Greetings from Canada,

My two cents worth on the Apprentice. I have had mine since September & flown it & repaired it & replaced bits quite a bit. Although it says in the manual get an instructor, being stubborn & short of time to organize such a thing, I had to teach myself (I did build & fly models a lot when a teenager several decades ago). I would summarize that I think the Apprentice is a good trainer - flys nicely, repairs easily but it has a few quirks which definately puzzle me. Most of these result IMO from the compromises the manufacturers made to put out a complete package incl. 2.4 Gz radio system at the price point they chose. I have no complaints because I think it was a good deal & I have had tons of fun but there are a few associated frustrations.

The first problem I encountered was the take off from grass issue. I had read that it needed bigger wheels so put on the largest size that fits the bend in the front u/c leg. No way could I get it to take off from the park/soccer fields near my house (only late evening with no persons within a mile). Eventually, I found a patch of bare dirt worn down by cars parking (sadly no cricket pitches in Canadian parks!)& was able to use that as long as the breeze was in the right direction. As others noted, close to full power gets it off the ground fairly quickly. The problem is that if for any reason it does not fly out near straight, you have to be nimble to catch it from heading off in an undesirable direction. Fiddling with the nose wheel helps but seems to go off fairly quickly.

The second problem I have had is similar to one also described above in that it sometimes tips over either landing or sometimes taking off if it veers into a rough spot. This frequently results in a broken motor mount. They are only about $5 to replace but seem to give out very easily. Perhaps it is a design feature to help protect the motor. Anyway, I have never broken a prop. but have about 6 broken motor mounts (let's not mention the cowl which is made of bone china & had to be abandoned quite early).

The third problem was the one mentioned about the motor drive shaft & can becoming distorted and grinding when run. I believe the problem is that the bearings are very poor & got damaged in the tip overs that did not break the motor mount or during one of my less than perfect flights (perhaps the one where I hit a tree!!). The quirk that bothers me is that you cannot obtain spares for the motor. You have to replace it @ $70 when eventually the grinding gets bad enough that it won't run adequately. It is a special (read cheap) motor made for the Apprentice not a standard E-flite motor - one of the compromises made to reach the manfacturer's desired price point. I have subsequently bought other electric motors for other projects & you can buy a new set of bearings for $5 & a new drive shaft for $3 if you need them. If you need to replace it, take a look at the Turnigy 35-48-B 900kv Brushless . On an Apprentice thread on RCGroups, one poster said he used that motor @$22US & it seems about the same length & weight & power.

The last problem I'll mention was stripping the gears in the aileron servos. Again, my fault due to heavy impact. Again, the issue is that they do not sell replacement gear sets. Have to buy new servo @ $25 rather than gear set for say $7.

Anyway, we have had continuous snow on the ground since November 15 so have been flying on skis. Apprentice works well off very hard packed snow or ice but soft snow is just like grass - hopeless. Eventually built a S.P.A.D. taildragger fuelage to use with the Apprentice wing. Not too pretty - need flourescent orange to see it against white snow & grey sky - but takes off nicely & flies well. Attached for your amusement is a picture.

Hope my ramble is of interest & look forward to other commentaries on Apprentice experience. How about describing your most amusing crash/fly away/tree climb?

RB