ParkZone Typhoon 2 3D PNP

Personally I'm not a big 3D flyer, but the ParkZone Typhoon 2 3D PNP did fit my requirements for an affordable, robust and fairly small electric rc airplane that came without any radio gear. In other words, it was a quick and easy fix to fill a model-memory slot in my Spektrum DX6i radio set.

It has to be said at this point that, in my opinion, the ParkZone Typhoon isn't the most attractive looking rc airplane in the world. In fact, I think that of all the ParkZone rc airplanes, the Typhoon has to be the least good looking of the bunch, with its short stumpy wings and deep fuselage, but hey, it flies!

Typhoon 2 3D PNP - what's in the box?

Well, the obvious thing that's missing is the transmitter! A PNP (Plug-N-Play) rc airplane comes with motor, ESC and servos installed, leaving you to install your own receiver and to use your own transmitter. This is exactly what I wanted, having moved up to a Spektrum DX6i rc system a while ago.

So, what comes in the box is the plane in several pieces; the fuselage, two-piece wing, tailplane, rudder and landing gear. There is a choice of two props, a 12x8.75 one for faster forward flight, and a 13x7 for slower flight but better vertical performance (and the difference is very noticeable!), a small cross head screwdriver (the type you'd get in a party cracker...) and prop nut spanner, a few spare servo gears and the instruction manual.

Above, the Typhoon bits straight out the box

Putting the Typhoon 2 together

As with all of ParkZone's RTF/PNP airplanes, there's very little to do and what there is is pretty straightforward. The instruction manual is clear enough, but not overly-comprehensive (no bad thing in my books) and from unpacking and inspecting it all to having a flight-ready Typhoon took a little under an hour, a certain amount of which was trying to work out the best way to mount the Spektrum AR6200 receiver.
Actually I tell a lie, it was longer because getting the Center of Gravity spot on was no easy task - more on that later.

So, listed below is a brief account of my ParkZone Typhoon 2's creation, from box of bits to complete airplane...

Rudder Fixing the Typhoon rudder
The rudder is the only control surface that needs mating to its parent flying surface, elevators and ailerons are already done. It's a straightforward task, there are 3 'pins' attached to the rudder that need to be pushed through their respective holes in the fin. Once through, firmly push the supplied caps onto each pin, the splines will interlock and the rudder will hold firm.
Although the splines are directional, so to speak, the caps can be removed if needs be - just slide a thin, flat blade under each cap and carefully prise it off its pin.

One thing to note here - don't push the rudder pins through their holes until you've got the tail wheel in position; it fits into a small locator on the underside of the fin.

Tailplane
This is dead easy, the tailplane slots nicely into the obvious place and is held in place by clear tape. The tape does the job but if you feel the need to use glue then there's no reason not to, just make sure it's foam-safe! I did actually fly the Typhoon without the tape a few times, the tailplane fit was tight enough that it didn't move at all.

Wings Fixing the Typhoon wings
The two-piece wing of the Typhoon 2 3D is a nice touch, but actually the whole plane is small enough to put in the car without having to break it down each time. Fixing the wing halves is an easy job, but don't forget to feed each aileron cable through their respective slots in the fuselage before sliding the wings into place!

Once you've pulled the cables through in to the battery compartment, slide each wing into the openings on each side of the fuse, carefully aligning the carbon tubes on the way in. When pushed fully into place, you'll see the white plastic joining strips come together so that you can fix the single screw into both. Don't over tighten the screw, or you'll strip the thread!
The wings are a bit wobbly in the fuselage, but as far as I can tell this doesn't have a detrimental effect on the flying.

Receiver installation
This got me scratching my head for a few minutes, but only because the two units of the dual rx Spektrum AR6200 didn't seem to want to sit anywhere well. But after the said head-scratching, I situated the main rx in the correct receiver slot of the Typhoon, and the remote rx as far forward as the lead would allow, to maximize the receiver performance.
I sat the main rx on a block of foam to raise it up to a convenient height, and the remote unit was fixed securely to the fuselage with double-sided tape. As per Spektrum's recommendations, the antenna of main and remote receiver units are perpendicular to each other, again to maximize performance.

Above, the AR6200 rx in position, one unit at each end of the Li-Po pack

Finishing off
With the rudder, tailplane, wings and receiver in place there's not much left to do other than connect all the servo rods to their respective control surfaces, install the landing gear and select and fit your prop - all these tasks are very straightforward and take but a few minutes.
The control linkages do not 'click' into place on the control horns but instead rely on a small plastic sleeve to prevent them opening up, with the possible nasty result of popping out of the control horn hole!
Fitting the prop* and spinner takes just a minute; be sure that the prop size numbers are on the forward face, unless you want a backwards-flying Typhoon. Use the supplied wrench to tighten the prop nut, then firmly push the spinner on to the prop shaft - the thread will hold it in place.
The landing gear slots into the obvious place, bend the legs together to get it to go in. You might need to play around with bending the legs so that the wheels are straight to the fuse, mine weren't!

Check the cooling holes for foam *Before you fit the prop: remove the cowling (3 screws, easily lost...) and check that the two holes in the bulkhead are clear of foam. They need to be absolutely clear, as this is where the ESC gets its cooling. If you can't see much of the ESC through these holes, then poke a screwdriver through them and make sure there is uninterrupted airflow to the ESC. Once cleared, refit the cowling and be very careful not to over tighten the screws, you might even want to use cyno to hold them in place.

Center of Gravity
This proved to be fun... ParkZone state that the Typhoon 2 3D CG should be 90mm back from the leading edge if using the 9.6v NiMH battery pack, and 95mm back if using a Li-Po pack. My choice of Li-Po was a FlyPo 3S 2100 mAh 11.1V pack, which is marginally heavier than the recommended Thunder Power one. This, coupled with me not using a standard rx, meant that I couldn't get the CG anywhere near the 95mm back from the leading edge!
Eventually, I resorted to adding some ballast to the fuselage, immediately forward of the tailwheel; I had to use about 10 grams to get the correct CG.

Since then, I have now managed to move the receiver units back and cut away a chunk of foam so that the Li-Po pack sits further back. By doing this, I was able to achieve the correct Center of Gravity without the dead weight of extra ballast.

Setting up and programming the DX6i for the ParkZone Typhoon 2 3D
The recommended control surface throws, as per the manual, are...

Ailerons: low rate +/- 20mm; high rate +/- 30mm
Elevator: low rate +/- 35mm; high rate +/- 50mm
Ailerons: low rate +/- 25mm; high rate +/- 50mm

These settings work well enough, and I used the DX6i travel adjustment to reach the desired amounts. In addition, I programmed in exponential for aileron and elevator, an aileron/rudder mix and flaps. The flap operation is more of a "because I could" thing; the Typhoon actually floats in slowly enough that you don't need flaps for landing!

One final, and very important, thing you must do before you fly is to program the ESC. If you've opted for the standard 9.6v NiMH battery pack, then there's nothing to do (although always best to check) but if you've decided to fly with a Li-Po pack then one of the ESC settings needs to be changed.
To run through the ESC program, it needs to be powered up at full throttle (don't worry, it won't fire up the motor!). This means moving the throttle stick and trim to their maximum positions. Connect the ESC to the pack and wait for the beeps. I won't run through the sequence here, I'll just say have the manual beside you (page 15) and be ready to follow the correct procedure, making sure that the first menu item is 'Up' so that the voltage cut-off is set for a Li-Po pack and not NiMH. Follow the stock settings for the other two items (brake and motor type).

Flying the ParkZone Typhoon 2 3D

As I said at the start of this page, I'm no 3D flyer - I prefer to fly in a less aggressive way and my purchase of a Typhoon 2 PNP was merely to have a cheap(ish) robust little plane, for a 'hack'. For proper 3D flying, I'm not convinced that the Typhoon is up to scratch; it can do what I tell it to, but it's not smooth (maybe my flying?...) and I'd say it's very underpowered for true 3D maneuvering.

The difference in flight performance between props, however, is very noticeable. The smaller 12x8.75 gives a reasonable forward speed but put the Typhoon vertical and it won't go far! The 13x7 prop on the other hand gives good (but not incredible) vertical performance, with no loss of speed on the climb of a loop or stall turn, for example, and the plane will hover comfortably for as long as I can hold it there. But forward speed is reduced compared to the 12 inch prop.

With full rates the Typhoon is a handful! Even with the recommended dual rates on, the oversize control surfaces make for some wild flying if you're heavy-handed on the sticks. The wide wing core and relative light weight of the plane makes flying in the wind quite fun, the Typhoon is most definitely suited to calmer days.

If you're looking at a ParkZone Typhoon 2 3D PNP or RTF as an aileron trainer, I think I'd have to say look around. In my opinion, it's just too much of a handful to even be used in the same sentence as trainer, and even with control surface throws set to a minimum I think that its general flight characteristics don't go in its favor as an rc airplane fit for beginners to the hobby.
But for intermediate pilots looking for a hack plane and something to throw around the skies, the Typhoon 2 is certainly a lot of fun for the money!