JP Prangster

[Chris Parsons]

HI all. First time in forum but would be interested in your views on the JP Prangster. Have just bought one and am half way through building it. Seems a bit wierd - building a plane out of EPP and corrugated plastic covered in parcel tape. Does it really fly well? Bought an Enya 40ss to go in it.

Had a Wot Trainer prior with an SC40 but my tutor kindly introduced it to the field rather faster than it would have liked!! Destroyed the front end, ripped the undercarrage and wings off, bend the wing joiner and am minus ailerons as well. Doh!

 Cheers for your comments in advance.

[Andy Sayle]

I used to fly a Prangster, and I loved it!  It taught me that IC planes are not for me, but was bloody good fun in the process   Mine was setup with an SC46, which was just about right power wise.  Enough for almost vertical flight, but not prop hanging.  My main flying site was the local beach, and it was surprisingly resilient, although there are one or two weaknesses.

The spar (wooden square section stuff) was easily broken, and the undercarriage wire was far too spindly, and if glued in, impossible to replace.  On mine I replaced it with a straight bit of carbon tube, that was a tight push fit in the wing cutout  (Meaning it can be replaced easily!).  It meant that there was no dihedral, but that made aerobatics a bit easier which was nice.  Most of my landings in the beginning resulted in the legs splaying out, and stopping the engine because the prop hit the ground (and that was the case even after I got quite good at landing too!).  Also, you have to be really careful not to warp the tail feathers.  If you store the plane in a hot car, or a hot workshop, make doubly sure nothing is being distorted by something resting on a surface for example.

The only thing I didn't get on with, was the fact all the servos were buried in the fuselage, and it was a major surgery job to change a gearset, or adjust a snake or similar.

As for flying, then so long as everything is straight, then it was very nice to fly.  It was almost impossible to stall (just dropped a nose, and went all mushy), and generally great fun to hoon around with!  I only sold it in the end to switch to Electric stuff (I couldn't be doing with all the gunk and cleaning!)...

Cheers
Andy

[Tim Mackey]

I echo everything Andy has said, my wife was learning on one last year, but has now moved up to the WOT4.

My somewhat tired Prangster is currenty looking for a good home - perhaps you would like it for spares ?

( a freebie )

[Chris Parsons]

Thanks for the offer Timbo. I'm in the Bristol area. What would your postage costs be?

[Tim Mackey]

I have no idea, but I could guess at around 10 -15 quid ?

[Chris Parsons]

That'd be fine. Do you want to email me and I'll let you have my address details. Do you use paypal?

[Tim Mackey]

Hi Chris. I will try and find a suitable packaging to send it in. It is a little ropey now, but there may be some bits you could use

I will send some photos of the bits with an email before you commit

PS please fill in your profile page and then you can add the "message me" button to your pages, and posts, without actually revealing your email address ( better for spammers )

Yes I have PayPal...but only if your PayPal account is actually funded, otherwise they charge me to receive money. 

[Alan B]

Hi Chris

I again agree with what Andy says. They will take a lot of abuse and they fly well. Once you have covered it in that supplied tape to strenghen it.  You can then cover it with that sticky back plastic you can get in the cheapy shops for a couple of quid. Just make sure though it is fuel proof! . As far as the under carriage is concerned, I have put a large cable tie across mine at the top to stop it compressing on landing. I have also fitted a small tail wheel to give it more control on the ground.

Al

[Andy Sayle]

Oh, that's the other thing, Alan B has just reminded me.  The ground handling is awful when there is a bit of wind....  Still, you don't buy a plane for its ground handling right?

Cheers

Andy 

[Captain Slow]

I learnt on a prangster and still have it. The original GP42 was adequate - the 46LA made it a hooligan!

I keep threatening to get rid of the dihedral and change the throws to see if I can make it more like the 3D version without having to spend out

It's fairly robust - make sure the engine is mounted using nuts and bolts (mine came with self tappers!). I've only managed to snap the dowel and cowl on mine (or course it was a glitch *cough* pilot error *cough*).

Don't take the pee with it and you won't break it. Fly it like a balsa plane and you will be able to land (on grass) comfortably with the engine running. If you can do that on an unmodified u/c you're landings will really improve - you can consistantly touch and go with this plane  (3" wheels).

Enjoy

[James Beard]

I am flying a Prangster right now. It was my first glow fuel aircraft, after messing about with aerobirds...

Runs like a dream on my OS 40 LA. I have had some pretty bad crashes in my early stages of learning to fly, my worst accident ripped off the exhaust from the engine (which is a problem having it inverted on this model.. some people advise to have the engine normal way up but I have not bothered since my flying has improved loads from constantly flying this Prangster.)

I have had to replace the wing brace once as well... the whole brace inside had bent on one side and I am still not sure how this happened (someone thinks it was an extreme g-force situation .. hehehe ) again, recommendation is to replace the wing brace with a carbon fibre rod, but I dont think its neccesary as its a trainer really....

I changed the wheels to larger ones as well as I am taking off from bumpy farmland in the Forest Of Dean.

Landings are a dream, you can almost float down. 

 I have almost finished my first low winger now (BH Super Air) and am 100% confident of flying this, all thanks to the JP Prangster.. I cannot recommend this model enough as a first IC aircraft. 

Then its onto the H9 Spitfire ........  

[Roy Wellington]

Hello Prangsters!!

Has anyone out there ever converted a Prangster to Electric?  If so, what set up did you use.  I would be most grateful for any and all information. Thanks

[flytilbroke]

Major surgery required I think, as well as additional bracing to replace the removed foam, that leccy stuff needs a cooling airflow. Even if the control unit is positioned outside the fuselage the battery pack still needs cooling. A .40/.46 equivalent motor needed, Puffin models or BRC  might have a suggestion or two.

 

I think better to use an leccy type trainer.

[Roy Wellington]

Hi Flytilbroke -(I'm alread there!!!)

Thank you for your reply.   Certainly from what you say it would appear that there are  far too many changes to be made  to the Prangster and a ready made/designed leccy is the best option.  

Thanks anyway