual surface doesn't look that great with all those stiffening fibreglass struts in there.

Fast ?  Well, mine's been the fastest plane in the sky every time I've flown - simply because the expensive mouldies got flown more gingerly.  But if all planes were flown with equal zest I'm sure the expensive mouldies would be slightly faster.  But only slightly - that's the weird thing about the Blizzard, it actually flies better than anyone would expect.  So much better than turning up with an expensive mouldy and then being afraid to fly it to its full capability!  (I have an expensive mouldy and I am afraid to fly it with the same speed and aerobatics as I fly the Blizzard!)

[Tom Satinet]

I don't really understand. How do you fly an expensive mouldie slowly?  If you gain height and point the nose at the ground it will fly as fast as it will fly.  Maybe you won't do a square 5 foot of the deck, but it's still travelling.

 the fact that people don't fly their models to full potential doesn't mean the blizzard has more performance than an expensive moulded glider.  It just doesn't. I've seen people "max out" big f3x models like you wouldn't believe. I've even been know to give it some beans myself from time to time.  

 I just think your review is totally unrealisitc.  If you had said that it offer, say 80%, of the performance of a 60"  mouldy at less cost and far less chance of breakages, that would be realistic and give people an idea about what they are buying. The model is, I'm sure, a cracker and great value at 80 quid, but to say it's as good as £400 glass ship (you're talking 2 or 3 metre jobs), is rather bemusing.

 Also ref the cost. you can get a banana for £160.  If you consider both models probably use the same radio gear (or very similar) the nana will cost you 80 quid more (total cost probably nearly £300).  The nana will have slightly better performance, but, as you rightly say, is a lot more prone to going home in a black bag.  I compare to a nana because the bloke who's shop it was flew both back to back. He's probably the best flyer I know, so i trust what he says.  

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You raise good points.  I think your  "80% of the performance of a mouldy" figure is realistic.  The thing with the Blizzard is because it's small it seems faster, and because you dare to fly it low and close it seems faster.  So the impression at the slope is quite startling.  Even people who hate foamies have been impressed.  But clearly in reality if the Blizzard were evenly matched up with a moulded plane, the mouldy would offer higher performance.  The bottom line with the Blizzard is that for a modest scrap of foam it flies startlingly well and is a heck of a lot of fun.

   

[Kris1]

I have a blizzard and I would say it is flutter city.  The wing is not up to hotline performance or at least climb and dive .  I am running the tunning set on 4S for about 600W.  It is now used as a slope soarer, no problems with the wing.  So it must be down to wing loading Vs speed.  Energy retension is not good either. 

However for some one wanting a first high performance glider cant go too far wrong.  Oh yes and it is awful to build. 

I have an FVK ABSOLUTE with 2.5KW in it 5S and 200A!  It has performace to die for and as for an 80% clame I would say nearer 40%, The ab will make cloud level in 3 seconds and pull 150mph plus off the dive, but the cost of the ab was about £600. 

The Blizzard does fly well but is no hotliner.

Cheers

Kris 

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My impression is that almost everyone is making their Blizzard powered.  I've heard various people complain about the wing/tail flutter in the powered version.  Mine weighs 850 grams, which isn't that much lighter than a powered version.  I reckon it must be prop wash causing the flutter becuse my unpowered slope soarer doesn't flutter no matter how extreme the flying.  Maybe it was a bit overambitious of Multiplex to offer a crazy 470 Watts of power in a little foam plane.  Slope soaring in 35mph winds I reckon I must have hit 80mph or so, plenty of high-g turns, yet no problems, no flutter at all.  Well, problems for me - it was too fast and hectic for me in those winds - but the plane proved it could take it.   

[Kris1]

It is only in power off dive of approx 45 degrees that the flutter hapens.  When you are pushing on the stick and using the wing to acelerate the plane.  Fine in vertical dive as it has bit less speed. 

It has been fine as a slope soarer no flutter.  As an electric I was using an FP 4s 2500, about as much battery as it would take.  In fact I had to cut the area away to locate the retaining clips for the canopy and use tape to fold the canopy on.   

Cheers

Kris 

[Tom Satinet]

foam control surfaces are never going to be that stiff.......

 yes it does seem most of them are destined for electric set ups.  it's not a model that would really interest me that much for slope soaring.  To each his own though of course.

[Bravedan]

I was interested right up to the point where I saw one......................................

And it was today on the Multiplex stand at the Hop Farm..................

NOT for me.....................

[Paul Adams]

I saw several fly at the Basingstoke Electric Flying last weekend, and although they may be not as quick as a true carbon fibre high cost hotliner, they are probably a lot quicker than many flyer's could handle. As an introductory hotliner, I think you could do a lot worse. Paul

[Kris1]

I would say that if people can handle a fast flying plane the FVK Bandit will take alot of beating as a first hotliner. It is not foam be very strong and stiff.  About £110 for the airframe.  mine has the himax tunning set on 4S and 60A esc.  Good for 600W.  2 x HS 65HBs for ailerons and HS 85MG in the tail.  Quick cheap and fun.

[Marc Humphries]

There seems to be a few pompous comments here about the Blizzard v Moulded gliders....

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I flew my new non - electric Blizzard off the Orme last Monday, the day that the Holyhead - Dublin ferry was cancelled due to gale force winds. Had to launch it off the shelf below the top of the SW facing slope. Performance in the gusty wind, we could not fault it, it handled everything thay Lee and myself could throw at it, including pulling in hard up elevator and deliberate attempts to provoke flutter. Well worth £65 of anybody's money even if you don't like foam or the way that the gf reinforcement looks.

[Tim Mackey]

Also flew very well in lighter winds yesterday too eh Richard

We started at around 11Am with very light wind and very little lift - even my 15 oz slipstream was struggling. The Blizzard coped much better! It also looks very nice in the air, and belies its 60 quid price tag.

I was well impressed and even had a few flights myself with it although it was not on "my" mode

By early PM the wind had increased significantly and touched around 35 - 40MPH.

The Orme, and MPX come up trumps AGAIN

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I must admit that I was surprised at the result. To start with I was standing at the edgeof the cliff trying to detect any sign of a breeze,  thinking that I had made a mistake going there. I was quite prepared to wait a couple of hours for the wind to increase. 

However Tim talked me into it!  I had flown the Blizzard in a breeze, but this was not even a breeze.So I launched it and was expecting a plunge into the sea and a long drive down to the beach! But it flew, it was finding lift a long way out and we managed a couple of decent flights (and landings). I am even more impressed with the Blizzard now as I know it will cope with a range of very different conditions light breeze to gale.

[ken anderson.]

just read through all the posts-theres an awfull lot of winging going on about a little old toy  model plane---get your notes off to santa and try to be good lads till then.

            kenny. 

[Peewhit]

Thanks for all the good comments chaps.

Santa is bringing me a blizzard for Christmas which will be an unpowered slope soarer

The wing flutter seems to occur only in the powered versions and is probably due to the higher wing loading.

Multiplex have produced a supplement to the manual showing you where to stick 2" wide Scotch Extreme Application Packing Tape on the wings to counteract this.

[Tom Satinet]

maybe the 2" wide tape will push it into the bracket of 600 quid mouldies!

I'm getting an EZ. never had one before.  

[Peewhit]

For the price of a Blizzard, you would expect 10% of the performance of a 600 quid mouldy, yet for 10% of the price you get 80% of the performance and greater longevity.

Which option would the economist choose?

[Tim Mackey]

Yep...agree, they are great VFM and I could be tempted...no I wont, well I might, nah, well...., NO NO I will not, I do NOT NEED one, I shan't buy one, honest, never !.... well not for a while anyway

[Tom Satinet]

yes a nice model for the money. not as a good as a 60" mouldie in pure flight performance though.  and they ain't 400 notes.

Just pulling the OPs leg