Papa John,

You have a bunch of advice above to sift through. It’s all basically good. A lot depends on you. Here are some thoughts that might help you find where you’re at.

The Ultimate, if set up for gentle response and good stability, is actually a relatively honest and predictable flying plane compared to other highly aerobatic designs. Setup (CG and Control throws) has a huge effect on fly-ability.

Finished weight has a big effect too. I have seen the kits finished under 7 lb and fly nicely with a .60 for sporting around. I don’t know what the ARF finishes out at but probably higher? Since it is very capable of precision aerobatics, the 90 is probably more appropriate to the “personality” of the design, especially if weight is up.

The Ultimate can be less forgiving than a typical low wing sport plane, especially regarding the setup and rigged. Minor adjustments are more critical on this type of plane. Good experience with the finer points is more important.

A big thing to consider is that its structure won’t take as much beating as a typical low wing sport ARF will. Hard landings, running off the runway, dead-sticking in short or long, and such, might tear it up pretty fast. Any rebuilding when needed will be more involved.

For these reasons the Ultimate is more like a third plane than a second. Although you might be able to start flying it, you might not have the background to make it last long just yet. You might consider something more simple and robust like the old Kaos for example to move up to next (I believe the 40 size is available as an ARF). Planes like this are plenty aerobatic, great experience, and survive rough treatment well, especially regarding the landing gear.

But if you really want teh Ultimate next, it can be done. Just get some good experienced help to check you out and get you going with it.

Hope this helps.

Multiflyer