hey guys i have been flying solo for a few months now and christmas is right around the corner. well i am flying superstar 40 and it is boring me out. i have decided on getting an ultra stick .40 or .60 i am not sure. i was wondering wat is a good set-up that i can just bolt on woth minimial adjustments. engine? wat size and kind? and radio? please give me your thoughts also on the quad flap set-up and random defects u have found by building this plane.

thanx

You should PM Fubar1. He has been flying the ultra stick 60 for some time now and has some great onboard video footage. He can definately point you in the right direction AND you can see his in action! Search the Aerial Photography section to find his vids.

How well can you fly your trainer? Can you fly your trainer inverted and do low passes or do nice looking cuban eights, hammerheads, wingovers etc? A trainer doesn't have to be boring. It is more of a challenge to fly well.

That said, a stick is a stick. I have a 1.20 size Ultra Stick. I find it very boring. The crow and flap thing gets old after a few flights and you really need a good computer radio (8103) to set it up properly.

If you really want fun get a Funtana 40 with a Saito .82 or Funtana 90 with a Saito 1.00 or YS 1.10 and fly it with reduced rates. You can use the radio you have now but get better servos for either plane. I am confident you will enjoy the Funtana as a second plane and you will not get bored before you total it.

After you fly the plane for a while then get yourself a nice radio with dual rates and expo.

Right-on Spyinthesky -- a trainer NEVER gets boring -- pilots just do boring things with them. skate 5290 -- if you are smart you will keep the trainer forever & use it to train -- that's what it is for. Don't be offended, but I doubt very much if you can fly it to its full potential -- it takes a very skilled pilot to do so. Whatever your choice of second plane, you will be a much better pilot if you keep trying increasingly difficult stuff with the trainer. Add a dose of power to it and keep going.

If you just have to go ahead right away, a nice progression from your trainer would be a GP Easy Sport 40 -- another plane that you should fly the butt off before "graduating" to something serious.

If you don't want something boring.....why not get a Kyosho Pitts S2C?
I can guarantee you will not be bored. [8D]

A CAP 232 would be another good choice, or a giant scale Corsair or Spitfire -- lots of excitement.

My second/third plane was a 4*60 and a Ultra Stick 60. I say that because, I had the Ultra Stick and spent a long time getting new wings for it. The first set was damaged when I opened the box and was replaced by the mfr. The second set also arrived damaged so they sent a third, but it took forever since they were in "intventory" and would send them when finished. In the meantime, I built the 4*60.

Anyway, my US60 has an 0S61fx for the engine, and I put the flaps on it and programmed in crow on my JR8103. To be perfectly honest, I have hardly ever used the crow function and even the flaps only a few times. I like flying the US60 and because of that, I went ahead and bought the US120 lite and am flying it with a G-26. As said, you can make a lot of choices for your second plane, so it is basically down to what YOU want. I still have my US60 and fly it periodically. Am pretty stuck on the US120 lite for now, because I have had it flying for just over a month now.

My second plane was a Hanger 9 Ultra Stick 40. It flies way better than a trainer, especially on windy days. It is symmetrical air foil and has no dyhedral. I totally recommend it. Too bad you didn't live closer, I'd sell you mine. I'm on my 7th plane so they are piling up.

Sig Four Star
Goldberg Tiger II
Tower Kaos
Nearly any Brand of Stick
Spacewalker

The list can go on and on. All of the ones I listed are good second airplanes. Remember, start out at the recommended rates. Once you have gotten used to the plane, and need more excitement out of it, increase the throws and go with a larger engine. These two adjustements can extend the interest of a plane quite a bit.

gp gee bee no the ultra stick is one of the bests for that i let a guy fly mine that hasn't even learned to land his trainer no trouble to fly at all but will do just about anything else

skate5290,

What type of flying do you want to do/learn?

I wouldn't recommend a bipe for a second plane... that just might be too exciting. Also, warbirds probably don't made good second planes either. My recommendations (limited to those I've flown)

WM Supersport 30 or 40
WM SkyRaider Mach II
WM Ramber 30 or 45(retracts)

Okay so I'm partial to WM... but they do make really great kits. The Supersports is a trike gear... the other two are tail draggers.

Go with the Supersport... you will NOT be disappointed! Plus, you'll look like you've flown your whole life... they have a way of making the pilot look good!

My second plane was the Ultra Stick 40 with an OS46FX and 12x4 APC prop. Great plane. Very easy to fly but always fun. I still fly it today. For your second plane you can't go wrong with an Ultra Stick.

thanx for all the replies
i was thkning of getting into sport flying such as doing blenders and complex stuff like that i have a good friend that is willing ot teach me so he reccommended a funtana but wat radio woukld u guys recommend for this?

You can't go wrong with an Ultra Stick for your 2nd plane. My 2nd plane was the US 40. Very easy to learn the more advanced aerobatic manuevers. Yet with the quad flaps, you can land it at a walking pace. There are a lot of things that can be done with the quad flaps: such as crow, flap-elevator mixing for very tight loops, flap-aileron mixing for super fast rolls. I'm on my 4th plane, but I still bring the US 40 out with me and fly it regularly.

A few building tips: go ahead and replace the stock landing gear block, it's garbage. Use 1/4 inch aircraft plywood instead. I ripped mine out twice on deadsticks. Since I replaced it with the plywood, not one problem.

Add some balsa tri-stock to the horizontal and vertical stabilizers where the meet the fuselage. H9's method isn't the strongest and there isn't a whole lot of surface area for the epoxy to adhere to. Tail braces wouldn't be a bad idea either. Not necessary, but it will definitely help.

Add more tri-stock behind the firewall. Mine popped out, in one piece, after one of those deadsticks. After some 15 min. epoxy and the tri-stock added to it, not another problem. Also fuel proof the firewall. I have 3 H9 planes and none them have the firewall fuel proofed. I don't why they don't do it.

I put it a Super Tiger 50 on my US 40 and it pulls it with great authority. I ditched the factory aluminum mount (too heavy) and used a great planes mount. I had to pop out the blind nuts, fill the holes, and redrill some new holes. A bit of work but well worth it. If you really want this plane to haul *****, then bolt an O.S. 50SX up front and use an APC 11x5 or 12x4.

Even though I had to make some minor modifications to this plane. It is still one of my favorite. It is a great, fun flying plane that can do most manuevers, except the 3D stuff. I think you will have a blast and really expand on your flying abilities with this plane. Good luck and happy flying....