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The RedwingRC 30cc MXSR arrived needing very little shrinking and with no damage. Click the image to enlarge

RedwingRC 30cc MXSR - Segment 1

A sleek beauty that turns violent in the sky

Text, photos and video by Tom Hintz

Posted – 4-15-2015

Having recently built my RedwingRC 50cc Yak 55 the need for a 30cc-size plane had me back on the RedwingRC site checking out their offerings. The RedwingRC 30cc MXSR caught my eye and before long one was on its way to me courtesy of a private supporter of this site.

The Basics

The RedwingRC 30cc MXSR has a 76" wing span with an overall wing area of 1100 sq-in! With an all up flying weigh of 10.5 to 12.6 lbs that means the RedwingRC 30cc MXSR is pretty light on its wings. The other important dimension is the 70” length which will be more important later when I fly the RedwingRC 30cc MXSR.

The RedwingRC 30cc MXSR is designed for any 30cc-class engine so naturally I put my DLE 40 Twin in it for that little extra punch to help get me out of trouble now and then. The firewall is laser-marked with the DLE 30 mounting pattern that also works for my DLE 40 Twin. They also include cross hair markings so you can align other engine templates up to insure proper placement.

The hardware is also impressive. You get real turnbuckle control linkages, carbon fiber servo arms, carbon fiber main gear and tail wheel assembly. RedwingRC also provides ball links for all control surfaces as well as dual fiberglass control horns throughout. These control horns are tough enough that the control surface itself is more likely to fail around the control horns.

You get tough, double fiberglass control horns (left). The rudder horns have to be trimmed so they all fit fully into the rudder without making contact inside. The pull-pull cables (right) are already installed. I make up the ends at the servo first so I can use the length to make working outside of the fuse easier to finalize the length. Click images to enlarge

The Build – Phase 1

Unpacking the RedwingRC 30cc MXSR revealed no damage, thanks in no small way to the ½”-thick cardboard box with an apparent level of toughness that is not common in the industry. The hardware was all packaged logically and you get a disk with instruction manuals for several RedwingRC planes on it.

I began the RedwingRC 30cc MXSR build as I do all of my planes by going over all of the covering seams and edges, including all of the covering-based graphics. I did have to shrink out a few wrinkles in the covering on the RedwingRC 30cc MXSR a process that took all of 5 or 10 minutes.

I installed all of the control horns in the surfaces, starting with the rudder because the pair of twin arms are actually too long and make contact inside the rudder body. I used a side cutters to trim all four control horns until they would fit into their openings fully. Then all control horns were epoxied in place. While in the epoxying mood I installed all of the pin hinges supplied. All of the holes were drilled fully and the hinges went into place without a fuss.

Next I installed the rudder servo. RedwingRC provides super light and tough carbon fiber servo arms but I had a nice set of my habitual aluminum (Hangar-9) arms so used them. Also my aluminum rudder arm had a width that matched the width of the control arms at the rudder, an important match to prevent one pull-pull cable from going slack whenever the rudder is deflected.

I finished the servo end of the factory installed pull-pull cables first so I can leave all of the length for setting the length outside of the fuse at the rudder. It is just easier for me to do a pull-pull system in this order.

Maiden #2
The tail wheel assembly (right) is one of the best I have worked with. Easy to install and the ground handling is spot on. Click images to enlarge

That ended the first day of the RedwingRC 30cc MXSR build. I encountered no surprises and everything fit as it should which is always encouraging when you start putting a new plane together. When nobody was looking I slipped the wings and canopy on to get a better image of the completed plane. Usually when I do this “trial assembly” I am spurred on to get the plane one so I can fly it and the RedwingRC 30cc MXSR is no different. This plane has a dramatic, sleek look but the elevator size promises some scary-looking aerobatics as well. I am planning an early start for day two of the RedwingRC 30cc MXSR build.

See the product page on the RedwingRC RC site – Click Here

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