Comparison Flights

[Ernie Buenafe]

I did a flight comparison between the Toy and the Sprite Hot this morning. They are similar looking gliders. But appearances can be deceiving.

The Toy has a higher aspect ratio wing, hence, less wing area. About 12% less. It has an HN-352 airfoil, which haven't been able to find out much about. The Sprite Hot uses a blended AG airfoil. The Toy is 80 grams heavier

I've had the Sprite Hot for some time now, several years, and have quite a number of flights with it. Decent enough for sport flying but rather docile. Not quite up to warmliner performance. Recently I've been flying it more aggressively and discovered there's more to it than I thought. What a pleasant surprise.

I flew it this morning against the Toy. It was the Toy's 3rd flight, pretty much dialed in now. It's clear the Toy is the faster. Both in straight line speed and roll rate. But in all other aspects, they are similar. Sustained inverted flight is nearly identical. Both managed a respectable four-point-roll, with little to no top-rudder needed in the knife edge position. The Spirit is fairly silent in flight while the Toy whistles. The whistling I think is due to the servo covers not being completely airtight due to the servo horns protruding through the cover. I'll have to do something about that.

 Overall, I like the Toy a bit more. Mostly due to its speed. Yes, I have a need for speed. I'll try and do a GoPro video this week.