• Wing Span: 84 in. (213 cm)
• Wing Area: 1,596 sq. in. (10,297 cm²)
• Length: 52.5 in. (133 cm)
• Weight: 20.0 lbs. (9.1 kg)
• Engine: 1.8 - 4.2 2 - cycle
  (29.5 - 68.8 cc 2 - cycle)
• 6 Servos required

The Stinger's 84" wingspan is 7 feet of flying fun! With its 84" wingspan, this super popular, IMAA legal Stinger kit is built for giant-scale fun. Super-strong "no-joint" plywood fuselage is built-up on the bottom and features an ABS turtledeck above the wing. The giant foam wing with nearly 1,600 square inches of wing area features a fully-symmetrical airfoil, full-length ailerons for added maneuverability, and balsa spars for added strength. Complete plans, instructions and preformed are landing gear included. A 4 - channel radio and 1.2 - 4.2 cu. in. engine are all that is required for completion.

The Stinger arrived in a large box due to the foam wings. The kit was well packaged with the foam wing cores still in the shell from which they were cut. The wood throughout the kit was acceptable and none had to be replaced. The ABS plastic parts were accurately formed and when cut on the scribed lines required almost no further trimming. The canopy was very clear and free of defects. All of the ABS parts were fiberglassed inside except for the cowl which was glassed inside and out due to the anticipated vibration from the Zenoah G-62 engine.

Assembly of the kit progressed rapidly and the plans were followed with only a few exceptions. The foam wing cores are covered with balsa sheeting at both the leading and trailing edges. Between these sheetings are cap strips that serve only to support the wing covering. The wing halves are joined with a strong plywood spar, balsa sheeting on the top and bottom and then fiberglassed over the center section. The leading edge of the wing should be rounded more than is called for in the plans. This is recommended because the Stinger proved to be too sensitive in the pitch attitude until the leading edge was rounded more.

The tail grouping is made up of 3/8" square balsa sticks with no sheeting. Hardwood dowels are used at all flying wire attach points and at the control horn points. The plans call for using quick links, bending them at a 45° angle, then enlarging the hole to fit 2-56 hardware. These are then soldered to piano wire. There are a couple of tricks to making this easier to accomplish. First, the fitting should not bent a sharp 45 degree angle but should be bent to gradual bend, otherwise the tempered steel may break. To drill the holes, a sharp .085" drill bit must be used it must be turn slowly in a drill press while lots of oil is used. Only a few holes can be drilled before the drill will need to be re-sharpened. Also, instead of using the aluminum joiner under the fuselage to connect the flying wires together, a joiner should be made of fiberglass. This breaks up the diamond shaped flying wires electrically so that they do not act as an RF shield to the radio antenna. This is very important.

The method outlined for the flying wires worked fine, but seemed very heavy compared to another similar installation that was seen at a scale meet. The piano wire was replaced with rigging wire. This system is much lighter, just as strong, and looks better. If rigging wire method is used, small brass tubing is recommended for are crimping sleeve with cable threaded through it. The joint is completed by crimping the sleeve with electrical crimping pliers. Small landing gear straps are used to pass the rigging wire through and attach to the rudder and stabilizer.

The plans didn't call for any fiberglass in the firewall area. Other Giant Stinger builders have experienced the engine actually separating from the fuselage. The ensure that this would no happen, the nose of the fuselage was fiberglassed well. Slight modification to the firewall had to be made due to a Pitts-Style Slimline muffler being used. Overall, the G-62 fit very nicely on this plane.

A modification was made to the wheel pants insure a much more secure mounting. The method that was recommended by Walter Ludwig, is highly recommended.

A JR XF-622 was used to control the Stinger. A 1/4 scale servo was connected to each aileron as recommended in the plans and a 1/4 scale servo was connected to each elevator half. Another 1/4 scale servo powered the rudder and a standard servo was used for the throttle. The rudder and elevator servos were mounted in the rear of the fuselage. All this was powered by two (2) separate battery packs and two (2) switches. Redundancy in this area is a small price to pay for the added insurance. As an additional precaution, 10" distance was maintained between the engine and all radio gear to minimize interference and used Ny-Rod was used for the throttle pushrod.

The ailerons needed a 1/16" balsa sheet laminated to them in order to get the same thickness as the trailing edge of the wing. This probably would have had no actual affect on the flying characteristics but it looks better if the ailerons match the wing. The recommended Robart hinge points were used throughout the model. Vaseline was applied to the hinge joint then one end was epoxied in place and allowed to cure. After this was cured, 30 minute epoxy was applied to the other ends and they installed the surfaces while care was taken to remove all excess epoxy in the joint.

Since the color scheme was to be black with silver trim, the canopy was tinted with navy blue Rit dye so that it would blend with the color scheme. For those who are unfamiliar with this process, the canopy is immersed in dye which is at a temperature of about 150° F. until the desired tint is achieved.

A few days after the Giant Stinger was finished, it was carefully loaded into the pickup and transported the local flying field for its maiden flight. After the initial run-up and taxi test, the Stinger was lined up with the runway and full power was applied. The tail lifted up quickly and a smooth, straight climb out was executed. The only surprise was that down elevator was a bit sensitive. All other control responses were exactly as expected. The recommended control surface throws as indicated on the plans were used and found to be adequate.

This is a very smooth flying plane with no known bad habits. It is much more graceful than the smaller models which have been flown in the past. The G-62, as promised by other modelers, is extremely reliable and forgiving to variables in carburetor settings, fuel tank location, etc. Basically, this is a great plane for any modeler to ease into giant scale modeling!