PERFECT FLIGHT REPORT by SKIP MILLER 5/10/06
The long awaited Pike PERFECT from SAMBA was test flown in Boulder, Colorado
on 4/29/06. I received the PERFECT a week earlier, and after showing many of
our local soaring advocates the latest development from Samba, I
relinquished it to my long time friend and one of the Premier builders in
the USA...Lenny Keer. I resisted the urge to outfit myself, as this model
calls to you to begin...instead I patiently waited 5 days(yes Lenny and I
both have day jobs) and on a rainy windy Saturday the first launch was made.
By the time we met, a half dozen of some of Colorados top thumbs had
assembled...only one small problem...the WEATHER was not cooperating...it
was raining slightly, on the downwind side of a rolling hill field(not our
normal sod farm. Twins at home allow only brief stints to the soaring field
, no matter what the weather. Each pilot had brought his own sweet ship. Bob
Lewan(GIANT) Charlie Miller (Sharon3.7) Lenny Keer (ESPADA R) Jim Monaco
(Supra) Cody Remington(Espada and Supra).
A quick foot note, I always fly off a short high start, 50 feet of rubber,
35 feet of line..not the best "motor" for test flying...but hey better then
a hand launch in the leeward side rotor(it was ugly)...and as the rain
sprinkled and I assembled the beauty and began doing the pre flight maiden
stuff, and adjusting the throws to what i thought was right...after a huge
range check( I have in the model AIRTRONICS 761 digital servos, and
AIRTRONICS PCM receiver, in this full carbon bad boy...I finally gave up
walking out of range at 250 feet..It ALL WAS ROCK SOLID!!!!WHEE HOO!! As I
turned to Monaco(our USA F3J Team manager) and said "come on ...launch the
SUPRA..and he said" I don't fly in this crap" the PERFECT took to the sky.
First thing I noticed .the elevator is VERY effective (it's huge), and the
push pull thing on launch jumped the PERFECT up to maximize the suck air I
was flying in.
Not the prettiest test but the PRFECT was soaring.. Charlie Miller had been
flying off his short start with the Sharon 3.7, doing the up and down
thing...no air..and then in a few launches to 75 feet..the PERFECT was away.
I flew it for about 5 minutes, reflecting on , and enjoying the effort Kolb,
Koch, and SAMBA had put in and was pretty happy that someone , with no
discrimination as to '"who you are" can acquire one of these beauties from a
dealers net work world wide!!! (www.SKIPMILLERMODELS.com shameless plug)
This is an amazing year of development for all aspects of R.C soaring, and
the PERFECT did not disappoint.
Let me digress for a moment...SKIPMILLERMODELS.com came from my World and
National competitive involvement on World Teams over the past 30
years...Over this time , I had a personal vested interest to seek out and
find the PRIEMER models being developed anywhere in the world...the
reason...I can test them and KNOW what i'm up against in any flight group.
Most recently I have been competing with the Pike Superior...and when this
"top secret project of the PERFECT surfaced a few years back....let's just
say I was sworn to secrecy. Anticipation to say the least. when SAMBA asked
me what I thought about the name "PERFECT" for the USA market I replied uh,
errrh PERFECT! And as of this report...yes it is.
Back to the flight report...the idea was to test against my buddies flying
the latest and greatest against the PERFECT off short high starts..
Unfortunately the weather was so nasty I couldn't get anyone to assemble
there model for a while. So I was flying and dialing this beauty in "rough"
conditions. But what I saw was all around. It hangs well, moves up wind
well, launches great, and is predictable on landing. Mine, as one of the
first 5 produced by Samba , is a bit heavier then full production models. It
weighs 78 oz, which for a model of it's size, is very acceptable. I am sure
they will shave a few ounces shaved off as the production numbers improve. I
flew against Supra, Espada, Giant, and Sharon 3.7. It seemed effortless in
the way it moved in the bad conditions, and appeared to do what ever I
asked. A number of top thumbs locally here flew it, and everyone was
pleased. The Superior" wipes your worries away"..The PERFECT delivers!
On the second day of short high starting, it was actually sunny and nice. I
reflected on the brief tow, the Perfect is like a Supra with b..'s.like a
SUPRA on Steroids. It is robust, slippery, nimble, and aesthetically very
pleasing. It took 2 launches to get away, the first dinking around at 75
feet for 4 minutes before landing. On the 3rd launch I was away, and flew
for just over an hour. I pushed it .pulled it, tweaked it , mixed it, dove
it, raced it and basically got it sorted out.
Upon landing, my reaction was this ship is "All Around"! It just does
everything well.
A few days later I flew in nasty conditions, light gray overcast, and again
was impressed by the general feel of the PERFECT. I never had over a 4
minute flight from 75 feet, but had many of them.. My only regret is that I
couldn't grab the Supra and put it up..I had to get back to work. But I will
soon.
Now I have over 3 hours on the model. It still does everything well and is a
delight to fly.
It covers ground up wind great, and chases thermals downwind with ease.is it
a silver bullet.No.but it does let you as a pilot seek out every opportunity
you wish.
I flew it in local competition a week ago (f3j on winches), and was pleased
by how it performed.(placed 3rd..but in the "flyoffs". When I launched it
hard , it was awesome, when I took the short tow, it gained advantage in the
group. When I had to hang in low level light stuff it came thru, and when I
had to hang in low level light stuff that wasn't there it got me more time
then I deserved...it is pushing me around a bit on the landing zone, being
much larger and a bit more mass then what I have flown recently (Superior),
I am pleased that Kolb, Koch and SAMBA have offered this to the soaring
community..they could have kept it "secret" until after the WORLDS..they
chose not to... They have done an awesome job on a "PERFECT" model. It's
beautiful! I know a huge majority of pilots will enjoy the aesthetic,
design, construction and flight characteristics of the new "PIKE PERFECT".
Skip [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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