EAM's popfly

[ThunderChicken]

How well does EAM's Popfly (http://eam.net/EAMRC/popfly.htm) handle the wind? Can it handle 10-15 mph wind? Because of the light wing loading, I'm assuming the answer is no. Since it's a wing, does it handle gusts very well?

Any feedback welcome!

[Wings]

I fly with a guy who was one of the first to build and review one of these.

The one time I saw him fly it was on a "Zagi day" as I call 'em (5-15MPH with frequent gusting). The wings were the only models to take air that day, and everything else was grounded.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Popfly handled the wind. It seemed to cut through the air equally as well as the Zagi, and neither got tossed around much at all (primarily upset by sudden gusts while in a crosswind pattern). I honestly didn't expect it to fly at all when I saw the motor setup, but it did! And the winglets did their job, again proving wrong my expectations of them falling off in flight (they looked flimsy to me, but behold the power of velcro).

In answer to your question, I think this is one of those rare cases where a low wing loading is not a negative factor in the model's wind handling. And besides, it IS a wing after all!

The only disadvantage I saw to the character of the Popfly vs. the Zagi was that the Popfly was somewhat more twitchy (or so I remember it as such). I can't say whether that was due to model design, control throw setup, varying weather conditions, or whatever else. Could be any of them.

Good luck.

Wings