Enigma F5J 4m

I'm no way the most experienced F5J pilot but have second hand Explorer Ultima 2, Osprey but in any weather the Enigma is put in the car first. Its the Kevin De Bruyne of F5J.

Picked up another 4m Enigma V-tail...When we opened the box and unwrapped it, I noticed the finish on the wings and tail, smooth and shiny!!...My other one has an OK finish, but this one rocks!!...Those guys really upped their game!!...Got here to Orange County,CA in abot 5 days!!

What a magnificent aeroplane. I love it. Had a bot 12 flights today in very light conditions (first time out). It just floats and floats and floats!

What a magnificent aeroplane. I love it. Had a bot 12 flights today in very light conditions (first time out). It just floats and floats and floats!

Wanted to get a back-up V-tail 4m Enigma, so i capitalized when Neil got a couple more in stock.....He warned me that the glider was a bit sub-par finish-wise and there was a small crease on the bottom of the aileron toward the tip....He sent me a photo and asked if I wanted to proceed....I looked at the photo, and then looked at the picture of the colors on the wing...BEAUTIFUL PLUMMAGE....and hit the button....It got here in Orange County, CA in 5 days!!....par for the course with Hyperflight...I opened the box and it looked pretty good!!!...I would have been miffed if it was a two thousand dollar ship, but for twelve hundred the crease and a couple of very small scuffs on the wing were no problem....As I delved further, I looked at the tail boom, and, expecting a V-tail, there was the mountings for an X-tail!!....I processed this curve ball for a minute then thought "what the heck" now I have one of each!!...It is beautifully done with all the wires and connectors in place and the tails are very beautiful also.....Bottom line.....I'm happy!!!

Did the first flight of my 4m Enigma this morning....What a fantastic flying machine!!!...It goes up in the lightest of thermals and with the direct drive 2925 motor spinning an 11X6 propeller, it goes up nicely at about 1/3 throttle...It flies as smooth as butter!!!

Nice ship!!!!....Everything fits well and I like the pre-wired and fitted wing and elevator connectors...and the service from Neil basically outshines everybody else!!!

Well I just had to have another one, just received my second Enigma from Neil.
The finish quality and fit are just superb and cannot be faulted at any level.
It is a joy to put together the second time and the lessons learnt with No 1 helped immensely. I do wish that the firewall was not drilled at all, rather than the four bolt holes, better just to have the central hole so that three bolt fixing for reisenhaur gear box can be achieved with good spacing.
I have now had some 8 outings with the No1 model, and it is an absolute joy and revelation to fly, indicates lift brilliantly, it is also much easier to repair being of solid cored construction. I have unfortunately had several radio failures with it, which has now been traced to faulty lipo’s no reflection on the plane but is beginning to look like the most battle scarred glider I have ever had, not bad as it’s only a few months old, it does break, but I have found it is well easier to repair than hollow moulded construction. It does not look pretty now but still flies beautifully.
Certainly the model of choice if we ever get back to comp flying in 2021.

I have to say as I start to pen this review for Neil at Hyperflight, it is not something that I do very often at all, however, I am about to make an exception.
I have had a little experience previously with this glider from a fellow F5J flyer who bought the “Skiff” a couple of years back, and had the wings fold on the maiden flight. Credit to Neil, the wings were re placed and I understand that the wings now include a shear web between the spars rather than just the core Rohacell. That said, the plane looked good, and I do like “V” tails - when it was repaired it flew well.
I had a clear out of the hangar, during this Covid calamity, and was rather disinterested in competition flying, but having cleared the hanger, the bank balance had funds present and I had some servos and a motor in a draw.
I was initially drawn to the price for this plane and then realised that I was looking at the site as if I was based in the USA so the price was ex VAT! Still not bad with adding on HMRC’s cut.
The order was placed and duly arrived next day. Well packed and undamaged. There have been some comments concerning the quality of the finish, my experience was very much better, and on a close look the engineering and finish was excellent and certainly compares to many other of the Eastern European offerings. In fact the quality and fit I would say are excellent, with some very nice touches, including beautiful machined fit of “V” tail to Fuz, ready fitted wiring harness extremely light wires used, canopy fully fitted, even wing servo hatches cut to fit, and ready made up push rods and epoxy cnc cut aileron and flap horns.
Target AUW weight was stated to be around 1475g, mine finished at 1550g but I had 120g 4s lipo and a 105 g motor and gearbox fitted, and it was however the 4m version.
Two points of note:- the built in fuselage ballast tube is 550 mm long and starts from the rear of the canopy opening with roughly 200mm in front of recommended C of G position, and over 300mm behind. This although not yet tried is expected to produce a rearward shift in C of G which is not good. The Ballast tube is bent along its length to get under the wing seat rather than being straight, consequently the ballast slugs from my Pike Perfection would fit into the tube but would only go round the bends, if they were cut into 30mm long slugs. Second point is that the ready made push rods for aileron and flap connections are pre bent – why I cannot understand as they do not assist with servo installation and are now strait.
I purchased two KST X08’s lug less servos for the V tail - MKS 6100s will not fit as they need to be 8mm.
Ordinary KST’s XO8’s with mounting lugs would have fitted. C of G turned out at 110mm i.e. mid-point of recommended range
First test launches followed 2 weeks after delivery, Flight test conditions were not bad but not the best, plus 10 degree C temperature and no wind whatsoever. I tried a couple of hand launches and made some very minor trim adjustments to glide path, next hand throw went for about 200 metres at 1m off the ground, I had to nose it into terra firma before it hit a fence! This was a seriously flat glide.
First couple of powered launches then followed to approx. 100m and an 8 and a 10 minute flight resulted. No height gains were achieved but the sink rate was so absolutely minimal, turns appeared to lose no height at all, handling was crisp and tidy. Landing set up on flaps and the compensation on elevator proved to be totally excessive so landed without flaps and was wondering when plane was actually going to set itself down.
There is only a minimal pitch up trim change from deployment of full flaps.
Overall, I am so impressed with the quality of this glider and its flight characteristics I am looking forward must recommend this plane to one and all.
Addendum the Second day of flight testing now completed, made fatal error and had that “one last launch”, resulted in flat battery and an encounter from 30m altitude, then no control and 70mm into soft terra firma. Resulted in fuz being broken in two places, both wing joiners broken and some creasing to main wings in several places, I was not best pleased but now repaired and waiting for some replacement wing joiners - note to self - change the lipo before having that “last flight” .
Looking forward to getting it back into the air – what a plane highly recommended, it’s a gem at a good price. May well be tempted to another.

This model has to be the hidden gem of the F5J world. Fantastic looking V tailed glider at an amazing price. First class fuselage, cw ballast tube and wiring harness already made and fitted. The wings are well built without all the bells and whistles of the show ponies. Assembly and flight review to follow.
Good prompt service once again from Hyperflight. Really well packed, survived the trip to Australia intact.

Finition mediocre. Dommage. Le planeur vole très bien

Translation: Mediocre finish. Shame. The plane flies very well.

HyperFlight comment: Agreed, the finish could be improved. But the performance is excellent and the price is reasonable. Alain was sent detailed photos showing the finish problems beforehand, and asked if he wanted to proceed.