Has anyone else built the Wraith? I got it to try out hand launch. I wanted to go cheap so if I dont like hand launch then I wont be hangering too much cost. Less than $100 and a week later this is what I have. It came well boxed and the parts are unbroken. The covering looks really good and the fuse is light. It even came with a pretty CF cockpit. Then it becomes not so fun. I could not find a servo that fits in the fuse for the ruddervators. There aint even a tray or anything to mount the servos. I finally found the smallest servos I could find for ruddervators and they were still too tall. My decission was to modify the fuse so the servos would fit. Some FG work and an afternoon later, I now have a fuse that the servos fit in. I also took some leftover plywood and made a place for the servos to mount in. Any advise or build tips are welcome.

Yes its a HK plane and I got what I paid for. I have seen other kits from HK that are much better designed so I'm a bit disappointed with this one. The instructions couldnt be more vague. But my goal is CHEAP so I could try HLG out and not incure too much cost. But it is what it is and I want to make the best I can of it so please keep your comments positive so I can complete this build and get it flying.

Looks like a decent slope plane to be honest. Hand launching with a javelin throw is tough and very hard on the wrist. If its soaring you are interested in trying out you would do best to hit the slopes with that model.

Javelin launches for a very experienced glider pilot has a few slight advantages over disc launch gliders only because the tails can be built much lighter because the loads are less for launching. The launches however are about 70 percent lower.


IMO handlaunch gliders is the one aspect of RC flying where compromises shouldnt be made if you hope to be successful. OTOH Slope soaring is a blast!


Not trying to turn you off as I feel any kind of flying is a lot of fun and something can always be learned. I just hate to see guys get turned off of gliding before getting the tools to evaluate the concept fully

Looks a lot like a Speedo Thermo with a V-tail. The Speedo is a well-respected inexpensive 1.2m slope plane that works in light as well as stronger winds. Search the slope forum for the big thread....lots of advice there.

edit: Hmm, yes....the Hobby King listing calls it a slope soarer, and the big thread mentions it as a Speedo copy. Should be fun!

It is advertized as a sloper on the HK site. My flying buddy has a 2M that was also advertized as a sloper but it seems to thermal just fine. My thoughts with this one is to try and explore the smaller thermals lower to the ground that I can detect with my Spirit Elite which carries a motor and heavy battery but I havent been able to really capitalize on because of the extra weight. At most times we cant even land our 2M planes because of a small hill that runs along the edge of the runway. I'm hoping to explore that area with lighter wing loading. I've watched hawks fly to that very area at about 20 to 40 ft and then thermal out of sight. I do have some slopes nearby that even if the Wraith doesnt work out at the flying site, it will still get some use at the other sites.

Thanks for mentioning the Speedo Thermo. I took a look at one of the threads on it and I already have some good ideas on how to handle mounting the wings on the Wraith. I do not like how the instructions suggest to mount them. "Glue together and drill holes to mount". The way these wings are made, doing that will make it impossible to replace servo wires if needed. The instructions also suggest to epoxy all the servos in. I'd rather screw them in so they can be replaced easier if I strip one out.

The tail came out perfect at 110°. I used tape to align the bottom and then folded til the angles met. But I have no idea what angle they were thinking when they molded the fuse part where the tail feathers mount. The 110° doesnt align at all. Some epoxy, ruler and some makeshift jigs and I finally got the V tail to at least look lined up right. Finishing the servos in the fuse was like building a ship inside a bottle. Very tight fit and I had to use tweezers and needle nose plyers to get it all done. Not complaining, just how it is when your assembling inside a very small fuse with large long fingers.

Kudos to HK. The manufacture at least thought far enough ahead to put strings in to pull the servo wires in. The wing seam fits nicely together. The servo panels do not countersink. What a drag.... literally. If I cut out balsa to countersink the servo panels, then there is nothing left to mount them to. Whatever... the plane is a cheap experiment anyway. Then I got to the carbon rod that goes in the wings. It too big and wont fit in the wings! Options, drill the carbon tube in the wing or sand the carbon rod down to fit. The carbon rod is 40cm long and I dont have a drill bit 20cm long for each side. Sanding the rod. After sanding 4/100s mm from the rod it now fits but.... they bottom out at 15cm in each wing. Hmmmm 10cm too long. If I drill out the rib then the extra CF rod extends past the tube and does nothing to support the wing so cut off 10cm of the rod. The plastic bolts to hold down the wings stop and will not tighten at all and wouldnt ya know it I dont have a metric tap to clean the threads of the blind nuts. Heres a pic of it mostly assembled but the wings wont be mounted til I get a tap to clean out the threads.

You might have been better off getting a Fling. Not the DLG one though.

Very nice! Looking good. Hopefully I'll get to see maiden this weekend.

Originally Posted by prodjx

You might have been better off getting a Fling. Not the DLG one though.

I would have been better off "having" a fling. lol Probably would have spent less $$$. geez Shhh! dont tell my wife! However... it is what it is. I went cheap and I got cheap. This plane is advertized as an ARF. I can tell ya, its NO ARF. If HK can tell me what servos they recommend with it then maybe its an ARF cause the web site says the servos I have will fit and I can tell ya, they dont! After all is said and done it will fly and probably will fly pretty good. I just dont recommend it for some one thats looking for an ARF.

I've decided to drill out the blind nuts for the wings and re-tap them for standard threads. Easier to find standard thread bolts in this town anyway. Taking out the blind nuts they have in there is next to impossible cause they FGed them in pretty good. After that I need to recheck everything wiggles correctly and set the CG with all my electronics in it. Sorry no new pics to post cause this is the first moment I've had to myself all day. I hope to have it done for this weekend but my weatherman says this weekend is going to be REALLY HOT. We'll see....

Here are some numbers for those that are interested. I'll do some number crunching when I get an AUW and post those too. BTW... I only added 4g when I did the fuse mod to make more room for the servos in it. Thats after paint too.

Specs:
Wingspan: 1200mm
Length: 800mm
Airfoil: HN354mod
Flying Weight: 380g

The Wraith is presented as a slope soarer and as such is very different from a HLG. If you are expecting to find out what HLG is all about the Wraith will not be a pleasant experience.
If you want it as a slope model, it will make a very satisfactory introduction.
Having designed and built models of all descriptions over many decades, I rarely purchase a model. I did buy a Wraith and taking into consideration its price and quality it will give me a compact slope model that I can pack easily on my travels.

A model of this size and layout will not benefit very much from the addition of a rudder servo and I decided to use elevator only.
Because I wanted two piece wings, I decided to make a balsa centre panel 1" wide into which the removable wings fitted. This makes the wing mounting less fiddly.The balsa was faced on both sides with 1/32" ply and locating pins were added.
The fuselage is well moulded, although the canopy fitting is a bit sloppy. The fuselage moulding is quite strong and is obviously intended for tough slopeside landings. It is however, very slim and needs a bit of juggling to fit batteries, receiver and servos.

Taking everything into account it is a fairly well presented slope model, but definitely not in the HLG class. Don't place your judgement of HLG on the performance of this model, it was never intended to be one.

Does the 2 piece wing restrict you to a javelin launch rather than a discuss launch?

The Speedo / Wraith is a great liitle plane, but I wouldn't want to throw one - except off a cliff.

Originally Posted by MCH27t

The Speedo / Wraith is a great liitle plane, but I wouldn't want to throw one - except off a cliff.

not to derail blacksheep's thread, but:

It'd be interesting to see what blacksheep does with it this weekend....
he went this route cause where we fly, we fly right in front of a hay field and there appears to be a pocket of thermal about 25-50ft above that hay field. We typically fly our 79" gliders and would float at that 25-50ft mark for an easy 5-10mins with no motor.

I'd imagine, if he can get it up to altitude...say 100ft, I'm willing to bet that thing will stay up there for a while and pretty much float around right in front of us...
we were even talking about towing it with my 73 inch cub!

Originally Posted by wyowindworks

Does the 2 piece wing restrict you to a javelin launch rather than a discuss launch?

I am not contemplating flying it as a HLG - just as a slope glider.

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Sorry RCBS but I do hope you have fun with it. And I won't say a word to your wife.