Lanier says the Shrike 40 is a fun and exciting airplane, enjoyable to fly, and will provide thrills with jet like planform and speed. It is a one-piece design; the wing is permanently fixed to the fuselage. The model is a likely candidate for RC combat.

The kit comes well packed in an attractive box. No accessories are supplied, but few are required. The plans are adequate and the building instructions are reasonably complete, however no construction photos are supplied. Laser cutting is used on the various wooden parts.

Construction is relatively simple, but some portions of the construction sequence are rather unusual. The fuselage is built first using conventional construction procedures. CA glue can be used throughout except epoxy is preferred for installation of the firewall. The wing construction is unusual. The first two steps involve gluing the 2 - 3/8 sq. in. spruce wing spars into the fuselage. The wing ribs are added by positioning the fuselage at the end of your building board, over the wing plan, and gluing the tabbed ribs in place while holding the fuselage at the end of the building board. The leading and trailing edges are then added. Then the leading and trailing edges are sheeted normally.

The two vertical stabilizers are built up balsa. They are glued to the fuselage after the parts are painted or covered.

Covering the model is a test of ingenuity. Ultracote is normally the preferred covering. However, the instructions call for adding 2 1/2 in. fiberglass cloth strips to the wing/fuselage joint. It would be impossible to get film to stick to this area so the entire fuselage fiberglassed and painted. This gave the added benefit of a fairly rough area to grasp on to while launching the model. Ultracote was used on the wings and tail surfaces.

Radio and engine installation was rather simple. An OS 40LA engine was chose to power the Shrike. The center of gravity was within limits with the battery placed to the rear of the radio compartment.

The Shrike was rather heavy for hand launch even with it weighing the advertised 3 1/2 lbs. After some discussion, the decision was made to try it. The launch was not successful. The model started out okay but with release of the back pressure on the stick, the Shrike immediately bellied into the ground. The only damage was a busted prop. The second launch was made with full up elevator trim. This time the model started climbing as soon as it was released. This flight continued as was hoped. The aircraft flew very well. It was very fast and very agile. Maintaining visual orientation was not a problem. The landing was uneventful.

The Shrike 40 performed as advertised. It is not a beginner’s model. An experienced RC pilot will find that it gives a new challenge.