Wingspan: 92" (Measured 90.5")

Length: 82" (including 5" Ultimate spinner)

Height: 22 ½"

Wing Area: 1575 sq. inches (1523 measured)

Recommended Engine: 3.7-5.0

Engine Used: Quadra 75XL (4.4)

Muffler Used: Bisson

Weight(Dry): 23lbs

Great Performance/Dollar value

Great fitting Laser and CNC routed components

Scale Outline, Landing Gear mounting (see text)

Not enough 3/8" wide cap strips (corrected)

Wingspan not as indicated (to be corrected)

The full scale Giles 202 is a two-seat version of the all composite Akrotech Giles 200, first seen at Sun-n-Fun in 1994. The Lanier Giles 202 is a very scale rendition of that plane, designed by Jerry Smith using CAD technology and scale drawings from Akrotech. The only significant deviation was the enlarging of the stab and elevator. The placement of them, however, are at the scale location rather than being lowered as other manufacturers have done. The short-coupled scale fuselage should provide incredible tumbling, and the over-center elevators and rudder surfaces should enable the 3D aerobatics being flown by the experienced pilots. The characteristics that make the full-scale 202 so popular are likely to be the same with this 35% version. The Lanier 202 uses a 15 percent E168 airfoil, with the thickest part of the wing moved forward quite a bit. According to Jerry Smith, this provided great slow flight stability on the prototype models.

The kit arrived in two large boxes with all components tightly packed with paper. Careful attention has been given to isolate the larger, heavy components from those needing protection the most, like putting the landing gear in a different box than the canopy. The two rolled sheets of plans have been reduced from full size to make them much more manageable for the builder. This is a great improvement over full-size plans for a plane of this size. No scale is given on the plans but its something a little larger than half-scale, resulting in plans that easily fit on the workbench. The instructions are type-written, with references to pictures contained in the back. The pictures are very helpful as you read through the instructions.

Another quickly noticed difference over other Lanier giant-scale kits is that there is no ABS turtledeck or hatch. Although the ABS is quick and easy to install, Lanier has listened to the many that have expressed a desire to replace the ABS with lighter and more durable built-up areas and incorporated them into the 202. Only the cowl, wheel pants, and a small tail-feather component are ABS.

Another great feature of the kit is that there isn't a single die-cut component to be found, all have been cut using a laser or CNC-router, including the balsa end caps for the fin, rudder, elevators, and wings. Lanier has invested heavily into this new technology, purchasing their own equipment. Jerry Smith designed the 202 using CAD technology and fed the output of this software directly to the laser and CNC systems to cut the parts. All future kits will be developed this way, and previous kits like the Laser are to be converted in the future. The large sheets of all laser-cut components are really impressive, you immediately know everything is going to fit just like it should. The components are not, however, cut entirely free, some material is left in place to hold the component in the sheet. The CNC routered fuselage sides, for example have several lightening holes that are still attached by 1/4" long areas that have not been cut by the router. You must saw these free, resulting in huge pieces of leftover light plywood that you could probably build a .40 size trainer with. I think its great that Lanier lets me have these pieces rather than just throwing them in their trash. The laser-cut components are left attached by a VERY small dot of material, maybe 1/64th inch thick. An Exacto knife easily frees these components. Like the fuselage sides, you end up with quite a bit of material to put in your stock bin for some other project. Another nice touch is that the laser-cut components have the part number etched on one side. This is a long way from the COMET kits I used to build 30 years ago.

Most people interested in building Giant Scale aerobatic planes are very weight concious. Lightness equals performance and flexibility for various engine, servo, and battery combinations. Jerry Smith has done a great job of placing lightening holes throughout the fuselage to keep the design fairly light. For every plane I've ever built, however, I've been able to find a few areas where additional weight could be removed. My approach to building the Giles would be to take a very conservative approach to lighten it where possible WITHOUT any additional expense and in areas that would not jeopardize overall strength. All removed material would be placed into a "weight bag" so that the total amount of weight removed could be quantified. This would indicate what the total weight would be if built stock as well as how much could be removed without extreme effort, expense, or significant reduction in strength.

The fuselage is made of CNC-routered sides and top made of 1/8" lite-ply, laser-cut formers of 1/8" and 1/4" lite ply, stringers sheeted with 3/32 balsa for the turtledeck and area forward of the cockpit. The bottom is formed with 1/4" balsa stringers. The components have been designed to interlock, making it extremely difficult to build a crooked fuselage. All of these larger components have large lightening holes cut into them. Its also interesting to note that the 1/4" firewall sides extend back into the fuselage and provide support for the 1 1/2" aluminum wing tube. The main components are fitted together, tacked in place using thick CA, then final glued with white glue at all of the meeting surfaces. I used a baby syringe to dispense the glue into the corners and then smoothed it in with my finger. All fuselage sides and formers were easily done the first night in the shop (garage). The second night was spent attaching the stringers and 3/32 sheeting. I drilled some lightening holes in the large 1/4" plywood landing gear plate. Lanier claims that future kits will have this piece lightened already. Using a hole saw, I also cut lightening holes in the fuselage sides just forward and above the wings and in the front former. All of the removed pieces were put into my weight bag. I built a fuel tank mount out of 3/8" balsa stick and 1/8" light ply, centered on top of the wing tube in the fuselage so the tank would be centered on the CG.

The cockpit and canopy are built directly on top of the fuselage using 1/4" spruce for the sides and supporting spars, and 1/8" lite ply for the front and back. The floor is made of 3/32 sheeting on top of the spars. This is when the building process slowed down, not due to the kit but rather my obsession

with having a pilot and two instrument panels in the cockpit. I used some scale pictures from a Kitplanes magazine to determine where the two pilots sit and where the instruments are located. The passenger (front) panel was made fairly scale using 1/8 balsa. The back panel in the full-scale version, however, is almost entirely below the canopy level, which is below the floor in this kit, so I had to deviate here. I made a panel by cutting foam with a homebuilt foam cutter and covered it with black construction paper, using a JTec 1/3 scale instrument kit for the instruments. The cockpit floor was covered with monocote. The pilot is a 1/3 scale Officer and Gentleman torso painted with acrylic paints. Cockpit details do take some time but really make an appreciable difference in the overall appearance of a plane. I just can't do without them. The final touch was to shrink a copy of the Advanced IMAC routine to scale size and attach it on the pilot's instrument panel.

The canopy is very large, just like the full-scale 202, and is cut to fit flush on all sides. This takes some effort to get it just right, trimming, testing, trimming, testing. There has to be a faster way to get a good fit but I haven't figured it out yet. When the fit was great I attached it to the cockpit using RC56 glue with the cockpit in place on the fuselage, and wax paper around the joints to prevent gluing it all together.

The kit comes with a two piece ABS cowl. An optional fiberglass version is also available but if carefully built and properly reinforced, the ABS cowls will last forever. I've been using them for years without any problems. The glass versions are lighter but are still too pricey for me. I’m not at the point where a few ounces is worth $50-$60.

The cowl comes with a top and bottom. These pieces are trimmed up and attached to a 1/4" lite-ply cowl ring, making a single-piece cowl that is is fairly light and very durable. The cowl is then attached to the fuselage with 4 small bolts that go through the sides of the cowl into blocks mounted on the firewall.

The first step was to remove the mold flashing and sand all edges smooth. The bottom half was tacked to the cowl-ring using medium CA. Thin pieces of ABS material were then CA'd to the sides to provide a surface for gluing the top half. I found that there was enough plastic material to also provide glue surfaces to the front of the cowl. After the bottom and top were attached to the cowl ring I lightly sanded the inside of the joints and stress areas with reinforced them with 2oz fiberglass cloth and finishing resin. The instructions call for using all-purpose PVC cement but I've found the finishing resin provides more strength with very little additional weight, if any. The joints were then filled on the outside with bondo and sanded flush. I used Rustoleum white primer and sanded smooth with 400-grit wet-dry sandpaper.

A "nice-touch" feature of the Lanier 202 is how the landing gear are mounted. Like the full size 202, the landing gear exit the fuselage SIDES near the bottom rather than just being bolted to the bottom of the fuselage. A cover is then carved from a solid balsa block that hides the mounting bolts and keeps the transition from cowl to fuselage consistent. Weight-concious builders could remove some weight here by making a built-up gear cover or hollowing out the solid balsa block.

The landing gear are formed from 3/16" aluminum and get bolted to the 1/4" plywood gear plate. The plans called for 1/4-20 bolts, I used 10/32 since I've never seen a bolt failure on a plane this size. I also used 3/16" axles instead of the recommended 1/4". The gear span the full width of the wide fuselage, meaning there is alot of weight in the mounting portion of the gear that really isn't doing anything for you.

A portion of this mounting area was cut away with a band saw so as to remove weight but still provide the needed surface area for the mounting bolts. I also removed a full 1/4" from the back side of the gear. All removed material was placed in the weight bag. I used 4" Kavan wheels since they are lighter than the Sullivan Skylites I’ve used before.

The wheel pants are formed ABS and work quite well. Lanier also offers fiberglass versions, but again, being value minded I opted for the ABS. The sides are tack glued together and then reinforced with fiberglass cloth. As was done for the cowl, I used 2oz cloth and finishing resin on the seams and also on each side where the lite ply mounting plates are attached. Very little resin is needed. The result was very light pants that are quite rigid as well. I compared them with some glass pants that I had for another plane and could tell very little difference in weight. Like the ABS cowl, these were primed with Rusoleum white primer and sanded smooth.

The tail feathers are all foam sheeted with 1/16" balsa. The stab is reinforced with a 1/8" lite ply spar, and another lite ply piece is epoxied in vertically with material extending below the stab to tie it into the fuselage. This makes a very solid and reliable joint. I used an incidence guage to make sure the stab was set at zero degrees per the plans and attached it with 30 minute epoxy. The only modification made was to the rudder. To get 45 degree throws I had to add another 3/8" balsa plank to the 3/8" rudder leading edge, and remove the same amount of material from the foam core so I ended up with the same total width. I then drilled the hinge holes and cut 45 degree bevels on my band saw and glued the leading edge in place. For the elevators, I cut a 45 degree bevel in the elevator leading edge and a 10 degree bevel in the trailing edge of the horizontal stab.

The vertical fin must be trimmed to fit over the stab and is then epoxied in place. A 1/8" lite ply trailing edge is then epoxied along the trailing edge of the fin and the back of the fuselage.

An ABS cover plate is used to blend the back of the turtledeck over the vertical fin and stab. Like the canopy, this is a "trim and try" experience that requires a good dosage of patience. When you're all done there isn't much of a piece left. While this piece would have worked just fine, I finally opted to make a piece from 1/32 plywood. I first made a piece from construction paper stock and then traced the outline onto my 1/32 ply. The main reason for using the plywood was so I could blend it in better with the turtledeck and easily cover it with Monocote.

The wings are made from foam cores reinforced with 1/4 spruce spars and 3/32 sheeting applied to the leading and trailing edge. 3/8" wide cap strips are glued between the leading and trailing edge. The wings are held in place with a 1.5" aluminum wing tube that inserts into phenolic tubes located in the fuselage and each wing.

The cores were the best I've seen, there were no ridges or "hot spots", just beautifully smooth cores. Having tried my hand at making some cores I truly appreciated the quality work found with these. They are completely symmetrical, there is no left or right, top or bottom. I arbitrarily chose one to be the left and the other as the right and marked the cores and beds accordingly just in case there was some undetectable difference.

The phenolic wing tubes were glued in place with Elmers Probond white glue as were the 1/4" spruce spars. A 1/8" lite ply former is used to attach the end of the tube to the outer-most edge of the square hole through the wing. This is a great idea to extend the strength of the tube as far as possible. The cores were then placed in the beds and weighed down with a large piece of particle board and concrete blocks so they would dry straight. The leading and trailing edges were then sheeted with 3/32 balsa using Pacer finishing resin. I've learned that a very light weight method for doing this is to lightly spray the sheeting with hair spray prior to applying the finishing resin. This seals the wood, allowing you to get a very thin, and therefore light, application of the resin. After the sheeting had dried overnight I added the 3/8" cap strips every three inches per the plans. Other builders may want to consider fully sheeting the wings with 1/16" balsa, especially if a complex, multi-color covering scheme is to be used on them. The end result would be just as strong and probably no heavier than the cap-stripped wing with 3/32 balsa, as well as be more scale in appearance.

The next step was to cut out the ailerons using a band saw. I then drilled my hinge holes in the aileron leading edge material and cut 45 degree bevels on it using the band saw. This was then glued to the aileron, as was the wing trailing edge material to the wing, using white glue and masking tape to hold it in place.

The plans call for 1/2" dowel rod to be glued into the aileron leading edge for mounting the control arms. Drilling a straight hole that is partially on a 45 degree bevel and partially over sheeted foam is impossible unless you have a drill press and forstner bit. I know because I've tried it on other planes and really mangled it up. Another method is to sharpen the rim of a brass tube and hand-drill the holes. Since I didn’t have a drill press and had no brass tubing around, I cut notches in the leading edge and epoxied a 1/2" wide piece of aircraft ply in place. A 1/8" lite ply root piece was glued on the root ends and then the dowel alignment rods were put in place.

My kit was supplied with a .049-thickness aluminum wing tube, which is 3 oz heavier than the thinner .035 thickness tube used on the Lanier Laser and many other kits of this size. Lanier has indicated that future runs of the kit will be supplied with the lighter tube.

I used a Robart Incidence guage to set the wing incidence at zero per the plans. Lastly, I removed the foam in the 2nd, 4th, and 6th bays from the tips using a homemade foam cutter, placing the removed pieces in my weight bag. This lightens the ends of the wings a little to help them stop faster on rolling maneuvers and provides no significant reduction in strength.

All wood components were sanded smooth with 200 grit sandpaper on my 12" sanding bar then sanded again with 400 grit paper. I used my shop-vac to blow off and then vacuum all the pieces, and then used tack cloth from Wal-Mart. I use another tack cloth over the pieces again right before I put on the covering. Its amazing how much balsa dust can be in the wood and not be visible until you rub it with the cloth.

I used Monocote primarily because I knew I could get matching Lustercote paint for the white and metallic plum colors I wanted to use. The other colors used were metallic blue and pearl red. The pearl red is more difficult to work with than any other color I've used, but if done right, is also one of the most beautiful. If the iron is too hot, even with a iron sock, the color will get messed up. It also doesn't seem to shrink as much as the others, and the color will bleed slightly when applied over other covering using window cleaner. Again, its beautiful, but it takes some patience and learning to get it right.

The cowl and wheel pants were painted with Lustercote, which was really a major disappointment. The first can of White wouldn't even spray the paint, it would only spit blobs. Fortunately I tried the can on a cardboard box prior to aiming it at my cowl. I tried to clear the nozzle, replace the nozzle, shake the can some more, and heat the can in hot water, but all attempts to fix the problem failed. The second can was better but still spit blobs of paint every now and then. I ultimately drained the paint from the cans and used a Preval sprayer. The next disappointment was that the Metallic Plum Lusterkote was only vaguely similar in color to the Monocote. The match is bad, really bad, much lighter in shade than the covering. My previous experience with Lusterkote was with dark red, which matched really well. This whole experience made me want to only cover my future planes in Monocote colors that can be matched with Rustoleum.

Lastly, I made some graphics for the 202 using a Stika machine. I purchased the Stika a couple of years ago, sharing the cost with another club member. Its really a handy way to make graphics for planes, cars, the refrigerator, whatever. You can use Monocote Trim Sheets or regular vinyl sign material, limited to a maximum of about 2 1/4" letter height. The Stika includes a scanner that is moved over the desired lettering to capture the image. The trim sheet or vinyl is inserted into the machine and the cut is made. It will also enlarge the cut to be 2,4, or 6 times larger than the captured image. The Stika also comes with software that lets you save captured images or design your own images for cutting. I designed mine using the tool to make them exactly the size I wanted. The hardest part of the whole process is removing the cut, unused material away from the graphic so you can apply it. With really small letters this gets pretty tedious. Still, the results are fantastic. The Stika is a great little machine that is easily affordable if the cost is shared by a club or a few members. Once you have one you believe everything needs graphics all over. Its easy to get carried away with it.

I chose to use a Quadra 75XL for the 202 because I had one available and knew it would work well. Having used it on my 25lb Lanier Extra 300S with great results I knew it would be a good match for the smaller and lighter 202. This engine continues to grow in popularity as more people are finding out about its power and reliability. Hand-starting is very easily done by choking it until gas is seen dripping from the carb, set the throttle to idle, turn on the ignition, and flip. Mine will usually start within 3 flips. You’ll also find that you can’t get any better assistance and service than from Dan Browning at North American Power, just ask anyone that’s dealt with him. He was very helpful in answering questions about the engine prior to deciding to get one and then with follow-up questions afterwards.

The ignition unit was insulated with foam and tie-wrapped to the side of the engine box. The 4-cell, 1500mah Cermark battery pack was insulated and tie-wrapped to the inside-bottom of the engine box, with the switch harness located on the right side of the fuselage just in front of the wing. I used to use 4-cell sub-C 1300mah packs for my ignition but the difference in weight and capacity is worth the extra cost.

I previously used the stock muffler on my Lanier Extra, and although it gives great performance and some level of noise reduction, I still wasn't satisfied with the noise and had received some complaints about it at the field. I really wanted to find a quieter muffler on the 202. After asking around and making some phone calls I decided to give the large-volume Bisson muffler a try. Its very lightweight, 10oz including the bolts, which is 5 ounces lighter than my stock muffler. It has two exhaust stacks exiting at a 45 degree angle towards the rear. The smoke-oil inlet is located immediately behind the input to the muffler, providing maximum heat and atomization of the oil. I didn't plan to install smoke at first but wanted the option to do so later. At the recommendation of Gerard Enterprises, distributors for the Bisson muffler, I removed the last 1/4 inch from the stacks. The ends have been closed somewhat, apparently providing too much restriction for the Q75. The difference in noise between the stock muffler and the Bisson was HUGE, I couldn't believe it the first time I fired up the engine. The best part of it all is that I only lost 100 rpm, going from 6400 rpm with a Menz 24x10 Standard prop to 6300 rpm. This is a small penalty to pay for the big difference in noise. These mufflers don’t come cheap but really do a great job. My initial flights were done using a Bolly carbon fiber 24x10 prop, which turns 7500 rpm.

The plans call for a 5" spinner, which looks massive for the size of the plane but its pretty scale when you compare with pictures of the full size Giles. After checking what was available I chose the 5" Ultimate spinner from Tru-Turn. This is one impressive spinner that makes the Giles look awesome, transforming the nose from an overall stubby appearance to that of a hornet. It also really enhances the swept-back look of the Giles. I also ordered the optional lightened backplate and a tapped prop bolt specifically for the Q75. Everything bolted in place perfectly. The total weight of this huge spinner, backplate, and spinner bolt is only 7.3 ounces.

I used a Hitec Supreme receiver and a Futaba 7UAFS. All surfaces are controlled by Hitec 605 servos, one for each elevator and two for the rudder in a push-pull configuration. I have found the 605s to be a very strong, reliable, and economical choice for giant scale, especially when used with a 5-cell receiver pack. The fuselage sides have servo holes already cut into place for the rudder and elevator servos, taking the guesswork out of it.

I used a Cermark 5-cell 1700 mah battery pack, mounted in the very rear of the fuselage, and the new FMA Heavy Duty switch harness. I also used another 5-cell 800 mah pack with a separate switch connected to the receiver as a redundant pack. The receiver was mounted in the center of the plane under the canopy with Cermark heavy duty 24" extensions back to the tail surface servos and in the wings. I usually make my own extensions but this time I thought I'd try the Cermark units to save myself some work. The extensions are very well made and use 22 guage stranded wire to keep voltage losses at a minimum.

I had given myself a deadline of having the 202 completed by the time we would have our summer Mall Show. It took two weeks of midnight sessions to get it presentable. My gas tank and ignition weren't totally hooked up but otherwise it was ready to go. I was feeling great as I wheeled it into the mall center court early Saturday morning, thinking I had a great shot at the prestigious "People's Choice" award, which is given to the airplane with the most votes from the general public. That great feeling quickly moved to despair when I saw Dave Platt walking in with his 1998 Top Gun entry, a North American T28. Dave designed the plans, formed the canopy, machined his landing gear, and even molded his own tires. He truly built the plane from nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if he claimed to formulate his own glue. This is a Smithsonian Institute quality model that won Best of Show and Best Designer Scale at Toledo. Also competing was Bud Roane's 1998 Sopwith Triplane, which received 7th place in the Designer Scale category of the 1998 Top Gun. Of the 33 entries, I beat Bud but finished second to Dave. Rats. I guess I'm going to have to learn how to mold tires.

According to my digital bathroom scales, the dry, ready to fly weight of the 202 was 23 pounds. This includes the dual battery packs and additional lead in the tail to get the CG near the back of the recommended range. With my measured wing area of 1523 square inches, the calculated wing loading is 34.8 ounces per square foot. At the specified 1575 square inches the wing loading would have been 33.6.

I took my "weight bag" of plywood, balsa, aluminum, and foam that had been removed in the building process to the grocery store deli scales. The total amount of weight reduction was 9.5 ounces. Not a huge number, but I was conservative in the approach to removing material and I didn't spend any money to do it. Using the lighter aluminum wing tube to be included in future kits will save another 3 ounces. The optional glass cowl and wheel pants would also provide some weight savings. The easiest way to remove weight, however, is in the landing gear. The removal of ¼" from the back and alot of material between the mounting bolts provided the most significant reduction and was really easy to do with my band saw.

The design, though heavier than some of the others available, ensures that the modeler won’t have to worry about structural integrity of the airframe. I spoke with Bubba Spivey at the 1998 Top Gun, and found that one of the first tests performed on a new design is a power-on dive with a quick pull-out. This is followed by the wildest, most strenuous maneuvers he can do. If it passes his tests, he’s confident the customer is getting a solid design. Jerry Smith designs the Lanier kits so they will have no problem passing these tests.

As I have done with my 202, there are several modifications that can be made to lighten it without replacing any components, by removing material in non-structural areas or structural areas that are extremely supported already. I believe that an experienced builder with some knowledge of where the major stresses occur could remove at least a full pound from the total weight. My previous experiences with the Laser and Extra would make me believe that around 10 ounces could be removed from the wings alone by totally coring them. As mentioned earlier, though, this is highly discouraged by Lanier and only recommended by me if you know what you’re doing and willing to see your wing snap if you do a hard pull-out. There’s no way a fully-cored wing is going to last through Bubba’s power-on pull-out dive test.

My Quadra 75XL with the Bisson muffler, ignition module and battery pack weighs 6lbs, 6 ounces. The Zenoah G62, as shown on the plans, weighs 5lbs, 8 ounces. I've seen G62's pull 22 lb planes around quite well when a Menz 22x10 Ultra or Bolly 22x10 was used. This would be a less-expensive option for the 202 that would still provide better-than-scale performance, especially if some of the lightening techniques were used. On the other end of the price and performance scale, the ultimate 3D aerobatic engine for this plane may be the ultra-light BME 5.8 twin from Precision Aviation Design (Bob Godfrey). It has a total flying weight of around 5lbs, 8 ounces (same as the G62) and delivers 40-50lbs of thrust.

My preflight procedures included using blue Locktite on all the servo arm screws and the spinner bolt, checking all mounting screws and engine bolts, verifying the servo direction and throws, fuel lines, and making a checklist for use on all flights. With the overall time and money investment in giant scale planes I’m a real believer in making and using check lists.

Having exchanged emails with another individual that had already flown a Lanier 202 I was confident in having my CG towards the back of the range on the first flight. Normally I would have located it in the center of the range. After going through my checklist, including a full-throttle ignition interference test, I was ready to fly. The 202 taxis very easily, no up elevator was required but as a habit I kept it in anyway. The throttle was slowly advanced and within about 70 feet I was in the air. The first impression was that it feels very light, surely helped by the rearward CG. Using the recommended throws, the ailerons are pretty quick, the elevator felt about right. Its certainly a go-where-you-point-it airplane and very easy to fly. Inverted flight required that I just barely breath on the stick to keep it flying level. Rolls are VERY axial. Knife-edge showed pitching to belly and rolling away from the rudder, a little more exaggerated with left rudder than right. Adding 10% mixing on subsequent flights almost got these entirely mixed out. The rudder is very effective, I could easily climb in knife edge with only half of the maximum throw. The stall was very subtle and straight ahead.

At 23 lbs the Q75XL, Bolly 24x10, and Bisson muffler appear to be a great combination. I have vertical forever and could accelerate upward after stopping. I’m really pleased with the Bisson muffler and know the noise-sensitive guys at the field will be happy as well. I have 3 degrees of right thrust, which seems to be right in that pulling to vertical showed little to no yaw to the left.

The landing was uneventful, the 202 slows down nicely when the throttle is brought back, something between my Lanier Laser and my Extra. I kept a few clicks of throttle until I cleared the end of the field and then pulled it back. Even though moving fairly slowly, the Giles wanted to keep flying. After a couple of low bounces I was safe on the ground. Alright!!

The second flight was my time to "wring it out" after a few in-flight pictures had been taken. I switch to high rates and found the Giles could easily waterfall, knife-edge spin, lomcevak, whatever. The tumbles are really fantastic, very wild and tight, no doubt due to the short fuselage, big throws, and rearward CG. This plane is really going to be some fun once I get used to how fast it gets into the wild side. On a left to right knife-edge pass, still with high rates, I attempted to do a snap, back to knife edge again. I mistakenly threw the sticks all the way and caused an incredible full-stall tumble that I almost didn't get out of in time. I relaxed the sticks to let it straighten and pulled out maybe 30 feet above the deck. I had the spectators shaking for sure. Ok, I had a few shakes of my own, too. This plane will tumble in a second on high rates, believe me.

Lanier is using the latest modeling technology and input from modelers to develop designs that surpass their previous efforts. Jerry Smith has done a great job with the 202. With the laser cut and CNC-routed components you couldn't ask for a better fit. The instructions and plans had a few minor mistakes that were fed back to Lanier for correction, but otherwise were clear and aided by the photographs. The smaller-scale plans were so much easier to work with than full-scale plans for my Extra. The built-up components, rather than ABS, are a great improvement and a welcomed change. Lanier has listened to the customers and responded.

With its short-coupled fuselage, large frontal area, and large moving surfaces, it is an incredible performer as well. It will fly very slowly, and also flies very precisely on low rates, certainly capable of being a serious IMAC competitor. It will also tumble before you can blink if the rates are high and the CG is back. I know it can do anything I’ll ever ask of it am really looking forward to getting to know it better. Just watch those high rates!

Overall, the 202 is an easy building, easy flying, and great looking rendition of the full-scale 202 with the flexibility to handle a variety of engines and lightening modifications if desired. I also like the fact that the deviations from scale are only minor compared to other kits on the market. For the street price of $350-$375 its certainly more affordable than other 202 kits of this size and a great overall value. This is consistent with the entire line of Lanier giant-scale kits and their real niche in the market.

Thanks to Bubba Spivey and Jerry Smith of Lanier for being so patient with my phone calls and questions about the 202, their new equipment, and future directions. They are two guys who really seem to love their job.