After a very long recuperation period, the Stinger 64 is back and flying. It had suffered severe damage after it had refused to pull up coming down from a loop, leaving the nose crumpled and twisted as it plummeted into the ground at full throttle. Ironically, despite all the close shaves I'd had when first flying it, it had crashed when I everything appeared to be well under control.
Despite the massive impact, the Stinger was not completely wrecked, with everything from the wings back having been protected from the impact by the crumpling of the nose section. The only exception was the actual fan unit itself which had shattered, however a direct replacement was fortunately available for a modest sum.
My skill in EPO repair had also improved and, along with an investment in some good super glue and accelerator, I was able to coax the Stinger back into shape. The final piece was the nose cone, so deeply embedded into the ground that I couldn't find it, although fortunately happened to have one on my shelf.
So, with the Stinger literally back in shape, it was just a matter of getting it out to the field. Which took a while, quite a while in fact, as I pondered whether I was ready to handle this speedster in the air, with it's twitchy nature and tendency to drop in turns.
Having given some thought to the latter, I decided that it couldn't be flown like a Radjet or even Rarebear, which will happily sit in steep turns losing little or no height, but that the Stinger needed a positive bank and yank approach, or "turn like you mean it".
So, on a beautifully sunny afternoon with a moderate southerly coming through, I finally summonsed the courage to fly it again . Fortunately I hadn't lost the feel for the Stinger, although you do need to be careful and super-observant, and the launch and flight went well, with the screecher finally running out of battery and gliding in to land...
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