My Donuts Models Valentino
The Valentino is manufactured by French company Donuts Models, and it's a 3 channel aerobatic sport glider sold in ARF form.
I'm a big rc glider fan and found the Valentino while searching for something to replace my late Eraser EPP combat glider. The Valentino most definitely won't stand up to the levels of abuse that the Eraser suffered, but in terms of size and performance it certainly matches the Eraser! At under 1 meter wingspan, the Valentino is just the right size glider I was looking for.
Valentino - what's in the box?
The Valentino comes ARF, and the quality of workmanship is excellent. Construction is of balsa and ply, with what I assume are die or laser cut parts. Accuracy is spot on, and the quality of covering - although transparent would never be my first choice - is excellent. Incidentally, the glider is available in red or yellow versions, both options being of the same covering pattern.
All hardware is included and the tinted canopy is an excellent fit over the cockpit.
As you'd expect with a quality ARF kit, all the right holes are cut in all the right places. The only modifying I had to do was to open up the servo holes slightly because I used 9g servos, as opposed to the recommended 6g ones that are marginally smaller in physical size.
Above, quality workmanship throughout, including lightened and capped wing ribs.
Radio (Spektrum AR6200 receiver and Hi-Tech HS-55 servos) installation was straightforward enough, apart from the aforementioned modification. Location of the dual receivers of the AR6200 took a bit of thinking about, but I managed to get them separated adequately enough - the main unit in the nose and the remote one tucked in behind the elevator and rudder servos.
The 4 cell (AAA) 1000mAh battery pack fitted into the battery slot a treat, held tightly in place with foam.
Above, the cockpit is crowded but everything is in there! From left to right, the battery pack, switch harness and rx.
Above, rudder and elevator servo, and the remote rx behind, packed in foam.
One servo is used on each aileron, which means that a flaperon or spoileron set-up can be mixed in if your radio set has this capability.
One word with the aileron servo installation though... Because my choice of servo was larger than the recommended one, the HS-55's didn't fit completely into the compartments, resulting in the compartment covers having a slight curvature due to the extra width of the servo. No biggie really.
Above, a servo for each aileron and neatly cut compartments for each
A few hours saw my Donuts Models Valentino ready for action. I didn't get to fly it straight away though, due to windless days, but the eventual maiden flight was about as smooth as it could be. The glider handles very well, and is very responsive with the digital 2.4GHz rc set up. Aerobatics are easy, the ailerons really giving the Valentino all the maneuverability it needs. Good job Donuts Models!
Here's the Valentino on video, but the day wasn't really windy enough to benefit from...
Here's what really happened...
The glider shown above is actually a replacement to the original, which arrived crushed! Careless handling by a careless courier meant that a heavy parcel got thrown onto the box somewhere en route through Spain. Thanks, SEUR. The fuse and wing were both damaged beyond reasonable repair, and so a new glider was ordered by the vendor. Unfortunately for me, a new glider wasn't immediately available for whatever reason so it meant over a month's waiting for the new one to arrive!
On top of that happening, my new Spektrum DX6i arrived missing the receiver. All in all the whole project was doomed from the start, but the two cock-ups meant that even if one item had arrived as it should have done, I still couldn't have completed anything!
For anyone thinking of ordering a Valentino, get the sender to make it very clear on the packaging that it's Very Fragile! The box is not a strong one, and careless handling by clumsy couriers can easily result in damage to this great little glider.
Related pages
RC gliders - an overview of rc gliders.
Slope flying - tips on using the wind.
Dynamic soaring - adrenalin packed slope action.
Thermal soaring - basic principles of flying on thermals.
Multiplex Fox RC conversion - my other, somewhat smaller, rc glider.
