Stunningly attractive, this sporty trainer is as close as you’ll get to foolproof. Article and photos Devin Troy. Featured in the Winter 2014 issue of Park Pilot.
You may have read my “Beginnings” report in this issue, where I introduced you to the Apprentice S 15e by E-flite. That article focuses on the training benefits of the model, but this review is more my overall impression of its performance. Straight off, there is both a major time and financial advantage with this aircraft, in that everything you need, aside from a few household tools, comes with the package. You get every component of the model — fuselage, tail, wing and landing gear — as well as the motor, receiver and propeller already installed.
A DX5e already bound, batteries, flight battery and flight battery charger are all included.
The tail is secured by two screws that go into the bottom of the fuselage and the vertical fin’s pins.
To install the steerable nose gear, remove the cowl and insert the gear’s leg. One screw secures it.
The carbon wing tube easily slides into the wing panels, and the two halves are secured with tape.
The main landing gear legs are squeezed toward each other to slide more easily into the belly slot.
The receiver and servos are factory installed, but the aileron leads must be connected before flying.
The Apprentice S 15e comes with the Spektrum DX5e transmitter, which is already bound to the receiver inside the model. Four AA batteries for the transmitter, a 3S LiPo flight battery and a balance charger are all there. This is beyond “batteries included.” It’s customer consideration at its finest. The few bits of required final assembly are simple. You only need to install the landing gear, tail and wing, which shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes. Any parts that need to be held together are secured with double-sided tape rather than glue, eliminating drying time and keeping the assembly process clean. I did it all on my living room floor. While the easy assembly is great, the best aspects of the Apprentice S 15e are seen at the field. The options this model provides to pilots are extremely impressive. One flying feature that blew me out of the water is the Sensor Assisted Flight Envelope (SAFE) technology. This flight training system can limit the angles of pitch and roll that your aircraft can execute. It can also self-level the model, provide stability-assisted takeoff and landing, and throttle-based climb and descent. You can choose from three modes, beginner to experienced, to best match SAFE to your experience. For those unexpected emergencies that pilots sometimes encounter, there is a panic recovery switch that, when pulled, rolls the wings level and pulls the aircraft’s nose out of a dive. When I was training, I could have used that feature a time or two — maybe 10! You also get a high/low-rate feature to control how the model responds to your commands, and for dual-control flight training, a buddy-box cord receptacle is located on the back of the transmitter. So great, the Apprentice S 15e has a ton of features, but how does it fly? Well, it flies a lot of different ways — and all of them are excellent. With the long list of features this model offers, flying the Apprentice S 15e is like being able to switch between 10 different models while in flight, each with different levels of control response and aerobatic agility.
E-flite’s Apprentice S 15e looks great in the air, and it performs even better than it looks. The striking graphics increase visibility, and its many flight options create exciting variance in the air.
Put the model in low rate with SAFE in beginner mode and gently cruise across the sky. Switch the rate to high and switch SAFE to experienced mode, and fly loops, rolls and split-S turns. I flew the Apprentice S 15e in nearly every way it could be flown, and none struck me as erratic. The Apprentice can fly gently as you earn your wings, and grow with you as your skills advance. This RTF is an RC airplane you’ll enjoy flying for years.
SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Ready-to-fly sport-trainer Skill level: Beginner – intermediate Wingspan: 59 inches Weight: 49 ounces Length: 42.5 inches Price: $299.99 Info: horizonhobby.comFEATURES
• Rugged, molded-foam construction • Factory-built airframe components • Two-piece wing panels with carbon-fiber joiner • Vacuum-formed cowl • Steerable nose gear, snap-in main gear • Colorful, factory-applied graphics • AS3X stabilization • SAFE technology • Factory-installed RC components • Spektrum DX5e 2.4GHz DSMX transmitter • 3S 3200mAh LiPo battery • 2-3S DC LiPo balance charger • Propeller and spinner • 112-page instruction manualFlight Video
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