Posted by Doug Weibel on January 21, 2010 at 7:19am
The Hobbico SuperStar EP Select is one of the two recommended airframes for ArduPilot and it has been a good choice providing a nice "high wing aileron trainer" at an affordable price. Unfortunately, it has been discontinued for some time and a recent check finds them near impossible to source any more.I have looked around for an equivalent replacement. One I found suitable is the Hobbico NexSTAR Mini EP, which is more or less Hobbico's replacement for the SuperStar EP Select.
It is sold either as a ready to fly package with a 2.4 Ghz radio or as a receiver ready package. Tower Hobbies has these two for $270 and $180, respectively, and Tower usually has a coupon out which will give you $15 to $20 off. Just google "tower hobbies coupon discount". Replacement fuselages, wings, and tail surfaces are also available. While the receiver ready price is 50% higher than what we were paying for the ARF Superstar, the inclusion of a brushless power system and servos makes the price a reasonable value.I received a receiver ready kit today and have inspected it. Apart from the covering being a bit wrinkled, which I think is a Hobbico trademark, I am pretty happy with the quality. See pics below comparing the SuperStar and NexSTAR.While it is nearly as long as the SuperStar and has just a bit less wingspan, the chord is substantially less and the weight is substantially less. Since it is designed for a brushless/LiPo power system the reduced wing area is appropriate. The fuselage width is adequate for UAV purposes. You can see the Mega board inside the fuselage in one pic below.Things I like:* It is a "receiver ready" kit, so it is very complete. About all you need to fly it is a TX, RX, and battery.* Fuselage is plenty deep so no issues with interference between AP gear and the aileron servo arm and pushrods* The wing ribs all have lightening cutouts so fishing a pitot line to the outboard leading edge will be much easier.* Steerable nose wheel, servos, brushless motor and esc all come pre-installed.* A good wing attachment system using a nylon bolt and a fitting that allows flex in a crash.* Reported flight times of 15 minutes on a 3 cell 2100 mAh LiPoThings I didn't like:* A balsa shelf will need to be added for the AP as the shelf for the RX is small. An additional shelf will provide a nice large area for the AP, but it will be under the rudder and elevator control rods so hooking up wires will be a bit fiddly.* A little smaller than I expected.I am short on receivers today, so I probably won't fly this for a week or so, but will post comments when I do.
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