Durafly Gloster Gladiator

[Geoff S]

As some may have noted, the HK Gladiator I ordered back in September arrived on Friday evening.  I've spent most of the weekend putting it together.  It goes together very well and the parts fit where they should with few issues.  There are one or two quite awkward operations nothing that can't be overcome with a bit of thought.  Whilst it's not as straight forward as some foamie ARTFs (my Riot was together in less than an hour after I'd bought it at a show plus extra to set it up properly) it's still an assembly rather than a build.

 

It's certainly not a model to take apart regularly. There are too many small screws into plastic threads for that but it's small enough to fit in most cars.  Storage at home might be a problem. Mine is staying in one piece unless the flying gods decide otherwise :).  The on-line assembly manual is comprehensive and (mostly) accurate - eg there's a carbon rod spar for the tailplane shown in a sketch but no mention of it in words.  It wasn't clear until I found it in a packet with the propeller.  The manual describes 2.3mmx 10mm self tappers but 8mm are supplied (and perfectly adequate).  It's not a model for a first timer anyway.  The wheel assembly is unique and tricky but looks good when finished.

 

The final all up weight without batteries is 1.31 kg - 1.56 with 2200 4S LiPo and 1.72kg with a 4AH LiPo. This gives a very low wing loading of less than 1lb/squ ft though I'm not sure how adding the 2 wing areas in a bipe works.  I'll test fly with the 2200 4S batteries as recommended but I may give the bigger batteries a try.  The CoG comes out exactly as specified.

 

My workshop's a bit small to take any meaningful pictures.  I'll take a few tomorrow outside weather permitting as well as checking motor current/power etc.

 

I've found a suitable pilot but how to gain access to the cockpit to install is a bit of a problem. The canopy is well stuck down.  However, there may be a route.through the floor!

 

Anyway, it certainly looks good and reports imply it flies well too.  I shall see.

[leccyflyer]

It's a bonny model for sure and by all accounts flies very well. I won't be adding one to my fleet though, due to two concerns, the first of which is likely to be even more of an issue than usual with the complexity of the Gladiator parts, Firstly, spares availability from HK down the line has not been a good experience to date. Yes, there's bound to be the usual chorus of "If you're a modeller you should be able to make spares from scratch, with a file and a chunk of firewood", but the non-availability of very specific spares can ground a model indefinitely, Secondly, the thought of replacing all the Durafly servos for my own piece of mind is just a bridge too far. That's a shame, because the Gladiator really is one of the nicest looking Durafly models and they are nearly all lovely looking models.

[Geoff S]

I'm pretty sure the supplied servos are metal geared because the screws securing the torque arms are proper threaded machine screws rather than self tappers and they're all specified as digital.  Replacing the elevator and rudder servos would be straight forward but the 2 aileron servos in the bottom wing not quite so much - there are only 4 servos all together.

 

Another issue I came across last night is that there seems to be a lack of anchor points for the optional bracing wires in some places, particularly near the inter-plane struts despite their being mentioned in the on-line manual (which is necessary reading/studying btw even for an experienced modeller).  I'm intending to fit the bracing wires but with shirring elastic rather than wire.  Though I may use wire for the tail where it may actually do some good - the anchor points are there.

[Geoff S]

I tested the propulsion system this morning.

 

With a freshly charged and new 2200mAH 4S pack it drew 32 amps (the esc is rated at 40 amps) for a power consumption of 480 watts with the supplied HK 11x7 prop (it looks to be a close copy of an APCe).  That's well over 100 watts/lb even with the 4 AH battery.  I didn't measure the rpm. I feel a 12x6 prop would suit it better (I favour lower pitch props for slower flying models like biplanes etc). Perhaps even a 13x4 as there's stacks of prop clearance - the undercarriage is quite long.

[ken anderson.]

nice looking model when i had a look at some videos of it Geoff....480 watts.....reno races here you come...

 

ken anderson...ne...1..gladiator dept. 

[Nigel Heather]

Interesting comment about the Riot.  I have a Ruckus and whilst I agree that the airframe goes together quickly I found the battery and electronics bay very poorly thought out.  In fact, I take note, that although the manual goes through the assembly in minute step by step detail, it practically glosses over the ESC, battery and receiver fitting, doesn't show any pictures of how they expect it all to fit in a sensible easy to use way.

[Geoff S]

Test flew the Gladiator today in light winds and low sun but a bit chilly for my old bones but my padded suit kept me warm ehough.

 

It all went quite well. The Gladiator was climbing a lot and feeding in down-trim had less effect than I expected. When I tried to land I realised why - I'd been changing the throttle rather than the elevator trim 😞 Just shows how out of touch I am.  The Gladiator flies on a whisp of throttle.  By the time I'd corrected the throttle trim and landed I'd been up for 8 minutes  - 3 longer than I'd intended for the maiden - however the 2,200 mAH 4S LiPo was still showing 67% so I wasn't a problem. 

 

It seemed a little tail-heavy but nothing to worry about.  I tried taping a 10 gram weight to the battery (I didn't want to tape to the fuselage in case it damaged the paint) and it seemed marginally better.  Since getting home I've stuck 2 x 10gm weights in the cowl and hope that improves things next time.  It's always balanced at the recommended 88mm from the top wing l/e but perhaps not as much nose down as it should be.

 

I'm quite pleased that both landing were achieved without nosing over.  I just flew gently with no heroics (I'm a nervous maiden flighter) doing figure 8s  but I did try a rather scrappy stall turn.  I'll be more adventurous next time but it was a good day overall.

 

 

 

You'll notice that there are, as yet, no flying or landing wires nor any support for the tailplane/fin.  I intend to do that soon - probably before the next flight.  However, despite the instructions stating that there are anchor points for the rigging, it's missing from areas adjacent to the interplane struts, which is disappointing but not impossible to overcome.  I'll use 1.5mm elastic rather than wire because it will maintain its tension and is easier to do as well as lighter.  I'll keep the supplied wire to use for closed loop controls which I use a lot.

 

I'm still happy with my ourchase.

 

 

[Geoff S]

A mobile phone video of my less than perfect first landing. 

 

https://youtu.be/lS38xoLp8EY

[Geoff S]

Spent the day adding the rigging. Not as straight forward as I thought - what is? 🙂

 

In fact the anchor points I thought were missing are there but very small and partly hidden by the interplane strut attachments. In fact, perversely, they seem to have been positioned for maximum difficulty. In fact, it was a frustrating job.

 

When you appreciate that the wire is about 0.5mm diameter and the interplane strut latch is immediately behind it, you can see the tricky nature of threading the wire through. !mm elastic would be impossible, so I opted for the easy way out and used the supplied wire.  There was enough for thr wing rigging but I had to fall back on my stock for the tailplane rigging (which was an order of magnitude easier!

 

 

The inboard attachments are much easier to access.

 

 

 

The overall effect is worth it.  The workshop's a bit cramped, I'm afraid.

 

 

All I need now is another decent day to fly it again but the forecast isn't promising - wet and windy!

 

 

[Futura57]

Gladiator READY 😂

 

[Geoff S]

On 17/11/2023 at 21:13, Geoff S said:

A mobile phone video of my less than perfect first landing. 

 

https://youtu.be/lS38xoLp8EY

 

I forgot to credit our club secretary, Martin Lilley for his mobile phone footage. 

[Geoff S]

After a suggestion by a club member at the field on Sunday, I bit the bullet and cut out the cockpit floor with a sharp scalpel and replaced it with a piece of 3mm softish balsa.

 

 

Then it was a simple matter to disarm a former Dynam Hurricane pilot (I lost the canopy and pilot of my Hurricane and bought a replacement but the canopy was found by a club-mate so I had a spare that suits the Gladiator) and he fits nicely (in every meaning of the word).  He does weigh a porky 18 grams and he sits behind the CoG but it's probably OK (I checked).  Anyway I have a 'harmless' pilot in the seat which improves the looks a bit 🙂  I also gave him a pencil 'tache to make him appear a bit more mature.

 

 

 

[Trevor Crook]

Nice job, Geoff. That's how I replaced the pilot in my FMS 109 for a better one. It certainly looks a great model, I've been very impressed with Durafly models over the years.

Leccyflyer, have you had  bad experience with a servo in a Durafly model? I've had loads of artfs from Hobbyking, including many of the Durafly brand, and the only servo issue was with the Durafly P40 flap servos.  However, there was a covering note in the kit saying they had had a duff batch, and 2 spare servos were included!

[leccyflyer]

Hi Trevor

 

Yes, I've had multiple bad experiences with servos in Durafly models myself and with flying pals and now replace them all as a matter of course. It's a pity because they are nicely finished models.  Those experiences have resulted in serious crashes in each case, despite having taken the precaution of having cycled the servos before flying in one of the models after that first servo failure. In my cases it was an aileron servo locking full over on my Durafly Spitfire and Me163 Komet, then clubmates also had an elevator servo failure in straight and level flight in a Vampire, resulting in a bad crash and a rudder servo locking hard over on another Me163 Komet. I also strongly suspect that the crash of my second, spare Durafly Spitfire was caused by that same aileron servo malfunction, though the clubmate I bought the model off had attributed his crash to miscontrol, rather than a failure and believed that any damage to the servo was likely to have been in the ensuing crash. That makes  four definite kills and one probable out of half a dozen Durafly models that I have personal experience of - almost enough to make Durafly an ace.

[Trevor Crook]

Interesting. I've still got my original Mk24 Spitfire which has had hundreds of flights, the only failure has been a retract wearing out. I've also had their Me110, Spitfire Mk1, Me109, Trojan, Tundra and Vampire. My son has had a similar number, and neither of us have had a servo problem, so I guess we have been lucky and you have been unlucky. I did have an elevator servo fail in a Dynam Hurricane though, fortunately during a pre-flight check.

[leccyflyer]

Not just me that has been unlucky, three other clubmates, in different clubs.