Ever hear of the AERO-LECTRA by Midwest Production co.?
07-20-2015, 11:14 AM
#1
Ever hear of the AERO-LECTRA by Midwest Production co.?
Sorry. It is an Aero-Lectric, not lectra.
I found this at a yard sale, and for the VERY few dollars it cost, it was too fun to pass up. But I can find zero information about the kit. It has included a " High Performance HP-100" electric motor with pre-wired switch harness and noise filter.
Also included are a 7 inch prop, and aluminum prop hub and spinner. Wheels, wheel collars, hinges, push rod, and so forth. At 50 inch span it is a nice size electric trainer. It is new in the box but old of course. The box is a bit beat up, but the inside parts are perfect.
Any information about this plane would help. I do not fly electric, but for a collector this might be worth 3 maybe even 4 dollars!
Also included are a 7 inch prop, and aluminum prop hub and spinner. Wheels, wheel collars, hinges, push rod, and so forth. At 50 inch span it is a nice size electric trainer. It is new in the box but old of course. The box is a bit beat up, but the inside parts are perfect.
Any information about this plane would help. I do not fly electric, but for a collector this might be worth 3 maybe even 4 dollars!
Last edited by jeffEE; 07-20-2015 at 11:28 AM.
07-20-2015, 06:23 PM
#2
My Feedback: (1)
This looks like a good (and easy) candidate for an electric to glo conversion. It looks like the same design trainer that Midwest sold in larger sizes and should be a good flyer. Drop in a 2-4 oz fuel tank with a good .25 size glo engine (maybe a 25 LA or a 25 FX), and fly it ! This size glo engine can be had for next to nothing on Ebay all day long. If you don't want to do it, I'll give you the 4 bucks you're asking 
Of course I expect free shipping .
Of course I expect free shipping .
07-21-2015, 06:56 AM
#3
My Feedback: (125)
Midwest stopped kit production a while back, sometime in the last ten years when ARFs took over and RC airplane kit building fell by the wayside. They always had nice kits the built easy and flew very well. Midwest is still in business, but limits itself to boat kits, hobby supplies and wood.
http://midwestproducts.com/
Starting in the 80's, they began to offer electric versions of their kits, the one that comes to mind first was the Electric Hots. Yours looks to be an electric version of their Aerostar trainer. Keep in mind that back in the 80's, cobalt brushed motors and SCR nicads were the pinnacle of e-technology. Current brushless/lipo sytems blow them away by leaps and bounds.
If you're not into it, put it in the classifieds or on eBay. To be honest, I have never seen the version you have, so it might be a rarer offering.
http://midwestproducts.com/
Starting in the 80's, they began to offer electric versions of their kits, the one that comes to mind first was the Electric Hots. Yours looks to be an electric version of their Aerostar trainer. Keep in mind that back in the 80's, cobalt brushed motors and SCR nicads were the pinnacle of e-technology. Current brushless/lipo sytems blow them away by leaps and bounds.
If you're not into it, put it in the classifieds or on eBay. To be honest, I have never seen the version you have, so it might be a rarer offering.
07-21-2015, 04:38 PM
#4
Interesting stuff. The instructions were printed in 1988, so that dates the kit to the late 80's, and the instructions for the trainer are 110 pages long! My Yellow Aircraft P-40 had less ( but very good) instructions. I have done a Google search and found nothing. I have never had Google turn up nothing before. A mystery it remains. I don't think I will build it. There are enough trainers out there, and its too nice of a kit to mess up if somebody needs it to "relive" that first flight. Or some such thing.
OK, I did find a few hits with BING search. But not much, just a few people selling on different sites. One sold in 2011 for $75, and another was passed up at $100. OH well, there is the big WATTS fly this weekend in Owatonna, perhaps I will take it there. Thanks for the help.
OK, I did find a few hits with BING search. But not much, just a few people selling on different sites. One sold in 2011 for $75, and another was passed up at $100. OH well, there is the big WATTS fly this weekend in Owatonna, perhaps I will take it there. Thanks for the help.
Last edited by jeffEE; 07-21-2015 at 05:01 PM.
07-27-2015, 10:43 PM
#7
Yup, that is the electric version of the Aerostar trainer that came in various sizes...20, 40, 60 come to mind. I built the 20 way back around 1991, and powered it with a OS25. Taught one son how to fly with it when he was 10. Anyway, I live in Salem now and the designer of that plane is in my club. He is Dick Smith. He is the consumate designer and scratch builder, and he has built a few Stars in the last couple years. He calls them Stars, and I presume the Aerostar was named by Midwest. Attached is a pic with three of the Stars in different sizes. The smaller two are scratch built by him. The largest one is the 40 size glow version that another member gave to him, which Dick promptly electrified in addition to lightening the kit. I loved my 20 size so much but got rid of it during a move in 1999, so I had to have one of his Stars, and eventually ended up with all three in the pic, lol. In fact I bought the smallest(red) and the largest(yellow) ones from him just a couple months ago. He sold me the mid size(orange) one about two years ago. All fly fantastic. I fly mostly glow and gas planes and electric helis, but these three Star electrics are so fun that usually at least one comes to the field with me when I fly helis, which is most of the time now.
