My new EPP sport aerobatic trainer is almost ready to cover. The name is kind of an inside joke. I designed this plane to give my flying buddy Al Poliner something to practice electric powered aerobatics with. AL POliner. Get it?

Anyway, it's an EPP wing and fuselage with flying surfaces made from 1/4 balsa sticks. There is a carbon tube inside the fuselage for extra stiffness. I haven't weighed it yet, but it is pretty light so far.

Span is 44". Power will be a Hyperion 2213-16 on 3 cell 2150 lipos.

Low parts count? Looks like plenty of sticks to me.

Lokks quite nice, I hope it flies well.

Nice!!! A hybrid,,,what kinda mileage does it get?

Keep us posted on the build thru maiden.

Do you have a source for wing core and fuse or did you cut your own?

Al and I cut the cores with a hot wire bow, using the two man method. I cut out the fuse on my bandsaw.

Yeah, the parts count does go up some if you count all the individual sticks in the flying surfaces. I wanted them to be light, and it only took an hour or two to frame them up.

I hope to get it airborne within a few days. I'll be sure to post pics and maybe video when the maiden happens.

Looks Great Brian!
but what's the spinny thingy on the front

Originally Posted by Brian Courtice

Al and I cut the cores with a hot wire bow, using the two man method. I cut out the fuse on my bandsaw.

Yeah, the parts count does go up some if you count all the individual sticks in the flying surfaces. I wanted them to be light, and it only took an hour or two to frame them up.

I hope to get it airborne within a few days. I'll be sure to post pics and maybe video when the maiden happens.

Shhhhhh... Don't tell anybody over in the slope forum about this!!

Hahaha,
sercret is safe with me Brian,
cool looking design btw.

Originally Posted by Brian Courtice

Shhhhhh... Don't tell anybody over in the slope forum about this!!

So...how did Al fare?
David
Sierra Vista AZ

Here are some pics take right before the maiden flight. (You can't name a plane after a brand of dog food and not put a picture of a dog on it! Al has a miniature schnauser, so the breed choice was obvious...

Note the battery and speed control hung out in the breeze. It's ugly, but it keeps the gear nice and cool!

Unfortunately, we nearly pulverized it two minutes into the maiden flight. A bad reciever sent it straight in at high speed. At least we proved that EPP planes are tough! The only damage to the plane was that the wing got torn off of the fuselage, taking a few bits of fuselage foam along with it. We also bent the motor shaft. (The wing was gooped onto the fuse. If I had bothered to make the wing removable, it probably would have sheared the wing hold down bolts and there would have been little damage.)

Anyway, I just gooped it all back together, patched the covering a little, and it looks just like new again. I swapped the damaged motor for a Hacker 20-20L, and now the Alpo has had a few good flights on it since the unfortunate maiden.

It flies great! I wouldn't mind a little more power myself, but the 20-20L is still enough for big loops and decent aerobatics. It does exactly what it was designed for; good inverted, nice aerobatics, easy handling, and it's TOUGH!!!

I will try to get some flight pics and maybe some video posted soon.