MODEL MAGIC

ZN LINE MAJESTIC                                            

TEMPTED BY THE TASTIEST AIRCRAFT IN TOWN, MALCOLM CORBIN BITES THE BULLET AND TREATS HIMSELF

It's funny how fate always seems to take control of my building projects. Whilst the desire to own a ZN Line Majestic crept up on me during construction of my Desafio S, the desire quickly became a craving when I got to see Christophe fly his at Sandown a few years ago. I tend to find that, if you wish hard enough, things frequently work out the way you want them, though in my case it has just as much to do with constantly rabbiting on at every modeller in sight. By the law of averages, sooner or later, you'll come across someone who has a mate of a mate, who knows someone, etc. Anyway, this is just how I came across the Majestic.

Whilst I purchased her second-hand, I understand that she was originally bought from Probuild, with all the upgrades and a spare set of cores. Still untouched, the advantage to me was that of jumping the long wait for what is a highly sought-after model, and to my mind the best of Christophe's designs. The price paid was the same as the purchase price new, some £500 plus.

The Majestic is basically a Caprise with very large flying surfaces for 3D type manoeuvres. An adjustment has been made to the height of the fin, counter balances added, and the tailplane moved forward 100mm, increasing the pitch control. This latter variation has also separated the rudder and elevator hinge lines giving the elevator full span control, right up to the fuselage. Finally, the top of the fin has been incorporated in the rudder as a large mass balance. Other than that it's essentially the same model.

SERIOUS KIT

So, what did I get? Well, for my money I'd bagged a carbon / glass fuselage; balsa covered wings, rudder, and tail panels; a pair of fixed carbon legs; spats, and a canopy. In terms of quality, all was basically good, give or take a selection of pinholes in the fuselage, coupled with a few spots where the mix of resin and micro balloons was a bit too weak. As such, the excessive filler content made the structure a little crumbly.

Supplied with the kit, an A3 size booklet of measurements and sketches gives all the relevant information needed to locate and install horns, cut formers, place joiner tubes, and fix servos. Avoid using marine ply for the formers as most are quite large in area and the weight will soon go up. Clutching at straws I began to search my workshop for an old sheet of end-grain balsa that had been skinned in carbon... but alas, it had all been used. As a last resort I decided to make my own down-market version. Here's how:

1.) Take three standard 1/8 balsa sheets, 4" wide x 24" long, and join them, side-by-side, to form one 12 x 24" sheet.

2.) Now take six 1/8 balsa sheets, 4" wide x 12" long, and again join them, side-by side, to form a similar 12 x 24" sheet, but with the opposite grain direction.

3.) Sand the sheets flat and dope both sides of each panel. (This helps to stop absorption of the epoxy.)

4.) Cut two pieces of 110 gram carbon cloth, 24" long x 12" wide, then mix some laminating resin (West System, with 205 hardener).

5.) Spread some on the first balsa sheet, then overlay the second to produce a cross-laminate.

6.) Lay the first piece of carbon cloth on one side of the balsa sheet and spread resin over and through, as if glass clothing a bandage. Only use enough to wet through, then spread the resin out using an old credit card.

7.) Lay a piece of waxed glass on your work surface, turn the balsa over (sticky side down), and repeat the process on the other side. Take a second sheet of glass, lay it on top, and apply some bricks or a leisure battery - basically, anything heavy and close to hand. I'd have used the wife but she wouldn't sit still long enough! If you don't have a sheet of glass to hand (two sheets of ply and polythene would also work) you could do the laminating as three separate operations. The only down-side is the three evenings of mixing and messing about.

It's as easy as that, and the end result is a very strong, light, composite structure. Use it to produce the wing bolt plate, undercarriage plate and motor plate, and you'll save the best part of half a pound over marine ply. Well worth the effort.

If you wish, you could do the same for the servo tray using a single sheet of 1/8" glass skinned balsa, but to be honest the savings are probably starting to get a little insignificant and in my opinion, not really worth the effort. My servo tray was made from 1/8" liteply with soft 3/8" sq. balsa rails and strips of 1\8" marine ply, added to reinforce the servo screw positions. In order to accommodate the switch harness and receiver - each wrapped in foam and secured with cable ties - the tray was made over long. The 16oz fuel tank sits in a similar cut-out, held with ties, and positioned 'on or about' the centre of gravity. With a fuselage of this volume the quantity of foam packing required to hold a tank in position is somewhat detrimental in terms of the weight that it adds.

TIPS AND TRICKS

I chose a fixed tailplane, though it has to be said, it's also very easy to make removable if you so wish. As both halves are connected using 8mm carbon rods. So fix or make removable the choice is yours.

When building the wings I originally went with the four-servo set-up giving the option of crow braking and independently adjustable throw rates. However, I've now removed the two inboard servos and joined the flaps to the ailerons to make one large control surface - saved me 100 grams, not to mention the cost of two digitals! In performance terms there's really no disadvantage; she's a pussycat to land, so who needs crow braking anyway? Take my advice, if you get one, take the easy life, and build it simple.

Another little technique worth noting is one that relates to the canopy. Having sprayed the inside, and decided not to fit a pilot (sorry!), the canopy was attached using a variety of techniques that are probably best explained in sequence:

1.) Using Scotch tape, stick the canopy down in five or six places checking that all is tight and level.

2.) Seal the canopy / fuselage join with odourless cyano. ZAP-O is ideal here as it won't 'fog' the acetone.

3.) Mask the canopy to protect the clear glazed area.

4.) Bridge the gap between canopy and fuselage with some thin (1oz / sq. metre) glass cloth and bond it with thin cyano (Grip 'Blue' or similar).

5.) Cover the glass cloth with body filler aiming to make a smooth contour between fuselage and canopy.

6.) Sand back to a super-smooth finish using wet 'n dry.

Tip: Using the above method, you'll probably find you end up with a completely airtight cockpit area... which is all very well, until you get a cold spell, whereupon the canopy is at risk of imploding due to expansion and contraction of the air. Answer? Drill a small hole in the cockpit floor, give it a chance to breathe, and all will be well.

A LESSON LEARNED

No matter what engines you favour it is my considered opinion that you haven't lived until you've tried a YS 140. You can argue the statistics of similar motors till you're blue in the face, but when it comes to out-and-out airborne performance, nothing can touch a YS. Whether it be a 140FZ, a 140L, or even a 120 on a muffler, all would be suitable for this model, as without question, they produce an awesome amount of torque. Mind you, it's not all nirvana! I made a very light, home-spun rubber mount but kept having problems with the engine going hard, which in turn was having an adverse effect on both the airframe and the mount. I re-plumbed the motor, swapped tanks, bought and fitted a Hyde mount, all to no avail. Admittedly the motor didn't actually stop on me, but it certainly wasn't a happy bunny - flying a model like this with a YS that's running lean is a less than perfect situation. After much head scratching I finally discovered that the problem was of my own making. Basically, I'd not been careful enough with the motor and had managed to get some muck stuck in the pump diaphragm. The lesson? Always use a good quality filter, never cut the belly pan to 'fit' with the motor installed, and always run the motor out after every session!!

For those of you who like number crunching, my YS 120 will turn a 17 x 8" APC at 8,400 rpm; the 140FZ, same prop, 8,700; the 140L, 9,000. Fuel is 'Yamada MIX' by Model Technics with 20% nitro and 20% oil. Until recently, YS motors have been a little difficult to get in the UK, however, they are now available through Hobby Stores at prices that make purchase from the US no longer necessary.

THE GREAT COVER-UP

Nothing much to write home about here. White two-pack paint was used for the fuselage base, the coloured bits added in Protrim, then the whole lot lacquered to stop the edges lifting when I clean the model. The lacquer weighs 3oz, but I reckon it's worth it. With four servos in the wing (original set-up) and a 2000mah battery, the all-up weight came out at 4.7 kilos or 10 lbs 8oz. Who knows, the latest version, with a slightly heavier Hyde mount but two less servos and a smaller 1700 NiCad, may well be an ounce or two lighter.

PLANE PERFECTION

How does it fly? Well, what can I say? It's perfect! Rolls, horizontal or vertical, are completely axial. Will it do a Blender? Yes, with ease. Prop hanging is easy peasy. Knife-edge? Stunning! I thought the Desafio was good but this is just sheer poetry no matter what the angle of attack, or speed. She is simply pure. I won't (can't!) repeat the words used, but when Mike Le'Mmon (Cuban Air) flew her he swiftly announced it as 'the best ******* model he had ever flown' and didn't want to give it back.

Now, I happen to know that for pure pattern flying Christophe favours the Alliance, so, with this in mind I met up with Steve Underwood who owns one. Having flown the two aircraft Steve, who's also a seriously good pilot, had difficulty judging which was best. In the end he concluded that, basically, they fly the same, though the Alliance would probably be better for pattern aerobatics in a crosswind. That said, Steve flew 'em on a calm day, so I'm still not sure. Anyway, when it comes to 3D hotdogin' the Majestic has to be the ultimate aeroplane. Let's face it, why else would CPLR, Chip Hyde and Shaun Mc Murty fly them at the Air Pageant in Japan. There's no doubt about it, the aeroplane has pedigree; Christophe came first, Shaun was second!

THE BEE'S KNEES

From any angle, the shape of this model is a crafted masterpiece. Without question the best looking toy I've ever seen. I wish I'd designed it. It's slow flying characteristics are a dream, the lack of noise from the YS, mated to a Hattori pipe, is staggering (you can even hear the servos whine as she goes rolling by), and the power is, as I say, awesome - it prop-hangs at 1/3 throttle! When it comes to landing, I really don't miss the flaps, she slows up beautifully. I only wish everyone could have a fly of this model for I guarantee, your perception of radio control model aeroplanes would change forever.

Contrary to recent myths, the massively powerful digital servos are not putting the battery pack under the huge loads feared, hence the swap from an RC 2000 to the much lighter 1700 ditto (saved 100 grams). In truth, she'll do three flights before needing a top-up.

Okay, so you've gathered I like it. But what's the downside? Well, there's only one... the cost!

In order to kit this aircraft out, with YS 140 and top quality servos, you'd probably need a budget of around £3,000.

Archie aka Pete Rondel aka Jersey,s finest! Showed me neat trick to use expo to smooth throttle curve. Model now responds click by click.

DATAFILE

Why not pay a visit to C.P.L.R website.  http://www.cplr.com.fr/