This plane is inexpensive at $29.99 and looks like it’s fun to fly, but it looks like a flying lamprey to me:

http://www.towerhobbies.com/products/greatplanes/gpma1865_e.html

The EPP EAGLE is another very unique design that I’m interested in eventually buying. There are hawks all the time at the flying fields I frequent, and it would be great to see how they react to the EPP Eagle. In addition to the LightFlite Twirl, this is one of those strange designs that would be an amazing experience to pilot and see up in the air.

The Cox Christen Eagle was very easy to put together two nights ago with the engine and most of the control hardware already mounted. The only thing I really had to do was to install the 3 servos. I’ve read on a post that it’s suggested to put 2 servors in for the ailerons for better performance (and flaperon or spoileron capability too), but this was after I had everything put together. One thing that confused me for a while was the screw to insert into the top wing to connect to the cabane strut. The hole on top of the wing was covered with a decal so I didn’t see it at first. Other than that, it was so very easy compared to my other recent builds.

This morning, I covered the foam areas of the plane with Varathane Diamond Polyurethane which gave the plane a nice glossy finish. I think I’ll see how one coat works out before I add more coats.

I had my Stevens Aero Stik all dialed in, and I was having a lot of fun showing the family unpowered spiral dives. I should have realized this maneuver puts a lot of stress on an airframe, and the wing folded and collapsed during a spiral dive. It’s funny that my daughter thought I caused the wing folding intentionally. The plane nose dived into a damp field with long grass, so besides the wing, the only other things broken were the prop and the prop mount. Everything else was in good condition. I had a lot of fun with the axial rolls and short take-offs with the flaperons, and I’ll try to treat my next Stevens Aero kit with more care.

Before the crash

Post crash pile.

When you’re binding a receiver to a Spektrum DX6i transmitter, make sure your throttle hold isn’t set to “ON”. If you do this, when you shut off the transmitter the throttle will go to full power if the battery, ESC and receiver are still connected.