Baudis Diana 2 wing panel length ?

[Hoot]

I am considering a Baudis Diana 2 but need to know the length of the wing panels so I can see if they will fit in my Mazda CX 5 SUV.
I know it is a 5 meter plane with a 5 meter wingspan (197 inches). Does each wing panel have a wing joiner that goes through the fuse making each panel longer than 197 inches divided by 2, which equals about 98 inches?
Thanks in advance !

[Stew2]

I believe the Diana 2 has a separate spar joiner. A rectangular wing spar, if I remember correctly. It also looks that way when you go through the LDS installation pdf that Baudis has available on their website, under files on the Diana 2 page. That pdf shows the install on a Diana 2 wing. SO, it seems that 197 inches should be a safe bet for panel length.

[lenb]

Steve, I sent a message to Russ (who owns one) and asked him to jump on here and answer the question.

If he gets the message Im sure he'll respond

len

[RussellB]

The Diana 2 has double rectangular carbon joiners that are separate from the wings. The tiplets are also separate and get taped on. I will measure the wing panel length when I get home tonight.

Russ

[Steve P]

I've got $5 on 92 inches

[RussellB]

Not 92, not even 93, but 93.5 inches, including the locating pins that stick out of the root. I hope it fits for you. It is a nice flying plane. It thermals well, moves around well, and lands easily with the crow arrangement using flaps and middle surfaces.

Russ

[Hoot]

Russ, is it worth it to pay Baudis to install the LDS system in the wings? Looking at the photos on the Baudis site, it doesn’t look too difficult but I hate cutting into the wings of a $3,000 sailplane !
Steve Gibson

[edfmaniac]

Russ, is it worth it to pay Baudis to install the LDS system in the wings? Looking at the photos on the Baudis site, it doesn’t look too difficult but I hate cutting into the wings of a $3,000 sailplane !
Steve Gibson

I don't know how much they charge but it sure is nice to be able to drop in the recommended servos and be done with it. My ASW-22 came with the LDS frames and linkages installed and it was definitely a time saver.

[Stew2]

You can find all the prices for added services on the Baudis website. Go into their model order/configurator from the Diana 2 page. Looks like they do the 6 wing servos for 330 Euro (~$370). I believe that is on top of the price of the servos. Installing the LDS frames and mechanisms is not difficult, but it is very exacting. They have an outstanding pdf file of instructions which really describes the process thoroughly. There is no doubt it will save you time, I spent about 12 hrs of applied time installing the 8 wing servos in an Antares wing with the same LDS mechanisms and frames. The spoiler servos are very simple and standard, so that is really just 4 LDS servos in the Diana and 6 in the Antares. The elevator is LDS as well, 100 Euro for both elevator servos. If you are faint of heart for taking a dremel to a brand new wing, then you are best to have Baudis do it. It definitely takes a clear mind and concentration to make the cuts, but they are not difficult, they just require a steady hand and the occasional wiping of the brow.

[RussellB]

If you mask the area around where you will be working and can work carefully, after looking at their instructions you can do it. I found the wings to be very straight forward except that the LDS parts that came with it were for MKS servos and I had purchased KST servos. Baudis will provide either and I failed to ask which ones came with my plane. I had parts from other LDS installations so it was only a minor issue. I found the horizontal stab to be more tricky than the wings (and there are no illustrated instructions). You need to cut the elevator in half, make the cut-outs for the LDS, and get the servos glued in so that the everything is aligned and the two tops of the servo arms are close enough together to keep the arms on the output splines but not bind. The linkages on the elevator halves need to be close enough together to allow the fairing to fit on with minimal material removal. The linkages work very well as I have never had a plane with such slop-free control surfaces. The steel pins do need to be lubricated where the aluminum arm rotates on them as even during assembly the aluminum was galling onto the pins and making things bind. A drop of Tri-flow made things work smoothly.

[Hoot]

I will be flying a scale sailplane in a few weeks. I ordered the Baudis Diana 2 yesterday with the servo trays and linkages installed. Now on to how to set up a Jeti Central box with redundant receivers (2.4 and 900MHz), dual power source and on/off airborne switch from the Jeti DS 24 transmitter !

[edfmaniac]

Nice! I'm sure you will love it. Both of the big Baudis planes that I have maidened were pretty much trimmed on the ground. Almost no in flight adjustments needed other than elevator settings in the different flight modes.