TSA AND OTHER ENDURANCE FLYING EVENTS:
     The Sorcerer is still a very close fit, specifications-wise, to the 2010 TSA rules. 
     TSA specs are very different than 2010 SO specs, for which the Leading Edge is designed. TSA specifies a smaller plane with slightly longer but much MUCH skinnier wings, a smaller prop, a lighter motor, and yet same minimum weight not counting motor. AND it requires wheels. All this results in a vehicle certain to have shorter flight times than under SO rules.
    It is not clear what wheels are for. You do get points for landing on wheels - but it does not say if you must do ground take off or hand launch. Wheels really cut performance. Sorcerer is supplied with wire landing gear and funny little balsa wheels that cannot possibly be functional. The balsa wheels in the kit will break on the first landing, I promise, unless reinforced. 
     To improve the wheels: cut out balsa disks to match the ones in the kit. Glue them together with grain rotated 90 degrees and a piece of heavy paper sandwiched in between.  
     Stabilizer dimensions do not seem to be specified (am I missing that?). Given that, you might redesign Sorcerer with added balsa to make canard design, i.e., 2 wings, 1 fore, 1 aft. This would go along with replacement tail boom to increase distance between wing and stab to increase stab contribution. We either have a paragraph or 2 on Turnertoys about this concept or we link to such a discussion - I forget - but it's there. We supply balsa sticks for these modifications.
Other supplies you will need:
     You should get Ikara props, extra motor - for TSA, lighter rubber such as our #376 may work - but note that as packaged USING OUR MODIFICATIONS including skipping the in-wing gussets the model will probably end up less than 7g, so you can certainly enlarge stab and lengthen motor stick - although wheels of course add back weight.

Also print out and read
Last year’s Cruiser directions – expert insights and suggestions for building & flying regardless of what model you are building. The clearest and most complete directions you can get for adjusting, tuning, flying.  Leading Edge has up-to-date directions but also benefits from insights from the Cruiser.
  * Illustrated how-to - Installing an Ikara Prop, adding teflon bearings, tapering balsa, modifications for performance, more as we add it.

Flying Surfaces:

1.)  Review the newest rules and calculate the wing’s maximum dimensions.  You should have a rectangle.  Chord length is not limited! (Except for state & national events).

 Wing:

1.)  Minimize the change in the wing tips by only reducing or increasing the chord length (leading edge to trailing edge). 

 2.)  With the wingtips length not changed (that is from rib to rib), draw the tips onto graph paper.

 3.)  Reduce or increase the center section to fit the new dimensions shown on the graph paper.  Be sure that the chord dimension (leading edge to trailing edge) has been adjusted also.

3.)  Increase rib length by cutting your own ribs from sheet balsa, or adding 1/16" sq sticks to trailing end of ribs. The Leading Edge has ribs nearly 6" long!

4.)  Do not install the triangular balsa gussets called for in the instructions. Too much weight! 
Instead, put an extra SMALL additional drop of Ambroid cement in the joint corners where the ribs are attached to the spars. Look out for similar weight savings throughout the plan. Same idea for fin and stab.

Motor stick and Tailboom:

   Some of the more sophisticated designs use motor sticks and tailbooms much longer than specified in the Sorcerer kit. 
It is important to have the overall fuselage (motor stick and tail boom) longer than the wingspan, to extent permitted by rules. This increases effectiveness of the stabilizer relative to its surface area. Stabilizer can add to lift if tailboom is adjusted properly. The tail boom may need to be elevated (raised up a bit) or lowered so that the plane will fly smoothly in a very slight nose-up position.
   It also makes sense to use a heavier motor stick, as specified in Harlan and Banks designs. Larger sticks (.250" sq or .250 x 2/16") should be tapered at ends to reduce weight.  This reduces torque twist on initial release when motor torque is greatest, and makes adjusting for flight circle and climb much more predictable.  Balsa is available here.

Stabilizer:

1.)  Re-draw the stabilizer in the same way that the wing was re-drawn or use new printed plans.

 2.)  Using the latest rules, draw the maximum dimensions (should be shown as rectangle) on the graph paper.

 3.)  Overlay on to the Sorcerer plan and simply re-draw the stabilizer to fit the new dimensions.

 Fin:

1.)  The area can be increased or decreased depending on the percentage size change of the airplane design.  Try to not reduce the height as this will induce some instability in the roll and yaw axis. 
What would happen if you put the stab/rudder assembly on top side of motor stick? Try it! 

Post and Socket attachments

 1.)  Collect coffee stirrer straws with single bores (openings).  The smaller the inside diameter, the better the socket.

 2.)  The straw will become the socket that will receive the wood post (usually 3/32” balsa strip). You can sand a heavier grade of 1/8" to get this. The Cruiser plans for '07-'08 called for .090" (1/8 is .125). 

 3.)  Roughen the straws surface with 400 grit sand paper.

 4.)  Cut sections about 15mm +/- long

 For Tail boom attachment (making an adjustable mount): 

Note - this is optional or less! This device can be rotated to adjust stab angle for flying circle, but may be unstable, and it may be hard to replicate a successful angle without some means of measuring your adjustments. 
 5.)  Remove the “lock” components if you have an existing Sorcerer motor stick.  

6.)  Attach a straw socket to the top of the motor stick with glue.  Be sure that the straw is located in absolute parallel with the motor stick.

 7.)  When dry, wrap with thread and glue.

8.)  A “stop” can be added so that the tailboom does not push through the socket. Or save weight by plugging the end with a glued scrap of balsa stick.

 9.)  If the tail boom feels loose in the socket, smear a little glue on the tail boom tip that is inserted into the socket.   Let the  glue dry first before inserting. 
Note: Ambroid cement or water-based wood glue may not adhere well to plastic. Test first on scrap. It may be better to use CA or epoxy.

 For Wing Attachment:

10.)  Do not install the saddle components.  All you need are the posts to be attached to the wing.  11.)  Assemble all the components, propeller, motor stick, rubber motor and tail boom/tail assembly together.  12.)  Find the point of balance on the motor stick.  Mark this spot.  This is the location for the rear post socket.

13.)  Glue and let dry.  Make sure that the socket is positioned straight up an down.  Bind with thread and glue.

14.)  Once dry, slide the rear post into place and mark the location for the front post on the motor stick.   Attach the straw socket as before.

Advantages to Post and Socket Attachments

   The new attachments save on weight and can add to the ability to make special flight adjustments.  These changes further enhance the performance whether for B or C division.
Tail boom/Tail Assembly-
   Being able to increase or decrease “stabilizer tilt” simply by rotating the tail boom and re-inserting it back into the socket allows finite adjustments for the flight orbit diameter.  This is a critical adjustment for any flying site especially on contest day.  Since the stabilizer tends to fly parallel with the ground, having it tilted with, say, the right tip down and the left tip up (in comparison to the wings) will induce a left turning orbit.  More tilt will tighten the orbit and the airplane will fly faster or reduce the tilt and the orbit increases and the airplane flies slower, closer to a stall attitude.  All adjustments should be made viewing the airplane from the tail forward.

Wing Attachments-
   With the post and socket attachments, adjustments can be made for incidence.  Wing incidence where the leading edge flies higher than the trailing edge can simply be adjusted by how deep the posts are inserted into the sockets.  Too much positive incidence and the airplane stalls.  Too little incidence and the airplane does not climb and orbits faster.  Once the airplane flies slightly nose high while not entering a stall, then the adjustments should be marked on the post with a colored indelible marker.  In the future those marks make first adjustments a breeze.

 Propellers-

THROW AWAY THE PLASTIC PROPS IN THE KIT!
   Turnertoys FLIGHT CENTRAL™ offers the new super-light Ikara propellers, which will assist in reducing weight. They can easily be trimmed with scizzors to the maximum permitted diameter and to achieve perfect balance, and re-pitched to adjust power and prop speed.The prop blade shafts can be twisted slightly to change the pitch but care must be made in not twisting too far damaging the shaft. We have provided mounting instructions for these props.

WINDING A RUBBER MOTOR

  Flight Log

   Using a flight log to record performance and changes is not only good science but it is also the rule (which you should read).  Record such items as size of motor (cross section, 1/16” (M376), .80”, .094" (Turnertoys M377), .75”, etc.), number of winds on launch, number of winds left when it lands, prop rotations per second (PRS), flight time, approximate flying weight, approximate flight orbit diameter, site humidity, site temperature, etc. so that trim changes may be made based on past performance.  The judges are only looking for you to show a filled out log but it will help you improve performance if you use for data collection and analysis.