Circle Dancer 3600 Electric 3.6m

I've been waiting so long to fly my Circle Dancer. It was delivered very promptly to Thailand, even though it was ordered just before Christmas. Building / assembly was a dream and all parts were very high quality. As for the first flight, well I had nothing to worry about. The only adjustment was a very slight elevator change. The flight was over 30 minutes. I could have stayed up longer. I will add some down elevator with the Crow brakes before the next flight. It is a beautiful model to fly, and I'm looking forward to my next outing with it. I would like to thank Hyperflight for their great service ... it seems that is just Normal for them.

Great thermal soarer (have now had several dozen flights since completing it) but when assembling and fitting out the model I had to deal with a few manufacturing and/or quality-control errors, which were soluble with thought and care but frustrated the build process and doubled the time taken.

The published weights are either out of date or over-optimistic: on delivery my component parts weighed 100g more (1300g) than the figures given above (1200g) and the flying weight came out at 1785g (which is within the typical range of 1625 to 1820g for this model) so 1500g is clearly unrealistic.

My powertrain is just right: XPower F2925/8 Windy with a GM 10x6 prop, a YGE 65LVT ESC and a 1300mAh 3s, which takes the model to 225-250m in 30 secs. (A larger prop, say 12x6, would improve this climb rate but cost more mAh per launch etc.)

Finally, the spec control movement given for AILERON is far too low: this is a large and relatively stately model so for properly responsive roll-control (and safety closer to ground-level!) it needs an up-aileron throw of at least 18-21mm (plus 50% flap mix in Cruise and Speed modes) and co-ordinated rudder input. My RUDDER throws are also greater at +/-45mm (spec 35mm). These larger throws are all tameable at smaller stick deflections by generous use of expo. Spec ELEVATOR throws are fine but when setting up allow for extra down compensation with crow.

Allowing for my criticisms above, I am however very happy with the flying and thermalling performance of this model.

Top Class and came well packed

I've been eye-balling this thing for a while, when they were back in stock I snapped up a blue and yellow ship....got here in Orange County, CA in 5 days.....a beautiful airplane!!!

I write to you from Argentina. I bought this beautiful Circle Dancer 3600, and received it in perfect condition at home days ago!! I am very happy to have it, and I am already working on its assembly to be able to fly it as soon as possible! I want to thank the good service provided by Neil. Highly recommend your attention!

I am satisfied with the careful packaging that I received the product in Japan in about a week. The aircraft is very beautiful and advanced and very fun. Thank you hyperflite

Now flying and loving it what a model this is best one yet 840 meters from 75 meters and one hour 4 min flying time. Awesome

Eventually got a gap to get mine in the air. And it didnt come down!

Awesome glider!!!

This model is beautifully made strong and looks great looking forward to flying it
10 out of 10

This kit is worth every penny! It is so beautifully made, strong and flys so well. I've fitted a variometer in mine and am amazed how she looses so little height in 'dead' air.

I've installed one of the recommended motors a Powerline Micro 1025/F5J and a GM 16x8 carbon folding prop.

Have a look at a very short video of one of my launches. The throttle was set at only around 70% but she has a phenomenal rate of climb.

Circle Dancer 3600 Electric climbout video

With a 3s 1300ma lipo I have had to add a little tail weight but I am hoping a change to a smaller 1000ma lipo and repositioning I should be able to remove the tail weight.

This is an excellent aircraft. The construction is beautiful throughout. I have the White/Red full-house glider variant, which I have converted to electric. Visibility at height and distance is excellent. Converting from glider to electric has cost a few grams, so my AUW is about 1.8Kg. I used a direct drive brushless setup on a 10x6 the climb is near vertical at about 9.5m/s.

Further details here:
http://blog.engineering.selfip.org/building-the-circle-dancer-1
http://blog.engineering.selfip.org/building-the-circle-dancer-2
http://blog.engineering.selfip.org/flying-the-circle-dancer

Great looking sailplane (arf kit) from a designer with an excellent reputation at an affordable price.
And thanks to Hyperflight for their excellent communication and prompt shipping.

I can't comment on the flying abilities of this E/S because I decided not to buy it after inspecting the parts.

All the moulding were of a very high quality, the fuselage being excellent.

However the tail plane and rudder were not as well made as the wing, and I thought rather too flexible. The wing was 42 gms heavier than advertised.

Probably quite a good model for sport flying but not of the same quality of detail design or construction as say an Ava or Pulsar. But the price reflects that.

First class service as usual from Hyperflight, with no quibbling about me cancelling the order.

The first flying trials were disappointing due to the lack of power from the motor, about 320W. I recommend about 400 Watts for good f5j or ALES climb rate. I put in a more powerful motor and because of a heavier motor/gearbox I needed to add 1oz to the tail to maintain a 102mm cg. I also increased the rudder throw to 45mm each way. The model now performs the way I was expecting and the fine tuning is in process.
Flying weight is now about 58oz.

I purchased this model from Neil for several reasons: I have always like Drela's design philosopy. It is the right size for ALES/F5J. It has the control surface configuration I prefer, REF, and the price is very reasonable for the size and type of model.
I bought this model in the UK and carried it back home to the USA on a comercial flight. With correct packing it survived the baggage handling process!!
When I examined the model it became obvious the this is a very well designed and executed model. All parts fit well, the wing joiners are MASSIVE but not heavy. The fiberglass work is superb and the covering is very well done. Such items as threaded inserts for wing, horizontal and vertical tails are all in place and my only comment here is that the bolts for the wing are too long! (Easy to fix).
It is refreshing to have servo covers for the flaps which auctally clear the servo arms easily.
I located the servos for Rudder and elevator under the canopy, and installed a geared Redfox Eco 400 motor with a 13X7 A-M folding prop, but the CG is 10mm too far forward. ( how often does that happen?) I am using a Hyperion 3S 1400mAh HV battery and I don't think I can go much lighter here.
I hope I do not need to add weight to the tail.
I intend to fly with the slightly forward CG and see how it handles to begin with.

AUW is 55oz.

Flight report to follow.

IG