I have just bought an 80g/m2 Aspire for heavy weather. Actually that is just an excuse, I've always wanted to try one. Can someone post a set up please? I expect the weight to be around 2.4 kg. I know that now lightness is everything but I wanted something robust that I did not have to worry about. I have proved to myself that once the thermals start weight is less important (for me).

That is a very nice and robust plane for windy days

There is no secret set up for heavy Aspire. Just do not have the CG too far back since the you will most propably fly the plane in turbulent and tricky conditions when handling is everything.

CG at 114-115mm is a good starting point. Adjust towhook position so that you do not any elevator compensation in launch. When in thermal or floating mode, you might want to use little more camber than in lightweight plane. Ok?

Pigly please send me your Email address at to ljolly@aol.com and I will send a set-up sheet for the Aspire. LJ

Thanks Larry,
Paul

Thanks too Tuomo, I always find your comments worth reading.
Paul

Pigly - you'll love it. I flew one as a 3rd model in the France F3J WC's. A club member loaned me a 3.8 Xplorer and an 80gsm Aspire, I flew them back to back for a day before deciding on the Aspire to compliment 2 Supra Pro's. I was amazed to find out later it weighed 2.4kg dry as it didnt feel like it in the air.
Only change I made to stock standard was to file the slot for elevator movement a bit bigger so I could get more down throw for landings. I think I still have the program for a 12FG so if youre a Futaba guy I can email it.

Thanks Les, I'd love your program but I currently fly an XG8 and Airtronics SD10G (trying to decide which I like better, pluses and minuses in both systems) but that's a different thread. Cheers, Paul

no, it's not a euphemism - it really does wobble. It looks like the support for the tail is an an aluminium tube, which has some epoxy or something else spread in side it and it is then ground out until the carbon connecting tube fits, The hole in mine is not round, so it has some friction in it and the joiner does not fall out but the up and down play is quite bad. My friend Brian's plane was quite the opposite. and he had to grind the tube down a bit until it fitted
Does anyone know the best way to fix this?
I flew the Aspire for the first time today and got really good launches in the strong wind.The handling was up to expectations but even at 2330g it felt light and I would have added some ballast but I undershot and landed in the bushes, fortunately with no damage. I therefore decided to call it quits as the wind was picking up even more. Its current cg is 122 mm. I left the hook where it was, just aft of the centre point and the rotation and climb and ping were all great. I did not tap enough on the last launch and with a small core on the winch I broke the line (1.3 mono) at the top of the launch. With the bigger core on I would have probably stalled the winch and maybe saved the line.

Originally Posted by pigly

no, it's not a euphemism - it really does wobble. It looks like the support for the tail is an an aluminium tube, which has some epoxy or something else spread in side it and it is then ground out until the carbon connecting tube fits, The hole in mine is not round, so it has some friction in it and the joiner does not fall out but the up and down play is quite bad. My friend Brian's plane was quite the opposite. and he had to grind the tube down a bit until it fitted
Does anyone know the best way to fix this?

I know the problem. I have used some thin CA to thicken the elevator carbon tube joiner when it wears and get wobbly. This is maybe not enough if you plane has a fault in the aluminum bearing.

One possibility is using Xolorer large elevator. Bearing works just perfect if you cut a length from Aspire joiner tube and sand the opening just a little bit. Then lightly glue the carbot bit to elevator fin bearing (you may have to replace this when it wears out). Xplorer elevator needs some dremelling to fit around Aspire fin, but this is just a 20 min job.

I like to use Xplorer elevator on Aspire because it gives more accurate trimming and very positive elevator response with smaller movements (Aspire elevator has way too thick profile). I also firmly believe that original Aspire elevator has more drag.

Thanks for that Tuomo, I checked my Xplorer 4 tailplane against the Aspire and it does seem about the same area. The other thing is that it is 17 g lighter, which should take about 50 g out of the plane, not that it needs it but would bring it well under 2300g. I don't like the idea of cutting a bit off the Aspire joiner even though the Xplorer's joiner is a nice fit in it, I'll buy some more tube and work on it.
Another characteristic I noticed whilst flying yesterday was a tendency for the plane to oscillate in the yaw plane when flying straight and level, something I have not seen in any of my other aircraft. Is this a longitudinal instability problem or is my aileron/rudder mix too high (65%)? I was running the cg at 122 mm from the LE yesterday in pretty strong winds and turbulence.

Originally Posted by pigly

Another characteristic I noticed whilst flying yesterday was a tendency for the plane to oscillate in the yaw plane when flying straight and level, something I have not seen in any of my other aircraft. Is this a longitudinal instability problem or is my aileron/rudder mix too high (65%)? I was running the cg at 122 mm from the LE yesterday in pretty strong winds and turbulence.

I think, by modern standards Aspire should have slightly longer fuse and/or larger fin/rudder. I did some testing last summer with temporarily enlarged rudder. It was an improvement. If you are really into Aspires, you could build a larger open structure rudder.

But the problem is not too severe. If you fly nicely and keep the speed up, there are no apparent problems.

I was advised by the importers that their solution was to glue the joiner in place. I did not like that solution as it would compromise my transport method ( fuselages hanging up in a bundle under the roof of my van). I had measured the size of the hole and the size of the joiner and there was a 0.1 mm difference in diameter when the little bits of whatever the manufacturers had put in there to improve the situation were removed. I thought of getting hold of some thin brass shim and making a sleeve up. My mate Brian thought of the adhesive aluminium tape that I had bought to stick on wings to improve visibility. he measured it and it was 0.05 mm thick - sometimes serendipity really does work! After a bit of fiddling the fit is almost perfect and when it wears I still have enough tape for about 40 years flying.

Hi Pigly,

I think Larry recommended not going back more than 118. I know some guys that have gone back to 123 and some as far as 125. I got back to about 122/123 and found it wanted to pick up speed in a dive and was to twitchy for me. Back at 114/115 I find it more to my liking.

I still like it the best of the fleet.

Phil

My mate Brian flies his at 125 and thinks that it performs really nicely. We do fly our models with the CG fairly aft and they are only just a bit on the stable side. I am going to put it forwards to 116 mm and then work back from there just to see if I like it better in the high wind I bought it for. A series of weights screwed in at the ballast secure point should do the trick and then a permanent solution (sinkers cast in silicone) when it is where I really like it. At the moment I like the Egida a little better even though it has had structural problems for me. The Aspire is more like the Egida than my Xplorers, you seem to have to fly it fairly fast to get the best out of it. I have been playing around with the Ail/Rud mix and have not yet put the Ele/Camber mix on that Larry recommends but will try that too. Off to a comp with it this weekend. I had a really good flight with it in a southerly change ( cold front passing) the other day flying in orographic lift and some weak thermal. I did around 12 min easy. I find it is second only to the Egida in launch even at 2330g vs 1800g for the Egida. The wings bend not at all even though I am a lead foot on the winch. I have broken my good 1.3mm mono and may have to put 1.4mm on. Its ping is great. I think a spread tow would be a really nice all round model.

One of the things we do is to tape a 7gram weight to the fuse behind the wing. Fly and move the weight backward about a 1mm and refry. You will eventually find the sweet spot fairly quickly. Do not make big adjustments and evaluate each move.
Good Luck.