THSS REVIEW
Raptor Aerosports "PETREL"

Specifications:
Wingspan: 55"
Weight: 23 oz.
Wingloading: 11 oz./sq. ft.
Airfoil: RG15
Radio: micro receiver, 3-4 micro servos
Skill level: Intermediate - Advanced

Why the Petrel. I knew the Petrel would be a good quality kit since I had seen some others from Raptor Aerosports. I asked Brian Buaas (Mr. Raptor Aersosports) which of his kits would best suit what I wanted (fast and able to thermal in good lift) and he recommended the Petrel, so I got it. Besides that, the fact that I could use an inexpensive power system helped too.

Building the Petrel. The kit includes a nicely done fiberglass fuse, four white foam wing cores, and some other miscellaneous hardware. The wing is a double taper design and the first part of making them was to attach the two pieces (per side) together. Sheeting the wing with the suppied 1/16 balsa and then joining them at the proper dihedral followed that. I was kind of worried about how the balsa would handle the double taper of the wing, but it turned out to be fine after leaving it weighted down in the cores for a day. The power system I used was a Graupner Speedgear 480 with a 10 x 8 folding prop and an 8 cell 500AR pack. The spinner for the prop is larger than speed 400 spinners so I had to sand back the hole in the fuse until it all fit and make a new firewall out of plywood (there's a firewall included, but it's for speed 400 gear). Nothing too exciting about the rest of it, just basic construction like attaching and sanding the leading edges and tips, building up and joining the V-tail, and mounting the wing to the fuse. Installing the radio gear is a tight fit and involves working behind the wing (something new to me since all my slope planes put everything ahead of the wing). My micro receiver died on me, so I used a standard Futaba receiver with the case off and it barely squeaked in.

Flying the Petrel. I took it out to the flying field and after a little bit of radio programming, I had someone toss it out for me and I gave it full power. A little bit of down trim and it climbed right out at a 60 degree angle. A few seconds later I was pretty damn high in the air. It flew so solidly that I was soon making speed runs and testing the limits of the plane. It was great. It flew like a slope racer at the slope but without the hill or the wind. I'd just climb up like crazy, turn off the motor, point the nose down and this baby hauled ass. It turned really nicely and the roll rate was pretty exciting. The power system didn't provide vertical performance, but I don't think it really needs to. A short motor run can get you high enough that it starts to get hard to see. The RG-15 airfoil provides its vaunted wide speed range, and I didn't have any problems landing. Without worrying about conserving power at all, I got an 8 minute flight, and I'm sure I could triple that time if I wanted to. I'm pretty excited about exploring exactly what I'll be able to do with the Petrel. Having on-demand power adds a whole new dimension to flying. So far, it's really exciting and I'd recommend this plane to any experienced non-electric pilot that wants to try out what electrics are really like.

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