The design concept seems to have leapt forward, this is completely different from their other models, but there is definitely the hint that this has been thoroughly developed before the production stage began, unlike some other manufacturer's.

How on earth could they reduce the weight by such a large margin?

Bearing in mind that the radio I carry in my HLG's is minimal and that its weight is not changeable this means that the airframe weight has had to be further reduced to meet this low all up weight. I reckon that the reduction is around 50%.

Now that is some achievement provided that the strength is still there, believe me it still seems to be.

How have they managed to do this? Let's dissect the kit, piece by piece.

The standard D.J. box duly arrived undamaged, this time without the long delay at Customs and again it appeared that I had not been the first person to get my nose inside the box. There were strands of packing hanging out, and the taping appeared to have been redone. On opening the box however, everything was intact, in place and safely packaged. Phew!

The main components were all present and correct, the plan and instructions were there and a little bag of goodies specifically designed and manufactured for this model were also included.

Tail Feathers: A V tail arrangement is supplied, laser cut from 3/32" balsa that is superb quarter grain, lightweight wood. The join in the V halves is aligned by the castleations formed by the laser cutting. Very neat, very accurate. Only requires light sanding, and gluing together with cyano to complete the initial assembly. The elevator halves need the same sanding to section, a slight taper at the front to facilitate movement and the elevator horns added. The horns are supplied as ready shaped items specific to this model, pre drilled and the exact shape required. Nice.

Weight has been saved here by the simplifying of the construction and good selection of wood for the surfaces.

Wing: The wings are supplied as blue foam cores, skinned in glass, with a substantial V of carbon applied to the top and bottom surfaces below the glass skins. The wings are then vacuum bagged. This is the normal D.J. wing construction method.

Supplied as four panels, with the tip dihedral angle ready sanded in. Very little work requires to be done to complete them. Some reinforcement is needed where the wing bolt goes through, but this is well documented in the instructions.

The laser cut alignment blank is then used to accurately align the tip and centre section dihedrals. My kit had two blanks supplied, so I was able to set up both wing halves at the same time. The centre section is then joined using the blank for alignment and when the epoxy has set, the glass tape and reinforcing carbon strips can be added. I used foam safe Cyano for this part of the job. All that remains is the accurate drilling of the wing bolt hole and the fitting of the rear attachment strip. Could not be simpler.

The wing area has been reduced thereby lowering the weight through decreasing the amount of material required. The aspect ratio has increased, giving improved performance and handling.

Fuselage: Previous models in this range have had their nose radii subjected to a lot of comment and are actually outwith the recommendations laid down by the model flying governing bodies.

The models were available before the rules were applied, hmmm.

The good news is that D.J. have ensured that their latest models are not going to be affected by this problem and their noses are now totally legal for competition.

The new pod and boom design is extremely minimal, comes with the boom accurately attached but requiring the radio access hatch to be cut out from the top of the pod.

Patience and accuracy are needed here if you do not want to leave slice marks on the pod surface. Once the hatch cover is removed, do not loose it, you need it.

The two snake outers are then glued in place using that Cyano again. Ensure that they are well clear of the wing hold down bolt hole, which is just in front of the boom/ fuselage join. Follow the instructions here for the simplest, tried and tested method of install. Then you have to think about the radio you are fitting in side the pod, it is tiny.

I managed to fit an Overlander battery pack, two Jamara servos and a Pico Rx in but it is tight. I had to deviate from the instructions here, the servos I had were just a tad on the tight side to fit as shown. I reverted to my favourite 'tongue depressor' method, mounting the servos to the stick and then screwing the wooden part to the floor of the pod. This meant mounting the servos forward of the Rx, but at least I got the gear in place. I would have preferred to go with the D.J. method as shown on their plan but the servos they show were just that wee bit smaller than I had so.

As long as it works.

The pushrods are .015" dia. piano wire, attached at the servo ends with Z bends, similarly at the tail end. I suggest that you measure the position of the bends more than once before you commit yourself to doing them to eliminate errors. I chose to make the bends, attach the elevators to them and then hinge the elevators with 'Diamond' tape from W.H. Smith. The pushrods are very flexible and require some reinforcement inside the fuselage pod, otherwise they will tend to overflex and give you differing neutral positions after each stick movement. This was aggravated by my chosen servo position being well forward of the recommended one.

The Rx and the battery pack are both secured in position using small strips of Velcro.

The tailplane assembly is then attached to the tail boom with more Cyano,

To align everything the wing is bolted in place and the assembled model parked upside down on the building board so that the tail can be eyeballed in to position and then held whilst the Cyano is applied and allowed to go off.

Some extra lightweight glass cloth was added to reinforce the joint. Care should be taken during this procedure to ensure that no Cyano gets into the control rod tubes. Before you think it, no I did not get any in mine.

This minimalistic fuselage really seems to be as small as you can go, I can not envisage anything smaller and lighter happening until the gear gets smaller still.

What, is there no more to do?

Let's see what it weighs, 6.60 Ozs, what have I left out? Yes, the radio is all in there.

A quick check showed that the C.of G. was slightly behind the recommended position and it took a whole 2 grams of Bluetack to rectify.

Off to the field.

Flying: Now you must appreciate that here in Scotland we have had some cold and snowy weather of late and the wind has had a good time. So when the weather abated on Sunday 13^th, albeit for a very short time I just had to give it a go.

With some trepidation I checked all the throws were correct. The following few light launches were a revelation, it flew and responded as exactly as I could have wished for. Elevator was smooth and powerful, Rudder made the model roll instantly and here is the good part, it would roll in the opposite direction as soon as you asked it to. No delays, superb.

Hang time in the poor conditions was better than I could have hoped for. Penetration was also far better than I had imagined it would be.

Would it take a good throw? Now I reckon that I can throw as good as, if not better than most HLG fliers here so I built up the throw strength slowly to be fair on the model. I did not need to, it took all I could give it with not a problem. The light weight does not seem to affect the height gained from a launch unduly, I had felt that the low mass would limit the climb, not significantly was the answer. The climbs were straight, the elevator levelled the model out at the top and then it just flew and flew. It has certainly given me a new insight into the future design of HLG models and if this model does not start and keep winning competitions then it will be the pilot to blame.

If I had to give this model a star rating against the other HLG models I have owned or flown I would definitely say that this is the one to beat, without doubt. Others may look better, may be of more exotic construction or just plain prettier, but this is the one that will be at the top off the pile when light lift comes along. E mails have said that it would thermal on a Gopher's fart, I would heartily agree.

This is the most responsive model I have flown in this class, I would think that it will suit all competitive fliers and quite a few non competitive ones as well. Whilst not really an entry level HLG model, it could easily be flown by a lot less than expert fliers with great success.