Pike Precision 2 Design
In contrast to many new F3B and F3F model developments that are focusing more on single tasks such as launch height or speed, our development target for the Precision 2 was to get a very well balanced all-round design. However, since F3B and F3F competitions are often won in strong conditions, every endeavour has been made to improve top speed performance whilst at the same time slightly improving launch height on the F3B norm winch. Looking at the well-proven design of the Pike Precision, one has to admit that this is very hard to achieve. Coming from this successful design, all design decisions have been put to test. Adding up all minor improvements led to an overall performance gain that justifies the expenses for the production of a new F3B/F model.
During this evolutionary development process the same design principals and strategies as described in the Pike Precision development article where used. The following article therefore mainly focuses on the evolution from the Pike Precision to the Pike Precision 2.
Following the concept of a weighting function to guide the development process, the Pike Precision weighting function was adjusted slightly towards better high speed performance:
In the middle World Champion F3B 2017 Bernhard Flixeder with his Precision2
Tails & fuselage design
As demonstrated on the Pike Precision, the slim fuselage update helped to improve high speed performance considerably. Since the slim fuselage represents the limit of what is possible with today’s RC gear and construction techniques, the slim fuselage design was kept with minor modifications.
Also, the two piece V-tail of the Pike Precision was used again because of the simple construction and the very well proven, safe airfoil design. Even in extreme flight conditions that might occur during recovery from cuts at the slope or critical situations during winch launching, stalling of the tails is rarely to be seen. The reduced wing area of the Precision 2 offers the chance to decrease the v-tail opening angle and still have sufficient longitudinal stability and static margin. At the same time the decreased V-tail angle improves directional stability and provides favorable yaw damping characteristics. Furthermore the rudder power is increased which results in nice harmony of the controls around all three axis.
Benjamin Rodax