Hi guys,

I performed the test flights on my new GP 1/4 scale Giles 202 today and came away very favorably impressed. Power is a Moki 1.35 spinning an APC 17X8 at 9000 rpm in flight trim. It needed 2 oz of lead in the tail to balance and came in at 12 lbs, 5 oz. dry weight.

I upgraded some of the hardware to better stuff, but generally I'm very pleased w/ the quality of this ARF. I did switch the landing gear around so that the sweep is now front to back, which not only looks better, but also places the wheels about 3/8" further forward. I had observed that a friend's Giles had a slight tendency to nose over on the rough grass at out field, so I also shimmed the back of the landing gear about 1/16". The net effect was to place the wheels about 3/4" ahead of the intended spot. I'm happy to report that the ground handling w/ this setup is very good and there's no nosing over tendencies. I also upgraded the wheels to 3.5" Sullivan rather than using the smallish 3" foamies that come w/ the kit.

First 2 flights were very conservatively peformed so as to give the Moki some additional run in time, but during flights 3 thru 5, I progressively wrung it out to see what she would do. Well, this is a great bird IMO - it tracks strait as an arrow, rolls are as axials as any plane I've flown and the airframe dampens its movements very nicely. The main impression is one of smoothness and groviness.

On knife edge, the Giles exhibits NO roll coupling, with only the slightest pull towards the gear. Vertical performance w/ the Moki is excellent, though I'll wait 'till I'm 100% confident w/ the engine before I try any low level prop hanging.

Low speed flight exhibits no tip stalling tendencies and the plane has an generous glide ratio. Like any large aerobat, it can't be dragged in slow and nose high, but keep a little speed up 'till over the numbers and landings are pretty uneventfull.

I asked a good buddy of mine who's also an experienced pattern flyer to try the Giles and he also had a very good impression of the ship. I had been wondering what it would fly like, since I had been suspicious of the low price Tower was letting them go for last fall ($192 shipped), but my fears were unfounded as the Giles is one Great Airplane (pun intended!)

I have a 3W 35 for mine, some of the hardware went to the trash, it's a nice looking plane It will be easy to see it, white, blue and 3 reds :-)

It is a great looking and flying plane. I found out too late that the gear was too soft. TNT has a good replacement for it

Geistware, who is TNT, I need a replacement gear for a staudacher. Do they have a Website? Thanks, Daz...

Yes, Tnt Landing products.
http://www.tntlandinggear.com/

CGB Staudacher LG-140 $20.00
Lanier Staudacher LG-193 $35.00

Their products are good

Thanks Geistware. The ones that came with my Staudacher GS300 are a little flimsy. Looks like this place has just t he right one.Daz...

I did another 4 flights today and experimented a little with props. So far I've tried the APC 17X8, 18X8 and Zinger Pro series 18X8. IMO the best overall performance was w/ the APC 18X8. Excellent vertical and the quietest prop of the three I've tried so far. I would love to also try an APC 16X10, but there is no way to get it on because (even the short-shaft adaptor) the prop hub is just too thick for the Moki's short crankshaft.

The engine is comming along nicely and I only had a flame-out on final on the very first flight day before yesterday (no damage). I've since adjusted the idle mixture disk to lean it out a bit and have had no probs since. It will hover with the stick about 3/4 forward w/ the APC 18X8, by the way.