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Ultima 2 F5J 4m

Product Code: ULTIMA2
 (6 reviews)

Price: $2,327.88 save 10%

Out of stock, notify me when back in stock

Description

The DS Composites Ultima 2 is their newest F5J competition model. Optimized specifically for F5J, it sports a brand new wing, fuselage and tails and features a 3 piece wing, a two-piece 2.4 friendly fuselage (nose and main fuselage) and detachable tails for easier transport. The two parts of the fuselage are interlocked by the wing when mounted on the fuselage. This means to assemble the fuselage you just need to slip the nose piece on the main fuselage, plug the motor connector, install the wing via 2 screws and the nose is locked into position and ready for flight. No tape, no dedicated screws, perfect alignment. An added bonus is the ability to replace the nose and motor system with a nose that has a stronger motor for windy conditions. Interchangeability allows sharing the nosecone between models and quick powertrain reconfiguration at the field.

Wing:
Unlike many F5J’s wings which are designed as dual-purpose wings for F3J, the Ultima 2 wing was designed without the strength considerations of F3J launch. This allows the reduction of both the width and thickness of the wing and enables a design which boosts the performance of the wing considerably. The Ultima 2 wing is 234 mm wide at the root and sports 8 optimized airfoils along the span starting with a 7.5% thick airfoil at the root and ending with a 5.4% airfoil at the tip.

Although the Ultima 2 wing is available with 2 wing lengths, 4 meters and 3.6 meters HyperFlight will only be stocking the 4m version. However we are happy to obtain the 3.6m version to special order. Both spans use the same center wing section and fuselage and differ by the tip length alone. The Ultima 2 “short tips” is aimed to be more agile and the Ultima 2 “long tips” incorporates slightly higher performance in both L/D and in rate of descent.
Both wings and fuselage fold down to a length just below 150 cm. Early on it was decided that saving 30-40 grams and putting them back into the wing to make it stiffer was more important than a model which folds down to 120-110 cm instead of 150 cm. Therefore, the center and the longest part of the fuselage are just shy of 150 cm.

Fuselage:
The fuselage of the Ultima 2 is designed to be both functional as well as high performing. Airflow on F5J fuselages is turbulent due to the effects of the propeller at the very front of the fuselage. The resulting turbulence on the fuselage increases drag proportionally to the surface area of the fuselage and not directly to its cross section. Therefore, a small increase to the cross section adds very little drag to the fuselage while enabling an easy installation with even easier ballast arrangement. The slightly increased cross section allows more options of equipment and easy access to components along with room for batteries of different sizes and positions to adjust the CG.

The wing is mounted on the fuselage by means of a small pylon which reduces the drag but also enables an excellent grip to the fuselage even in strong winds, a very important feature for safe launching in gusty weather. The tail boom is a balance between low surface area aimed at drag reduction and volume for stiffness and strength.

The fuselage breaks down into 2 parts for easier transport. At first, we explored a 2-piece fuselage which parts behind the trailing edge of the wing but the cost of moving the components to such an aft position is the need to balance the model with a heavier battery or motor so a light model will require less material and a subsequent reduction in strength to achieve its target weight. After investigating several options, we opted to position the servos in a designated compartment in front of the leading edge of the wing and have the nose be removed by a “nose cone” of sorts which includes all motor system parts such as the motor, propeller, controller, battery, and altimeter and a canopy for easy access. The nose is slipped over the fuselage and only the motor control needs to be plugged allowing a servo extension to act as the connector, thereby reducing installation weight to a minimum. The nosecone is supplied without a firewall fitted, and will need cutting down to the desired spinner diameter, and a firewall (not supplied) glued in place. We recommend a 30mm spinner is used. The nose is also designed to be 2.4 friendly so the antennas can be mounted inside the fuselage to reduce drag and prevent damage. The servo installation in the fuselage allows the use of the same servos of the wing in a similar installation so you need to keep only one type of servo as a spare for the entire model.

Tails:
The tails of the Ultima 2 have been redesigned with both drag and handling in mind. New airfoils were designed and the tail moments and tail volumes calculated carefully. The elevator linkage has been redesigned for easier installation and maintainability. Controlling the tails is done via carbon pushrods in Teflon sleeves.
December 2022: We now also have some V tail UIltimas in stock. These have a very slightly shorter fuselage tailboom and well proportioned V tails giving good yaw and pitch control and stability.

Production:
Production of the Ultima 2 is done in aluminium pressure molds. Wings and tails are full Rohacell core. Fuselage is pressure molded similar to DLG fuselages. Lessons have been learned from the Ultima 1 and the molds were designed lighter and more accurate and also analyzed to reduce deformations in the production process. The mold for the center section is a piece of art milled in one part with the dihedral angle in the middle. This prevents deformation and improves the surface quality at the very root. All parts are post-cured at high temperatures and only high quality 2 part colour systems are used in the production.

Versions:
Light – Aimed at minimal FAI wing loadings, this is the lightest version for low winds and min sink conditions. This version is limited up to 300 grams of ballast. 1020-1120 g flying weight. Wing weight approx 550 g
Normal – The most functional version, a good balance between strength and performance, able to carry up to 500 grams of ballast. Long wing – 1250-1350 g flying weight. Wing weight approx 625 g
Strong – Reinforced wing skins, reinforced spar and fuselage. For winds and turbulence. A more robust version for when conditions require more weight and thermals are strong. Able to carry up to 650 grams of ballast. 1450-1550 g flying weight. Wing weight approx 820 g

See this RCGroups Ultima 2 thread for lots more info, and also this build thread.


Ultima 2 Specifications
Wing span 4.0 m 157 in
Wing area 76.9 dm2 1193 sq in
Length inc spinner 180 cm 70.8 in
Flying weight from 1155 g 40.8 oz
Wing loading 14.9 g/dm 4.9 oz/sq ft
Aspect ratio 20.6
Wing airfoil Proprietary
EDA (dihedral) 7.0º
Spinner Diameter 28mm, 30 mm (recommended), 32 mm
Centre of Gravity 95-105 mm from wing leading edge
Controls Rudder, elevator, ailerons, flap, throttle


Ultima 2 Recommended Servos
Elevator & rudder MKS DS6100, MKS HV6100, KST X08, KST A08
Aileron MKS DS6100, MKS HV6100, MKS HV6110, KST X08, KST A08
Flap MKS DS6100, MKS HV6100, MKS HV6110, Blue Bird BMS-M15V, MKS HV6120, MKS HV6130


Ultima 2 Powertrain Recommendations
Powerline Micro 1020 3S 1Ah LiPo, 16x8 prop
Powerline Micro 1025 3S 1Ah LiPo, 16x8 prop
XPower F2915/12 XLight 3S 850mAh LiPo, 10x6 prop
XPower F2919/10 Light 3S 1Ah LiPo, 10x6 prop
XPower F2925/8 Windy 3S 1Ah LiPo, 10x5 prop
Leomotion L3007-6000 3S 1Ah LiPo, 13x8 prop


Ultima 2 Light Layup Typical Weights
Fuselage 98 g 3.5 oz
Nosecone 49 g 1.7 oz
Wing centre panel 301 g 10.6 oz
Wing tips 302 g 10.7 oz
Tailplane 30 g 1.1 oz
Fin 30 g 1.1 oz
Accessories 65 g 2.3 oz
Total structure 870 g 30.7 oz
Wiring 10 g 0.4 oz
Receiver 8 g 0.3 oz
Rudder servo 10 g 0.4 oz
Elevator servo 10 g 0.4 oz
Wing servos (4) 40 g 1.4 oz
Speed control 30 g 1.1 oz
Motor 75 g 2.6 oz
Prop & spinner 22 g 0.8 oz
Battery 75 g 2.6 oz
Flying weight from 1155 g 40.8 oz




More details

Reviews 6  


 Review by:

Ultima 2

I have now had some time to fly the Ultima 2. It is without doubt one of the best planes I have flown. It is easy to fly, shows thermal well and circles well in thermal. I fly with the CodG well back but that has given no problems, it can almost stand still in the air, or go seaching for lift. I does not seem to have any vices, I have not found any so far.
The finish is great, up to a very high standard. I had to install a new rudder pushrod as there was not enough clearance between the two pushrods, but what was due to the servos I used.
I do not hesitate to reccommend this glider.


Comment by:

ALL THE REVIEWS BELOW ARE FOR THE ORIGINAL ULTIMA 1, HOWEVER THEY ARE STILL RELEVANT FOR THE ULTIMA 2


 Review by:

Great flying model and great service from Hyperflight. This model was packaged very well and shipped very quickly. Arrived in the US with no damage. I thank Neil for having this great place for all us glider people purchase all the things we need to stay in the air.


 Review by:

Ultima is pretty good

The Ultima is not a particularly easy build and I could wish that like most models it came with the motor mount installed. The main difficulty in the build is installing the servos for the pull pull rudder and elevator and figuring out where to put ballast. Compared to say a Maza these elements are less developed.

On the other hand if you want to own the first of the new super light carbon foam models this is the way to go. I have found mine to fly extremely well, to be competitive in competitions to be flyable even in strong winds -6-8 m/s but better in light and moderate winds. It has the ability it to turn virtually in its own wing span, obviously signals lift better than a vario and lands slower than a wet week.

Its a great thermal machine. I expect it to be come more refined as the manufacturer works his way down the learning curve. I'm very happy with mine.


 Review by:

Having spent many happy days flying my Ultima last Summer I was surprised to read Roger Sanders very critical review of the model. Several of Roger's comments are matters of opinion and, as such, I will steer clear except to state that, in my opinion, the Ultima is not ugly!

However he does make several other statements which give a rather false impression of the model:-

1. Hangar rash is not a problem. I have just looked closely at mine, there is not a mark on it despite many flights and many knocks in storage and transit. Carbon Fibre is extremely hard and rigid, the Ultima is the most robust high performance model of it's type that I have come across.

2. The hatch is perfectly adequate. Mine is 30mm wide for most of it's length. My 3S, 1000 mAh Turnigy batteries are 18mm wide and slot in with complete ease alongside the ESC.

3. I used Neil's recommended servos, MKS 6100, mounted as far back as possible. This left plenty of space for the Rx, ESC and battery.

4. Roger's concern over the closed loop system is totally unfounded. I have checked mine just now and there is absolutely no sign of any wear in the system. I used a clevis on one of the wires and connected the other directly to the servo output arm using a loop in the wire secured by a crimped ferrule.

5. The control horns on the servos do not need to be different lengths. Mine are identical and I get the correct elevator and rudder movements.

6. I agree with Roger that making the wing servo linkages to exact lengths is difficult but the answer is simple - use pushrods with clevises.

7. Roger's comments about the flap control horns are fine in theory but, in practice, there is no problem with using the supplied horns.

8. My wing hold down screws are both 5mm csk. with 3mm hexagon sockets. These are high tensile steel screws and it would be folly to use the same screws to hold the tailplane in place where weight is so critical due to the long moment arm and the bolting load is much less. The supplied nylon screw is ideal for the job.

Finally, the flying. This model has a very low wing loading and my previous experience with lightly loaded models was not good. They seemed to fly like paper bags. The Ultima doesn't, the handling is remarkably precise yet docile especially with the CG well forward. The soaring performance is outstanding, I bought two 1000 mAh batteries - one remains unused. The Ultima is not at it's best in high winds but surely this is to be expected?

Barrie Purslow
24th March 2017


 Review by:

Ultimate eSoarer / F5J Model

After several years of "building" and flying a series of large eGliders I thought that the pace of development was tapering off and that my Euphoria would keep me satisfied for some time. Imagine my surprise when, whilst perusing Neil's Hyperflight website, I stumbled across a new 4 metre eGlider claiming to fly at almost half the weight of said Euphoria!..... I had to have one.

Being of a deeply suspicious nature I was concerned that this new machine would be rather too delicate or would fly like a paper bag or both. First impressions were that it was incredibly light, so light that I was frequently caught out by a failure to realise how large the component parts were as I moved them around the workshop. This led to a number of contacts with solid workshop parts. However the all carbon skins are very hard and well supported by the underlying foam such that almost no damage was caused. The elevator and rudder are operated by long closed loop systems with the final few inches at the rear being piano wire pushrods. This system is rather fiddly to set up but, once sorted, works well.

The small diameter of the Ultima's nose makes it almost impossible to squeeze a direct drive motor in there. Since my competition days are in the dim and distant past I avoid gearbox motor drives as an unnecessary and expensive complication but I ended up fitting a Powerline Micro 1015. With a fairly modest 11"x6" prop. this produced 235 watts . If I achieved my target weight of 2lbs 12 oz (1240g) this would give 85 watts per pound (190 W/Kg), perfectly adequate for my purposes.

A brief alert from Neil indicated that this glider was likely to turn out nose heavy. A quick assembly of the bits still to be fitted showed that this was indeed the case. A quick calculation indicated that the removal of 30 mm from the nose should put matters right. Well, it didn't quite but, thanks to the long tail moment, half an ounce of lead in the tail brought the C.G. bang into the middle of the specified range.

Although there were no instructions whatsoever with the as bought bits Neil had produced some figures for control surface movements by now and I set the surface movements accordingly.

With a 1000 mAhr 3S Lipo the target weight of 2 lbs 12 oz was achieved and all that remained was to wait for a calm evening and fly it.

The calm evening eventually arrived and away it went, climbing straight ahead with almost no control inputs. Cutting the power showed the glider to be very docile, pleasantly responsive despite the low flying speed and no sign of any paper bag tendencies. It's one of those gliders that likes to turn and these first few flights were very impressive. Hopefully some experimenting with C.G. and surface movements will improve matters even further. Stalls were docile and the huge flaps made very effective airbrakes although it is clearly essential to retract them before the glider contacts terra firma.

Finally, the Ultima comes with two sets of wing joiners for the tip panels, one pair at 5 degrees and the other 7 degrees. Now, if your flying buddy comments that your latest pride and joy looks "a bit skew whiff" on it's first flight, take a tip from me and check that you are using a matching pair of joiners!

Barrie Purslow
2nd June 2016


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