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zagi zagi thl stiletto siesta filip400 simply the best nano floh skorpion
Fun slope soarer.
EPP crash proof flying wing.
Chosen for its looks and non bendability.
I wanted something to fly without the nervous stress involved in risking the stiletto.
2 piece black expanded polypropylene foam semi symmetric wing epoxied
together and covered in reinforced tape.
Plastic fins (with balsa leading edge).
Radio dropped into holes cut after taping.
I made a few mods.
I cut a channel into the black foam to 1 wing tip and laid in a tube for the Rx
antenna, rather than just taping it down permanently.
I extended the central area of doubled up tape a bit further out than
specified.
I covered it before fitting the elevons, so I couldn't use the specified
reinforced tape as a hinge.
Initially used double solarfilm hinge, but this was a bit weakly attached and
has now been replaced with the usual mylar hinges.
The black foam proved rather intractable as far as the inserting the mylar was
concerned and I ended up stapling through the trailing edge, which seems to
work very well.
I didn't want to cut holes through the fins for tape, and tried to use screw
fixings, but again the black foam really isn't up to it.
The fins are held on with insulation tape at the moment.
Finally got to use 2 of the original Futaba standard servos that came with my
set in the rather deep wing section.
Ken Hewitt mixer.
I changed the orientation of the servos slightly so that the pushrods are
perpendicular to the control surfaces rather than in line with the air flow.
Put a standard 500mAh 4xAA nicad cell pack as far forward as I dared, but still
needed some lead in the nose.
Covered in the usual red solarfilm with black fins.
You are supposed to be able to build 1 of these in an afternoon, but it took me
about 3 weeks.
Flown lots.
Surprisingly easy to fly, and bounces nicely if you get it wrong.
A bit vague when compared to traditional aircraft like the stiletto, but lots of fun.
I have flown it inverted, but it needs most of the down elevator available.
There are usually loads of zagis at the slope and we try to bash them into each
other, which is more difficult than you might think.
Unfortunately, my rather badly attached fins tend to get knocked off 1st.
Does need a moderate wind.
I later followed it up with a zagi
thl.
Not exactly pretty, but it does look cool, zipping along the slope in all its flatness with the little fins sticking up.
More recently, I have recovered it in red profilm, which seems to perform
better than the solarfilm.
Also replaced the correx fins with plastic yellow things cut from the base of a
cat litter tray.
These attached by the standard method ie. tape.
They still get knocked off easily, but reattach with just a bit of tape.
I used 2 pinned hinges on each alieron, which has made the controls more
positive.
Took half the nose weight out.
This is such an excellent aircraft.
I probably fly it more than anything else.
I have flown inverted, bunts, outside loops.
| span | area | mass | loading |
| 121.5 cm | 3187 cm2 | 752 g | 23.60 g/dm2 |
| 48 in | 3.43 ft2 | 26.5 oz | 7.73 oz/ft2 |
The zagi and stiletto at the Long Mynd Darnford slope March 2000.
The gliders in the garden 2001 zagi, stiletto, siesta
The 3 gliders siesta, stiletto (upside down to stop it
blowing away), zagi on Long Mynd
Darnford slope Sept 2001.
Dad has a Santa Claus hat on due to misplacing the other.
Loads of zagis - Lee's (yellow), mine (red), Graham's
(blue).
I think dad's (green) is in the air
somewhere.
Long Mynd Pole Cot Mar 2002.
That's Lee sitting in front of his zagi.
Mark about to launch zagi in cold snowy conditions. Long Mynd Darnford February 2003. Photo by Lee.
The zagi at pole cott on an excellent day in January 2004.
The zagi being flown inverted by Lee while I got some photos at pole cott March 2007.