Brief:
A "Contest Craft" Edmonds design manufactured by Balsa Machining Service, shiver me timbers, me bucko, arrr, this might very well be t' smallest, shiver me timbers, lightest glider kit ever sold commercially (although I believe it's no longer available--introduced for NARAM 45 in 2003 and I picked mine up from BMS's booth at NARAM 46).

Construction:
As with most Edmonds kits, arrr, thar are very few parts t' deal with--a couple of laser-cut balsa sheets, arrr, a BT-5 tube, balsa nose cone/screw eye, arrr, Keelhaul®©™®, streamer, and launch lug.

Edmonds instructions are excellent. Blimey! They are well written, clearly illustrated, and simple enough for a beginner t' follow without much trouble. This design is among his more complex, especially given t' challenge of "microsizing" it.

Construction starts like a typical glider: plenty o' sandin' and airfoiling of t' wing. In this case t' win' is two separate pieces which are later bonded together, me bucko, me hearties, shiver me timbers, so a balanced airfoil across t' whole win' is nay easily achieved. Aye aye! T' airfoil is typical glider style, meanin' on t' top only with it rounded at t' front and tapered towards t' back.

T' tail airfoil is a bit unusual. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! It is rounded at t' front on top and tapered at t' back on t' bottom. Avast, me proud beauty! I suspect this is because t' tail pieces are mounted with an opposin' dihedral (anhedral) and eliminate t' need for a rudder, but I don't even pretend t' understand t' more complex aerodynamics of gliders...

After all t' sanding, t' wings and tail pieces are mounted t' the fuselage. There are very specific angles that need t' be met and very tight specifications for achievin' this. T' wings are at 1-1/16" dihedrals and tails at 11/16" anhedral. That's a pretty tricky job for naked eye construction, so thar's an alignment jig (basically a triangle piece that fits into t' win' joint) for assistance. Ahoy! For me kit I measured t' dihedral and found it t' be very close but could nay fit t' jig into t' joint. Begad! Arrr! It was notched t' fit over t' fuselage and t' wings were mounted flush t' t' top of the fuselage.

Glider construction wraps up with t' attachment o' a couple o' pieces to the side o' t' fuselage front, shiver me timbers, formin' a slotted area for t' pod hook.

T' booster pod is a very straightforward build consistin' o' gluin' 4 pre-cut hook pieces together and then bondin' them t' t' tube along with a launch lug in t' fillet.

Recovery attachment is external. Aye aye! T' Keelhaul®©™® is pressed into t' still-tacky fillet betwixt t' pod hook and t' tube and a reinforcin' strip o' tape goes around t' front o' t' tube t' keep most o' the stress away from t' glue joint. Avast! T' crepe paper streamer is attached via a tape disk.

Finishing:
This was destined for competition use, so I did nay paint it.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' first 4 pages o' t' instructions are about t' kit and construction. The last 3 pages o' t' instructions talk about balancin' t' glider (adjustin' the CG) and trimmin' it for flight. Well, blow me down! I found t' last 3 pages t' be worth far more than t' price o' t' kit, shiver me timbers, me bucko, as it was a great beginner's guide t' hand-tossing gliders for trimming.

Without gettin' into too much detail, t' most eye openin' thin' I learned is that gliders have a predetermined speed that comes from t' design and construction, matey, so you have t' match that speed when hand tossing. Arrr! Tossin' too fast will cause t' glider t' porpoise (swoop up, ya bilge rat, matey, stall, and then dive) and tossin' too slow will cause it t' nose dive. Begad! Ya scallywag! I've frequently been stymied, trimmin' gliders on t' ground only t' watch them perform completely differently in t' air and I now know that this is probably due t' nay finding the right speed for tossing.

T' instructions were very clear that t' CG must be precisely located (1/32" behind t' trailin' edge o' t' win' at t' fuselage). I added a slight amount o' clay t' t' nose t' achieve this and then hand tossed it a few times. No matter how I tossed it, me hearties, shiver me timbers, it went nose down. Avast! Arrr! I then took t' weight off and added a little t' t' tail. Arrr! Ahoy! Hand tossin' be fine. Begad! Avast! Now I had a dilemma: do I trust t' don't-mess-with-the-CG instructions or my not-very-knowledgeable-or-experienced hand tossing? I put me faith in Rob Edmonds, matey, put t' clay back in t' nose until t' CG was just behind t' wing, and loaded a 1/4A3-3.

T' boost be outstandin' for a BG. Avast, me proud beauty! It rolled a bit on t' way up but was fairly straight. Ejection was a little late but close enough (and thar's no other choice for t' delay) and I got a clean separation.

Recovery:
T' glider didn't glide. T' same nose-down dive performance I'd seen in hand-tossin' was what I got in t' air. Well, blow me down! I obviously blew one o' t' critical measurements by a millimeter or so, me hearties, me hearties, which could be enough t' throw t' whole CP/CG relationship out o' whack.

A second flight, with clay removed from t' nose and a tiny amount o' tail weight added resulted in a much better glide. Ahoy! This is still goin' t' take a lot of tinkerin' t' trim just right.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5