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NRJ 1.5m DLG

Product Code: NRJ
 (8 reviews)

Price: $738.57

Out of stock, notify me when back in stock

Description

The NRJ F3K is a new competition model from Anton Ovcharenko of OA Composites, with aerodynamic design by Christophe Bourdon. An NJR piloted by Pierre Meunier recently won the Nancy Cup in France.

The NRJ F3K project benefits from Anton and Christophe's vast experience of flying F3K events throughout Europe. Christophe started with careful observation about different model formulas and he has created a design that has realised the best overall DLG performance in currently available designs. Old DLG pilots have seen the impressive evolution in model weights, aspect ratios, speed range, launch height and of course manufacturing technologies. The NRJ (pronounced Energy) synthesises these improvements into a new state of the art model.

The NRJ flight style can be summarised as easy handling, excellent glide angle, good in slow speed situations, wide speed range, the ability to fly in wind without ballast due to keeping its energy so well. You can fly across large areas of sink and turbulences with improved stability, saving precious altitude. The combined structural optimisations (including one of the thinnest fuselages) and aerodynamic refinements result in a glider that uses the very minimum amount of energy, allowing longer flights more consistently from the launch and thermal energy available.

Aerodynamics
Christophe Bourdon’s analysis is that in thermal flight, and for discus launched gliders in particular, we don't need so much camber on our airfoils. Camber consumes energy, wasting it in increased profile drag. As improving building technologies allow us to build lighter and lighter models it is logical to reduce the average airfoil camber and it is useful to morph the foils in other ways to tweak their shapes and lift-drag polars, especially at the wing tips with their critical lowest Reynolds number. Successfully achieving well attached flow at the tips has resulted in very forgiving handling qualities over the entire flight range, and especially very good slow flight and thermal climb capabilities.

The airfoil series has a thickness of 6.0% at the root down to 5.2% at the tips, with a good elliptic lift distribution, with no washout required. The airfoils were designed to keep the wing twisting moment (Cm) low and for it to change smoothly between speed and thermal flight conditions. This choice allows the glider’s speed to be changed easily without losing energy which is very useful in changeable flight conditions.

Easy To Fly With High Performance
Because the well designed wing has smooth transitions from high speed to high lift working points the glider handles very progressively and is easier to tune to the pilot’s preferences. Also the flying techniques for obtaining full performance can be learned quickly and easily, even by average fliers.

The generous 7 degree dihedral allows small RC inputs to be used when maintaining thermal turns, minimising control drag. The special wing tip shape was chosen to help make the model more recognizable and thus easier to fly in crowded thermals as often found in competitions.

The NRJ may surprise some pilots because the wing working points were implemented in a unique way. However once the pilot adjusts to this flying becomes very natural and more relaxing than most high performance DLGs.

Kit Description
The NRJ fuselage is very thin, to reduce weight and drag. However it conveniently incorporates a slip-on nosecone and a large opening for the RC. Instaling the radio gear is made even easier by the 3D printed servo mount. This is designed for KST X08 servos, though other servos can be fitted with a little extra work. The fuselage is carbon from the opening rearwards, but the very front is made from 2.4 Ghz friendly material so the receiver antennas can be safely installed internally. The rear of the fuselage has an underslung tail pylon ready molded in place. The fin and tailplane are extremely lightweight molded spread carbon jobs, and like the wing have an excellent surface finish.

The two piece wings are beautifully molded with a thin airfoil, and large ailerons. Considering the light weigh it is very rigid and has a good finish. It is available in Light (CW40) and Standard (CW60) layups. A ballast set is available for extending the performance envelope of the glider. The Light layup should only be flown with a max of 40 g of ballast, the Standard up to 60 g, and the Standard can take the full 98 g load.

The NRJ kit includes these accessories: 3D printed servo mount for 4 KST A08 or X08 servos, throwing blade, all control horns, and pushrods, wire for tail torque springs, pull cord wire and crimps, wing and tail screws. See the NRJ Build Manual 2020 and the NRJ Build Instructions 2019 for build info. Also check out RCGroups NRJ thread for current build and flying info.

June 2023 - now made as a two piece wing model for easier transport and storage.

(C) 2019 Neil Stainton.


NRJ DLG Specifications
Wing span 1.5 m 59 in
Wing area 19.0 dm2 295 sq in
Length 96 cm 38.0 in
Standard layup flying weight from 213 g 7.5 oz
Wing loading 11.2 g/dm2 3.7 oz/sq ft
Aspect ratio 11.7
Wing airfoil NRJ Series
Dihedral angle 7.0º
Centre of Gravity 64.5-66.5 mm from wing leading edge
Controls Rudder, elevator, ailerons


NRJ DLG Standard Layup Typical Weights
Fuselage 38.0 g 1.34 oz
Wing (standard) 97.0 g 3.42 oz
Fin 5.4 g 0.19 oz
Tailplane 4.7 g 0.17 oz
Accessories 12.0 g 0.42 oz
Total structure 157.1 g 5.54 oz
Glue; mounts etc 2.0 g 0.07 oz
Receiver 5.0 g 0.18 oz
Tail servos 17.0 g 0.60 oz
Wing servos 17.0 g 0.60 oz
Battery 15.0 g 0.53 oz
Flying weight from 213 g 7.5 oz


We intend to stock the NRJ with these wing layup options. The lighter wing layups come with lighter fins and tailplanes.

NRJ Wing Approx Weights
Light 84g - 90g
Standard 94g - 100g
Strong 109g - 115g


Recommended RC
All servos KST A08, KST X08, MKS HV70, MKS DS65K, MKS DS75K, MKS HV75K, MKS HS75H
Receiver (max size approx 60mm x 25mm x 12mm) 4/5 channel rx to match your transmitter, eg FrSky X4R, Spectrum AR6610T, Lemon LM0034, Futaba 6008HS*, Futaba R6106HFC *case removed
Power Tatu 1S 350 mAh, HyperLiPo 2S 300 mAh LiPo, Radient 1S 600 mAh


NRJ Control Throws & Mixes
Rudder 12 mm each way
Elevator 8 mm up / 8 mm down
Ailerons 13 mm up / 19 mm down
Recommended snap-flap (elevator->camber) mix.
Full up elevator 5 mm down aileron
Full down elevator 3 mm up aileron
Recommended Flight Mode Aileron Settings
Launch preset 1 mm up aileron & 2.5 mm up elevator
Speed 1.5 mm up aileron
Cruise 0 mm aileron
Slow cruise 2 mm down aileron
Thermal 6 mm down aileron
Landing mode as much down aileron as possible









Reviews 8  


 Review by:

NRJ

Neil at Hyperflite was a pleasure to deal with. My order arrived quickly and very well packaged. The wing I received was a little heavier than it should be so Neil sent me a lighter fin to counteract the weight. One gram lighter on the tail and at least 5 grams less lead in the nose. Communication with Hyperflite was very good, while considering the five hour time difference. (I am in Canada) Being a retired purchasing agent, I would say that Hyperflite is definitely on my "PREFERRED VENDOR" list. :) The NR J is a beautiful and well built plane.
Unfortunately, I am a non competitive FAIR WEATHER ONLY, flier so I will have to wait a few months before I can fly it. :(
Thanks again Neil / Hyperflite.
Kerry


 Review by:

I wanted an F5K for very light thermal days. I have the strong layup Vortex 4 for the more breezy conditions, so went for the light layup version of this NRJ. Wow, it is so light. Hope to build this to be just below 200 grams. Beautiful construction and great, fast service from Neil. Like my Vortex 4, I'm looking forward to building this for 2023. That's two beautiful F5Ks to play with next year!


 Review by:

NRJ Strong kit

This was my first purchase from Neil / Hyperflight, and I can only confirm the super communication and fast shipping (to Germany in appr. 7 days).

This is a Kit of high quality, but you need to keep in mind you need a few extras, like hinge gap tape, wire for making small hooks / linkages (recommend 0.3 mm for the tails, 0.8 mm for the rudder/elevator at the servos in the front (rudder/elevator))
Although I am doing aeromodeling for about 35 years now, this is my first DLG, so I had a few challenges with the linkages and the overall small size of the nose area. But now it looks like a Swiss watch and is awaiting the maiden.
Thanks a lot Neil, this one is going to be fun!


 Review by:

NRJ

I've been flying R/C for around 40 yrs but haven't quite made it into the old farts group yet. I'm very competitive by nature and flown or raced most disciplines to a decent level including 3D Helicopters and Drone racing! I'm a self taught pilot whom started out Slope-soaring back in the day so gliding has always held a fascination.
I choose the NRJ as it had a good competition record and even contacted Pierre Meunier to see if his opinion still stood for the NRJ. It did.

My NRJ arrived in a substantial cardboard box and well packaged, thanks Neil ;-). The last composite models I have to compare it too would be Pike Plus/Pike WR F3F &15yr old DLG so it's has been a while.
The finish is very good and the frame is light and and sleek everything I hoped for, but I had a lot to learn on this build as F3K construction has changed substantially. Spring controlled Rudder/Elevators and quality servo's these days..mmm. It's a very tight build and the instructions I found lacking and setting up the control runs left a lot to be desired and frustrating experience.
I'm still not 100% happy with my control runs due to very minor interactions due to proximity to servo's/Horns in the cockpit. The only thing during the build that needed any real adjusting was the Servo Tray which required a lot of sanding to prevent the inner nose expanding slightly interfering with the Nose Sheath fit (check before Gluing)

My own personal hate is programing OpenTx transmitters and this has proven to be the case and did spend quite a few hours messing with SOAR OTX. I ended up going for a more conventional OPenTx programing which I've still to complete.
A more seasoned Pilot and modern F3K Builder would likely breeze through all of the above considering it the Norm.
At the time of writing the weather is unsuitable to maiden + Covid restrictions mean it will be a few weeks before I can fettle her in. BUT I dont expect the NRJ to disappoint.


 Review by:

NRJ - fantastic!

I’ve been flying RC for over 30 years. I got back into DLG flying 5 years ago and I’ve owned a flown a lot of the top models( BAMF / NXT/ CX-5/ Falcon. I tend to keep my models for about two years and I fly a lot- weather permitting. I decided to give an NRJ a try as Neil / hyperflight had a new shipment arriving around Christmas.
I ordered a standard layup NRJ in bright red- it arrived amazingly fast in three days from the UK to Pennsylvania via fed ex. I built it over two days and was out flying the second day ! The build was easy and went together fast- the servo arrangement and linkages are a bit confined ... but it wasn’t too bad to complete. I used all of the included hardware and everything was perfect.

I set the CG at 65 mm and took it out for a maiden flight.....on the third throw on a cold overcast day I managed to hook some light lift and rode it up to 120 meters I decided to come back after a 7 minute flight!
I flew it again today in calm overcast conditions and had at least 3 or 4 flights over 5 -6 minutes in the span of 40 minutes on a cloudy overcast day.
I am really impressed with the performance and launch height- the design is very efficient and I felt very comfortable with it from the first flight- ( I tend to fly a bit faster than most and live faster sportier ships) I liked this one from the first flights and I imagine it will only get better with more flying time and tuning.
Thanks for the excellent design team OA and the excellent service Neil and Hyperflight!
Jack G.


 Review by:

Flys great, but building is very frustrating.

This is my third DLG purchase from Hyperflight and things started off the usual way. Great service from Neil and speedy delivery on the order. The model was packaged really well and was really excited to build. The quality of the parts is good but I have seen better. The colours (i.e. the white) could have been little brighter (i.e. white looks a bit greyish) but nothing that would ever make me drop a rating point. The wing however had an issue where one of the flaps was sprung (i.e. always wants to point up). Not great but not horrible either.

The build of this model is where things got disappointing. The hardware package supplied with this model was incomplete and some of the materials where completely unusable. The tubing and push rods supplied for the flaps/ailerons had so much friction when you tried to move them they had no business being installed on this model. One set was practically seized and the other one had way too much friction. Although there is music wire (for the tail surfaces) shown in the picture of what will be provided my kit was missing this. When you spend this much money on a top end DLG I think it is fair to expect proper quality materials and for it to be complete. With hobby shops closed or poorly stocked during the pandemic it was difficult for me to find replacement parts.

The instructions that are available could really use a revision to make them clearer. As it stands they are more of a collection of thoughts on the assembly of the aircraft rather than step by step instructions. The horn supplied for the tail for some reason is too long and needs to be modified so it will fit. This is in the instructions but in my opinion is not clear enough. This begs the question, why wouldn't the model ship with the correct horn in the first place? I have built many models but this is the first time in many years where I had to redo several steps to get the model to work.

The linkage connection is not easy at all to do. Aside from missing parts it takes multiple attempts to get the required range of motion while not interfering with the movement of other servos. The method of securing the servos is certainly innovative but the elevator and rudder servo does not have a direct clear path as the flap servos are directly in the way. I think more work is needed to refine how to make interference free connections.

That said it is a beautiful aircraft once you sort the assembly portion out. It flies as described and launches and penetrates really well. I caught some great thermals with it today. I think with more work on the linkages, a complete hardware package and better instructions I can see giving this plane 5 star review status.


 Review by:

NRJ DLG

My first modern DLG having been flying an original Longshot I built in 2006. My expecations were very high and I was not disappointed. I fly on a fairly windy common with a lot of gorse and bushes so I went for the strong version. All the components are beautifully finished and wings are impressively rigid. The online instruction manual is excellent which is a pleasant surprise and almost everything you need is included. The crimps are a bit on the chunky side so I used Hyperflight's own and the only other thing I needed was some wire for the end of the rudder and elevator cables.

The plane came out at 230g with a FrSky XR4 and a Radient 1S 600 mah lipo in the nose. Space is pretty tight so I cut the plugs off the servo leads and soldered them direct and had plenty of room. My only real complaint is the nose cone is very flimsy and I damaged it first time out. My model needs a bit of lead in the nose so the nosecone could have had an extra layer of glass cloth.

Flight performance is excellent. Launches are a doddle even for a beginner like me and the speed range of the model is impressive. With no camber the plane penetrates very well and with the camber deployed it floats beautifully. I am still getting used to it and a bit of tweaking still required to get it setup to suit my flying style. Second trip out and my best flight was 12.45. The plane really responds well to lift and doesn't need much to climb.

Very happy indeed and no hesitation in recommending the plane.


 Review by:

Superb model from Anton. The finish on these planes is the best I’ve currently seen and I’ve tried a lot of other models, I have the strong layup and wing finish is like glass. And for a strong layup, my model still comes in at under 220g. Builds super fast, I had 80% of mine built with 2 hours of getting home from collecting.

The nose is a bit tight for space, but I can confirm that with a 350-380 sized 1s lipo that both the Spektrum ar410 (decased) and the Frsky G-RX6, RX4/6R fit nicely. With the Frsky rx’s you can get a 600mah gumstick shaped Turnigy Nanotech in there. Once released I will test the new Spektrum 6610T.

Overall a superb plane, coming from planes with 5.5 degrees of dihedral like Snipes, the handling takes a little getting used too, but I heard the same about the Flitz that Hyperflight also stock, but once you are comfortable with the plane it’s a serious weapon. The speed range of the NRJ is impressive too, pretty fast plane in Speed mode yet slows up nicely with 6mm camber and goes up in lift very well in this mode.

For me it took some time to bond with the plane but I would definitely buy another.


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