Having read all the forum posts Icould find on the E-Flite Apprentice 15e it became apparent there were two problems that came up several times. These are problems that can be solved, or at least addressed. Even by a novice of unskilled hand and uncertain talent.

The two problems are the tendency of the landing gear and small wheels to cause problems when landing in grass. Particularly long grass. A lot of us are in that state and are faced with long grass on a routine basis. Secondly, it seems that when the aircraft is snagged by the nose gear and pitches forward onto the propeller it frequently causes bad things to happen to the engine case. Ihave seen a lot of discussions regarding cracked portions of the plastic case.

As I say, these seem to be related problems that can at least be addressed.

I just purchased the Apprentice 15e. Looks like a great trainer and a good investment - once the apparent problems are dealt with. I found some excellent posts by leonstevens on the landing gear. To make his work description very brief, he installed 3 1/2" light foam wheels on all three gear - mains and nose wheel. The factory nose gear he replaced with a 5/32" music wire nose gear (as available from Du-bro) bent outwardcarefully so as to center the wheel on the nose strut and nose wheel steering mechanism.

I followed his lead and did the same thing. Three and a half inch soft foam light weight wheels on the mains - using the original wire frame and a three and a half light foam nose wheel as well. This required removal of the original nose gear, drilling out the nose gear strutchanneland some cutting and bending of the 5/32" rod to properly fit and center the wheel. Sits up higher, clears the prop more, looks either a little funny or like an Alaskan bush plane if you prefer.

Next thing Idid was replace the plastic case 15e motor that came with the Apprentice from the factory with a new E Flite Power 15e. Puts out a bit more power and is stonger by virtue of its metal construction. It is also necessary to replace the ESC with a 45 amp ESC to match the motor.

Removal of the cowling is simple, as is removal of the motor and motor mount in order to take out the ESC from the front. Lot of gentle trimming white sticky materal from the ESC to take it out. Don't loose the red thrust washer added to the motor mount for correct thrust line and do be sure to put it back where it came from.

I used the original motormount for the new Power 15e and the original screws to mount the engine. With the washer and the mount thickness itselfthe screws are not too long for the case. The screws furnished with the motor are far too short to use with the factory motor mountso the original screws work very well. Take care removing the mount screws and they are of soft metal and can be "buggered up" fairly easily. A hard metal Phillips head screwdriver is a dangerous tool in a soft metal screw - as I demonstrated, just before ordering a new mount with screws from product support at E Flite. (The courteous and helpful representative there,that helped me noted clearly that they had not proven the power 15 motor in the Apprentice and is wasn't an authorized modification and that they are now using metal cased motors in the newer kits of the Apprentice......

I soldered connections of the motor, the ESC and am ready to put it all together when the new mount and screws arrive. Iam also ready to finish the bending of the new 5/32" nose gear when the Higley benders get here.

Seems like these two relatively simple and easy modifications can make things a little more reliable and easy when flying the Apprentice on grass fields. All thanks to the forum members who originally came up with the ideas.

Has anyone else tried these or other modifications for improvement of utilization or performance of the E Flite Apprentice 15e? Thanks. Mike.