Drmeff

Hello all,

I recently bought a hanger 9 xtra easy and learned to fly at our local club. Onc session on the club mentor's foam warplane and I was soloing my trainer the next day. I need more practice landing but I can fly the plane to the edge of its abilities... loops, inverted, barrel rolls, stall turns, not gonna lie it looks pretty funny up there doing those stunts. I would like to move on to a low wing plane but I don't think I am ready for anything too wild. I have done a little looking and I like the looks and price of the GP Escapade 40 size ARF.

I also have a Hobbistar 60 MKIII Trainer I picked up in a trade with a brand new .65 OS LA which I have broken in and flown 5 or 6 times. It has more power than my little .40 but other than that it is the same thing in regards to its abilities.

Here is what I am looking for:
1) Smaller size, my trainers have a 6 foot wingspan and they are a hassel to move around
2) .40 - .50's engine size for fuel economy, I noticed a huge difference between my .40 and my .65
3) Tail dragger
4) Stable flight, but still able to handle more maneauvers than a rubber band trainer
5) Low cost, because let's be honest I am still learning and might just smash this into the ground!

I am selling the hobbistar this weekend but I am keeping the radio (futaba 6 channel FM with dual rates) and 4 standard futaba servos as well as the battery pack. I would like to use the radio and servos from the hobbistar and buy a new ARF low wing and engine for around $170. I see the Escapade is about 100 shipped and I have been reading up on JBA engins and like what I see. Their .56 is about $90, but I would not be opposed to searching for a used .46 OS or other brand engine to keep the budget under control.

Am I heading in the right direction or are there steps I am not taking that will make this a bad idea? Another thought is electric planes... can it be done for $170-190 with the radio already purchased? I love nitro but I would like a quiet plane to fly behind my house... options options....

Thanks for any help!

jimgee1

My Feedback: (3)

DrM,

Sounds like you're on the right track. Practice take-offs and landings on your trainer and "buddy-box" with your instructer on the Escapade until you are confident enough to solo. It's a big step up from a trainer to an aerobic capable low wing plane.. You're headed in the right direction..

Jim Gallagher
jimgee1

Lone Star Charles

My son bought a Escapade .40 a while back.  Although it is a nice flying airplane, it really had too many problems to be recommended as a purchase.  Elevator flutter was a very serious problem.  The canopy fell off while in flight.  The gear broke off on a landing that was not hard enough to cause that kind of damage (he repaired the gear and discovered almost no glue on the landing gear block).  There are several threads in here about the Escapade and the modifications and repairs needed to solve these problems.  Be sure to look them up before your lay down your hard earned cash on this one.

Drmeff

Thanks for the feedback, I did read up on the escapade thread and noticed that you have to go over it with a fine toothed comb and a bit of CA to make sure you dont have those problems. I heard a lot about the elevator flutter and that scares me a bit. I guess you get what you pay for... which makes me wonder what else is out there in that sub 150 price range ARF that is any good...

opjose

The Escapade is a good bet...

A properly set up Escapade should not produce flutter in flight, so just watch your setup/configuration.

Though some fault the gear as being too "weak" this is more of a problem with the pilot.

Yes you can add a lot of strength to the gear mount area, etc. but doing so merely causes hard landing damage to be more pervasive, as impact is not absorbed as easily and then gets transmitted to the fuselage.

Instead keep the pants off, and learn to grease your landings.

The plane will land slowly so doing so is not problematic.

Do drip CA on exposed surfaces to harden them ( sometimes I go through a bottle per plane! ) and epoxy load bearing areas, as with all ARFs.


Don't be tempted to overload the plane with an out of spec engine too... I've seen people throw .75's and .91's on it then complain about flutter when this is well outside of design.

Otherwise I've trained first timers ( coming off of Helis ) on the Escapade w/o any problems what-so-ever.

Drmeff

Funny, that seems to be the argument on the escapade thread too. Some people lambast the plane and others say it is incredible. I really don't care about flying really fast, in fact the JBA .56 I was looking at could be overkill. I might look into a smaller engine if I go with the escapade, perhaps a .46AX or even LA... I had good luck with the .65 LA, ran like a champ! I just want enough power for decent verticle, maybe not unlimited, but darn near.

DeferredDefect

The Escapade is great fun: It is super easy to transport - i can even shoehorn it into the back of our SUV fully assembled. 

DeferredDefect

Oh - On the Escapade I'm using a stock OS-46 LA and it is plenty powerful. I would not recommend anything bigger, especially with the increase in wing loading. With the TIger this is less of an issue due to the much larger wing area.

GP23

My Feedback: (2)

The small Escapade is a great plane, but I would echo what a few others mentioned about the quality of the build.  Unfortunately, that extends into areas that are covered (such as the rudder), so if you go that route please do an intergrity check on every inch...as you should with any plane really. 

Another reasonable option for you is a Great Planes Super Sportster 40...a little pricier (about $45 more) but certainly a more popular model that seems to be in-line with your parameters.  I believe the Escapade might build a little faster, if that matters to you.  Just throwing something else out there....

Good luck in your search!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

If you're looking for an opinion on the JBA 56 I would advise you to steer away from it and go with something else. I did a review on that engine for RCU. Please remember that when we are reviewing a item like this we are basing our review on about a week or so of working with the product. For the first couple of weeks with the engine as I was doing the review the engine ran great, had lots of power, and seemed to be a good engine. However, about 3 months in (well after the review had been submitted) I was having problems with the engine cutting off in flight. On one flight (on an Escapade by the way) I pulled into an upline to do a stall turn. In the climb the engine died. So I brought the nose over on it and then deadsticked the plane back onto the runway. Brought it back to the pit to fuel up and restart it and when I put the chicken stick on it I noticed the prop had come loose. So I took off the spinner and tightened the prop nut. Went to start it and found the engine was completely locked up tighter than a drum. Pulled the engine off of the plane and took the back plate off to find the connecting rod was snapped in half. The engine was shot. I run all of my engines very rich and take it easy on them when they are still new, in fact the engine was running rich enough to leave a smoke trail. I wouldn't buy another JBA engine ever again.

As far as the Escapade goes. It is a nice flying plane. I've had two of them so far. The first one had teh elevator pull off in flight. This is a known bug on the early production run planes and has been fixed now. However, it doesn't hurt to put some CA on all of your hinges to make sure. The second crashed plane was my fault. Put it into a flat spin and let it come down too far in the spin. When I tried to get it out of the spin I just didn't have enough room left to pull it out of the spin and get the plane flying again. Nosed it straight into the ground and totalled the plane.

This plane is a great flying little plane and is a ton of fun to have. It can do a knife edge loop if you move the CG back. Now in regards to today's aerobatic planes doing a knife edge loop isn't anything spectacular, but when you consider this a approximately $100 plane that is an accomplishment. I'm not sure if you will be quite ready for it yet as a second plane as it doesn't sound like you have much airtime on your other planes yet. But once you get some more experience you shouldn't have any problems with the Escapade. Put the controls on a low rate and it will keep the plane pretty tame for you until you get some more time on it. Or you could buddy box on it until you are ready for it. But it would work ok as a second plane.

You said above that you have take your current plane to the "limits". I firmly believe there are no boring planes, only boring pilots. If the plane is getting boring you're just not pushing it to it's limits!!!

Hope this helps

Ken

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

I love my Escapade. I have an OS 46 LA on it and it is perfect combo. The only issue I had was with the landing gear block, which was kinda my fault as it was a little hard on landing, but the plane is rock solid. Good Luck, Dave

markhamregular

I bought an Escapade 40 as a second plane, but after flying it once, I felt it was too fast and too sensitive on turns. And it was also very small, difficult to see with the white wing. So I bought a Big Stick and waited. After 3 months with the Big Stick, I started to fly my Escapade as a third plane and just love it. I just gave it 4 flights this morning before coming to work. Just love it! It may be a good choice for you as a second plane but I am more of a cautious person and I don’t regret it.

irdabrit

I love my escapade. I've only flown it twice now but it is a lot different from a trainer. I don't think it really should be recommended as a second plane simply because it's so fast. I have a 46 ABX on mine and even on tickover it's extremely fast - very fast on landing too. Also the white wing underneath with the two stripes is very hard to see - I'm going to ass a checkboard to mine and a solid leading edge to aid my eyesight.

Lone Star Charles

My son's escapade has an Evolution .45 with an 11X5 prop.  It is more than plenty of power.

Guitarman52

My Feedback: (2)

I have an escapade... great little plane.. however for a second plane I would get the big stick... Great flying plane and easier to handle. Does just about everything the escapade will do but easier and you can see it better.

markhamregular

I have an OS 46 AX on mine and I added 2 dark blue stripes under the wings.
Now tere is a long thread here about the CG of the Escapade.
Be aware that the manufacturer's CG is not correct so a lot of people add weight on the nose.
You should not add weights on the nose and the landing will be much slower too.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

I am in the third year of flying my Escapade 40 with a Magnum .46 XLS. It has many many flights and I have no problems with the landing gear or with the hatch coming off. I have it set up with the recommend CG and find it flies great with it there. It can be a little tail heavy and I solved this by putting the battery over the fuel tank. The covering was perfect out of the box and still is. Be sure to check the U-wire between the elevator halves since it usally needs CA on the wire were it enters the elevator. It is my favorite plane.

Bruce

irdabrit

Here's some bad video of my maiden

DIVERHERB

I have flown my Escapade for about 6 months now and after a little trial and error love it. I enabled flaparons on my radio to slow it down a little on landings as it was a little fast. I also switched to a 11x4 acp prop which slowed it down even more on landing without hurting performance at all in fact I think it helped. I am using a 40 S.T. I have dialed in about 10% flaps that Iactuate on the final approach and this thing just kinda hangs in the air. I have had no trouble with the canopy at all. In fact I find that when you attach it properly it is pretty hard to get it loose. The only 2 things that I found on the plane to give me trouble was the tail wheel (very cheap and bends easily so I changed it to a dubro. And the CG on the instruction sheet is way off to make it fly good, so I moved it back until it felt comfortable. I would really recommend this plane for second plane, it is actually a lot of fun. I am thinking of getting the
escapade 60 now. By the way with the white wings it can be a little disorienting if you are not paying attention. Try on I think you will like it and you will also find the price hard to beat.

markhamregular

Irdabrit,

Read the other thread about the Escapade and you will find the answers to all your questions.
It's a very long thread
Yes, removing some of the weight on the front will help slowing the landing speed.
And also, change the flimsytail wheel. It will frustrate you falling apart on each flight.

TruBlu02

While the Escapade is not perfect it is an absolute blast to fly and it is easy to overlook some of the flaws in the plane especially since they are all easy fixes. I bought mine a little 8 months ago and have flown it well over 10o times if not more. I use a OS 55AX in mine and do not think it is too overpowered. It is an absolute rocket in straight and level flight and will go vertical forever. I have never pushed in the dive cause that is asking for trouble with any plane not just the Escapade. i think it is the perfect second plane and can be flow in many different configurations. The high landing speed is easy to fix by moving the CG to the back of the range suggested by GP. I have had mine even farther back (80mm) than reccomended just to try it out with no ill effect (not reccomended for a beginner). In fact it crept in a trainer speeds with the CG like that, but it was a little pitch sensitive. best of luck to the original poster I think you will be very happy with the Escapade!

Drmeff

Thank you for all the responses, from the sounds of it the Escapade is a pretty decent little plane. I think I will put more time on my trainer until I am really comfortable and then move up to the escapade. I will also check out the other planes suggested here, nothing is set in stone!

Thank you very much on your insight on the JBA engines Ken, I am glad someone of your experience could chip in! You probably saved me 80 bucks worth of frustration!

jimmyjames213

My Feedback: (2)

the escapade seems to be more of a .35 sized plane than a .40-.55 with an os .46 la (about the same hp as a .32 engine) the plane has plenty of power.
a friend of mine has one with an ax46 and it has unlimited vertical, rocketship style.
honestly i would recommend a big stick. It will teach you how to fly on the wing of the plane rather than the engine. The big stick is much more forgiving and will do much more than your trainer, it will also handle wind better than the escapade or your trainer. the big stick is bigger than the escapade. slower than the escapade (more reaction time), slows down easier, stalls slower....on and on
the escapade is a good yank and bank plane for tearing holes in the sky but i dont think its a great second plane


engine wise the magnum .46 is not a bad engine....to bad its 100 bucks now instead of 80.... they just take a long time to break in
supertigres are decent engines, again longer breakin. (i really like the 51)
gms engines are my favorite....to bad they are not making them anymore
os engines are ok...expensive and short lived (may last 40 gallons compared to 100+ again 40 gallons is a long time so i wouldnt worry about that too much unless you fly everyday) ....but if you do not fly every weekend and do not have the time to breakin an engine these work well.

tt engines are decent they work well

markhamregular

I second the Big Stick 40 big time. I had a 46AX on mine. I do not recommend the LA series at all.
I must say the Big Stick can even be a trainer and a sport later once you feel comfortable.
It handles very well with wind.
I think the BS40 is the best model plane ever.

oldtyme

Well, had to chime in here. I got my first Stik in 1982 and have had one ever since. I still have my Midwest Sweet Stik that I built in 1986 and I also have a GP Big Stick 60 and love it. For a second plane these Stick's cannot be beat!!!!

Cheers,
Andy