Tower Hobbies has a very attractive price on there Kyosho Stratus Sport ARF Sailpane. It has a 75.6" span and seems to come pretty complete. It could become a Xmas present but I want to know if anyone has any experience with this palne? Does it fly well and would it be suitable for an advanced beginner.
Thanks,
Tom

I am a noob, but 44 oz seems a bit on the heavy side, no?

I own its sister ship the Soarus, both the same plane just a diff. wing. As for being for a advanced beginner, it would be kinda boring. For your level, mabey try the Kyosho soarus, It has ailerons, same motor as the Stratus, same fuse and same tail. The best thing about these "plastic" planes is that thay hold together well. I have had a lot of (HARD) landings with this plane, ones that would have turned a balsa plane into many peices and I still have not had to glue anything back together. It is heavy but its made to hold up to the abuse that only a true beginner could do. It isnt a stay in the air all day kinda plane, but if your just a beginner I think holding togeter is more importent than how long it stays in the air! I flew mine every chance I had last summer so I can say that on a 2 min. motor run (full power)(it dont have alot of power) I would get 6 or 7 min. of glide time after the motor run. That was with a 7 cell 1500 battery, and with this battery I would get 4 min. of run time (2 full power climbs) plus a few sec. of emergancy power 20 to 30 sec. (about). I think its a very good plane for the money, just dont expect to get the same preformance out of it as you would a $400 or $500 plane Hope this helped you .........R..............

Nice plane. I got mine in 1996....still fly it.
It is heavy (mine is 48oz), and fast also.
The out-of-the-box direct-drive 550 configuration is a dog though.
The plane is 10X better with a good gearbox.
Better yet, a smallish geared brushless is VERY nice combo for this plane. I use an Astro020 w/3.27-1 SuperBox. 11x7.5 prop.
Using 2000Mahx8cell NIMH, I can stay in the air for regularly for 20 minutes (have done 30min+ flights under right conditions easy).

Pullin'

I forgot to ask.....what is your experience?
What planes have you flown comfortably?

Pullin'