Robyle3
Active member
About six months ago now, i was surfing kijiji for any rc planes for sale in my area. I scrolled past about 15 gassers, a few gorgeous balsa gliders (i came SOO close to buying them), and a very tempting offer on a 2000mm electric supercub. But i stopped cold when i chanced upon a used Multiplex Easyglider Electric.
Y’see, I love gliders. Folded paper, laminated balsa/paper, balsa chuck gliders, you name it. Over the years i’ve built a good working knowledge of how to make gliders fly the way i want hands-off. But this beauty with orange wingtips and matching orange empennage was gong to be my official graduation from FF into RC.
Listed at 100$CDN, it came with a crumpled nose, a bent motor shaft, a new motor, the lemon rx 7ch stabilizer, and three 2s 2100mah lipos, one of which was a little bloated (remember this, its important later). The previous owner (an awesome guy, he gave me his number to keep in touch, hugely beneficial when i had problems with the power switch), had lawn-darted it and just didnt want to spend more time on it instead of the more exciting planes he had.
Flash-forward to bringing my new baby home. I spent roughly 20mins gently hammering the shaft back to almost-straight. Figuring out the battery placement and setting up a model on my Dx8e, it was time for a glide-test.
After shaking off my nerves at hefting this 2000mm monster (its affectionate nickname) above my head, i was thrilled to see this beauty sail accross my front yard with just a firm toss (it was more like a baseball throw, i was really worried that the weightwould carry it down. Remember, im used to working with gliders that at most weighed 80g). I actually had to force it down for the sake of trees, and bent the motor shaft again, XD. After that, I took it to my old High-School’s soccer field and immediately fell in love with the plane. Its very gentle, and the stock power combo had more than enough power for a newbie like me (it powered me out of three stalls, hehe😅). I didnt try any soaring, so things were exciting/scary as i was flying at <50’ above the ground.
Flash-forward another three weeks and im back at my old school, getting ~20min flights on each battery by climbing until shes just about half the size of a dime, cutting back, and taking small naps as the monster takes its time coming back to earth.
This is where that bloated battery makes an appearance. I knew nothing about lipo safety at the time (im a low-key expert now), and i wanted to squeeze one more run out of battery no. 2 (old owner had EVERYTHING labelled) with ~1:30 left on my timer (set to 20% throttle by default). When i set her down to pack up, the battery wouldnt unplug. Overheating due to over-discharge, the casing on the bananna plugs had melted together, and the battery was now fused to the esc. Frantic that the lipo would completely over-discharge (unaware it already had) and burn the world to ashes, i tore it off the esc, leaving the esc plugs bare. When i got home, i was trying to slip a new sleeve over the esc plugs when my dad came by. The plane wasnt binding because (as i know now) the transmitter was too close and overloading the rx with code. So dad tried to help by crossing the polarity of the wires.
.
.
.
Yeah, it ended how you’d expect, in a puff of smoke and a dead esc.
Which brings us to the present. Between waiting for all the parts from hobbyking for a brushless upgrade ive done lots of reading here and on rcgroups. The Easyglider Electric seems to be completely overshadowed by its sisters the Easy Star (l & ll) and the Easyglider Pro(4). Being and old bird, my monster has seen her fair share of dings and user-errors (take slamming into the side of a 50’ cliff after my first attempt sloping in low but gusty wind with only cosmetic damage as an example), but keeps on giving me more and more reason to love RC flight.
I plan on documenting the brushless conversion later when the final parts arrive, but for now, does anyone have any stories to tell about their first plane? About their first flight? About getting in to RC aircraft, or even stories of brilliant un-sung legends in the consumer RC world? Looking forward to some overdoses of nostalgia and passion for flight!
Y’see, I love gliders. Folded paper, laminated balsa/paper, balsa chuck gliders, you name it. Over the years i’ve built a good working knowledge of how to make gliders fly the way i want hands-off. But this beauty with orange wingtips and matching orange empennage was gong to be my official graduation from FF into RC.
Listed at 100$CDN, it came with a crumpled nose, a bent motor shaft, a new motor, the lemon rx 7ch stabilizer, and three 2s 2100mah lipos, one of which was a little bloated (remember this, its important later). The previous owner (an awesome guy, he gave me his number to keep in touch, hugely beneficial when i had problems with the power switch), had lawn-darted it and just didnt want to spend more time on it instead of the more exciting planes he had.
Flash-forward to bringing my new baby home. I spent roughly 20mins gently hammering the shaft back to almost-straight. Figuring out the battery placement and setting up a model on my Dx8e, it was time for a glide-test.
After shaking off my nerves at hefting this 2000mm monster (its affectionate nickname) above my head, i was thrilled to see this beauty sail accross my front yard with just a firm toss (it was more like a baseball throw, i was really worried that the weightwould carry it down. Remember, im used to working with gliders that at most weighed 80g). I actually had to force it down for the sake of trees, and bent the motor shaft again, XD. After that, I took it to my old High-School’s soccer field and immediately fell in love with the plane. Its very gentle, and the stock power combo had more than enough power for a newbie like me (it powered me out of three stalls, hehe😅). I didnt try any soaring, so things were exciting/scary as i was flying at <50’ above the ground.
Flash-forward another three weeks and im back at my old school, getting ~20min flights on each battery by climbing until shes just about half the size of a dime, cutting back, and taking small naps as the monster takes its time coming back to earth.
This is where that bloated battery makes an appearance. I knew nothing about lipo safety at the time (im a low-key expert now), and i wanted to squeeze one more run out of battery no. 2 (old owner had EVERYTHING labelled) with ~1:30 left on my timer (set to 20% throttle by default). When i set her down to pack up, the battery wouldnt unplug. Overheating due to over-discharge, the casing on the bananna plugs had melted together, and the battery was now fused to the esc. Frantic that the lipo would completely over-discharge (unaware it already had) and burn the world to ashes, i tore it off the esc, leaving the esc plugs bare. When i got home, i was trying to slip a new sleeve over the esc plugs when my dad came by. The plane wasnt binding because (as i know now) the transmitter was too close and overloading the rx with code. So dad tried to help by crossing the polarity of the wires.
.
.
.
Yeah, it ended how you’d expect, in a puff of smoke and a dead esc.
Which brings us to the present. Between waiting for all the parts from hobbyking for a brushless upgrade ive done lots of reading here and on rcgroups. The Easyglider Electric seems to be completely overshadowed by its sisters the Easy Star (l & ll) and the Easyglider Pro(4). Being and old bird, my monster has seen her fair share of dings and user-errors (take slamming into the side of a 50’ cliff after my first attempt sloping in low but gusty wind with only cosmetic damage as an example), but keeps on giving me more and more reason to love RC flight.
I plan on documenting the brushless conversion later when the final parts arrive, but for now, does anyone have any stories to tell about their first plane? About their first flight? About getting in to RC aircraft, or even stories of brilliant un-sung legends in the consumer RC world? Looking forward to some overdoses of nostalgia and passion for flight!