Specifications:
Name: Easystar
Manufacturer: Multiplex
Type of product: Model Kit
Airplane type: Park Flyer
For: Beginner to intermediate pilots
Flying weight: ~700 g (24 oz)
Length: 917 mm (34”)
Wingspan: 1370 mm (54”)
Wing area: 24 dm² (372 sq. in.)
Wing loading: ~28 g/dm² (10.76 oz./sq. ft.)
Prop: 5*4” Included
Motor: Permax Speed 400 Included
Servos: 2 ~9-20g servos
CG: 78 mm from the leading edge of the wing
First impressions:
The first thought that ran through my head when I held the package in my head was: – How is a plane with 137 cm wingspan crammed into this small box? And after opening it I found the answer: The guys at multiplex engineers must have black belts in packaging science! Everything fits perfectly and is well protected without wasting any space. Impressive!
When I started unpacking the parts I was surprised by the feel of the EPP, or ELAPOR as Multiplex calls it, it feels so smooth and almost a little oily? I found it strangely appealing! It felt new. It was something like the smell of a new car.
The build:
The build was a complete joy! The manual is very clear and easy to follow which in this hobby is quite rare. I have complete confidence that almost anyone can build one in a few hours. The wings can easily be removed for transport and simply snap together with a puzzle piece type of lock that is quite ingenious.
One thing to note is that the fuselage is in two pieces which is glued together with the electronics inside of it.
I know a lot of people find this a bad solution but I don’t have any problem with it. If you need to get to the receiver later you can just cut a hatch on the belly of the fuselage.
A tip if you don’t want to get glue on your nice brushless motor is to put on a layer of tape with strong glue on the motor and then gluing it to the fuselage.
Here is a build-log of my second Easystar that I used for FPV
I chose to go with a brushless setup from the get go, instead of wasting time and money on a brushed one.
These were the components that I used:
Motor: RCer Warp BL4-15-3 – 2580kV Inrunner
ESC: HiModel Professional 25A ESC
Battery: 3s A123
Servos: Hitec HS-65HB
Prop: 6*4” APC
Power: [email protected] = 200W
All up weight: 701 grams
Flying:
Launching the Easystar with a brushless setup is as easy as it could be, just give it half throttle and give it a gentle toss into the wind. Once you are in the air you will notice that the Easystar is extremely easy to fly. It’s easy to see and predict in the air and responds smoothly to stick inputs. The dihedral of the wing makes it very stable in even the strongest of winds. I have successfully flown in 12m/s winds and in such high winds it is no problem to fly the plane backwards! That is not something I would recommend a beginner to try out thou. I find that flying in wind is one of the most enjoyable things you can do with this plane. Doing harriers and working tree lines for uplift is a blast! I have flown over 1 hours 30 minutes on one battery in the wind simply working the uplift from objects.
The Easystars stall behavior is almost unbelievable! It’s almost impossible get it to tip stall! And when you stall it, it simply falls nose down and regains lift almost instantly.
The Easystar glides extremely well. If you take it up to altitude and cut the motor it’s easy to glide for minutes. It’s even possible to catch a few thermals now and then.
One thing you need to do before trying to fly in high winds or off power gliding is enlarging the rudder. With the stock one there is simply not enough surface area to force the airplane in the direction you want. In winds this results in a 180 degree turn before the controls are regained. On my first Easystar I simply made a cut straight up from the rudder enlarging it by maybe 30%. On my second one I made a bigger rudder from 3 mm plywood.
More info on my rudder enlargement can be found in this build-log.
The Easystar is also capable of some mild aerobatics like loops and surprisingly good rolls considering that it only has rudder and no ailerons. Inverted flight is possible but hard and also very fun.
Landing:
– The Easystar glides to well! Is a comment that I’ve heard beginners say. And I can relate to that! The first time I tried to land it I overshot it by maybe 50 meters! You get used to it after a while and if you need to land it in a small space you simply flair it to kill some speed.
Crashing:
This is one of the of the Easystars greatest strengths. You can really smack it around and it always comes back for more. I have plowed one right into the ground from 50 meters with damage that could be repaired in less then 10 minutes! When you crash it and the foam get squished you simply put it into boiling water and it takes the shape that it had from the mold. Then you simply glue the cracks and smooth the foam using a spoon. Elapor is the best material ever!
Even after a crash like this it’s easy to restore it to its original shape by boiling it.
Lifting capabilities:
I have used the Easystar as an FPV platform for quite a while now and it has performed admirably. It carries the extra 250 grams without complaining a bit. It’s a stable platform and it’s easy to pilot. It’s the perfect first FPV or arial photography airplane. You can watch my FPV videos and see for yourself.
Conclusion:
This is the perfect beginner plane! I feel completely confidant in recommending this plane even to a beginner with no RC experience. It is the most crash resilient plane that I have ever seen and when it breaks its super easy to fix. It has extremely good flight characteristics with no bad habits what so ever. It handles wind good and is predicable in all situations. But it’s also fun for even the most experienced pilot. This is truly a versatile airplane. It is also easy to transport with it’s removable wings. It can be modified in so many ways and still fly great. It carries extra weight without complaining making it ideal for arial photography and FPV.
Multiplex should be proud, this airplane is outstanding in every way!
