MAMBA 70CC: the Incredible 3D Plane of Flite Fest

From move-to-move, the Mamba 70cc demonstration wowed everyone at Flite Fest Ohio this year. Here's more about the model.

The Mamba is a giant aerobatic model produced by Flex Innovations. It's powered by a twin-cylinder gas engine and is capable of putting on a mind-boggling performance (trust me, I've experienced it). If you were at Flite Fest this year, you'll remember the sheer power and precision of this premium Flex aircraft. At $849.99 for the ARF version, though, not everyone will get the chance to fly one of these beasts. However, you still read all about them.

Stunning Flite Fest

Seth Arnold was at the controls of the Mamba flew at Flite Fest this year. If you want to see the full flight, check this out. The video was shot by Dave Merc.

Built for Performace

The Mamba is a pure aerobatic. At 77.2", the biplane wings provide a light wing loading crucial for the aircraft's performance. It's been designed by Kevin Kimball and Quique Somenzini as the perfect 3D plane meaning that it has to have just the right balance of aerodynamic and structural detail. The airframe is super-light. It's made from Balsa and Ply with a scattering of fiberglass parts - like the wheel pants and cowling.

The main hatches make the internals of the plane easily accessible. Each is removed through the use of a single latch. All of this hardware is factory installed on the ARF version of the Mamba. It's something similar to what you'd expect to find on a lower cost model but in an entirely different league of quality.

The electronics, such as the tail's ultra-high torque digital servos included on the ARFSV model, are mounted to the plywood cockpit area of the fuselage. This plane takes six of these servos in total. Four drive the ailerons which can double as flaperons.

Revised wing tips and ailerons, as well as more wing chord than the original Mamba, has resulted in an aircraft that can take mastery over 3D aerobatics. Watching the thing come in from a dive, it can flair in an instant (putting who knows how many G's on the airframe) suddenly whipping the tail downwards to fix the machine into a high alpha. Using the two giant 2070 sq.in wings to direct the air downwards, the thing can be hovering before you know what's happened.

To help with low-speed control, the Mamba can be fitted with 'shark teeth' on the leading edge of the wings. This can also help reduce wing rock and generally help the aircraft to become more predictable - something essential for a good 3D aerobatic aircraft.

Staring straight on, with that streamlined cowling and machined metal spinner, this thing looks so very impressive. If you want to find out more about this aircraft, or any of Flex Innovation's products, check out there website here.