Hey,
I just purchased a used six servo Maple Leaf Encore DLG for a very
reasonable price. I must say I love this plane, as well as the fact that I
do not have to wait three months for a new factory sealed one! I lucked out
just by posting a wanted message on RCSE and SAL Groups. Assembly was,
frankly speaking, a pain. Even though the airframe was assembled (wing
joined, tail feathers secured, and pod & boom joined) radio installation
proved to be difficult. First, I had to figure out how four wing servos
(twelve leads -- pos,neg,signal) boiled down to eight in the saddle plug. It
turned out the neg and positive leads were shared on each wing panel ... I
learned a lot about electronics from this installation, and how solder fumes
affect ones sense of smell and brain! My main gripe about the Encore is the
lack of a slide on nosecone, canopy, or hatch. Dealing with elevator/rudder
servo pushrod connections requires removing the wing, unscewing the 'tongue'
and pulling it out. Note that this changes the distance from the fuse servos
to tail feathers, making a loose string pull-pull connection much easier. If
you choose a steel wire or carbon rod pushrod as I have, all adjustments
need to be made from the tail feather end -- what a pain! This is definitely
worth it as all pull-pull string connections I tried invariably resulted in
slop. The C.G. was too nose heavy once I installed everything, so I ended up
glueing the battery behind the servos, with the Rx in the front. This makes
the Encore balance perfectly!!! I basically wired two 3V Radio Shack lithium
batteries in series (easier than it sounds) since rechargeable NiCad or NiMH
batteries that are this light can't fly very long. Even my 270 mah NIMH was
copping out after half and hour! I don't want this bird to fail in mid air
from lack of battery power! Finally, the inboard wing shows heavy abuse as
it has several compression lines running parallel to the fuse -- the
original owner must have thrown it with a lot of force, or perhaps
incorrectly. Another major concern is the wing trailing edge -- the kevlar
cloth extends past the trailing edge lamination and is fuzzy, bumpy. I must
assume it was shipped from Mapleleaf with this flaw as laminating resin
doesn't just erode. This is no good -- the trailing edge smoothness is even
more critical than the L.E. smoothness as a teardrop shape (shape of least
resistance) will show you. The uneven nature of the T.E. has been fixed with
superglue and sanding, but is troublesome to a potential new buyer. Finally,
I must add that the instruction manual is well written and rather comical.
If I was going to do it all over agin, I would buy a used or new Raptor out
of Califonia. This plane looks like it has quite a bit of potential and
sells for $325 (hopefully there is a minimal wait for this ship). Good luck
and happy sailing! p.s. Did I mention I got mine to weight 10.7 oz RTF...
Finally, flying this plane is undescribable. In dead air or minimal slope
lift, it is a dream! Being a mini fullhouse sailplane, I have complete
control in tight landing areas and can camber the flaps to slow down in
patches of lift or reflex them to speed up for maneuvers. I find that I fly
this plane more than any other in the hanger and will throw it just about
anywhere with out trees. In essence, this plane is building my confidence so
that I may fly my open class molded 140" Eraser (Escape) with confidence.
San Diego Soarer
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