Samba has tuned the Pike Precision specifically for F3G!
In an age where bigger is always better, Samba has done a 180! The new Pike Precision Pro for F3G has shrunk! Read all about it below!
From Samba-
As F3G is gaining popularity in Europe we decided to modify our Precision 2 to improve its performance in regards to F3G. Primarily one wants to increase an aircraft’s span to increase its performance. This actually accounts for the whole flight envelope as long as the wing loading is kept identical.
But herein lies one critical point for F3G aircraft! As in F3G the available power to climb is limited, the mass of the plane should be kept as minimal as possible when one wants to climb as high as possible in the launch.
The distance and speed task in particular require high wing loading in order to maximize the performance of the aircraft. Here it becomes obvious that on the one hand the lowest possible weight and on the other hand the highest possible wing loading are equally necessary. These seemingly contradictory requirements can only be met by minimizing the wing area actually. A reasonable reduction of the wing area of the Pike precision 2 is possible by removing a part of the center of the wing and thus shortening the wingspan to the permissible minimum of 2800mm - and this is exactly what we did. This reduction in span allows us to reduce the wing area of the aircraft by just over 7%. Hence the weight of the plane can be 7% lower to reach the former wing loading and the maximum launch altitude will increase. Although the smaller aircraft might perform slightly inferior from an aerodynamic viewpoint, the higher launch altitude will overcompensate this by far!
As a sides effect when keeping the original fuselage and tail feathers, the pitch and yaw stability factors of the plane will increase with the shorter and smaller wing. As a result this will make it easier to control the plane especially when flown in high altitudes.
For pilots who don’t plan to compete in F3G, the smaller wing clearly offers the advantage to fly the plane at high wing loading but with a ‘safer’ AUW for an easier hand launch when no helper is available on the field.
