Rob Edmonds Deltie

boost glider

I am extremely impressed by this kit. Good materials and excellent laser-cut parts yield a fast-building sport model with very good competition potential.

The glider itself is made up of only eight pieces of 1/16" balsa - wings, elevon, fuselage, tip plates and nose reinforcements. The pieces are almost self-jigging and go together very quickly. Even a slow builder like me can put it together in an afternoon using yellow carpenter's glue - complete with fillets. ;-) Rob does NOT recommend airfoiling or rounding anything, so it's almost a 'shake the box' build-up (model railroading kit term <G>). I must admit that I'm planning to try *some* sanding on my next kit - just to see what effect (if any) it will have on the glide.

The only shortcoming I see in this kit is failure to provide an engine hook. Per the instructions, motor retention is accomplished by taping the motor casing in place with masking tape. I prefer more positive location and retention, so I'm adding a motor hook (trimmed to avoid exhaust gas impinging on the retainer) and engine block to the pop-pod on mine.

Outside of that one minor quibble, I find this to be an absolutely outstanding kit and a great introduction to boost gliders. Check the launch reports for results, but so far this looks like a real winner!

Built: February, 1998
Launches:
21 June, 1998 - MRFF-98 30 May, 1998 - 14AL-98 8 February, 1998 - test launch
Repairs:
	none, yet

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Last Updated:	25 June, 1998
Author:	Alan Rognlie
Email:	arrognli@execpc.com