manufacturer: Phoenix Model Products span: 1370mm weight: 925gms

The Funstart was my re-introduction to model flying after a 5 year break and my introduction to the world of EPP foam.

I read about these models in a copy of RCM&E I was flicking through in a newsagents. Having given up on flying all R/C years before because of the time I had to spend repairing things, these sounded ideal. I gave Stan Yeo at PMP a call and ordered a Funstart (Stan is great to deal with and was very helpful). The EPP models that PMP make are a little diferent to other manufacturers and I think this is down to the fact that PMP have been making conventional kits for years and they've applied this to their foamies.

I never really got my Fun-Start to fly that well. I don't think it's the manufacturer's fault. I think it was the way that I built it (badly and quickly), and the places I flew it (Chobham Common - 20ft high slopes, Max). However, what it lacked in performance, it made up for in durability. I cartwheeled it, nosedived it, landed it upside down and folded the wings on a powerful high-start (much to everyones amusement it folded its wings up to 60 degrees or so and flew perfectly straight along the bungee). I was never out of the air for very long so I never got disheartened.

The Fun-Start was eventually retired when the glass tape that it was covered in perished. The tape is very UV-light sensitive and a week in the back of a car in summer was enough to do pretty fatal damage to the covering. I could have re-covered it but I'd just heard about a model called a Zagi that sounded fun........

If I were to build another Fun-Start There are a couple of thing's that I'd do differently:

• Round the fuselage. The biggest problem with my Fun-Start was that it wouldn't turn. I'm pretty sure part of the reason was that I had left the fuselage pretty much slab-sided and that it was just acting as a weathervane. Rounding the fuselage also makes the plane a little lighter (and lighter near the rear of the plane is important) and it also looks a little better.
• Make the rudder area large. I ended up sticking extra material onto the rudder to improve the planes turning ability. Instead of doing this, just cut the hinge so that there is more rudder area. You can always reduce the movement later by using a diferent position on the servo horns.