Aspire F3J

[djklein21]

I was at the Torrey Pines Gull's fun fly at the Poway field last night practicing some low level thermaling when Larry Jolly showed up. I asked him jokingly if he had his Aspire with him and he said YES! It is a very cool plane. He had to twist my arm to fly it some. I usually have a rule that I don't fly anything I can't replace.

I was flying my Pike Perfect so anything else had to be really good to feel any better. Well it was. Larry's Aspire flew really well. It turned easily, displayed great handling, and super efficiency. The plane was working the really light lift well, climbing with the hand launch planes.

Larry said his setup was 99% there and that he really liked the way the plane launched for F3J. This plane was really slippery too.

We will see what the future holds for the Aspire, but it seems like it is Larry's favorite plane. This is a tall order because he has 4 Perfects.

[Larry Jolly]

Hey Guys,
I wanted to bring you up to date. I have spoken to Lubos today on the phone. He is overwhelmed by the response from people wanting Aspires.Many of you know that he builds Freestylers for the Herrig Brothers for F3B. And as many of you know there is a Wc next month for F3B. So you can guess what they are building like crazy over at F3J Models. So needless to say Lubos is not getting much sleep. I felt sorry for him it is like when I used to do all the Movie projects, it is easy for you to end up with no personal life. Lubos has asured me that Aspires are coming to the US but maybe not before Fall. I would suggest that you reserve a model with Skip or Icare. The model is worth the wait. While We wait I will let those interested fly mine for a test spin. All my best Larry

[glderguy]

I really like Lubos planes as well but feel to make a accurate judgement on plane vs plane takes a little more time than just one session. Not defending the Pike as frankly the only Pike I had until I got the Perfect was the Superior, didnt care that much for it. None the less like to get some real time on a plane(s) before coming to any final conclusions.
Walter

[Larry Jolly]

Walt,
I'm not sure if your comments were in regards to my comments or Daves. I have a bunch invested in the Samba Perfect, I think it is a great airplane. My comments on the Aspire should be viewed as specific to the Aspire. I think it is a very good glider and should be considered by any one considering a model in this class. I have let over 15 other indivuiduals fly my Aspire from newbies to Salty old Pros. Every comment has been very positive describing the Aspires Performance. Like the Perfect it is capable of very high performance, and yet has benign flight characteristics. All my Best Larry

[fnnwizard]

I did not get to fly it. I did get see it fly. I thought it was a custom made Perfect at first. Saw it up close, got to fondle it. I like what I saw. I have a Perfect, this Aspire... will be the first plane ever that I mumbled to myself... "I gotta have that one ASAP". Been trying to get on the list last few days. Havent been succesfull. Gotta try calling Skip... hmm hmm hmm... I probably won't fly it for a while, but it is so cool looking... and yeah, the flying is good too! :D

Any strings you can pull Larry?;)

Tuan

[glderguy]

I was referring to post before yours Larry, Daves original post. Your post had nothing to do with plane comparisons I believe. Didnt clarify that. I havent even flown my Perfect yet, nor started the build so not sure how good it will work for me. I know I spent close to a year w/Superior and felt it was a decent plane but didnt work for me that well. I did give it a fair amount of time to decide that though.
Thanks,
Walter

[Larry Jolly]

Walt,
Finish up that Perfect, the Superior and Rerfect are not even cousins. Honestly I always considered the Superior an OK airplane but really didn't suit me. But you will really like the Perfect, it is really super to fly. I hope We get the chance to fly together i would like to have you fly the Aspire and tell me what you think. Best Regards Larry

[Tuomo]

We know that Aspire is easy to fly, floats woderfully and more than keeps with keeps up with other planes in moderate conditions. But what about windy weather?

Two weeks ago I was flying in Nordic Championships in Denmark. On the fist day it was terribly windy -- steady 12m/s and at several occasions I measured contionous 14m/s while keeping a wind meter in my hand. After damaging the rudder of my windy weather plane in the landing of my windy weather plane, I was in a situation of choosing between Aspire and a weak & light glass skin ship. I opted for not taking risks with my Aspire, but this meant that I lost my possibilities in the competition. Now I wonder if I did the right thing...

I have flown Aspire up to 8m/s and there seems to be no special problems. It benefits from 2-4 blocks of ballast and the structure seems up to it. Handling the big plane on flight line takes some extra effort. Landings may need some extra concentration and towmen need to be strong and heavy :eek: I am also worried about line -- 1.3-1.35mm is the thickest I normally use. 1.4mm or 1.45mm is needed when flying these big planes in windy conditions. I have snapped 1.3mm in quite moderate wind when I hit a thermal/gust.

So what do you folks think about flying a 3.7 meter plane in windy conditions? Aspire is certainly allround but it is so allround that we do not need F3B style windy weather planes in our hangars? Just 2-3 Aspire and that is it. Maybe order one with super strong fuselage and heavy duty double carbon center section for some extra robustness.

While waiting for windy weather I would like to hear from your experiences.