I didn't mention the model in the photo on my last blog because I hadn't yet flown it.

This, I must say, was among the most pleasant surprises I had in a long time.

This was one of four models given to me by a friend who had a kit manufacturing company at one time. The proliferation of ARF and RTF models, while expanding the hobby as a whole, hurt his business.

Anyway, two models were complete and this was one of the two complete models. The other was a three-channel airplane of his own design called "The Sparrow." I'd seen this model fly and I now own it. Unfortunately, the servo arm for the rudder broke in flight. I'd never seen one fail! Damage is done, but fixable since it crashed in thick grass. We're getting together soon to assess and repair the damage. It's just too cool not to. It strongly resembles a Fokker Eindecker with a toy bust of Anakin Skywalker in his podracer goggles at the controls.

As for this powered glider with a brushed Jeti ESC and motor, an ancient ArtTech 1300mAh 3S li-po and an even more ancient three-channel Hitec 72MHz AM receiver, I dragged it into the house to investigate the possibility of a brushless upgrade.

Cleanup began right away and while I had a hunch the glider was in good shape, I didn't know just how good. Revealed beneath the dust was a nearly new, magnificently constructed model lacking only a canopy. No scratches on the wing and almost none underneath the fuselage beyond what one would expect after only a few grass landings.

The battery less its Deans connector and the receiver were destined for the trash, but not this gem of a model. I connected the model to my Futaba 6L sport radio, charged up a fresh 1300 3S and gave it a bench test.

Perfect.

So too was the flight test the following day at a large grass field. Once trimmed, this model flew with effortless grace and with plenty of power. The only problems I had were with the prop blades not folding back properly and the lack of flaps. This made the landing approach really, really long. She loves to fly!

UPDATE: I met up with the gentleman who built these models with the damaged Sparrow along for the ride. He has some other projects at this time, but we're getting together inside of a couple of weeks to repair it. Totally fixable and once it's ready to fly, I'll post pictures. This is a truly beautiful model and one which was a sort of prototype for a kit which was never produced.

Did you have the brake set on your ESC.
A folding prop typically keeps rotating unless the motor is made to lock-up on 'no throttle.'

I'd thought of that too late. The blades don't pivot as freely as they should (simple fix before I take it up again) and I'm not sure that the ESC is programmable. That's something I didn't think of and I'll look up the manual on line. I'm at work and I'll check it tonight at home. Thanks!