Espada RL serious thermal plane!

[thevon]

I bought the Jaro Muller Espada RL being sold by Theo on the RCTrading site. I checked its creds out with Jeff when it appeared and his comments included eg "the absolute pinnacle of quality performance" etc, etc. So with the intention of giving myself a good excuse to head off to winch sessions with Jeff, Nick, Sean etc I parted with less than half of the bucks it would take to buy and set up one of these things. And no build time. That's my style.

It turned up while I was out today and I found time before dinner (surprisingly!) to unpack it and photograph the wings and fuse etc. Wow, this is a really impressive thing. ("Andrew come ON!!! Dinner is READY!! Everyone's WAITING!!)

It has a 3.7m span in a 2-piece wing. Seems to have quite a bit of dihedral. Very light. The construction quality is amazing. You'll have to check out how the canopy sticks down with a magnet!

Theo wrote out a really detailed set of instructions and the specs for setup, including for each mode. He took this plane to the World Championships in Turkey last year and had a light mid-air, crunching a patch on the LE of one wing, which he fixed and bogged over there and kept flying. Otherwise it looks absolutely new. The servos are tighter than for any other big moldie I've bought yet.

This thing is way too good for me. It's proof of how far I've slipped into the depravity of rampant glider acquisition. I'll have to sell something to assuage my guilt. Here are a few photos. I'll get another pic when I put it together tomorrow.


The wing bags are really lovely. I put a standard Bee in the photo to give an idea of scale.


Droopy nose on fuse for spot nose landings. Theo marked a line on the fin and referred to it as "Full elevator for doink".


Lots of gloss.


These elevators feel like they're made of helium.

[bundyglida]

Mark Linwood bought one of Theo's other RL's this year.
When I flew it, I thought it needed more authority in the control surfaces then what Theo recommends.
Theo had these models set up for EURO conditions where the lift can be marginal, and flying long smooth lines is beneficial.
They are superb models, and that nose will stay where ever you put it, and I'm sure you will enjoy flying it.
Hmmmmm....A few more birds like this on the forum could seriously affect the 'slope' theme
Nice piece of kit,
Dale

[jirvin4505]

Drool.......

41gm for a TP set - I'm down the shed slashing my wrists

Got a telephone call from Paul Gibson. He is coming up to QLD to deliver another fine model into the slope community.... Should be a superior choice of a model...

Locked into Monday July 6th to go flying with the Newcastle crowd.

cheers jeff

[nick]

OH WOW
it looks fantastic andrew
i can't wait to see you fly her,
i bet your heart will be in your mouth for the first few launches.
regards nick

[sean]

Looks awesome Andrew!

Got a telephone call from Paul Gibson. He is coming up to QLD to deliver another fine model into the slope community.... Should be a superior choice of a model...

So someone local bought Paul's Superior?? Come on, who is it?

July 6th... I might have something new to fly by then .

[mikey100]

Had to buy myself something for my birthday....well, didn't I.

Looks great Andrew. Always love to see new planes.

[mikey100]

and that's one serious carbon wing-joiner!

[sean]

I had a feeling it was you Mike. Congrats, should be an awesome plane!

[mikey100]

Thanks Sean....another great plane for sale at the moment is an XPERIENCE PRO being sold by a guy called Hutton Oddy in Armidale. Only a couple of yrs old, dig servos in wing, v-tail, just add rx....or he has one in it for a few dollars more with rx. Was a difficut decision. Hutton was very helpful with pics and info, so if someone else wants a top shelf first thermal ship...consider that one. Is for sale in one of the RC Trading sites

Sean, someone said you have a pike ...which one?

[sean]

I have a Pike Plus, it's older and inferior to the Pike Superior... Same wing as Jeff's but a different fuse and v-tail. The Superior has nothing in common with it other than the manufacturer.

[jase]

i've gotta stop coming onto the forum, u guys getting all these awesome planes makes me wish i lived in B'bane again.

[chamm37]

I know what you mean ae

[thevon]

Jase, you don't need to move to Brisbane. The big ones are thermal planes, not slopers. If you can beg borrow or buy a winch you'll be right ... I'm sure there are heaps of thermals up your way with those hot sunny Central Qld days!

[thevon]

I just finished setting it all up. The ready-to-fly weight is 2.00kg! Flicking just below and just above. I put a tad extra nose weight in for safety.

[jase]

yeah.. but we need to go more inland to fly and there isn't many places to do so. not to mention the people that fly up here are rather "keep to them selves" type people.
i've got a high launch bungee that came with my fling though.