Every generation of RC sport pilots seems to identify with a certain model that defined the standard of their day. There have been the Ugly Stik, Smog Hog, Falcon 56, Sportster and so on. It appears that we have possibly found a new, modern aircraft model that defines the sport model of the current times. Most sport pilots like the looks of CAP, Extra 300, Sukhoi and Edge-type aerobatic birds, as they represent a rock-and-rollin’ type of plane that’s exciting to watch, let alone fly. In this review, we look at a model that has similar looks to an aerobat but is designed for the pilot who may be fairly new to low-wing aileron planes or is looking for a great-looking plane with easy sport handling that is an everyday plane to fly. To this end, we look at the Great Planes Escapade for nitro or electric power.
SPECS
ENGINE: .40-.55 2-stroke glow or .46 RimFire (42-60-800Kv) with 4S 3200mAh LiPo and 60A ESC; flown with O.S. 46-AX
PROPELLER: Master Airscrew 10x6 G/F 3 Series, kit spinner
TOP RPM: 11,700
FUEL: Byron 15%
ONBOARD BATTERY: Futaba/Sanyo 4-cell 600mAh Ni-Cd
PRICE: $99.95
COMPONENTS NEEDED TO COMPLETE: Radio, motor, prop, battery
PLANE: Great Planes Escapade ARF
MANUFACTURER: Great Planes Model Manufacturing
DISTRIBUTOR: Great Planes Model distributors
TYPE: ARF nitro or electric sport flyer
FOR: Sport intermediate pilots.
WINGSPAN: 52.5 in.
WING AREA: 483 sq. in
WEIGHT: 81 oz.
WING LOADING: 24.2 oz./sq. ft.
LENGTH: 46 in.
RADIO: 4 channels required: flown with a Futaba 7C 2.4GHz FASST transmitter, R617FS receiver, 5 Futaba S3004 servos for aileron, elevator, rudder and throttle
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
I’m going to be honest: the Escapade is probably the best-prepared ARF I have ever seen! Not only does it include all of the hardware you need for a nitro model, but it also has the additional items you need if you wish to use electric power. The firewall area has a nylon motor mount to accommodate 2- and 4-stroke engines. The electric accessories include the motor mount, and that’s just the beginning. You also get heat-shrink tubing for the electrical connections and to secure the servo-wire extensions, hook-and-loop material for holding down the fuel tank or battery, a nut driver to attach the tail feathers, a spinner, plenty of hardware and even a mounted, painted pilot bust inside the canopy! Guys; this is a complete aircraft outfit.
Kit content photo showing all components from out of the box.
To guide you along in the assembly process, the model is accompanied by an extensive 28-page manual that shows all aspects of the assembly work, including the installation of the electric power conversion. (see sidebar on electric motor installation). In our case, we built this Escapade as a 2-stroke-powered model, and we begin with the wing assembly. There is nothing unusual here, but note that this wing remains a basic two-piece wing that can be taken apart as smaller components for easy transportation. It is supported by an aluminum spar/joiner tube and held together with the wing bolts and a nylon retainer. It is more than secure enough to stay in place. You have the option of using a single aileron servo or two discrete servos for more precise control on the ailerons. There’s a ply servo tray in the center of the wing for single-servo ailerons, while two additional servo trays are outboard for the optional two-servo aileron operation. You need only to cut away the film covering to reveal the servo tray. Pull-strings for the servo wires are in place and ready to guide your servo wires to the center of the wing. By the way: the ailerons are already set up with torque rods for the single-servo and the ailerons are hinged and secured. If you do use the two-servo aileron option, the ailerons have hard points for the control horns to be installed.
A look at the bolt-on vertical and horizontal stab. It is held in place with two self-locking nuts and allows easy transportation of the model.
Installing the vertical and horizontal stabilizers on the tail is easy, and the kit includes this plastic nut wrench to tighten down the self-locking nuts.
At the tail, you will find the vertical fin with the rudder ready to go with two long bolts under the assembly. You insert the bolts through the horizontal stabilizer and then place the entire tail section on the rear of the fuselage where the tips of the bolts poke through the bottom of the fuselage. It’s a bit tricky to get the bolts aligned right, but a little time is all it takes, and you’re good to go. A couple of washers and self-locking nuts are used to secure the tail feathers, and this is where that nut driver they provided in the hardware comes into play. Don’t lose this, as it really is a handy little tool! By the way, did I mention that all of the control surfaces are hinged and glued? That’s right! You don’t have to mess with any of the hinges!
Under the canopy, the two latches that key into the fuselage to secure the canopy in flight are visible. This is both simple and very effective.
The tail was the only area that I felt needed some correcting. When I first fit the tail to the fuselage, it was not level but visibly slanted toward the left side. To bring it to level, this required a 1/16-inch shim, which I eventually glued into position. The good thing is that this is a removable tail section, making transportation quite easy, even in a small car.
While at the tail section, you may also insert the rudder and elevator pushrods through their respective slots in the fuselage. They exit into the cockpit area where the servos will soon be installed.
If you have not checked out the canopy section, now is the time. It is cleverly held on by magnets and also uses a bit of a sliding lock to ensure it is not jettisoned in flight. The fit of the canopy is very well done; it’s snug and form-fitting to the fuselage; indeed, it hides the seam lines well. You have plenty of space under the painted pilot bust to install the rudder and elevator servos plus ample space for the flight-pack battery and receiver.
At the nose, a nylon motor mount is already in place and ready for any suitable powerplant. The mount is adjustable. There is also an electric option.
I installed Futaba's 2.4GHz R617FS FASST receiver and Futaba S3004 standard servos for all controls, and powered them with a standard 4-cell 600mAh Ni-Cd pack. Everything fits very comfortably in the Escapade, and placing the short receiver antennas is not a problem. If you use a traditional 72MHz system, the Escapade even has an antenna tube that leads from the cockpit to the tip of the tail to keep things neat.
Securing the engine is not a problem with the installed mount. The motor mount is adjustable, allowing anything from a compact .40 engine to a large-block .70 4-stroke. We used an O.S. Engines .46-AX engine for this project, and this is one of my favorite engines ever. It has plenty of power, a great carburetor that tunes in easily, and it’s very reliable. The fit to the mount was easily accomplished, and this left only the fuel-tank installation. Again, this very complete outfit includes a 9-ounce (270cc) fuel tank that is rigged and ready to go after you’ve confirmed that the vent is at the top of the tank and tightening the stopper. To top off the fuel tank, they even give you a plug for the filler line when topping up the tank! I mentioned this outfit was complete, and it truly is!
The fuel tank comes ready to use! Just add feed lines and install in the fuselage.
The tail-dragger landing-gear configuration goes together quickly. Tires are a dense foam compound on plastic, scale-like rims, and the tires will handle being on their feet all day without flattening. Fiberglass wheel pants are part of the kit, and these allow a good portion of the tire to show through, and they are also large enough to provide plenty of overall clearance for grass-field flying. At the tail is a simple, but effective, steerable tailwheel assembly that latches to the rudder for direction control on the ground. At this point, there is not much left to do except for minor details and adding the kit-supplied decals. By the time I had declared the airframe as being ready to fly, I had spent a mere 8 hours on the workbench from opening the box to completion. And this includes time to photograph the work and grab some dinner. Any experienced modeler should be able to do just as well.
With the radio equipment and fuel tank installed in the fuselage, there is still ample room to get around. The average sport flier can assemble this model very quickly owing to the amount of work already done at the factory.
Using the components as described, the balance of the model came out at 2.75 inches behind the leading edge, which is only ¼ inch from the recommended starting balance point of 2.5 inches. This is certainly acceptable, and we left it. The all-up weight of the Escapade without fuel was a trim 81 ounces—right at the listed minimum weight. I mounted a Master Airscrew 10x6 prop under the supplied spinner to finish it off and then proceeded to perform an engine break-in. After everything had been run in, tested and inspected, the Escapade was ready for its first flight. Total working time from box to flight line was under 10 hours. Other than hand tools, a dab or two of glue, a radio system and engine, there should be nothing left for you to run out and get to supplement the kit-provided hardware. As I said before, this may be the most complete, best-prepared outfit ever!
Test pilot John Dora takes a moment to check the wind direction prior to the first flight. He is holding the Futaba 7C 2.4GHz FASST transmitter used for control.
AIRBORNE
My initial flight test came on a mild winter day in Southern California (if there is a winter in California!). I had already burned through a couple of tanks of fuel with the O.S. 46-AX, and it hand-started readily out on the runway. A tachometer check revealed a top rpm of 11,700 on the Master Airscrew 10x6 prop with a reliable idle at just over 2,200. Taxi testing showed the Escapade to be very mild, so don’t attempt any slalom-course racing with this one. It is stable and easy, which is just what most of us want (or need!) anyway. Once I had it lined up on the tarmac, I eased the power up, and the Escapade was rolling immediately—and accelerating fast! Even with the throttle held at 50 percent, the Escapade was off the deck in about 75-feet.
The Escapade quickly contradicted my initial thoughts about the kind of plane it would be. I had thought it may be a fairly conservative, easygoing, aileron bird for a newer aileron pilot fresh off a high-wing trainer. While it certainly can be set up to build skills, this little baby can also play the part of a hot-rod! It is stable and solid in flight, going exactly where you point it without hesitation. But when you ask it to roll, it happily rolls on a good axial rotation. Indeed, the Escapade will do just about any rolling maneuver you can think of—short of 3D. Point rolls, slow rolls, rolling circles and snap-rolls are all no problem. Pitch control is very linear and predictable, despite the quite large horizontal stabilizer and elevator. Going to inverted provided no surprises, except for the surprise of its remaining stable and solid in this position. In fact, John Dora, who was in control for the initial flight, brought the Escapade in front of the camera down low and inverted on the first flight. This is usually a no-no in my book, but after I got my hands on this plane, I could understand why John felt so comfortable doing this. This plane inspires confidence!
The O.S. 46-AX engine gives more than plenty of power and is a solid choice.
All the basic aerobatics are easily accomplished with the Escapade. Snap-rolls are immediate, and you stop them simply by letting go of the sticks. Consequently, spins in both directions are no problem. Large, pleasing loops are routine with the amount of power available from the O.S. .46, and you can even toss in a snap-roll at the top of a loop for an avalanche without complaint from the airframe. With the balance point at the factory settings, it is just a hair nose-heavy for our liking, but that makes for a very well-behaved model. This is a perfect setup for a low-time pilot who’s advancing his skills and comfort level. More experienced pilots may favor a more rearward balance for even more barnstorming capability, but it truly is not necessary.
Amazingly, we never really flew the Escapade at much over 50% throttle, as the O.S. simply didn’t need to pull much harder. We only throttled up to go vertical. With this kind of performance on tap, the 9-ounce fuel tank should last a good 12 minutes and then some.
Slowing the Escapade for a deliberate stall produced a straight-ahead, basic stall that was easily recovered from in 10 to 12 feet of altitude. Finding no tendency to snap away during the stall, we felt ready to add a few touch-and-go approaches. Throttled back on the crosswind leg, the Escapade bleeds off speed gently, maintaining good forward momentum through to the final approach. The only time you may need a blip of power will be if you make the approach from too far away. Otherwise, you simply establish the heading and set a glide path and nose attitude, and the plane faithfully obeys without a hitch. You can flare the nose and set it down nicely every time without a problem. This plane is simply a ball to fly! It does anything you want, whether you’re looking for a bit of precision or a whole lot of barnstorming! It can certainly be the new plane for every occasion, for every pilot, for any weekend you fly. It’s that good!
The Escapade just looks like it means business. The wide landing gear and large fin provide good directional control on the ground, while the thick airfoil promises easy sport handling with a gentle stall. These elements make for easy take offs and landings.
The nose of the Escapade can be quickly converted to electric power with this kit-provided electric motor-mount assembly. It simply plugs into the firewall.
The removable canopy is held in place with magnets and a slide latch for a very neat and clean installation.
In this top view of the cockpit area, the fuel-tank location is where the 4S LiPo battery pack will go when you fly the Escapade with electric power.
USING ELECTRIC POWER
If you prefer electric power for your Escapade, there is no problem to making this happen. Starting with the engine compartment, you simply remove the four screws holding the motor mount in position to clear the nose. The kit provides an electric motor mount made from laser-cut plywood that fits into slots cut into the firewall. The outlines of the slots are there and laser-cut, but not punched out. A quick tap with a screwdriver blade will remove them. Now just add epoxy to hold the new motor mount in position permanently. You may now mount your choice of electric motor. The recommended powerplant is the Rimfire 46 outrunner, which will be a direct fit to the new firewall. This motor will also need a 60A electronic speed controller along with a 4S, 3200mAh LiPo battery pack.
The battery pack fits into the model in the same spot as the fuel tank would go: on the top side of the cockpit and up front. This is where the kit-provided hook-and-loop fastener material comes into play. The kit instructions recommend that the ESC be mounted to the top of the motor mount on the outside of the fuselage for cooling purposes. The Escapade even has precut cooling vents on the bottom of the fuselage just behind the wing. You simply remove the film covering from the vents to allow the warm air from the battery pack to exit the fuselage. The same kit spinner will fit the Rimfire motor, so with this addition, the electric version is complete, and you’re ready to fly cleanly! Detailed instructions for the electric conversion are in the kit’s basic assembly manual.
CONCLUSION
The Great Planes Escapade definitely sets a new standard in the sport aircraft market. The amount of work completed by the manufacturer is simply amazing. In the case of this model, it doesn’t matter whether you fly it with electric or nitro fuel; it will immediately accommodate you. It is well made and well thought out, and judging by the spritely performance our model, it is well designed. With the two-piece wing and removable tail section, taking the Escapade along for the ride is not a problem, even in a compact car. And when you arrive, it will be ready to rock-’n’- roll in no time. I think the Escapade may have just established itself as the new reference model for today's generation of sport flyers!
LINKS
Futaba, distributed exclusively by Great Planes Model Distributors, www.futaba-rc.com, (800) 682-8948
Great Planes Model Distributors, www.greatplanes.com, (800) 682-8948
O.S. Engines, distributed exclusively by Great Planes Model Distributors, www.osengines.com, (800) 682-8948
Windsor Propeller Company, www.masterairscrew.com, (916) 631-8385
