Spirit Elite builders?

[John Gallagher]

Tower is having a sale on the full house Spirit Elite kit - not the ARF. Can those who have built the kit tell me how it turned out?
Was it an easy build?
Was the performance as espected?
What's the flying weight?

John

[SoarNeck]

http://www.geocities.com/sunbirdz/SpiritElitePage.html

[aeajr]

Search on Spirt or spirit elite. There are lots of threads on it.

[Vince inTX.]

It is an easy build if you have built atleast one plane before and are Very careful when you read the instructions and look at the pictures. On this plane the pics and words will sometimes seem to contradict one another.

The performance was more than I could have hoped for.

This plane is heavy. Mine came in at 44 oz auw. Which give a wing loading of about 10 oz. per sqft. If you want a floater, THIS AINT IT! Fly it fast and it will reward you. Try to slow it down and fly with the Gentle Ladies and it will bite you.
Build the 4 servo wing and use crow when landing. At this high wing loading it will blow right through the landing zone and set a land speed record in the process if you dont use crow to slow and steepen your approach. I have flown mine in 25 mile an hour winds, it will still move out when you put the nose down.

I dont fly mine too often because I feel as though I need to become a better pilot first. I really think I jumped the gun and hoped a better plane would make me a better pilot.

Build it and Enjoy it, it really is a fun and capable plane and it makes a really great "first" full house plane.

Vince

[John Gallagher]

Vince,
Are you talking about the kit version with the builtup fuse or the ARF version with the fiberglass fuse?
44 ounces? The link above said something about 35 ounces.

John

[Vince inTX.]

Mine is the kit not the arf. Don't believe what mfg says it should weigh. They get to choose the wood they use. We get to use the wood some slave labour oriental person puts in the die cruncher. Granted I made my horizontal stab removable which may have added 1-2 oz. total including nose weight to counter. And maybe I didnt sand as much off as I could have. But I still can't see 9 oz. on this plane

BUT HEY!! ymmv.

Good luck

Vince

[SoarNeck]

I weighed mine (kit) out a 35 oz with 4 HS81's and 2 HS81MGs, though I sold it years ago so I can't double check. I've heard of the ARF coming down to the low 40 ozs, and that has a fuse that weighs about 10 oz!

[SoarNeck]

Obviously the tail isn't stock...

[SoarNeck]

2:

[RSCherry]

Hey John- why bother with the Spirit, just finish your Aegea Mantis instead!

Bob

[John Gallagher]

Originally posted by RSCherry
Hey John- why bother with the Spirit, just finish your Aegea Mantis instead!

Bob

Bob,
I plan to finish the Mantis, but the idea of a built-up full house 2 meter appeals to me. It's a shame that there are so few two meter contest anymore.
When the weather improves, we'll have to have a Mantis flyoff.

John

[RSCherry]

A fly off sounds good- there certainly are enough Mantis' at the field! I got a lot of work done on mine over the weekend. I hope to have my Mantis ready for it's maiden flight by early March. I had all of the parts taped together last night- I'm at 59.9 oz before balancing. After I add some servo extensions, etc and get it balanced, I'm hoping to be around 61-62 oz.

Bob