Wonder-full of Fall Fun 10/28/00
By Frank Gutierrez

   A few daring flyers gathered together Saturday October 28th for some cold windy flying. Aaron Lind is in the background with his special heat absorbing cone hat or is it antenna for signaling UFO's?
   I am starting the Wonder for it's second test flight and my Thunder Tiger Raptor is in the foreground with it's main rotor blades stowed after three successful flight's. Very little trimming left to do here. Thank's Crist for your help and advice on the Raptor.

   This Wonder is a scratch built aircraft with a balsa sheeted foam wing hollowed out span wise to reduce weight.  The original kit and plans were used as a template.
   A closer view of the Wonder shows the color scheme Drew, Evan and Nicole picked for Drew's plane. The construction, covering and color scheme was a team effort as all three of my older kids had a part in this plane being built and finished. It shows up very well in flight and the contrast is easy to see. We are considering some type of pattern on the bottom side of the wing which is all white but haven't made any real decisions yet.

   The Magnum .15 isn't fully broken in yet and a minor needle adjustment was needed between flights. The engine performed flawlessly and the plane flew rock solid. It was very responsive and flew well at fast or slow speeds. The wind was 90° to the runway in our face and the wind sock looked like it was going to blow off the pole that day but the Wonder didn't really care, (Much!).

   The foam cut wing proved again to be an excellent way to get a true airfoil and save on weight. We enjoyed flying this one so much that I went home and cut three more wings so each can have there own. It's a low cost, simple design thats easy to scratch build and fly.