Protech Slopemaster 3D at the Ruins

Protech Slopemaster 3D at the Ruins from surfimp on Vimeo.

Apologies in advance: this video was shot with my headcam and it isn’t zoomed in enough. In fact, it’s pretty crappy footage overall. Watch it in fullscreen for best results. That being said, I feel that the flying presented gives an inkling of what this Madslide-inspired design is capable of, so maybe it’s useful if you’ve been considering getting a Slopemaster or Kulbutin and/or scratchbuilding a true Madslide (recommended – plans here).

I’m not sure if this model is still on the market, but it’s basically a complete Madslide clone/knockoff, I believe produced without BPLR’s permission, based on plans published around 2000 or so in various R/C hobby magazines like Looping from France.

Anyways, I was able to obtain one thanks to my friend Swiss Peter, and have finally gotten enough flying time with it, in enough different conditions, to begin to form an opinion. Maiden was a couple weeks ago at Pt. Fermin (I know, right?? LOL) and I’ve flown it about 4-5 times since. Reviews I’ve read online have pretty much panned it, but I actually really like it! It’s reasonably fast for an aerobat, has good control response, is very neutral in knife edge, and is just a lot of fun to whack around the sky.

I haven’t totally mastered the Madflight-style flip-loop with it, and unfortunately this video doesn’t show any done properly, but so long as I do them crosswind, I can usually pull them off. I found I had to move the CG pretty far back from my initial position to get them to start working, and whether they work or not has been totally dependent on CG (per the Madflight tips from BPLR I got a while back).

The elevator is setup with about 75* of deflection in either direction (so about 150* total) and obviously on high rates I have to run a lot of expo to keep it flyable. Despite this, and probably because I’ve got a decent digital servo on the elevator, I find its precision to be more than good enough for my needs.

Ultimately, the goal is to keep moving the CG rearward and eventually add a gyro (which I’ve already purchased and have ready to install) to help control pitch with significantly rearward CGs. I want to see if its possible to have a plane that’s easy and fun to fly while at the same time allowing ridiculous flip-loop action.