At 31" span, this model has got to be put in the "micro" class !!.

For your miserly £39, you get a fully built-up and covered 1-piece wing, Covered ailerons, Covered tailplane and elevator parts made from sheet balsa, and a very good quality epoxy/glass fuselage in white, with internal carbon tows.

Assembly is the only word I can use, as there is no serious building involved with this model. Fittings aren't included in the kit, as most modellers will have suitable horns etc.., in their spares box.

The elevator and aileron servo's are fitted in the fuselage, but space can be tight depending on the servos you use. I had read somewhere that a pair of Hitec HS-55's were utilized, but I found that there wasn't a lot of room, depending where you tried fitting them.

The option I went for, was to fit a pair of servo's in the wings !!. The covering was removed from the root of the wing, out to the third rib. The two HS-55's were then butted up to the spar and root rib, then superglued into place. A small piece of 1/16th balsa was glued in place over the top of the servo, with a slot being cut out of the center of the wing, to take the servo leads.

For the elevator, I bought one of those new Saturn S62 feather servo's, which are being distributed by Irvine Ltd. With a size of just 22 x 9.9 x 17.4mm, it packs in torque of 1.1kg/cm !!. More than enough for such a small model !Because of the limited space, The Hitec "Super-Slim" receiver is recommended if your using 35MHz. Power comes from an Overlander 300mAh, 2/3AAA Ni-Mh battery pack.

The maiden flight took place on the 16/02/03, at Higger Tor, near Sheffield. The SSE wind was around 15mph+, whilst the temperature was -2c (wind-chill -12c !!!!). The lift was very very light. A couple of test throws into the heather confirmed a slight warp on one of the ailerons, but other than that, she flew straight on. The C/G was set as GoGliding recommended at 45mm back from the L/E, and this proved to be spot on! The maiden lasted roughly 10 mins, in which time I felt at home with the models performance.

I was inspired enough to try a couple of loops, but because I'd limited the amount of movement for the first flight, she struggled a little to get over the top. Two rolls were also carried out, and were found to be fine. In "Cruise" mode, the model is surprisingly fast but extremely stable considering her size. When pockets of lift came through (there weren't many, it was too cold!!), she shot up like she was on a bungee!

I didn't get another chance to fly her, until the 28/02/03. This was carried out at Bradgate Park, on the outskirts of Leicester. The wind was a constant 15+ from the SE, but because of the local terrain, turbulence was very strong.

A good friend of mine had also recently purchased a Nano Floh too, this being that model's maiden outing! He flew first, but we soon realised that it wasn't quite setup properly. On landing, a small dab of lead was added to the nose. In the meantime, I launched off into the abyss?

Turbulence was horrendous, but this little model did it's very best to shrug it off! Small pockets of lift kept coming through which sent the model screaming upwards at a fair rate of knots. Some basic aerobatics were carried out, to which the Nano was quite happy to do. From a height of around 200ft, this 7oz model came screaming in for a fast pass before pulling up into two consecutive rolls !!. Awesome !!!!. By this time, my friend Geoff was ready for his second flight. Apart from fighting the increasing wind (now noted to be gusting up to 23mph!) and turbulence, this was carried out without any problems and was a peach to fly.

My second flight was uneventful..................until the unplanned and unexpected arrival !!. Diving in from height, I got caught out by a gust of wind (now around 25mph+ !!!), which sent the Nano cartwheeling at high speed into the dead Bracken. On retrieving the model, not a scratch was found!

I highly recommend this model to anyone, except complete beginners. She is highly agile, fast and stonking fun to fly. It took hours for the grin to rub off my face! She can cope with strong winds (anything up to 25mph), which more expensive or complex models would surprisingly struggle in.

Yet again, Schmeirer Modellbau and GoGliding have come up with a winner!! The Nano Floh is an ideal partner for those who already own a Micro Floh (that includes me then!!). Being more compact, she'll fly on any slope with a restricted flying area.

The Nano Floh is imported into the UK by Go Gliding, based in Lincolnshire. Their website can be found at www.gogliding.net .

The Nano Floh is available from:
Go Gliding
Telephone: 01522 807042 (John Marsh)

Fax: 01522 703879

Email:
sales@gogliding.net
info@gogliding.net

Web Site:
www.gogliding.net