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Great Planes Escapade .40 ARF

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Great Planes Escapade .40 ARF

Old 03-19-2018, 04:01 PM
  #1826  
airdrum
 
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Originally Posted by tailskid
Are you holding the firewall upside-down? i don't know if that is even possible, but I agree "Left Thrust"?????
No, I am looking at it from the cockpit. Thrust goes left????? It sounds like washer time!
Old 03-19-2018, 05:12 PM
  #1827  
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I just looked at mine. The right thrust is almost negligible. So try to make measurements before you start adding right thrust. Because on mine, it's very little. Hope that helps.
Old 03-20-2018, 03:14 PM
  #1828  
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Originally Posted by Tom Nied
I just looked at mine. The right thrust is almost negligible. So try to make measurements before you start adding right thrust. Because on mine, it's very little. Hope that helps.
Thanks Tom! Right now my plane would probably make a left turn on its own with all the left thrust out of the box. It's that bad. LOL! I understand you have a slight right thrust, that's probably all it needs, Please explain make mesurements. Also, if it is not too much trouble, would you be able to take a photo looking down at the engine so I can get an idea how much right thrust you have.

Thanks!

John
Old 03-20-2018, 06:36 PM
  #1829  
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Default Avistar Right Thrust



So what I did was take a straight yardstick and drilled in the center (at 18") a 1/4" hole so that I could mount it behind the propeller. The longer length shows the right thrust better. If you notice, from the tip of the left yardstick it's 8 3/4" and on the right it's 7 3/4" , which shows the right thrust. 1.6°

Last edited by Tom Nied; 03-21-2018 at 05:49 AM. Reason: added content, enhanced
Old 03-21-2018, 09:20 AM
  #1830  
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Thanks Tom. Very good!

Right Thrust in Sir! How about the wing halves, did you epoxy them together? I heard some people are reinforcing the wing halves together. What are your thoughts?

John

Last edited by airdrum; 03-21-2018 at 12:14 PM.
Old 03-21-2018, 01:39 PM
  #1831  
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Yes, I epoxied the wing halves together. My escapade fits into the back of my van, I can just keep the plane together. Added fresh, thin CA to all hinges, top and bottom. Epoxied horizontal stab and vertical stab .(also used the bolts from vertical stab to tie it all together). Created a plywood spacer, glued between forward fuselage fake cheek cowl to prevent vibration.

The Escapade was one of my fastests ARF assemblies. But do take as much time necessary to do your research and get it right.
Old 03-21-2018, 01:41 PM
  #1832  
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Also made sure landing gear block was securely epoxied in. See previous posts. Use thread lock on all bolts and set screws.

Last edited by Tom Nied; 03-21-2018 at 01:54 PM. Reason: Added content
Old 08-15-2018, 01:08 AM
  #1833  
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Originally Posted by skew
Mine came in on the 29th. I just started building today. I am very impressed with the quality of this arf. The covering job is perfect not a single wrinkle or blemish anywhere and it is very complete with hardware. If it fly's anywhere as good as it looks it will be my sidekick every Sunday.
ESC40 is actually not an easy plane to fly. It sinks like a stone in landing. It needs some more main wing surface. It's not for someone who graduated from the trainer a month before. Best you can do is to make it light. I use a 6 oz fuel tank and put the battery just behind of the tank. This eliminates some additional lead weights required to get it balanced. Also, the landing gear attachment plate it too weak. I added another board there and attached the gear. Up in the sky with so so speed, it flies fine and stable (I use os 46 ax nitro motor or mag 46 and power is adequate enough). good looks and low cost attracts many flyers, and I see more ESC40 in the trash can at the field than any other planes, sadly.
Old 08-15-2018, 04:43 AM
  #1834  
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Default Had one never again!

mine had to add so much weight to it it felt like I was flying a brick, when the plane dead sticked it was all over, it would not float it fell , total loss!
Old 08-15-2018, 05:57 AM
  #1835  
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Originally Posted by hairy46
mine had to add so much weight to it it felt like I was flying a brick, when the plane dead sticked it was all over, it would not float it fell , total loss!
sorry to hear that. keep flying.
Old 08-15-2018, 07:50 AM
  #1836  
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I've got mixed thoughts about my Escapade. I haven't flown it that much since completing the assembly, but had it out last week. With the purchase of a new Tx this last Spring, I had to bind, reset all throws and basically go over the whole plane. So I took it out, got it up in the air no problems, and got it all trimmed out. I had it flying straight and level hands off. So I was getting a real good feeling for the plane and felt that it had a good "sport airplane" feel to it. Mine balanced out with the battery mounted right over the tank with a Magnum .46. While flying I'm thinking, "this plane is fun". So I started doing a series of stall turn arounds. I just kept doing them one after the other. I was having a blast until on about the 6th one I lost orientation on the down line. Not good, I creamed it into the ground. Landing gear pulled off. That landing gear mounting plate is crap ply, even though I did add triangular stock at the joint inside. The wing ripped off breaking both nylon bolts, the wing breaking into two pieces with significant damage. The canopy has extensive cracks. Interestingly the rest of the fuselage/tail/engine/electronics were in pretty good condition with only minor MonoKote punctures. So I decided to fix it. It's very difficult to find a wing set. I was able to find a new wing set from a new friend and fellow modeler on the West Coast with one of the wings having a damaged leading edge. I'll have to fix that. I'm not going spend the money for the decal sheet with that lovely "ESCAPADE" name and Great Planes decal. Fixing the new wing set might include grafting a piece out of the crashed wing. But again to do it right I'm going to need some Orange MonoKote (that I don't have) to match the original trim. I could go on and on. Sheesh, might be easier to just get a new air frame, but wait, Tower doesn't have them and my guess will discontinue the Escapade 40. There is definitely a love/hate relationship with this plane. Sorry this was so long, and is not my intention to rant. Just general thoughts.

Last edited by Tom Nied; 08-15-2018 at 07:19 PM. Reason: spelling
Old 09-12-2018, 02:00 PM
  #1837  
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Well I got it back together and put 7 flights on it today. It's a little weird with that semi symmetrical wing. If you get it trimmed out at half throttle nice and level, at a higher throttle it will climb. No big deal. Mine seems to land coming in "hot". I'd like to move the CG back a little, mine's not pitch sensitive so I'm pretty sure I can move it back. Should help in slowing it down and bleeding off speed.

Fixed.

Last edited by Tom Nied; 09-12-2018 at 02:02 PM. Reason: grammar
Old 08-21-2019, 07:23 PM
  #1838  
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Almost a year later and I'm still flying the Escapade. I can do 9 ten minute flights before my Voltwatch starts showing a warning. That's a lot of flying in one day. It's a good looking and flying sport plane.
Old 08-22-2019, 04:34 PM
  #1839  
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I’m still flying mine too. I’ve had an OS 46 Fx in it all summer. I just installed a 9cc NGH gas engine in it. I prefer gas to glow and figured I’d give it a try. I hope to maiden it tomorrow.
Old 08-22-2019, 05:48 PM
  #1840  
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That's great! I'm glad to hear that others out there are still flying it. The Escapade was always a good looking ARF sport flyer, but out of the box needed a few areas that need attention. Yeah, I've been flying mine a lot too. Good flights to you with that new engine.
Old 09-01-2019, 12:58 AM
  #1841  
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Well I finished running the NGH 9cc engine in my Escapade on the ground. I am very surprised at the oil that comes out of the exhaust. Just about the same amount as my OS 46. That was a big reason for me to go to a gas engine. Not to have to clean the plane all the time. They have you mix the gas and oil at 20:1. So maybe that should be expected. I think I'm going to convert it to an electric plane. And try to sell the NGH. You win some and you lose some.
Old 09-01-2019, 06:19 AM
  #1842  
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Originally Posted by oldsneakers
..... They have you mix the gas and oil at 20:1. .....
Is that for break in only , or are you supposed to always use 20:1 ? I only ask because 20:1 sounds like a LOT of oil compared to other 2 stroke gas engines I've had experience with .
And yea , I'd expect a 20:1 mixed gas engine to slime the poor plane just like a regular glow engine would , given the ratio of oil in glow engine fuel and all .
Old 09-02-2019, 01:21 AM
  #1843  
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The 20:1 mix is used all the time. These engines also have a lot less power for their weight compared to a similar sized glow. This one is 1.2 HP max verses 1.9 HP for the OS46 I was using. The only advantage I can see is using gas instead of glow fuel. Which will save some money.
Old 02-14-2021, 03:13 PM
  #1844  
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Default GP Escapade 40 back in stock at TH

If anyone is interested, I just noticed that the Escapade .40 is back in stock on TH (as of Feb 14, 2021) for $140
Great Planes Escapade Sport .40-.55 GP/EP 52.5" ARF | Tower Hobbies
Old 02-14-2021, 07:45 PM
  #1845  
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Yeah, I noticed that too. It's a good plane as long as you pay attention to some of the earlier problems. Make sure the hinges are glued properly. The landing gear mounting plate should be epoxied in securely.
Old 02-15-2021, 05:18 AM
  #1846  
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You're absolutely right about that one, Tom Also, it needed that extra piece of foam on the front of the canopy to keep it from flying off. But those were all easily fixed issues.

Now I'm also on the hunt to see if the AeroWorks Edge 540 (.46 - .61) is coming back too...

Bob
Old 07-07-2021, 07:30 PM
  #1847  
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Can't believe it, but yesterday I put 5 flights on my resurrected Escapade. 2020 I hardly flew anything. But it was warm with some winds yesterday and just had a nice time re acquainting myself to the Escapade. Even got a compliment from a fellow flier. Pretty good for a plane I brought back from the dead. It's a nice sport flier that I'm going try to fly the heck out of it. It renews my previous flying ability and I can relearn what I used to do. The Escapade is neat. I do have a Tower Sport 40 in the box as a replacement.
Old 07-07-2021, 09:16 PM
  #1848  
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Kind of like riding a bicycle! 5 flights in a day is a good day.
The Tower Sport 46 ARF you mean? I have one of those also. I posted a question about changing the inverted engine position. I don't want to mount a glow engine inverted on that one. I'll be experimenting with it.
Old 07-08-2021, 05:07 AM
  #1849  
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Yes the Tower Sport 46 ARF, I think I remember seeing your query about changing the inverted engine. If that's what you want to do, go for it. I had a Tower Hobbies Razor 3d that had an inverted engine and only had minimal problems. Just have to be careful to not flood it. But it's your plane, you can mount the engine anyway you wish. I tend to follow the manual.

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