TANGA F3B

March 2011 saw me order a new Tanga F3B direct from the manufacturers Breta Models. I went for the ''Exclusive Carbon Kit'' which means it comes with all fittings, ballast , wiring looms, RDS and wings that are stiff as you know what

During the last week of May , 8 weeks later the following arrived via DPD couriers

The box was opened and the glider was taken out and assembled. What a beauty. If it looks right, it probably is right

I fitted this out with Futaba 3150's in the wing, being RDS this was the recommended servo that would fit directly onto the drive system. Inside was a pair of HS505MG's for the V Tail.

From the start it was obvious to see that the wings and tail were made by someone completely different to the fuselage. The Wings and tail were of an incredible standard, I have yet to see another model with such clean lines on the mouldings. The fuselage was weak , full of imperfections and quite honestly I have seen better quality cheap Chinese gliders

This is the top of the fuselage at the wing joining section. You can see that there is no over spray from the orange to the white and the lines are very very sharp

Anyway I got the TANGA F3B flying and this thing was in a class of its own. It went like blumming lightening and went round corners like it was on rails. The most incredible thing is no matter how many 'G' forces you pull there is no movement in the wing and the control surfaces

The Tanga is in a class of its own, look at the rigidity in the wings / the way it maintains speed through the turns. This was a gentle Easterly blowing onto the Crest at the BWLCH

Any as expected following the weakness / imperfections of the fuselage the inevitable happened

This was actually the result of a landing that was perhaps a little heavy but there is no way this should have happened. I ordered a new one, in orange so it wouldn't show the marks as much but I also had Breta put extra glass in the nose to give it some more strength. This is what arrived a couple of weeks later

Fitted into this new fuselage that was built with extra glass I had the standard 3mm ply servo tray replaced with a 6mm servo tray . The nose is now much stronger but to be fair I would prefer it a bit stronger

And for extra super safe measure I applied Carbon Tow around the join between the Fuselage and the servo Tray. Fuselage is covered in masking tape, its a handy way of putting marks on the fuselage if required and more importantly it stops grubby epoxy finger marks getting everywhere. Nose lead..easy enough, make a cast in a bag of sharp sand and pour the molten lead in



The install complete. A pair of HS5085MG's , and  an overlander 2500Mah 

On the C of G jig. As I said before if it looks right it probably is right and this beauty looks right

As a summary I would say this glider is by far the best glider I have owned to date. The build of the wings and the V tail are in a class of their own , I have yet to see the same quality on another glider. On a negative the fuselage is of shocking quality and I can only hope the modifications I have made to the new one will be strong enough, I still find myself cringing every time it lands.

RDS, would I bother, YES I WOULD. This is a pain in the arse to fit and during the build there were times the whole lot nearly ended up in the wheelie bin but I am glad I persevered. There is no slop at all in the flaps / ailerons, even the best fitted linkages experience slop but not these babies. I also reckon them to be a little quicker than standard linkages

Overall I love this glider. It almost defies gravity on low wind low lift days and when set up properly on a lifty day will fly like it is on rails

MARTIN