RC Airogrip SL - Airopult

Review for Modellfly Magazine NORWAY

Jun 10, 2013

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F3A World Championships in 2003 - a Danish national pilot starts his OS 140 RX. The fuselage is slick and he loses his grip. He has on shorts and the propeller chops greedily through his inner thigh. A good portion of luck made sure that he was not neutered, and got away with a trip to the emergency room. Few would disagree that starting the motor without securing the aircraft is a decidedly dangerous thing to do.

We can have a helper, using ropes, sticks or stand - But the really clever use Airopult.

Airopult not only solves the problem of holding a model without a helper, it does two things; it also ensures that the model does not slide backwards when you exert force on the starter. An event with a severed finger in Trondheim in 2011 was caused by a tethered model where the rope was not tight, and illustrates how important this is.

Airopult solves the problem of how to release the model when the engine is first started. You can always have both hands safely on the transmitter.

The box is compact and lightweight. The aluminum construction means that the Airopult weighs no more than one transmitter case. Everything is well packed.

The illustrated manual which shows how it functions is a neat finish. You can use two or four of the supplied extension arms, depending on the size of the model and chassis mounts. These are attached with sliders and screws which are just hand tightened to fit your model so that it can neither move forward or backwards.

Only the very largest models need the two extra extensions. Undercarriage restraints that prevent the model from rolling backward can be adapted for either normal or tail draggers (as for example Curare), two different parts are supplied.

The quality is amazing and everything is solidly made. The trigger mechanism is strong and the arms held tight despite strenuous attempts to move them. I have no reason to believe that they will not hold even the largest petrol models.

If there is a restriction here, it is in attaching it to the ground. The only part which is made of steel, the base of the pedal mechanism should be fixed to the ground with two large nails according to the manual. These are not
included and I recommend using two long tent pegs, which are significantly easier to get up again. But take care to ensure that the pegs are long enough.

The pedal has an added security feature, where a button on the side locks the pedal to prevent anyone releasing the pedal by accident. You push the button to the side to show green and then step on the pedal and the two padded spring-loaded arms that hold the model fall down.

The front undercarriage restraints are hinged and simply fall forward when the plane moves forward. Amazing! Brilliant! When you are finished flying, fold it all together and put it in the box that you can use for transportation and storage.

Airopult is Spanish, costing 130 EUR including shipping to Norway, and can be ordered directly from
www.airopult.com. The company offers a discount when purchasing more than one Airopult and I would certainly recommend both pilots and clubs to invest in them.

Jon Gunnar Wold - Modellfly
Magazine

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