PhilGoings

Does anyone have any experience with the Multiplex Easy Star trainer / glider? I am looking for a club trainer and all I have read says it will do the job.
Thank you,
Phil

nikolai

Hi Phil, I am self taught on flying RC, and learned on the Easy Star. All I can say it is everything they say it is. It's glide is very good. The most surprising thing is how tuff the Elpor foam is. I have completely broke it in-two about 6 times, a little epoxy glue and nylon filament tape and its back flying. In fact yesterday I was out flying in 15 knots of wind doing loops too close to the ground and piled it in. This time I broke it completely in-two about 3" in front of the elv., a little epoxy and 5 minutes later its ready to fly. Once you get used to it give it a little more throw in the controls than the manual says and is fairly responsive. Start out in calm winds with little control and you'll do fine. When airborne slow down the throttle to give you more time to respond, as it flys faster than I thought it would.

My favorite thing now is to lay it down on the frozen lake and take off from the ground. Once airborne in the wind I like having it hover, going forward as slow as possible and have almost gotten it to hover down to the lake like a helicopter. With a little practice it will also fly upside down. Great sailplane for the money! Happy Holidays.

PhilGoings

Nikolai,
Thanks for the quick reply. You can't always trust the hype the adds push to sell a plane. It is good to get some first hand information from someone who has experence with the plane in question.
Thanks again,
Phil

sawdust

My Feedback: (7)

I have a lot of experience with the Easy Star. I have flown it stock, near stock, and super charged. It can be a good trainer or just a fun plane to fly. And in the super charged mode it is an excellent sailplane.

It will fly stock but do the following 2 modes and it will fly much better: First add 5/8 of an inch to the rudder control surface. This will make it much more responsive when turning.
The second mode is to take off the stock prop, add a prop adapter and a 6 X 4 prop. Just use a standard prop and mount it back wards. This will give it more thrust.

It will fly better on 7 cells than on 6 cells. But it will fly on 6 cells.

One problem with the Easy Star is that the wings tend to get loose over time. There is an easy mode that will correct this issue. It needs to be done before you assemble the wings. Let me know if you get an Easy Star and I will detail the wing mod.

My super charged Easy Star is my favorite plane. It has a Mega 16/15/4 running on a 3 cell 2100 lipo battery. It will climb almost straight up.

I currently have a student that is learning to fly a glow powered trainer. He is a long way from soloing on the the glow trainer. But he has no trouble flying and landing the Easy Star.

You will not be disappointed with the Easy Star.

bob

PhilGoings

Bob,
I picked up my Easy Star today at my LHS. After reading the instructions I have a question; what type of kicker did you use with the CA? Also I would appreciate the wing mod you referred to in your reply.
Thanks and have a Great Thanksgiving,
Phil

Tall Paul

Easy Stars are popping up like rabbits in my club. I expect to get mine today.
I've flown several, and out here in the desert one mod is mandatory!
Add -something- to the wing bottom so you can see it!

nikolai

Phil, Bob is probably talking about securing the wings in the fuselage, after you smash it into the ground enough times they get a little loose. A common fix is to get small round earth magnets at Radio Shack and install one on each inboard edge of the wing, so they contact each other. Just remember that if the wings do not come part way out of the fuselage when you crash hard you risk wing damage. I ended up just putting a few wraps of narrow nylon filament tape on the thickest part of the wing were it slides into the fuselage. Even when I smacked it in hard, they might move about 1/4" out of the fuselage, which dissipates a lot of energy, push the wings back in and your ready to fly. Quick and simple.

sawdust

My Feedback: (7)

You not use CA with a kicker!!!!!. Use CA +. That is a CA that gives you a little time before it sets up. Not much time but it will not stick immediately. I used medium. And I only put it on one side. I use a good amount. Make sure the parts fit before you attempt to glue them together. Then apply the glue to one surface and hold it together for a few minutes. Make sure you get the tail pieces on straight. That is the way I put my two Easy Stars together.


Here is the wing modification:

I will try to explain this as best I can.

You will need: One 4-40 bolt 1 1/4 inches long. One blind nut for the 4-40 bolt. Two 1 inch pieces of a pop sickle stick. Drill press with a bit the exact diameter of the 4-40 bolt. I forget what size bit to use..

What you are going to do is glue one end of the spar rod into one side of the wing and pin the other side with the 4-40 bolt.

The sequence of the steps to do this is important:

Do these steps before you glue the spar covers to the wing.

Measure 7 1/4 inches from one end of the spar rod. I am assuming that they have not changed the rod length. So make sure this makes sense on your wing.

Now drill a hole in the spar rod dead center at the 7 1/4 inches. You want a nice snug fit when you put the 4-40 bolt through the hole.

Now assemble the wing in the plane. Do not glue on the spar covers.

Carefully align the hole in the spar perpendicular with the wing. Make sure the spar rod is in as far as it will go. Now by hand put the drill bit into the hole in spar rd and drill a hole through to the top of the wing.

Now glue the spar cover to the wing with the hole. Take the spar rod out first.

Once the glue is try, put the spar rod back into the wing with the hole. Now by hand put the drill in the hole in the wing and spar rod and drill through the bottom of the wing. You will have to align the hole before drilling through to the bottom of the wing.

Now glue the spar cover to the other wing. Let it dry

Now using the same drill bit, drill a hole in the center of the two pieces of the pop sickle sticks. We are going to use these to reinforce the wing holes. Using CA +, glue one piece of the pop sickle stick to the top and one the the bottom of the wing. Put the bolt through the wing with the sticks on the bolt. I glue the top stick first let it dry and then do the bottom one. Without this reinforcements the bolt would rip out. The blind nut holds the bolt into the wing.

Now assemble the wing in the body of the plane. It should fit just like we made no modifications. Now take the wing off that does not have the bolt in it. Put several good drops of epoxy into the spar hole in the wing. Do not put the glue on the spar rod. Now assemble the wing again. This time do it quickly. Push the wing halves tightly together. Hold it until the glue dries.

To take the wing off take the bolt out of the wing. It really works.

Any questions please ask. I am not very good with instructions.

There is also a mod that you can use to mount the engine. Don't just glue it in per the instructions. The mod will allow you to remove the motor and replace it. It will also allow you to upgrade the motor to a brushless one. Let me know if interested.

You are going to love your Easy Star.

bob

pvt.parts_usmc

i see this is a old thread, but im gonna put my two cents in anyways, i like the "magnet" mod on the wings, less damage if they come loose on impact at a "hard" landing.LOL. and i hot glued my tail on, if i need to take it off in future, i warm it up with a blow dryer, an i have onley tape holding fuse together, i like swapping out motors alot, easy to just remove tape, fuse halves will seperate anought to get to motor without removeing tail, beats "digging" a motor out,LOL. plus glue is weight, i like to build LIGHT, every gram counts to me, EZ* is a BLAST to fly, im lucky in that alot of uber "thermals" my flying spot, i can fly for hour or longer on a small battery

Tall Paul

I built the fuselage for my second E* using silicone adhesive, instead of trying to race the CA to its kick-off point.
It's held together well.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Paul,

What kind of silocone did you use? Still holding well?

EZ* is my #1 trainer recommendation.

Tall Paul

Ed, I get it at Albertson's in their hardware department. GE Home Solutions Clear Glue. It's good for holding servos in place as well.

evadeom

Hi Bob,

I'm interested in your mod so that the motor can be removed and replaced. Thanks!

sawdust

My Feedback: (7)

I have uploaded pictures of the various mods on my EZ. The motor mount that I use is the square lazer cut speed 400 wooden mounts from Hobby lobby. You could cut your own but the holes are already in the purchased ones. I glue 3 mounts together. 2 might do.

Start by running 3 wires back to the engine area. Leave them long. Run 2 in one channel and 1 in the other channel in the body of the EZ. This assumes that the plane is not yet assembled.

Bolt the motor to the square mount and insert the motor in to the plane. Trace the outline of the body of the mount onto the wood. Then take it out and cut it to shape.

Solder the wires to the motor. In my case a Mega 16/15/4. You will need to leave a little excess wire so you have room to solder. Just pull it back into the plane via the motor cooling hole. When the motor is inserted I use standard electrical tape to attach the motor. But just as important to reinforce the motor mount area.

I highly recommend adding 3/4 of an inch to the rudder control surface.

I have a pretty extreme flying style with my EZ. So I devised the pictured wing mod.

My EZ is almost done with 2 years of great flying.

If you have any questions please ask.

bob

evadeom

Thanks Bob. When you remove the tape, does it ruin the surface of the elapor?

sawdust

My Feedback: (7)

The tape does not ruin the surface of the elapor when you remove it. I use the same tape to hold on the canopy. I wrap around the canopy and fuselage twice. I never install the canopy clips on either the EZ or the Easy Glider when I build them. If your elapor is painted then tape removal will damage the paint. If you are going to start with the stock motor all you need is a couple of wraps right at the wooden motor mount.

bob

archiebald

I put my Easy Star together with CA and activator (kicker)....Can't see what the fuss is about. As long as you do a dry run to check fit then there should be no problem.

For future motor mods, I only taped my motor in. Then, for the wire routing, I cut straight through from the motor to the canopy opening so the wires have a straight run. This means cutting out a little from the inside of the canopy. I also cut the wire channel a little larger and put a plastic drinking straw in before fitting the wires and joining the fuselage halves. This straw has enough diameter for me to pull out the two wires and slide in 3 wires for a brushless very easily.

Other mods before fuselage assembly included some thin carbon rod embedded into the foam completely encircling the wing housing and a 4mm carbon tube right through the tail boom.

I haven't found the need yet but I already have some neodymium magnets for the wing mod, should they start looking too loose.

glover1482

About three weeks ago, I built and presented an EasyStar to my grandson as a gift. The build was "stock" except that I used a brushless motor which I had in my spares inventory. The only airframe modification I did during the build was to route out a little extra space in the motor wire channel and the addition of some bi-directional strapping tape on the bottom of the fuselage for abrasion resistance. He and his dad report that they are really enjoying their EasyStar and have found it to be a great beginners model. I also supplied them with a second EasyStar in its original box as a backup, but they seem to be avoiding using it by missing irrigation pipes, pasture fences and earth auger events. My first model was a Zagi and what a disaster that was! I finally learned to fly when I got a hand launch glider. So based upon my experiences I started my grandson with the EasyStar; and I strongly suggest the EasyStar as a first model for everyone without access to a personal trainer.

Fly safe, Glover

Tall Paul

#3 Easy Star.
Paint is Rustoleum.