E-flite Appentice 15e

Many models in the past have made claims to be the perfect trainer, and whilst some have been very good others have been a little disappointing. Well we think that the new ready to fly Apprentice 15e trainer from E-flite if not perfect, is about as good as it gets!

For a start the modeller gets everything needed to fly in a single one-box purchase model, brushless motor and speed controller, Li-Po battery and balancing charger and the latest Spektrum 2.4gHz radio system fully installed.
Did I mention that the model was electric? Well it is and with this set up there are no worries about short flight time or lack lustre performance, this model fly’s for over 10-15minutes on a single charge.

Flying Condition

So lets have a look at how the model fly’s.
At last the combination of sunny weather and gentle winds gave us the opportunity to try out the Apprentice, so few things to do before flight with this model, just charge the battery and mount the wing in the traditional way with rubber bands, in these “high tech” days rubber bands may seem a bit old fashioned but in the case of high wing trainers its not a bad idea allowing the wing to give a little in the event of a wing-tip first landing!

Let's get Flying

With the battery connected and the wing on it was time to perform the all important range test, a must with any new model and this was performed with the motor off and at full power just to be sure there were no unwanted issues, all was satisfactory and the range was much more than indicated in the radio user guide, great stuff!
Lined up into wind, apply power and the model was briskly away tracking nice and straight, a touch of up elevator and the model was airborne climbing away with plenty of power, things were looking good, at sufficient altitude the motor was throttled back and the model settled into a nice steady speed ready for a few circuits before being checked out for any nasty stall characteristics, unwanted in any model but more so in a trainer. The Apprentice was slowed right down whist applying a little up elevator and after what seemed an age the nose of the model gently dropped forward in a gentle stall with no tendency to drop a wing, with a little bit of power applied the model recovered instantly and full control was maintained.
OK, the model thus far was doing exactly “what it said on the tin” but what else could it do? Well the answer to that is simple, the model can perform loops, rolls and stall turns and a one point even flew inverted, maybe not as precise as an aerobatic model but lets remember that this is a marketed as a basic trainer although after this flight it could well serve as a semi-scale sport model.

All through the flight the model had plenty of power to do all that was required of it and there was never a point at which the model was running out of steam, so after a good ten minutes or so the model was lined up for a few landing approaches and fly-by’s, and on the third approach the model was landed with the same ease as the rest of the flight, nice and gentle with no tendency to balloon or bounce, and thanks to the steerable nose-leg and the fact that we still had power we were able to taxi back to the pit area and perform the all important post flight checks just to make sure everything was as it should be, in this instance everything was dare I say it “perfect”

To sum up then, the Apprentice15e is a great model with more than enough power and duration allowing the novice pilot to enjoy a good flight, gentle forgiving flight characteristics that allow the pilot plenty of time to react, and an ability to perform moderate aerobatics, but probably best of all it comes as a complete package so there is no need to chase around searching for additional items before taking to the sky and with “bang up to date” equipment that may be used in other models as the pilot progresses, what more could anyone want from a trainer? PL
TG


E-flite Appentice 15e Many models in the past have made claims to be the perfect trainer, and whilst some have been very good others have been a little disappointing. Well we think that the new ready to fly Apprentice 15e trainer from E-flite if not perfect, is about as good as it gets!
	For a start the modeller gets everything needed to fly in a single one-box purchase model, brushless motor and speed controller, Li-Po battery and balancing charger and the latest Spektrum 2.4gHz radio system fully installed. Did I mention that the model was electric? Well it is and with this set up there are no worries about short flight time or lack lustre performance, this model fly’s for over 10-15minutes on a single charge.
Flying Condition So lets have a look at how the model fly’s. At last the combination of sunny weather and gentle winds gave us the opportunity to try out the Apprentice, so few things to do before flight with this model, just charge the battery and mount the wing in the traditional way with rubber bands, in these “high tech” days rubber bands may seem a bit old fashioned but in the case of high wing trainers its not a bad idea allowing the wing to give a little in the event of a wing-tip first landing!

Let's get Flying With the battery connected and the wing on it was time to perform the all important range test, a must with any new model and this was performed with the motor off and at full power just to be sure there were no unwanted issues, all was satisfactory and the range was much more than indicated in the radio user guide, great stuff! Lined up into wind, apply power and the model was briskly away tracking nice and straight, a touch of up elevator and the model was airborne climbing away with plenty of power, things were looking good, at sufficient altitude the motor was throttled back and the model settled into a nice steady speed ready for a few circuits before being checked out for any nasty stall characteristics, unwanted in any model but more so in a trainer. The Apprentice was slowed right down whist applying a little up elevator and after what seemed an age the nose of the model gently dropped forward in a gentle stall with no tendency to drop a wing, with a little bit of power applied the model recovered instantly and full control was maintained. OK, the model thus far was doing exactly “what it said on the tin” but what else could it do? Well the answer to that is simple, the model can perform loops, rolls and stall turns and a one point even flew inverted, maybe not as precise as an aerobatic model but lets remember that this is a marketed as a basic trainer although after this flight it could well serve as a semi-scale sport model.
		All through the flight the model had plenty of power to do all that was required of it and there was never a point at which the model was running out of steam, so after a good ten minutes or so the model was lined up for a few landing approaches and fly-by’s, and on the third approach the model was landed with the same ease as the rest of the flight, nice and gentle with no tendency to balloon or bounce, and thanks to the steerable nose-leg and the fact that we still had power we were able to taxi back to the pit area and perform the all important post flight checks just to make sure everything was as it should be, in this instance everything was dare I say it “perfect”

To sum up then, the Apprentice15e is a great model with more than enough power and duration allowing the novice pilot to enjoy a good flight, gentle forgiving flight characteristics that allow the pilot plenty of time to react, and an ability to perform moderate aerobatics, but probably best of all it comes as a complete package so there is no need to chase around searching for additional items before taking to the sky and with “bang up to date” equipment that may be used in other models as the pilot progresses, what more could anyone want from a trainer? PL TG