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E-Flite
brings you the perfect model for those lazy summer evenings or
days with nice gentle breezes, the new “Plug and Play”Ascent
450 Glider, and it was on such a balmy summer evening that we
had the opportunity to try out this new motor assist glider. |
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The
Ascent’s battery was charged before we left for the flying field
so upon arrival it was simply a matter of bolting on the two-piece
wing and installing the battery via the removable canopy, a simple
job involving nothing more than removing the canopy fixing screws
and then carrying out a full range test with the motor running.
No undue worries with the range test, motor good, control surfaces
as they should be and no more excuses not to fly.
The model was hand launched into wind without the need to run,
just a nice gentle throw with power on a bit like throwing a dart
and the model was up and away. The 450 brushless motor provided
plenty of thrust and with gentle guiding inputs of rudder and elevator
the model soon gained sufficient height to throttle back and hunt
for any thermals that may be around. |
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What a
delightful model, nice and relaxing and in the absence of thermals
the lightweight airframe and polyhedral wing helped the model to
maintain altitude easily with any loss of height being quickly replaced
with just a little application of power.
The underside of the wing featured contrasting trim stripes so at no
time during the flight was there any problems with disorientation,
nice to know should you catch a thermal and gain a bit to much altitude.
Simple loops and stall turns were performed with ease and the model
was very responsive though out, so good in fact that when the model
was brought down lower it was able to perform a few “high speed” straight
and level fly by’s. |
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After what seemed
an age it was decided to bring the Ascent in for a landing and here
the folding propeller did it job, throttled back the models still
had good penetration and at about five feet off the ground with the
propeller fold back the model settled in for a nice flared touch
down. Don’t really know how long the flight was, with this sort of
model it can be a long as you want it if there are thermals about,
but in any event it was a really good flight 15-20 minutes at a guess,
and we still had power to spare from the battery. |
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All
in all another winner from E-flight with a fantastic model that offers
you the chance of some nice relaxing flights, in fact this is the
ideal model to pack in the car any time you head off to the field,
but more so if you just want to chill out, unwind and relax! |
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