I received my E Sport 10 on Monday and have been going over it to determine how I want to set it up. I have always admired Rob's airplanes and wanted something to take to SEFF.
First impression was that the airplane was straight! Major relief! All of the parts fit well, however, it could use some additional glue. My kit has the aluminum LG instead of the wire gear (the wire gear looks funky to me). The elevator does not have a double beveled LE but is cut 45 degrees. Hmmm. The TE of the stab is cut for CA hinges but the elevator looks like they want you to use tape for a hinge I choose not to use tape on this sized airplane. I'm going to build a new elevator to solve this. The ply LG plate does not have the ply reinforcement that Rob shows on the plans. With my landings, this has got to be changed. The instruction sheet is a reprint of Rob's construction article. Not exactly helpful to assemble the ARF, however, I've done enough assembling to finish the airplane.
The most disappointing thing about the airplane was personal! The colors suck! Rob's airplanes, both the ES8 and ES10 have beautiful lines and the ARF's color schemes don't do a thing for them! So last night, I stripped off the fuse's covering in order to redo. The covering is a bear to remove! The clear part comes off ok but a lot of the pigment stays on. Oh well, that will teach me!
Overall, I'm not discouraged yet and I think that I still got a deal for $99.95. Stay tuned.
Frank

Frank,
You got a great deal. I bought one from a fellow Ezoner and flew it with reckless abandon. I ended up having a radio glitch and whacking it. I ordered a new one at the regular price from Kiona and paid a pretty high shipping fee and again am very happy with it. I have an extra fuse right now because the original fuse wasn't damaged in the crash so I'm using it.
You might consider buying some aluminium strip from your local home supply or hardware store to make a new longer landing gear. I found that with a 14" prop the prop was brushing the grass and the plane had a bit of a trouble rotating to take off. By putting on a longer gear the prop is farther away from the grass and the angle of attack is increased making take offs much easier.
You're going to love the plane, to use the over used phrase, it flies like its on rails. I take it with me more often than any of my other planes.
Dave

I totally agree that I got a deal.Except for the elevator, most of my changes are personal.
Frank

I got mine yesterday evening. And it looks great. At that price, you can hardly get a foam parkflyer. However, what is enough power and speed for this ship?
Is it possible to get this ship airborne without spending an arm and ….? If someone has a suggestion for a reasonable motor-setup I would appreciate to know. It's always easy to power it for insane vertical and speed but what is enough for a good patternlike flight?
Is it possible to use a Mega, LRK or an AXI on 10 to 12 cells? Please tell!
BV

In Rob's construction article, he mentions the Plettenberg 15/18 for 10/12 cells. The AXI 2826 should be a good match as well as the similiar sized Mega's geared. I'm planning to use an Plettenberg 25/16 on 5S3P as I'm slightly insane.
Frank

Frank,

I have used a tape hinge on both my ES-10s now for over a year. It has held up well. I use the 600 series scotch tape which is heavier then regular tape. A 25/16 should be perfect on a 5S. Lots of power!!! I wish too that the model had of come covered in a great opaque color scheme and I have stripped mine also. I just haven't gotten around to recovering it. I hope to be at SEFF with something new to fly!!!!!

Rob

I will look forward to meeting you at SEFF! Hey, I'll try the tape! Due to the slight additional weight of the 25/16, I'm planning to put the rudder and elevator servos in the rear.
Frank

Originally Posted by Frank Hurd

In Rob's construction article, he mentions the Plettenberg 15/18 for 10/12 cells. The AXI 2826 should be a good match as well as the similiar sized Mega's geared. I'm planning to use an Plettenberg 25/16 on 5S3P as I'm slightly insane.
Frank

Do you really think that Axi2826 is enough, that owuld be the ultimate cheap solution When you say Mega would that be a 22202 - 4 with gear ratio 2-3:1 or something like that, or the bigger 2230 something?
Would the Plettenberg 25/16 f it without any modifications of the airframe?

BV

The 2826 is more then enough to power that size plane. I have some real life numbers for it. With a 13 x 8 APCE on 3S2P pack it puts out 410 watts at 41 amps at 7600 rpm.

I am using a mega 22/20/2 geared 3.18 x 1 in a similar size plane. Output with a 12 x 8 APCE on 3S2P pack is 450 watts at 45 amps at 7900 rpm.

I also am using on Orbit 15\18 in a 61 oz AUW sport plane. With a 12 x 8 APCE prop on 3S2P pack that putsout 430 watts at 42 amps and 7700 rpm.

They all fly very well and fit my flying style perfectly.

Doug

I used contact hinges all round, elevator, aileron and rudder. The have held up fine. Personally I think the existing elevator is fine.

The landing gear does need bracing up a touch. I used two sticks of balsa to spread the load a bit further. You can also use nylon bolts (4 mm) if still in doubt.

An outrunner with a prop up to 14x10 works well. Use at least 12 BRJ (big round jugs) or equivalent. Its really a 14-16 cell plane or lipo equivalent.

Originally Posted by davidleitch

An outrunner with a prop up to 14x10 works well. Use at least 12 BRJ (big round jugs) or equivalent. Its really a 14-16 cell plane or lipo equivalent.

I agree. The power systems I mentioned above should use a 4S2P pack or equivalent round cells and appropriate props. I am kinda partial to the outrunners myself.

Doug

The Orbit 25/16 fits. The only mod is to make those square supports sticks into triangles like Rob shows on the plan.
I began removing the purple transparent covering last night;thank goodness that it comes off easily. What would be the best way to remove the white pigment left after the clear part was peeled off? Sanding? Acetone?
By the way, I'm very impressed with the construction and fit of the parts after taking the covering off! Aside from the asthetics of the colors, a real nice airplane.

Originally Posted by Frank Hurd

The Orbit 25/16 fits. The only mod is to make those square supports sticks into triangles like Rob shows on the plan.
.

Then an AXI 41XX would fit too with a few minuttes of dremeling, or is it a few mm to thick? I think an outrunner would be the easyest way to go, because Norwegian retailers who doesnšt stock any good gearboxes.
Thank's for the answers!
BV

I bought a second one for the $99 price. The one that I've been flying since July has an astro 25G (brushless) on 4s4p lipo (soon to be 5s4p), about 650 watts, we'll see how it likes more power.

BTW, I also put the R and E servos in the tail, and it is quite difficult to balance the plane that way- I would not recommend it. Part of the reason that I'm going to a 5s pack is because I need noseweight. At first I had a mega 45/3e in the nose, a honkin' 11 oz. motor, and I still had to move the battery pack far forward to balance. When going to the astro motor, wich weighs 8oz with gearbox, the plane is still tail heavy even with a higley heavy prop hub. Put the servos as shown in the plans and the plane will be fine.

The elevator is fine, tape works well on planes even larger than this. I also replaced the LG with a carbon unit for more prop clearance.

My only complaint is that I don't like the covering scheme as produced. I prefer opaque colors in a 40-sized pattern ship.

My plan is to compete in my first pattern competition this spring, hence the slightly over the top power. You wont need 800 watts for sport flying! Local pattern flyers have flown this plane and said that it flies surprisingly well for a 40 sized plane- it is at least as good as the venus. These guys tend to be pretty critical ("anything smaller than 90-sized sucks").

Wow, you saved me some grief about the servo location! It use to be that electrics were notoriously nose heavy- quite a change!
I added some ply strips to the LG area ala, the plans. I also added some balsa triangle stock along the front of the plate to add some more stress relief. I have the carbon fibre LG made for the E3D and it gives about an inch more clearance plus it's wider, too.
I cut a cooling hole in the nose and ground down those square motor sticks to a triangle shape to give me clearance for the 25/16. I added some carbon fibre plate to the rear of the firewall plus added fiberglas strips on each side of the plate. The 25/16 exerts a heck of a twisting motion so this was the strongest and lightest way to stiffen the nose.
I'll have to order a 2" spinner from Zb to fit. All that I have on hand are 2.25".
I finished stripping the wing this morning. I plan to add the 2" strip of fiberglas cloth to the center section. I noticed that the manufacturer would piece together pieces of balsa to make up for shortages. Nothing major, just little splices here and there. I'm not complaining- their joint work is superb! Balsa is expensive everywhere!
My Mouse sander did a good job of removing the leftover pigment. Until, it died! Oh well, time to go to Home Depot and get a replacement.
Frank