Specifications:
Name: Blizzard
Manufacturer: Multiplex
Type of product: Model Kit
Airplane type: Sport liner
For: Intermediate to advanced pilots
Flying weight: 775 g Glider / 975 g Electric
Length: 910 mm (36”)
Wingspan: 1380 mm (55”)
Wing area: 19.4 dm² (301 sq. in.)
Wing loading: ~38 g/dm² Glider / ~47 g/dm² Electric
Prop: 9*6”
Motor: 350 – 500 watt 36 mm Outrunner
Servos: 3-4 ~9g servos
CG: 70 mm from the leading edge of the wing
First impressions:
The first thing that surprised me was the size of the box, it was tiny! Half the size of the Twin Star box. Click here for comparison pictures. Multiplex has really mastered the art of packaging.
Something that caught my attention when unpacking was the density and finish of the Elapor, it is twice as dense and has a very smooth surface compared to the Elapor of other Multiplex planes. It felt nice and strong. After unpacking all the stuff from the box my attention went to the 8.5 meters of glass fiber that is supplied in the kit. It comes rolled up in a plastic bag and after taking it out I took hold of one end to look closer at it and -BANG! The whole room was filled with the 8.5 meters of glass fiber. After a while I managed to get it out of my way and start building.
The build:
The complete build log of the Blizzard can be found here.
This build is by far the most painful Multiplex build I have done. Gluing in all the glass fiber pieces takes a long time and it is inventible not to get glue all over your fingers. The build requires a lot of CA so buy an extra bottle and have a cloth to wipe of the excess glue with. I recommend using a Dremel with a cutting disc to cut the glass fiber so that it don’t fringe. Otherwise the build is pretty straight forward. Just follow the excellent manual and you have nothing to worry about.
The Blizzard has a V-tail and you can choose to use one servo for elevator only or use two servos for elevator/rudder. I choose to go with two servos for more control.
One thing I appreciated a lot was the brilliant way that Multiplex designed the wing retainer plate so that it has a connector built in to the wing and the fuselage that automatically snap together when you put on the wing. No need to fiddle with servo connectors before you put on the wing, just smack the wing on and fly.
I choose to monokote the wings to add extra strength and visibility (this model becomes an invisible speck in the sky in no time).
This is the power setup i decided to use:
Motor: Turnigy 35-42C 1100kv Brushless Outrunner
ESC: SuperSimple 40A
Battery: 3s OEM 25-35C 2200mAh LiPo
Servos: 2 x Hitec HS-65HB on the tail, 2 x HXT900 for the ailerons
Prop: 11*8” on a 40 mm spinner with air-intake
Power: 45.5A@11V = 500W (Measured during flight) (600W Peak static)
All up weight: 980 grams
I’m extremely careful not to use the throttle for more than 10-12 seconds at a time since it draws to much current to be run continuously. I’m well inside of the burst specs.
With this power setup I had no need for any ballast steel balls in the tail.
Flying:
Launching the Blizzard the first time was a thrill. That much power and thrust in your hand just trying to get away. There was no need to throw it, I only needed to let go and it took of like a rocket to the skies. I fly mine like a hot-liner; full throttle straight up like a helicopter for 10 seconds and then kill the motor and accelerate even more in a dive.
The Blizzard can keep its inertia surprisingly well. It is possible to glide for a very long time on one climb, or you could just blow most of the energy on a ridiculously fast turn (which is so much fun). But the best thing of all, it makes “the sound”! That lovely swishing/whistling sound that is so addictive. But be warned, the wings bends quite horrible when pulling to many G’s and it does loose speed during aileron turns. This is not to surprising though, it is a foam airplane.
The wind penetration of the Blizzard is very good. Even if the wind is whipping the Blizzard does not seem to even notice it! This is definitely the airplane I choose when it’s to windy to fly my other airplanes.
The control throws that the manual states are spot on and the model tracks extremely well. This plane has one bad habit however; it’s a tip-staller during aileron turns at low speeds. This complicates landings a little bit, especially if you’re not aware of it.
I really like how this model flies! It’s so different from the other Multiplex airplanes that I have flown.
The flight time of the Blizzard with my setup is about 10 minutes with 2 minutes and 15 seconds of motor time.
Landing:
Landing the Blizzard is not an easy task. The thing glides for ever! I have set up spoilerons which is helps but it’s still a little hard to land considering that it tip-stalls during aileron turns at low speeds. But you’ll get used to it, just land it a little hot in the beginning.
Here is a video of the Blizzard in action:
Conclusion:
Multiplex definitely know what they are doing when they are designing airplanes. This is definitely a different type of airplane from the other Multiplex ones. But I feel that if I would be constricted to only 1, 2 or even 3 airplanes this would not be among them. Not that I don’t like it, it’s just that it’s not as versatile as say the Twin Star. For me it’s an excellent complementary airplane that helps stir things up among the “slow” flying Easy Stars and foamies. The exhausting build (a lot of time, glue and concentration) is also contributing to the lower mark.
Not my first pick but it truly deserves a good grade.
