Gracia MAXi 3.5E V-Tail F5J/ALES Electric Sailplane (ARF)

This plane is beautiful in the sky and is a GREAT thermal machine. I think weight matters so I build my planes to yield light wing loadings. This bird weighs 1725 grams (60.8oz), giving a wing loading of 7.0 oz/sq ft. To keep the weight down I used: Graupner GR-16L receiver with Graupner vario. Hyperion HS-09AMD servos (2 aileron, 2 tail) EMax ES3352 servos(2 flaps) Motor: Turnigy LD3727A (87 grams) Prop: CAM 10-6 Battery: 2200 mah 3s LiPo. Keep the tail light: .031" dia. music wire in provided white tubing;Z-bend at tail, Dubro Micro E/Z links at servos(servos mounted near front of hole under wing. Pushed (4) small foam squares into tail at intervals to keep control rods stable. Wing hardware:.047 dia. music wire, Z-bend at horn, Dubro E/Z link at servo. No clevises were used. Servo holes in wing covered with packing tape. So, motor/prop/battery yeilds 426 watts, plenty of power for near vertical climbouts. And approx 40 minute flights with minimal lift. Flying: This bird almost flies herself; very smooth flat glide, very maneuverable, can U-turn on its axis, makes very flat circles without losing much altitude, stall is VERY mild with immediate recovery. Flies pretty slow but can fly fast. Flaps will bring her down slowly and precisely. Butterfly works good for fast altitude loss. I think that the Gracia Maxi has Great Value; flies and thermals very well, and is high quality material and workmanship. Craig

The Gracia Maxi is one fantastic sailplane. Using the Suggested Equipment that Esprit have put together you will not be disappointed in it's performance. I have been flying the Gracia for close to 4 months now and have over 40 flight hours on it. This mornings flight was 1 hour ,19 minutes and 29 seconds. to say the least, this plane loves to fly. Also with it generous flaps, it is very easy to spot land, most times I only have to take 2 or 3 steps to pick up at landing. Make sure you have enough radio to take full advantage of all flight surfaces and mixes and this sailplane will not disappoint you in any way. One note...A special Thank You to both David and James at Esprit..your Expert advice and help setting me up went way beyond any customer service I have ever had. Espirt model is a First Class Operation.

This is my first full house F5J/ALES plane and it is magnificent! Everything about this plane impressed me. The packaging looked as if they expected it to be air dropped to my house even though I picked it up at Esprit's warehouse (a must visit if you live in the Central Florida area)! The covering on the wings and tail was perfect. I had my iron out ready to take care of the wrinkles but just put it away. All the seams were perfect out of the box. Their wasn't much of a build. The hardest part was getting the wing bolt blind nuts set in place correctly. The inner part of the fuse is curved a little so the piece of balsa that is included is wide. Sanding it still didn't get the fit how I wanted or thought it should. I ended up using my own ply and cutting it a bit different. Still not 100% happy with the outcome. Also, setting the control horns for the V-tail surfaces was confusing. Unlike the ails and flaps, there was no defined spot. I guessed on their position, but I'm not sure if I am getting the correct throws. Also, one of the outboard wings doesn't fit just right. The way it mates to the center section makes it have more washout than the rest of the airfoil. Trimming for these issues removes any adverse tendencies, but I still may end up working on the wing to nix the unwanted washout. A note on the suggested components: The motor and prop combo on 4s makes this plane a rocket ship! If you were to run a full 30sec of launch you'd have this plane out of sight. I have yet to test on 3s, but I have a feeling that for ALES it will be better to run the motor at a slower RPM to get close to 30sec of climb to cutoff altitude. The suggested wing retainer system and servo trays are a great add-on. As a FYI, you'll only need to purchase one of the wing retainers (two come in the pack) and two of the servo trays (makes a total of four). They'll ease up your build and make assembly easier at the field Great product! Thanks Esprit!