August 2006 Vol. 23, No. 8 – R/C - RCSoaring.com

Great Planes
Fling ARF
by Jerry Slates (oldjer@themacisp.net)
F
or years I have been flying R/C
sailplanes with 2-3 meter wingspans. I
always wanted to try a Hand Launch
Glider, but never seamed to find the time.
Now that I have the time, I find that as a
senior citizen, I'm not capable of launching
a Hand Launch Glider more than three or
four times before my body gives out. But
then I discovered the Fling, and its
mini-histart. This I can handle.
I ordered a Fling, and when it arrived I
couldn't clear my work bench fast enough
to get started with the Fling's assembly.
Opening the box there were only a few bits
and pieces. Two wing halves, fuselage,
stabilizer with hinged elevator, fin with
hinged rudder, a manual, and two plastic
bags. One bag contained a wing joiner,
trailing edge support, two carbon fiber
wing dowel's, two control horns, and
some rubber bands. The other bag
contained an already assembled
mini-histart, with 30 feet of surgical
tubing and 200 feet of tow line, along
with a hold down stake.
I started construction by doing the tail
assembly first. I had to remove a small strip
of the covering from the center of the
stabilizer, top and bottom, so that I could
glue the fin onto the stabilizer, and the
stabilizer onto the fuselage.
Next, I joined the two wing halves
together and set the wing aside to cure.
Going back to the tail assembly, I then
installed the two control horns into the
rudder and elevator.
After installing the servos, receiver and
battery pack, I tied the pull-pull control
strings in place and adjusted and adjusted
again. After adjusting the pull-pull
control strings, I installed the carbon fiber
wing dowels and I was done.
From the time that I opened the box to the
completion of the Fling, only took four
hours. This includes some lunch and
feeding the cat.
With the servos mounted in place,
receiver in front of the servo's and the
battery pack mounted under the wing, the
Fling balanced almost on the money, just a
42 R/C Soaring Digest