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We attended the Huntsville AL. Aerotow in the fall of 2014 and master builder Asher Carmichael was there with a couple beautiful sailplanes he'd painstakingly built and had decided it was time to part with them. One of these beauties was this ASH-31, built over a four year period from a Rosenthal kit. The plane was new and had never been flown, however knowing it's a one of a kind, was built by Asher and being 7m, I had to have it. I purchased the plane, but since I had flown down to the event commercially, getting it home was going to me another issue. Luckily, Jeremy was coming to the Cumberland event a month or so later and transported the model to me there.
Winter set in, so the plane was readied for spring. It just so happened we were planning to attend the South East Regional Aerotow in Georgia that April, so the decision was made to fly the plane there, with Asher, for the first time. Everything went well with the exception of a minor balance issue which was quickly sorted out.
After flying the plane a few more times we encountered a problem with a spoiler servo which we changed out. The next flight resulted in the same servo issue again so we ended our flying session and shelved the plane for a few months while other priorities took precedent.
This week I finally decided to tackle the spoiler issue, and with some consultation with Asher, was able to get everything sorted out. It's ready to fly this weekend.
About the plane:
In the current world of ARF's, This is anything but that. This was a KIT- meaning a raw fiberglass fuselage, some former's, a piece of plastic for the canopy ( not mounted ) and wings that were foam core with Obeechie / carbon skinned. While the parts of the kit were absolutely beautifully constructed, there is a LOT of work to be done to make it look like this plane does.
Asher constructed the cockpit from scratch, making everything including the release for the seat belt harness!!! Its so beautiful, the detail is amazing.
Here are some photo's taken over the last year since the previous thread was lost.
Winter set in, so the plane was readied for spring. It just so happened we were planning to attend the South East Regional Aerotow in Georgia that April, so the decision was made to fly the plane there, with Asher, for the first time. Everything went well with the exception of a minor balance issue which was quickly sorted out.
After flying the plane a few more times we encountered a problem with a spoiler servo which we changed out. The next flight resulted in the same servo issue again so we ended our flying session and shelved the plane for a few months while other priorities took precedent.
This week I finally decided to tackle the spoiler issue, and with some consultation with Asher, was able to get everything sorted out. It's ready to fly this weekend.
About the plane:
In the current world of ARF's, This is anything but that. This was a KIT- meaning a raw fiberglass fuselage, some former's, a piece of plastic for the canopy ( not mounted ) and wings that were foam core with Obeechie / carbon skinned. While the parts of the kit were absolutely beautifully constructed, there is a LOT of work to be done to make it look like this plane does.
Asher constructed the cockpit from scratch, making everything including the release for the seat belt harness!!! Its so beautiful, the detail is amazing.
Here are some photo's taken over the last year since the previous thread was lost.
AAA TT TN
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