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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.
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