I have been a fan of Stan Yeo's glider kits since 2016 when I built the excellent Sierra Mk2 – I have built a few more since then.
On the PhoenixMP website Stan has kindly made his model plans freely available to download. Most of the plans are usefully accompanied by a photograph of the completed model. One exception has always been Stan's 'Top Cat' classic slope soarer design from the 1970s, but in the accompanying text Stan says he would really like a picture, if anyone has one... this was all the encouragement I needed to set to work in April this year and a couple of weeks ago I was able to oblige:
Then fitted it out with a 35MHz receiver, which is as close as I could get to the 27MHz AM kit that would have been installed in the prototype. I left out the original flap/elevator mixer that was shown on the plan as I wouldn't trust any mechanical connection between the fuselage and wing in the event of a hard landing. In any case, control movement mixing can now be digital. When building from a vintage plan I am not a purist and will happily update the technology while still retaining the original's outline and appearance.
I see from other Facebook groups that flying vintage RC gliders is very popular, sometimes using single channel radio control which must be a real challenge on a windy slope.
For me the simplest models seem to offer the most fun, and building them from scratch is a very rewarding hobby.
Happy landings
Russell H
