Shaprap thanks for the great pics and for sharing your experiment. I am in the same mode of having to replace the motor. I have a couple of questions. Did you find a workable prop adaptor? Is the "zippy" you referred to a battery? If so why did you use a higher rated battery than the stock one?

Originally Posted by tlr-boise

When you start getting away from stock, you can get into all kinds of unexpected mods, requiring solder, Dremels, razor saws, epoxy, CA.

Here's a MAS prop with a Hyperion STAN-40 spinner. Hyperion spinners work great because the holes on the side for the prop to stick out are large, and don't require (usually) any Dremelling so the prop will fit. Unlike the Dubros.

APC props fit fine also. I usually fly with an APC 11x7 or 11x8, but this MAS 11x7.5 gives the plane a nice, deeper, different sound.

Note, however, the large hole in the cowl. To get the Hyperion spinner to fit, I had to Dremel out the hole, and remove the lip around it. Not a big deal, as it turned out, but it was a surprise.

tlr-Boise - Those wheels look great and I suspect they are
lighter than the stock ones. Do you mind sharing where you got them? Thanks

This is mine with a Turnigy C3548/900 12X8 prop & a DuBro spinner. It flys with either the factory 3S3200 or the Turnigy 3S3300.

This was my first effort at making changes to a RTF plane so the adaptor is a little crude. Worked so well I never went back to change it like I planned.

Plane few well for a long time till it was retired & all the electronics used in a SIG Seniorita. The Seniorita has a much neater installation & is the style I use on any plane that does not come with adjustable mounts in the box.

Originally Posted by crobar

tlr-Boise - Those wheels look great and I suspect they are
lighter than the stock ones. Do you mind sharing where you got them? Thanks

Crobar, those are Dubro micro sport wheels, available form your LHS usually, or lots of places, if you google it. Not lighter than stock, but with this plane, it's not a big deal at all. I fly with a battery a lot heavier than stock, and works great.

http://www.dubro.com/hobby/ecatalog/dubro/00006.htm

Nosewheel is 3" diam wheel, and have 2.5" wheels on the rear. With the thick, stiff grass I fly through, these wheels worked the best. And I also tried thick foam wheels. But these skinny ones worked better. The larger nosewheel is so the plane tilts back just a bit, and is an effort to keep the plane from digging into the grass, nosing over, on take off. Plane lands on grass just fine; taking off is the problem. The stock motor and prop did not pull enough to take off grass, but the Hyperion and APC or MAS props, with these wheels, did.

Originally Posted by tlr-boise

Crobar, those are Dubro micro sport wheels, available form your LHS usually, or lots of places, if you google it. Not lighter than stock, but with this plane, it's not a big deal at all. I fly with a battery a lot heavier than stock, and works great.

http://www.dubro.com/hobby/ecatalog/dubro/00006.htm

Nosewheel is 3" diam wheel, and have 2.5" wheels on the rear. With the thick, stiff grass I fly through, these wheels worked the best. And I also tried thick foam wheels. But these skinny ones worked better. The larger nosewheel is so the plane tilts back just a bit, and is an effort to keep the plane from digging into the grass, nosing over, on take off. Plane lands on grass just fine; taking off is the problem. The stock motor and prop did not pull enough to take off grass, but the Hyperion and APC or MAS props, with these wheels, did.

Thanks - I fly on a close trimmed grass field but some of my landings are in the taller areas. That's good to know that your type of wheel/tires are better in the grass. Thanks also for the link.

Originally Posted by crobar

Shaprap thanks for the great pics and for sharing your experiment. I am in the same mode of having to replace the motor. I have a couple of questions. Did you find a workable prop adaptor? Is the "zippy" you referred to a battery? If so why did you use a higher rated battery than the stock one?

This is the "zippy"... I bought one 15C and two 20C.
It fits perfectly in the battery compartment. The ESC's cables are too short to pull all the way down so I have to insert the battery's cables upwards and connect them under the wing.

I made a test flight today with the new setup and this battery makes it very well balanced. It's heavier and that's actually good in windy fields, but it's also stronger and it climbs quickly and ellegantly.

I broke the prop on the last landing because the ground was soft and the nose wheel got burried in it.

Looks like a good fit. I'm glad the Zippy works well. From what I've seen they are a lot cheaper than a lot of other batteries in the same specification category.

i'm still liking this model. zero bad habits. i removed the appretice stickers they were bothering me. this is a nice looking model that didn't need the flashy writing on it. now it's how i like them to be, clean. i also put grass wheels on it. i buy them buy the gross.

Originally Posted by crash goodly

i'm still liking this model. zero bad habits. i removed the appretice stickers they were bothering me. this is a nice looking model that didn't need the flashy writing on it. now it's how i like them to be, clean. i also put grass wheels on it. i buy them buy the gross.

Is this the same wheel as you are using?
https://www.lowpricerc.com/product_i...roducts_id=283
(I bought three of them and plan to drill the inner hole to fit the 3mm shaft)

Originally Posted by shaprap

Is this the same wheel as you are using?
https://www.lowpricerc.com/product_i...roducts_id=283
(I bought three of them and plan to drill the inner hole to fit the 3mm shaft)

mine are 2 1\2 inch diam dubro. they to needed to be drilled to fit the axles. i use the 2 1\2 inch to clear the grass of the club field. the ones you have will do the trick.

Notice to all Apprentice flyers: Remote Control Hobbies, located in Boise, Idaho, just received a firewall for the Apprentice. They have one in stock now; it's been on back order forever, and apparently, Horizon is shipping some, as a replaceable component.

I just went in there and it's about $5, and the firewall has the nosewheel arm included.

Originally Posted by tlr-boise

I just went in there and it's about $5, and the firewall has the nosewheel arm included.

This is great news but they do not appear on the stock list or website of the Australian importer/distributor. Flyers here will have to hope and wait for stock, so would you guys in the US please avoid crashing your Apprentices so that there are sufficient stock spares to send to the rest of us. Thanks

CB

Hey people...
I got some pictures of the plane been to windy to fly though :/

Originally Posted by shaprap

Here is my attempt to use a Turnigy SK3548-900kv motor on the apprentice.
Only problem is the add-on threaded shaft is 6mm so I can't use the stock prop adapter (designed for a 5mm shaft) and thus can't use the original spinner.

This motor draws 29A with an APC 11X8, and I use a 5000mAh 20c Zippy. I'm Testing it tomorrow.

I broke the APC 11X8 while landing nicely and taxying into a hole in the road...
The local store only had a 12x8 APC so I tried it on, with a 5000mAh and a 40A ESC gave some crazy pull and drew at the peak 30A... This motor ROCKS!