As a preliminary to Jonty's upcoming review - if I may call it that, here is the actual story of how the Typhoon and its successor, the Typhoon Toccata, were born.
A Case in history: The Typhoon to Toccata story:
The original Typhoon 2M
What is the Typhoon?
Designed by me way back in 2008, now over a decade and a half ago, the Typhoon 2M, a slope soaring allrounder, is the best-selling moulded two-metre glider of all time, with more than two thousand five hundred models sold. Many people have trained on the Typhoon as their first mouldie, and I am proud to say it has become a classic.
An original Typhoon in Australia.
But… how did all this begin?
How indeed… Following a ‘noble’ but, as it turned out, naive ambition, I had been in contact with a Chinese company that later became quite well-known. My idea was to produce genuinely nice flying moulded sailplanes to sell the models at prices that the less well-heeled among us could afford. Well, that idea died a death, but that’s later in this story. The first of these models was the Vector 2M, a fully aerobatic moulded model that actually saved the company’s life, as at the time, it was about to go bankrupt and had even started to pack up the machines and equipment for sale.
The size of this wing joiner was changed to be much smaller. One of the many changes that I was not aware of.
Why were no models produced?
The company’s problem was simple: although it had the equipment and personnel to create fully moulded models, it had no idea how to do so and no designs to follow. When they started, this company assumed they could buy models to copy and that moulded model-making was a generally known and easily accessible technology. However, they were mistaken then, and even now, composite model-making is still not a widely known technology.
How was the problem fixed?
I regularly travelled to China as part of my consulting business at the time, so side trips to Jinan were not hard to arrange. I visited the now-reinvested company several times to teach them how to make the products. They had a CNC machine, so the turnaround was fairly quick. After several months and such excursions, the company could finally produce model gliders of an acceptable quality. Thus, bankruptcy was avoided, and the company slowly rose to profitability.
The Typhoon 2M is born.
Sales of the Vector Slope Aerobatic model had provided the company with some income, and its hands-on manufacture offered some on-the-job training for the cmpany workers. These improvements allowed it to continue in business; it was time to expand the model range, and I noticed a potential gap in the market for a nice 2M all-rounder model. So, one day, in my studio in Taiwan, amidst a raging typhoon, I put pen to paper, and the Typhoon 2M model sailplane was born. It’s not hard to figure out how I came up with the model’s name.
Gerard Manut's Typhoon flies at the SLoT USA.
Then…Crash and burn…
I went on to design several other models for this outfit, including all of their still, until now, years later, best-selling models. However, I eventually parted company when they adopted a policy of deliberately making the models conform to a low standard. This doctrine was based on the belief that the planes would soon break, compelling the flyer to buy a replacement—really? Anyone who knows anything about wet-layup composites understands that making a substandard model takes just as long as it takes to make a genuinely good one.
Yikes!
Another big issue was that the company's engineers always thought they knew better than I did and altered the designs and construction materials without informing me. My noble but naive hopes of cheap, good models were dashed. We parted ways, and I have not had contact with this company for the past 14 years.
The Toccata front end - note the nicely shaped Phil Brace-designed canopy, and the much beefier wing joiner.
The recent past ~ 2023 – time for a new idea.
Over the last decade and a half, I have received numerous comments, suggestions, and advice concerning Typhoon 2M. Enough to make me wonder if perhaps it was time I created an updated “MKII” Typhoon as part of my own range. Over the years, design and construction technology have improved, and my knowledge has also grown. I had a really good base design to use as the frame for the new model. Lots of green lights there, and in reviewing what I could and would improve, quite a number of points emerged.
So, what are the design differences I wanted to incorporate? Here are my design notes before drawing:
- Round spinner adaptable nose.
- One fuselage version for both Glider and Electric versions.
- No nose cone - canopy type.
- New OLD (Optimised Lift Distribution) wing planform.
- JH817 aerofoils suite.
- Unique BSLD wing rigging.
- Larger flaps.
- Much larger wing joiner. (The original Typhoon joiner size was changed from my design)
- Wing ballast – the fuselage can also have a ballast tube.
- Elevator horizontal stabiliser – no more AMT.
- Rudder and elevator servos in the fin.
- The full carbon wing is standard on S, and double carbon is standard on SS versions.
- Sine wave spar.
- Aramid/glass nose.
- LightStrong technology as standard.
Wow,… quite a list.
However, all that new technology is now standard in my range of models, so importing it into the new Typhoon airframe design was not a major task. The idea was to undertake a major redesign while keeping the original model’s curves and lines and incorporating the new technical construction and aerodynamic changes.
Toccata number one.
And so, that’s what I did.
The all-new Typhoon MKII Toccata was born. I’m quite happy to say it’s the most aerodynamically advanced model in my portfolio to date. During in-flight testing, both E and G prototypes performed as well or better than designed in every requirement. The Toccata exceeded my expectations and completely overturned all the design performance criteria. It has a faster top-end speed potential, especially when ballasted. It accelerates faster and has great energy retention while being more aerobatic. I was delighted to find that it has great inverted performance and also milder landing manners than the original.
Nice big rear hatch for the rudder and elevator servo installation. Note that the rudder and elevator control surfaces are not yet parted.
So there you have it.
Cheers,
Doc.
It's what I do...hohoho
