Hello Slow Sticker flyers, Part 1

I just wanted to share my "Slow Stick" setup with everyone, maybe the tips and mods
I have done will help someone building a "Slow Stick".

Have had this Gem of a plane for about a week. This will be my fourth plane - 1. Avistar
Select- 2. Avistar AWARF- 3. Ripmax Alienator GP ( still under construction - Glassing)
4. GWS Slow Stick.

I am a "Noob" and most likely will always be a "Noob". I learn something new everyday,
this forum is a great wealth of information for everyone.


First impression was it is a bit "Cheap", Hey what do you expect for $35. The build was
quite simple- some items are missing in the instructions ( such as the direction of the
Control horn retainers)--Dab a bit of 100% clear silicone rubber sealant on them.

I did not cut the Fuse intentionally I noticed during assembly that Aluminum was bowed, gave it a bit of persuasion and Kinked the crap out of it. 2 1/2 long balsa square stock and the
supplied fuse connector screwed together with 2x 4-40 and Nylocs to repair ( fuse connector came in handy atleast)

First flight impression - This thing is "Squirrely" in the air compared to my nitro planes.

All you Thumb thrashers playing on your Xbox and PS2 need to know one thing with any plane
it takes "VERY LITTLE" stick movement to control a plane. Be gentle you only need about 1/8" to 1/4" movements. My 11 and 15 year old Daughters found this out REAL FAST on
the Real FLite Sim flying the BLT trainer.

* After a bit of Tweaking and Taping it turns out this is a Great and Durable Park Flyer*
Loops, Inverted, Outside Loops, Nice stall turns all possible with this plane.

Pic # 1 Power plant and gearbox - Strip down the gearbox remove everything. Tape the front 2 triangular holes below the motor mount fill them in with Epoxy (will save you a gearbox or two).Bolt the motor on- shown is a 4-40 screw with a Nyloc nut. Have not done the "Prop Saver mod" search the net for this " Slow Stick Prop Saver". I also have a 5" strip of Industrial Velcro running underneath the tube - will explain.

Pic #2 My back set ended up 5 3/4" - This could be due to alot of factors - Servos not far enough forward, etc. -but yours WILL vary. I had a hard time with the CG as do most ppl and
ended up mounting the Battery "Forward" of the Wing.

Pic #3 Battery mounted - Remember the Industrial Velcro - allows me to adjust the battery forward or Back . 2 Velcro Straps (Set of 6 for $3 at the local Ace hardware store).
Yes thats is a LI-PO Thunder Power 2100mah 2Sj 30+ minute flight times.*** Beware I am still
using the GWS ICS 100 ESC I time and Test the battery , GWS cutoff voltage is 4.2 volts a Li-Po should be cutoff at 5v or even 6v with a programmable ESC such as a Castle Creations ESC as to not ruin the Battery not good at $45 a pop.

I usally run 10 minutes land let the Motor cool down and repeat 2 more flights. The GWS 400mah gave me about 5 minutes a charge.

Also notice the "Landing Gear Cross Brace" out of music wire folded on the struts and held
with a dab of 100% clear silicone rubber sealant ----> This stuff is almost as handy as
Duct tape hehe!! Dont like it peel it off--clean metal with rubbing alcohol before application.

Pic #4 Servo mounts - play with the CG best you can before cutting and Z-bending the wires.
Notice I dabbed a bit of the 100% clear silicone rubber sealant on the Aluminum Tube front and rear of the Servo mounts. If your Crash it acts like a mini Shock absorber so you dont rip your servo horns out the Rudder and Elevator. Yes, I do put a velcro strap on my receiver its just removed.

TBC next Post

Part # 2- post with remaining Pictures.


Pic #5 Wing Taping and CG - I used 1 inch Fiberglass packing tape you can use wider if like. I started using regular clear packing tape, but this stuff with a small tear breaks very easy. Taped off leading and trailing edge and added underwing strips. You will also notice
in Pic #7 that I did indeed cut off the wing tips and taped the edges. It flies a bit better
in the wind but only had 3 flights with the wing tips on.

CG -front of wing--> Notice the 2 marks the left mark is the "Suggested" 4 1/8 inch. My plane seems to fly better at the right mark 3 5/8" from the leading edge. Fly readjust and repeat till you get it the way you like it.


Pic #6 my basic equipment The Hobbico MKII $50 is a great charger will charge anything up to 8 cells (Li-po upto 3 cells) can charge 2 batteries at the same time.I charge everything with this charger My transmitters and flight packs. Either buy or make your charging extensions. Auto Lighter to Banana/Binding post $7 at radio shack.

Not shown I fly using a Futaba 8U Heli Super and have 2 Futaba 4fv's for my daughters.
Buy the best Radio you can afford it will last you and Grow with you as you move on to bigger or smaller and better planes or helis

Pic #7 Finished and "Wings Clipped" - On the tail I cut 2 strips of Balsa and epoxied them to the stabilizer( bottom of tail is taped and edges - Fiberglass tape. Wing tips are cut off 1/8" outside the Faux Ailerons. I replaced all the "Hinge" tape with the Fiberglass tape. I also used the fiberglass tail plates and screws with 100% silicone . Hard to see but I did use extra clear packing tape about 6" wide both sides of top
center line of wing. If you look around the Forums and do some searches almost all the
Slow Sticks have the battery mounted forward of the Wing go figure.


Durability--- with the tape and the few mods, I did accomplish to Ram it into the back of my RAV4 with a good tail wind gust, It hit at about 25 MPH and only bent the Gear box shaft $2 repair and was flying again.

I am so Happy with this plane I Bought another NIB waiting for a chance to fly!! This one might see a Brushless Himax 2015-4200 :P

Hope this helps someone, good luck with your Slow Sticks

How are those trimmed wings working for you? Is there any slip in the turns - what differences in flight characteristics have you noticed?

I found that with the wings clipped I can make a much smoother turn transition in mild wind.

It does not kite as well into a headwind, I could almost hover it before. Not bad for the stock motor.

I noticed when my daughter was flying it, when she made a mistake and released the sticks it would take quite abit longer to recover.



Other than that we have been having a blast with this plane.

Either way, clipped wings or not, the Slow Stick is a blast!!!

I've been doing mad stunts including- loops (wings flex), FULL THROTTLE DIVES (wings flex), FULL THROTTLE DOWNWARD SPIRALS (wings flex), hovering (which ends too soon). Motor's a EPS350. Not bad, but not enough climbing power.

APC PROPS RULES!!! They're expensive up front, but they don't break (but they do bend your gearbox shaft LOL).