AngelWing Designs Aria 1.2m

21 October 2025: Small delivery arrived - some in stock now

The AngelWing Designs Aria is the first collaborative design from James Hamond of Aeroic and Andrew Whitehead of AngelWing Designs. James supplied the aerodynamic expertise and artistic flair that shaped the refined airfoils and elegant lines, while Andrew applied his talent for balsa construction and 3D engineering to create this exceptional 1 200 mm-span VTPR-style balsa glider kit.

AngelWing Designs produced a highly detailed Fusion 360 CAD model that underpins a lightweight, strong and remarkably accurate airframe. The design combines precision 3D printed components and carbon-fibre rods and tubes with the enduring, tactile beauty of high-quality balsa wood.

Every material in the kit is chosen for a specific job and is the best available for that task. Although the Aria is a builder’s model, AngelWing Designs has engineered each stage so construction is as accurate and straightforward as possible. If a jig is needed, it is included in the kit—even the fully symmetrical hollow fin comes with a double-sided jig that makes the job quick and precise.

AngelWing Designs could have taken the easy route and produced a slab-sided, flat-topped fuselage from inexpensive materials, but neither James nor AngelWing Designs would accept such a compromise. Instead, the flat-sided fuselage flows into fully rounded top and bottom decking and is topped with an elegant, crystal-clear vacuum-formed canopy. Assembly is simplified by a clever 3D printed wing-root and former sub-assembly, plus 3D printed nose and nose fairing. Integrated pillars in the formers support the rudder and elevator pushrods, giving smooth, low-friction runs with minimal slop.

The wing-root and joiner system employs the same advanced 3D printing techniques. A robust 8 mm carbon-rod joiner is supplied as standard, and can be swapped for two steel joiners to add roughly 100 g of ballast. Lightened 0.8 mm plywood cores strengthen the wingtips, while a 7 mm carbon-tube spar delivers a wing that is both very light and impressively rigid.

At the tail, the excitement continues: the Aria features a full 180-degree “mad-stab” all-flying tailplane. Machined from engineering-grade, low-friction acetal sheet, this purpose-built unit uses a bell-crank linkage with nylon joiner-tube bushes housed in a 3D printed cassette that keys into both fin and fuselage for maximum strength.

To get the most from the mad-stab, fit a high quality servo and add a dedicated curve to the elevator channel on your transmitter - an economy servo will not suffice. If wild flips are not your style, using a smaller output arm will give finer resolution, making the elevator servo choise les critical. Either way the model is capable of smooth, precise aerobatics as well as mad 3D aerobatics and fantastic direction reversals!

The recommended CG is 79mm from the wing root leading edge.

Recommended R/C
Rudder	KST X08, KST A08, CHA DS09, Blue Bird BMS-127WV, PTK 7462MG
Elevator	KST X08, KST A08, CHA DS09, Blue Bird BMS-127WV, PTK 7308MG
Ailerons (2 servos)	KST X08, KST A08, CHA DS09, Blue Bird BMS-127WV, PTK 7462MG
Battery	HyperFlight 400 mAh 6V NiMH