Tera V5 2.25m

The Terra V5 is a 'quality' kit that comes in a lite-ply box which becomes the building jig for the wings. It includes push-rods, hinges carbon joiner rod and 3D printed wing joiner mouldings. Assembly was straight forward but some care is required fitting the 1mm lead edge sheet and some effort required to sand down the trailing edges. It is a lightweight design using commendably light balsa for the tips and tail. I recommend carbon reinforcement (1x3 mm strip or 2mm rod ) is incorporated during the build. Some though is required during building as how to connect the wing servos and how to keep the wings in place . Nothing is mentioned on the plan. There is very little space to use rubber band retainers so I fitted a vertical tube in each wing root to be joined by a piano wire u shape across the top of the fuzelage. I used small 4way pcb header pins and plugs to connect the servos at the wing root. I used the recommended servos but needed to modify the supplied servo mounts to suit the confined space in the wings. My motor is a Dualsky XM2532 1500K which being a "cased outrunner" was a easy fit with a 9x6 folding prop. The model flys well in light conditions but I have not tried it in a strong breeze. Mine weighs in at 640gm but because of the rather short nose I needed 50gams of lead and a 78gm 3S 850mAh Lipo to bring the CoG to the recommended 60mm behind the leading edge. This is a rewarding model but requires prior building experience.

I have for myself two kits of this fantastic entry level F5J glider. From the mind of Alexandre Cruz (currently in Germany), this is a champion when cost/benefit is considered. Superb flyer!