It's fair to say that Multiplex have seen both sides of the coin over the last decade. Sometimes they seem to get it just right, as with the TwinStar, which has become an entry-level electric model legend, yet on other occasions they've released designs that haven't exactly hit the mark. The SkyCat was a good example, as I recall.
Anyway, having cut my teeth on slope soarers as a teenager (years before my first experiments with electric flight) I was pleasantly surprised to see that Multiplex have attempted to bring soaring to the masses with their all-Elapor ARTF Easy Glider, which has the option of electric assist. It's available as a pure slope / flat field (towline / winch) soarer or (as in this case) a geared 400-type motor glider for flat field flying or for those days on the slope when there's not quite enough breeze to maintain flight.
SIMPLICITY RULES
A quick glance at the box contents reveals a low component count that promises a short assembly time: two fuselage halves, canopy, two wing panels with joiner covers, tailplane and fin, accessory pack, motor gearbox unit, snakes and a fishing rod. Fishing rod? Well, that's what it looks like! In fact it's a whopping great 8mm hollow carbon tube that not only acts as a wing joiner, but due to its hollow nature and positioning bang on the C of G also acts as a ballast tube for more breezy days - when you feel the strength of it you can tell that Multiplex are taking no prisoners when it comes to wing integrity.
A very well-written and illustrated assembly manual in several languages is included, and to finish the job there's a huge rolled-up sheet of decals to transform your potentially uninspiring white Elapor airframe into an object of great beauty, albeit at the expense of individuality!
Moving on, all components appear to be extremely well moulded and well presented, and there wasn't anything missing - pretty good for a model which will, without doubt, be pumped off the production line by the thousand.
NICE FIT!
Not only are the mouldings of high quality, they fit together in superb fashion. I dry-fitted them on several occasions before committing the glue, and I have to say that everything worked a whole lot better than the last Multiplex ARTF offering I assembled. Elapor is a rather odd material, it has an almost 'soapy' feel to it and, as a result, can only be successfully assembled using cyano' and activator (often known as 'kicker'). So, armed with plenty of each, the rudder and elevator snakes were assembled and glued into their respective grooves in the fuselage.
After similarly adding the Rx aerial tube and using a hot glue gun to secure the rudder and elevator servos in their respective slots, the fuselage halves were joined. When building the electric version this step entails not only fitting the motor and gearbox unit (glueless, as it can be removed using a neat press-to-release catch), but also a ball bearing counterweight that's positioned in one of the rear fuselage half cavities, necessary to achieve the correct C of G. Here, a good bit of advice in the instructions suggests that you solder the speed controller wires onto the motor before fitting it, as soldering iron access would be limited after the event and, for safety, would also require motor removal.
With the fuselage halves joined the fin and tailplane can then be added, but not until the rudder hinge, control horn and connector have been inserted. The elevators also need relieving from their moulding, and both these and the rudder need a good flexing back and forth to 'free off' the thin line of Elapor that acts as the hinge. In truth, I'm not a great fan of the Elapor hinge method as despite several minutes of rigorous working the control surfaces still felt a little stiff, and when connected to their linkages I could hear the servos straining and protesting as full travel was approached. That said, the system obviously works as many hundreds of these are flying in the UK alone - maybe I'm just too fussy when it comes to servo sympathy and care.
The large cockpit / canopy acts as the access hatch, and this is ingeniously held in place by black plastic mouldings that give a gentle snap-on effect with slight hand pressure. This system works very well indeed and has to be one of the best thought-out hatch retention methods I've ever seen; evidence of the thought that's gone into the finer detail of this model.
WING WORKING
With little left to do on the fuselage after the tail components have been added, attention turns to the wings - pretty big at 1.8m span! First the servos have to be installed, after relieving the ailerons in the same way as the tail surfaces. For some reason this worked slightly better here, and with more hot glue securing the servos and the linkages attached, servo operation was smooth and precise.
On the subject of servos, I was able to try the new Tiny-S and Nano-S servos from Multiplex as part of this review. The market is currently flooded with cheap (and in some cases very nasty) mini and micro servos, some of which sound like miniature cement mixers, and are about as smooth and precise. In contrast, the 17g Tiny-S and 9g Nano-S servos appear to be of significantly better quality. Naturally this is reflected in the price, but remember that your servos are first in the line of fire when it comes to control. What's more, unlike some micro servos that come with irritatingly short leads (often requiring short extensions just to reach the Rx), these come with disproportionately long leads. However, this causes a slight problem as the wing joiner covers, which have a cut-out for the intended 600mm extension lead connection, don't cater for the longer lead length of the Nano-S (despite the servos being recommended for the model). As a result you have to cut new ones at the appropriate place with a scalpel or sharp modelling knife. The upside, however, is that you'll only need a pair of 300mm extension leads rather than the 600mm jobs. Another thing to be aware of here is that as the wing joiner covers are glued in place with cyano, it's 'bye-bye servos' (and for that matter, your extension leads) as they'll be permanently built-in for the life of the model.
Carefully making sure that no excess cyano' will contaminate the wing joiner, the covers are then glued in place. When set, the carbon tube can be trial fitted into the holes formed between the wing and the covers. Whilst mine turned out to be very tight (which can only be a good thing where wing joining is concerned) the fit was made significantly easier by wiping the joiner rod with wax furniture polish.
The clever bit is that after feeding the servo leads into the battery compartment, the wings push together within the wing aperture and become locked by the barbs in their centre-sections. This operation also requires considerable strength as they're a tight fit, though after 20-odd flights it does now seem to be a lot easier; either I've got used to it, or the panels have eased somewhat with use. This is an exploitation of the 'squidgy' nature of Elapor that simply wouldn't work with many conventional modelling materials, and goes to show that with every new material comes new advantages - you just have to identify them.
Incidentally, using the servos described and 300mm extension leads, everything plugged into the GWS 8-channel micro Rx perfectly and without yards of spaghetti-like spare wiring.
BATTERY ISSUES
Since the aileron leads are fed through the battery aperture they need to be poked to one side to allow the flight battery to slide into place. Using channels 1 and 6 rather than a 'Y' lead allowed the recommended aileron differential to be dialled in using the Tx: 100% up and 30% down on the ATV function gave the desired movements.
Perhaps the most frustrating job of all was threading the receiver aerial along its designated tube. It's a job that may well be easier with a brand new item but believe me, trying to straighten out the aerial from your favourite, most reliable Rx, before feeding it through 910mm of narrow tubing, is a joke. The solution is to poke some ultra-thin piano wire through from the rear end and somehow stick it to the aerial wire with sufficiently thin tape so that it doesn't jam up halfway to being pulled through... oh, what fun!
As for flight batteries, Multiplex scored a blinder when they designed models such as the TwinStar and Twin-Jet for 7- or 8-cell Sub-C packs, as they were very common at the time - a fact that was undoubtedly instrumental in the aircraft becoming so successful. The Easy Glider, on the other hand, is designed for a flight battery that, in comparison, is pretty obscure. The literature refers to a 1500mAh 9.6V NiMH battery which, as far as the size and shape of the battery aperture is concerned, suggests an 8-cell flat pack of AAs. Whilst this configuration is quite common in Futaba Skysport transmitters, etc. it's definitely not very common with substantial output wiring and proper tagging for the sort of current used in an application such as this. Multiplex may well believe that Easy Glider owners will buy specific flight batteries, but in reality I think this might put a few people off as buyers often go for models they already have the gear for.
All is not lost, though, as the 2/3A size 8-cell pack has been extremely popular for many years, beginning with the 500AR in the 1980s and culminating more recently in the 1050KAN and GP1100 packs. These have now been superseded and out priced by the fantastic Intellect 1200 cells, available from
BRC Hobbies for just £16.95. Being the same physical size these cells fit perfectly, allowing loads of room for the aileron servo wiring. Naturally, 1500s will last longer than 1200s, but 1200s are considerably cheaper and likely to be much more powerful than the AA cells in the specific Multiplex packs. Showing a constant 12A at a steady 10V, the numbers all added up and the breeze from the large folding prop felt like it meant business.
All that remained was to tidy up all the wiring and apply the decals, and the test-flight would beckon - a point reached on the same afternoon that I first delved into the box! Even the slowest builder could assemble an Easy Glider over a weekend, of that I have no doubt.
EASY FLIGHT!
I'd intended to do a lavish colour scheme on this model, but to be fair the decal set does make it look pretty good, with lines reminiscent of some full-size sailplanes. You do have to cut the decals out yourself neatly using either a scalpel or scissors and identify where they go, but the end result is very pleasing. Naturally, yours will end up looking exactly the same as any other, but there are paints available that adhere quite well to Elapor, so if you wish to produce something that looks a little different, then go ahead and do it!
With last-minute checks completed, the Easy Glider was launched off into the calm, frosty afternoon, and despite the relatively low power available she made no hesitation in gaining height - this model isn't underpowered, as might be imagined. In fact on eight Intellect 1200s she'll continue to climb at less than 1/2 throttle and cruise at less than 1/3 - incredible! After minimal trimming and some gentle passes I threw the model about a bit, and to my further surprise I found that it loops effortlessly, will roll if you have enough sky at your disposal and needs surprisingly little down elevator to fly inverted - albeit at a bit of an odd angle.
Testament to its slippery shape, it's actually significantly faster in a power-off dive with the prop folded back so as not to impede progress; you can really get the wind screeching off the wings if you get it right. Mind you, at the end of the day, whilst no doubt being more capable than you might have thought, this model will more often than not find its place whiling away those balmy summer evenings, meandering gently around the sky and proving that model flying can be as relaxing as it can be adrenaline-pumping. It really does fly very well indeed.
My field is on a gentle slope down to the railway, and when I called 'landing' some 16 minutes after launch, the Easy Glider just wanted to soar into the oncoming breeze! A subsequent visit to my local slope established that she'll not only soar in next-to-no lift but will even catch weak winter thermals, which was all that nature had to offer in February when this review was penned!
SUMMARY
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, even though the Multiplex team sometimes get it wrong, they seem particularly adept at producing kits which catch the everyday modeller's eye. In this case I reckon they've got it very right, indeed, I can't fault the Easy Glider. Excellent presentation, excellent parts fit and excellent flight characteristics will endear it to all who own one.
Sure, I had some niggles, but the perfect kit doesn't exist - and some of my dislikes were probably nearer to personal preferences than criticisms of the breed. Only the battery issue worries me, but with popular 2/3A size 8-cell packs out there in everyday use I don't think many will even consider using the recommended AA flat pack.
At the end of the day anyone paying £59.95 for the electric version reviewed here will get a big model that offers long life, good service and the opportunity to enjoy the relaxing side of model flying that we all too often overlook. For me, regular flying with the Easy Glider has been like taking a chill pill - in many ways, in a performance-obsessed hobby, it's re-established my fascination and awe of a model being able to defy gravity and just fly. I thought the name 'Easy Glider' was a little corny at first, but in fact the model couldn't be more aptly named - it is simply that. Nice one, Multiplex.
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