Harris Nelson Elf

Simply stated, the Elf is one amazing airplane. It was originally conceived by Harris Nelson as a model that could work well as a trainer. It is docile and forgiving but also as a fully aerobatic slope ship.

Pitcheron and Wingeron airplanes have a reputation of being best suited for the experienced pilot. Harris’ Elf proves this reputation to be ill founded. I know of no other Pitcheron model that is as sweet to fly as this one. A pilot with limited flying skills can handle the Elf. This is one model that will make the pilot with limited stick time look like a pro.

The Elf can fly in all kinds of conditions Light winds to 35 mph and higher are no problem for this bird. A pitcheron ship that can slow down for landings is rare but the Elf can do it. It is a competent thermal model as well.

The Elf is a perfect traveling companion. It can easily be packed in a case small enough to carry on an airplane (Guess who sells such a case? We do of course) or it can be your back seat model that stays in your car at all times.

The Elf looks very similar and builds very much like the Shrike so you can have yours in the air soon after receiving your kit.

You can also purchase a set of Shrike Wing cores and have two completely different gliders by simply changing the wings from the Elf’s gentle polyhedral wings to the much more aggressive Shrike wings. If you decide to order a set of cores you can bag them with composites (you supply) or you can order a full wing kit that includes all the necessary wood and your choice of either Obeechi or Poplar wing skins. Pricing for just the cores by themselves or a full Shrike wing kit can be found on the Shrike page.

Here are some specs for this amazing glider:
Span 50”
Fuselage length 31”
All up weight between 19 and 23 ounces and up.

The Elf Full kit includes the following:

Fiberglass fuselage with carbon tail boom installed and holes for V Tail mounting pins jig drilled for accuracy.
Fiberglass canopy or your choice of the optional carbon canopy. ($10.00 more) If you order the carbon canopy at the same time you order your kit you will also receive a fiberglass canopy.
Beautiful four panel wing core set cut from Dow HighLoad 60 foam. Cores are pre-drilled for wing rod tube and routed for sub ribs to support the wing rod tube end.
Obeechi wing skins (poplar skins may be substituted at no additional cost but they will add approximately 2 ounces to your all up weight)
Carbon wing rod
Steel wing rod
Aluminum servo mounts
Delrin wing control cams.
Two laser cut balsa tail pieces that are pre-drilled to receive aluminum tubes.
Laser cut plywood ribs, sub-ribs and tail root ribs
A full assortment of hardware
Building directions and plans. (If you want to get a preview of how easy this bird is to build check out Brian Courtice’s excellent build thread for the Shrike. The Elf builds exactly the same except for the polyhedral wing.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309605