Manor Models Frontside 40 (F-40)

A frontside version of the popular Dynamic 40.

The Dynamic 40 (aka D40) is an awesome little plane that packs a serious punch for dynamic soaring (DS) on the backside of a hill. At Aloft we knew a lot of our customers liked the D40 as a tough plane for the frontside that loved to carry a lot of speed. Many of the planes never saw the backside of a slope. This got us to thinking about the a special version, thus the Frontside 40 (F40) was born.

We took the classic Manor Models Dynamic 40 and we changed the layup used in the planes and greatly reduced the amount of carbon and kevlar to save weight, but to keep strength we used spread-tow fabrics as used in thermal gliders. These fabrics offer great strength without a huge weight gain. We also moved the hinge lines on all of the flight surfaces to make the planes a little more agile and a lot slower on the landing. Who doesn't love bigger flight surfaces.

We then handed the prototype off to our test pilot Bruce and asked him to give it a try. Bruce is unique as he is one of 3 people in the world that has flown an RC plane over 500mph, and he has been flying the Manor Models gliders more than anyone else in the world. We didn't know what to expect from this new Frontside version of the 40, so we had him start off simple and keep it on the frontside. All went well, and we asked him to take the plane into the backside and see where the plane failed. It was not expected to do well with the lighter layup and larger surfaces, both of these things could have caused issues like flutter that kills planes in a heartbeat, but it was found to be just fine at full DS speeds. Bruce does warn you that if you are going to go for max speed, make sure the servos and linkages are free of play, this is the same precaution that applies to any high speed model!

The overall takeaway is that the F40 is a wonderful plane that is a little lighter and thanks to the larger flaps is easier to land. She will fly in a little lighter conditions, but does not give up anything on the backside.

We hope you will love this little pocket rocket as much as we do. There is nothing else in the market that has the looks, performance or value that the F40 offers, well except for the D40. 

Includes F40 and 3D printed servo tray for the fuselage. Fully molded composite construction.