Planes > Jets

Nostalgic for the Falcon 120? Is "Serpent" for those who love to build!

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sandrocacciola@gmail.com:
The rest of the assembly and finishing poses no problems (even the canopy, also made of fibreglass and epoxy resin, fits well to the fuselage, and the finish of the kit is a matter of personal taste. However, the simplest solution remains heat-shrink covering, which is quick and durable. It depends on your taste. The Serpent kit offers ample opportunities for customisation in both construction and electronics setup, but I must say that once assembled, it is a beautiful jet. Its flight characteristics should be good, thanks to a moderate wing loading, generous surface area and a good wing profile. The price of the kit is in the mid-range, but it is penalised somewhat by the fact that, at least in Italy, customs duties are applied to shipping, although these vary from country to country.
Now let's take a quick look at the electronics and motorization section. As mentioned at the beginning, this jet will be powered by a Kingtech K65 turbine, which is lightweight and provides sufficient (but not excessive) thrust to get the model airborne. Those who fly on grass runways may be penalized by the fact that, with a motor at its limit, they will need more takeoff space, but in flight they will still have sufficient thrust. I don't have an 80N at home, so I will install the K65.
Given the particular nature of the space available for the electronic and power supply components, I had the idea of printing a custom-made tank at home with my 3D printer that could be adapted to the space, with a capacity of about 2 liters, to which I coupled a 250cc Uat. While I was at it, I also printed the covers for the wing landing gear compartments so as not to leave any open spaces under the wings where the landing gear retracts.
For electronics, I have relied on Powerbox for many years now, and in recent years I have appreciated the particularly small and lightweight “Pioneer” control units, with dual power supply and dual Rx and complete telemetry for the voltage of the paired batteries. It has only one limitation, which is that it cannot regulate the output voltage for the servos because this control unit returns the same output voltage as the input voltage. It is obviously a more economical control unit, designed for those who do not need too many functions but simply want a reliable, easy-to-configure, lightweight, and small device.

sandrocacciola@gmail.com:
Two final thoughts to conclude this review. I found this kit particularly interesting in terms of the precision of the CNC cuts and the perfect fit of the joints; the kit is absolutely complete and requires no additional purchases, except for accessories such as hinges, connectors, components, etc. I have never seen such a complete kit. On the other hand, I cannot help but point out once again how, nowadays, it is possible to sell a jet kit without a single drawing and without even dividing (at least this much!) the parts that correspond to the same section of the model. It is really hard work to track everything down. And it is better to check three times before gluing!
The last question that naturally arises in a hobby sector such as model aircraft, where manufacturers compete to sell increasingly “ready to fly” models, is the following: is it worth going crazy to make something you can buy ready-made (and at little extra cost...)? My answer is yes, it's worth it if you are a model maker who loves to build, who has learned the art of model making from parents or grandparents who, 40 years ago, laboriously cut balsa wood and plywood by hand to make all the parts of the aircraft, which they then covered with paper and homemade paper stretchers made with trichloroethylene and polystyrene (...!).
So if you have this passion and want to spend this winter in the workshop building and are looking for a generously sized jet trainer, I think this model could be right for you. I repeat, you need patience because you have to proceed in small steps and without rushing. Use a good vinyl or aliphatic glue and give it time to harden well, savoring your progress little by little. You could also use cyanoacrylate to speed things up, but I don't recommend it (except for some non-structural parts) because it makes the joints rigid. But that's also the beauty of this hobby: you can achieve excellent results with different solutions.

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