Stinger Maiden

Finally got time to maiden the Stinger today, and boy was it worth the wait, it is very fast and agile! Conditions were very light and thermic and I didn't try any ballast, not that it really needed it, a few hiccups to start with when Paul suggested we check everything was moving in the right direction, I noticed the ailerons were back to front, whoops that would have been a bit of a disaster. Still that's why we check these things, so a few programming adjustments were required before we committed plastic to air.

Paul launched, and straight away she was very nose heavy and needed a lot of up trim and a few clicks of aileron to get her flying straight and true, although I like to have a little down trim bias so that they fly level at speed. Tried the the dive test which was very neutral, crow test suggested it would need a couple more clicks of down elevator compensation and the stall was manageable, but felt uncomfortable with the nose dropping abruptly and the right wing dropping afterwards.

On the course she has a lot of natural pace, similar to the Needle but very agile in the turns, will need to dial in a little less aileron differential next time, but didn't really play with the settings I've chosen. Elevator is very responsive, I can live with it, but might need to tone it down. I'm already running less elevator than recommended as I anticipated she would be responsive, although I don't run any expo.

Landings were very easy, my newly discovered setting where I uncouple flaps from ailerons seems to work wonders. Managed three flights with her, she accelerates well down the straights and felt very grippy for an un-ballasted glider. She is very slippery and quick, but doesn't feel very buoyant, so its not the liftiest of wing sections, but that's probably the trade off to make her so slippery. She makes all the right groaning and moaning noises and responded well to thermal flap (camber). She hasn't earned my trust yet though as she is quite twitchy and feels like you are hanging on to a Tiger's Tail, reminding me of when I first got the Cyril, but once I get to know her more I'm sure we'll be able to do great things. Definitely feels faster and quicker than the Cyril, hopefully find out in a couple of weeks at our next race, just enough time to dial her in and get some wing ballast cast out of lead.

Short video, also with Paul ripping up the slope with his Needle, he's really starting to dial in those EM turns!


Tow Scar Stinger Maiden from Tom Foreman on Vimeo.