Posts: 4322
Joined: 5/24/2003 From: Rochester,
NY, USA Status: offline
Performance meets convenience when a traditional .40-sized trainer is redesigned to use today's advanced electric flight technology. The all-new Hobbico ElectriStar Select uses clean and quiet electric power, making it economical to operate and ready to fly in under an hour! Unlike other smaller or underpowered electric trainers, the ElectriStar Select flies just like a .40-sized glow-powered trainer! The ElectriStar Select was engineered from the ground up as an electric-powered plane, so unneeded weight could be removed from the airframe without compromising structural integrity. The factory-installed, high-performance ElectriStar C-42 brushless out-runner motor provides the performance you would expect from a conventional .40-size glow engine. The ElectriStar is stable, strong, and with a wingspan of more than five feet, it's easy to see in the air!
Specifications:
Wingspan: 63 in (1600 mm)
Wing Area: 709 sq in (45.7 dm2)
Weight: 6-6.5 lb (2720-2950 g)
Wing Loading: 19-21 oz/ft2 (59-64 g/dm2)
Length: 53 in (1345 mm)
Features:
With the computer radio and brushless motor already installed, final assembly takes less than an hour!
The two-piece wing slides onto a strong aluminum joiner tube, to speed assembly.
A bolt-on tail makes the ElectriStar Select quick to assemble, yet is easy to remove and replace if required.
Includes: Futaba® 4EXA 4-channel computer radio w/R168 receiver and 3 servos, 42 mm brushless out-runner motor, Great Planes® ElectriFly 45A brushless ESC
Posts: 4322
Joined: 5/24/2003 From: Rochester,
NY, USA Status: offline
Note that the Electristar requires two 7-cell 8.4v 3000 mAh NiMH battery packs (GPMP0355) or two 7.4v 3200mAh 20C discharge batteries with balance connector (GPMP0622) and an appropriate charger.
The ElectriFly SS-45D BrushlessESC provides superior throttle control and is compatible with either NiCD, NiMH or LiPo batteries.
Posts: 4322
Joined: 5/24/2003 From: Rochester,
NY, USA Status: offline
The ElectriStar Select comes very well packaged which keeps the parts in perfect condition during shipment. The Ready-To-Fly (RTF) Select version includes a Futaba® 4EXA 4-Channel FM Computer Radio System. With the Futaba 4EXA FM computer radio system, you'll enjoy the performance edge and ease of digital operation. With simple programming operation, you can navigate menus and select your set-ups using just two keys. There's no inconvenience of "trading up" to a new radio in the future — the 4EXA is as useful tomorrow as it is today.
The all-wood plane comes almost fully assembled and expertly covered with a MonoKote trim scheme. The assembly time is quick because all the servos, linkage, and control horns are already installed and hooked up!
The landing gear mains, wing mounting parts, prop adapter, and spinner come packaged in groups that are easy to find. The kit also includes an 11x7 e-prop.
Posts: 4322
Joined: 5/24/2003 From: Rochester,
NY, USA Status: offline
Manuals are supplied for the ElectriStar assembly and Futaba radio setup. A data sheet is included for the installed R168DF dual-conversion, full range 8-channel receiver and an addendum showing proper installation of the prop adapter onto the motor shaft flat spot is also supplied. Note that channels 5-8 on the receiver are not used in this model.
Posts: 946
Joined: 3/6/2005 From: Hixson,
TN, USA Status: offline
As much as I despise posting in a review thread while the review is currently being written...I couldn't stop myself . This is going to be another excellent Greg Covey review I'm sure, and the plane seems great! If I was learning how to fly again, this might have been my choice...or if I was a glow guy interested in looking at electrics.
A side note: Your "Project VTOL" has my interests. Be sure and start a thread when you're done with it!
_____________________________
As I lay in bed at night I look up at the stars and think to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling!?"
Posts: 4322
Joined: 5/24/2003 From: Rochester,
NY, USA Status: offline
Thanks. I have no problem with people posting in these threads as they are meant for discovery as well as a placeholder for my reviews. Sometimes the review models go out late and people are already buying them or even flying them. I often get some great ideas or questions in these threads that help make my reviews even better. So far, I am quite impressed with the ElectriStar. If it was around when I started electric flight, it would have saved me plenty of frustration and money. The ElectriStar is much like my hopped up Superstar EP, only bigger and without needing all the modifications.
The combination of my new job (outside the R/C world) and winter setting in has backed up my plans for Part 2 of "Project VTOL". I have heard from several people that Part 1 has been published in the January issue of Quiet Flyer magazine but I haven't received my copy yet. With a little luck around the holidays, I can get out to test fly the VTOL plane as a normal plane and then complete the last Part 3 on transitions from hover to flight and back. As the article parts get published, I can update the VTOL section of my Web Hangar.
Posts: 4322
Joined: 5/24/2003 From: Rochester,
NY, USA Status: offline
A closer look at the fuselage reveals that most of the assembly and installation has been already completed. The fuselage construction is very solid and feels like a traditional .40-size trainer with the open motor compartment, standard servo bay, and dowel slots to strap on the wing with rubber bands.
The motor, ESC, receiver pack, receiver, and servos are already installed and hooked up. Even the keepers are in place on each clevis.
The motor keeps cool from the open compartment. To keep the flight batteries cool, an air flow system has been built into the ElectriStar with an opening for air in up front and another for air output behind the gear mains. The air flows through a lower deck right over the battery packs to keep them cool which makes them last much longer.
To show the level of completeness on the ElectriStar design, the On/Off switch has already been mounted in the side of the fuselage and an extension cable is already plugged into channel 1 on the receiver to connect to the aileron servo in the wing. A steerable nose wheel comes pre-assembled with all the linkage attached. The rudder is also ready to go and only the horizontal stabilizer needs to be glued in place, and linkage attached, to complete the tail assembly.
Posts: 4322
Joined: 5/24/2003 From: Rochester,
NY, USA Status: offline
LOL! I suppose that the younger your son is, the more you can use it too.
The assembly begins by pushing the gear mains in place on the bottom side of the fuselage. One side of the nylon strap is already screwed in place so you simply swing it out of the way, insert the gear mains, and then add the second screw to the pre-drilled hole to secure it.
The wooden wing holder dowels are inserted with the longer one up front. I secured them in place with a small amount of CA glue. Either medium or thin will work fine here. The 4 plastic covers are then screwed over the dowel ends into pre-drilled holes.
If you are just starting out in R/C, the Tower Hobbies Easy Tote Kit is a low cost solution to organize your tools and hold the plane fuselage upside down for easier assembly and maintenance.
Posts: 4322
Joined: 5/24/2003 From: Rochester,
NY, USA Status: offline
The horizontal stabilizer slides into the slot in the rear of the fuselage and is secured with two screws through the pre-drilled holes. The clevis is then clipped onto the control horn and secured by a snap fit as well as the safety keeper tubing.
Printable Version
All Forums >> Electric Aircraft Universe >> Electric Training >> Hobbico Electristar Select EP Trainer RTF 
Hobbico Electristar Select EP Trainer RTF - 
. This is going to be another excellent Greg Covey review I'm sure, and the plane seems great! If I was learning how to fly again, this might have been my choice...or if I was a glow guy interested in looking at electrics. 
Great review (as usual)!