The parts of the kit are shown above, including a PCB connector plate (lower left centre) which is a recent addition not shown in the instructions. The instructions themselves are comprehensive and lead you through the assembly with pictures of each stage.

Winding the stator is not difficult, but you probably need to do 2 or 3 before you will be satisfied. I managed it first time but had to rewind one pole because I lost count. Basically, you number the poles 1 to 9 and then commence winding at number 1, followed by 4 and 7. You then twist the wire to make a tap and proceed to 2,7 and 8, make another tap and then wind 3, 6 and 9. Finally, you twist the beginning and end together to make the third tap. Each pole has 32 turns and things get very tight towards the end!

The tendency here is to wind in layers. You will get 11 or 12 turns into the first layer but, if you wind back to the centre and out again, you will end up on the outside of the pole and you need to finish at the inside. The first three poles will be easy, the second three a little tight and the final three very difficult! You need to load the majority of the turns towards the outside of the pole as things rapidly get very crowded slose to the centre. I wouldn't swear that I got 32 turns on each pole! I will rewind it sometime in the future to see if I can make it neater.

The kit included a PCB to terminate the connections. This isn't mentioned in the instructions, but it's use is obvious. It slides on the rear of the stator, the three taps go through the holes and are soldered in place. The result is snug and no further fixing is needed. This makes it easy to try again later.

There are twelve magnets that have to be glued into the rotor. The instructions advise that you set them in a line on the bench to get the right orientation of north and south poles. It dawned on me later that this still gives two possible arrangements, with no indication of which is correct.

I tacked the magnets in with slow epoxy (1 hour) and then added more epoxy later to fill in the gaps and make a more secure joint as advised. This is probably unnecessary as the magnets attach them selves to the outer steel ring and are held in by centrifugal force anyway.

The instructions include details of how to identify and remove any high spots that impeed rotation but I didn't have any of those. The motor span very freely but with a notching action as the poles went past the magnets. All-up weight was 20g as advertised.

The motor is mounted via a piece of carbon tube which is a snug fit on the rear of the motor. There is enough tube to make two mounts, which is thoughtful. The tube crushes very easily and I would advise winding some thread around it to reinforce. This will also make it easier to glue in place. The motor is retained in the tube, once fitted, by a small amount of contact adhesive (Evo-Stik, etc) which can easily be removed with cellulose thineers - keep this well clear of foam, however.

Despite the fact that this is within the claimed maximum for 340mAh Kokams, they get warm very rapidly and each flight gives a progressive reduction in performance. I do wonder whether my Phoenix 10 is working properly (I have read elsewhere of glitching problems). It will get into a situation at full throttle where the power will cut in and out accompanied by the LED flashing. I can only assume that the batteries are 'over the hill'. My 640mAH Kokam pack seems to cope better although flights are no longer. On some ocassions, this cutting in and out causes glitching.

The recommended prop sizes are 8 x 4.3 or 9 x 4.7. I've only flown on the 8 x 4.3 as this takes the least current. I tried static runs on a GWS 7 x 6 prop which seems to be virtually identical on the GWS units, but it gives less RPM and draws more current in this application.

Prop Cells Current (Amps) RPM Comment 7 x 6 GWS 2 x 640 mAh Kokam 5.8 6700 8 x 4.3 GWS 2 x 640 mAh Kokam 5.3 7000 9 x 4.7 GWS 2 x 640 mAh Kokam 6.8 6000

Weight: 20g (0.70oz) + prop