I purchased the plane used, and I cannot comment on the assembly of the plane. Construction is similar to the other foam models I've seen, but on a somewhat larger scale. The parts are all molded from EPP foam, which is somewhat spongy and resists dings and scratches much better than styrofoam. Initial flights contained no suprises, and the only detriments, in my opinion, were the slightly sluggish aileron response and the high amount of adverse yaw imparted by the ailerons. Despite being on the upper end of the weight range, excessive airspeed was not necessary during the landing approach.
The Magister just showed up on the FedEx truck today (11/26/07)!
I already have the motor and esc on the way; I just need a battery!
Here's a picture taken by the guy I bought it from:
I sold the Ultrafly Cessna to make room for this plane. They're pretty similar in appearance, but the Magister weighs about 3 times as much as the Cessna and has a 21 inch larger wingspan. You could say I just traded up.
It took all of December to wait for and install the needed components. First were the motor, ESC, and BEC. Then the two main skis arrived, then the battery, and finally the nose ski.
I had only two hiccups while setting the plane up to fly. Placing the battery to properly balance the plane was a little tricky, as the cavernous interior seemed to shrink when presented with the great lump of a battery. I was also a little confused during the installation of the skis by the sketches provided by the manufacturer, and I ended up tossing out the instructions and figuring it out by myself.
After returning from our short Christmas break, I anxiously waited for a chance to get the Magister airborne, and the wind and weather finally let up on New Year's Day. Although I only have the blurry 2-minute video below to show for it, the Magister's first day out consisted of four flights of about 5 minutes each from 2 charges of the battery. The power system provided short takeoff runs, in-flight characteristics were very similar to the Cessna it replaced, and landings were uneventful. On 3 of the landings, I used spoilerons (both ailerons deflected upward) to dump a little lift and raise the nose, helping insure that the heel of each ski would contact the ground first.
