 |
|
The 17.5% Giles 202 is Lanier's "baby" of their larger 35% offering. This plane, like its big brother, is CAD-designed by Jerry Smith and is quite true to scale. It is designed for those with smaller budgets or cars who still want a sharp looking "do anything" aerobat. The kit is very reasonably priced at around $60 - $70 and comes in a small, well-packed box. First inspection reveals outstanding balsa and lite-ply, all light and clean with excellent, "fall-out" laser-cutting. This is the best wood experienced in a kit. The plans are superb but the instruction manual is not aimed at beginners and is somewhat cryptic. Pictures are in black-and-white and sometimes difficult to interpret. Builders will soon know why this kit is so inexpensive in the extensive hardware and "additional parts required" list at the back. An additional $40 - $60 will be required to purchase more hardware and odds and ends. The construction starts with conventional stick-built tail surfaces that are not sheeted. These are incredibly light yet stiff. The wing is next and is built in typical fashion. All wing ribs have an integral "building tab" built in and the wing is built flat over the plans. The wing is built "one-piece" on the plans using a plywood center brace. The plans call for a central aileron servo with bellcranks to the ailerons but the decision was made to modify the design and sink basswood rails and separate mini-servos on each aileron. This might have actually been actually easier to do than engineer the bellcranks and results in less slop in the controls. The fuselage is built next and is very straightforward. It is a typical "box" construction with the type of motor box seen on giant scale aircraft. The front turtledeck is conventional sheeting over stringers. The rear turtledeck is simply stringers but this was also sheeted for aesthetic reasons. The fuselage bottom is also built up with stringers and goes together quickly. More stringers are needed for the belly pan. The landing gear mounts to a slightly recessed plywood plate giving a very nice look to the plane. The rear of the fuselage was also modified by cutting small openings under the horizontal stabilizer and mounting two mini-servos for each elevator half. The cowl and wheelpants are a thick ABS so the decision was made to get aftermarket fiberglass replacements from Stans Fibertech. These are the smallest wheelpants made by Stans. Both the pants and cowl were primed and painted with Goldberg's Ultrapaint. Covering was also Goldberg Ultracoat and was easy except for those stringered areas. Care must be taken not to break any while covering. An OS .46FX engine with a Slimline Pitts-style muffler was selected to power the Giles simply because it was available. This is at the extreme upper end of the power range for this little plane and frankly, it is not recommended it due to the extra weight. Even with tail-mounted elevator servos the plane was quite nose-heavy. To remedy this, the battery pack was moved as far aft as possible. When this did not eliminate the problem, a larger 1,000 mah battery pack was mounted in the mid-rear fuselage through a custom hatch that was constructed for this purpose. When this also did not solve the problem, 2.3 ounces of lead were added at the rear fuselage. A high-performance .30 size engine with lighter weight would be a better choice for this plane. It was a disappointment to see the ready-to-fly weight pushing five pounds. This gave a wing loading of ~30 oz/sq ft, which is high for such a small plane. The recommended weight range is 3.5 - 4.5 pounds. The day of the test flight arrived and the OS fired up on the first try. Taxi tests showed good ground handling despite a somewhat nose-high stance. To use the wheel pants, the Giles must be flown off pavement. There is simply no clearance for grass flying with two inch wheels. The first flight was more exciting than anticipated as high-rate rudder was inadvertently left on and a sharp left followed by a sharp right turn and takeoff into the grass turned the Giles into a retractable gear type. The gear levered cleanly off and the Giles was up and away. Suprisingly, the plane flew great without the gear. After a belly landing on the grass, subsequent flights showed a very nice plane indeed with extremely axial rolls, excellent tracking and a beautiful profile to watch. This is a great little plane that is not hard to build as a second or third kit. Builders should stick with a lighter engine, perhaps a Webra .32, and try to keep the weight down as much as possible. |
|