[quote]ORIGINAL: MikeDH

Any insight into the Easy Star and whether to go with the kit or RTF would be much appreciated.



I'm in the UK, and got an Easy Star after the local dealer made me an offer I couldn't refuse. It has the same wing design as the larger twin-engine Moviestar (which I also have), which seems
to be highly efficient at relatively low speeds and practically unstallable. It's very easy to fly, hands off stable, and pretty damned tough. It also glides pretty well. The elapor foam multiplex use
is capable of taking a very solid impact with nothing more to show for it than a small dent, which often slowly pops out by itself. It's not indestructible (I broke my moviestar in half on one
memorable occasion, but it got better), but you'd have to work at it to kill the thing.

The only modification I made to the kit was born from bitter experience, which was to replace the stock 400 motor with a better one (a Jamara 480 BB pro), and replace the gunther prop the kit
includes with an APC 5.5 x 2 eflight prop. The multiplex motor with the gunther prop pulled more current and produced less thrust that any combination I tested a while ago when I was evaluating
power systems for another plane. It will fly like that, but the jamara motor and APC prop will make it fly better for longer.

As a result of the above, I personally would go for the kit, as you can't replace the motor very easily on a prebuilt one because it's glued in place. However, if you are happy to use the stock system
the RTF version may be a good choice, as there is a lot less mucking around with copious quantities of cyano involved.

pca