having put a few of these together, the above mods are e xcellent. this plane is very nose heavy. i also installed the elevater and rudder servos in the rear. unless flaps are your thing, there a waist on this plane. this is a well made plane. i have a dub jett 60lx in mine and fly hard and fast. after about a year it is holding together with no problems.

All this talk of the Ultra Stick made me dust off my US60/Saito 100 combo and fly it yesterday. Strong wind right down the runway. Perfect for the Ultra Stick. I had forgotten how much fun this plane is to fly. Twisting, tumbling, hovering, touch and goes...I'll be taking this plane out more regularly now.

Hey everyone, Im the guy he's talking about that bought the four star 40. After reading all this I decided and have already found me a US 60. I will use 4 servos in the wing. I may not need all that but why not try it. Would like to hear any advice on mods needed for this plane. I have a saito 100 that I used on my trainer. I just finished my solo and have flown aobut a gallon of fuel out myself at the field. The trainer is easy to take off and im still trying to get my landing down. But still i have been landing all in one peice. Sometimes i bump the propeller or stall 4 to 6 inches off the ground. Im flying the Hobbistar 60 right now. The guys advice i took after I spoke with the other member is an older fellow, I took for granted that he had been flying for years. Now I have found out he has only flown for about 2 years. After a while I have noticed this guy dont have the best attitude also. (the one that recomended the four star) . So guys let me see som mods and pictures aslo of them if you can. I have the futaba 7 cap radio.

I have an OS 40 LA on a Great Planes Slow Poke. I couldn't get it started due to fuel tank issues, and the tank leaked as an added bonus. So, I took the leaky tank out and fixed it. Now I can't get it back in without some major CUTTING. That airframe can't handle a decent amount of wind anyway. So, I'm looking into one of these. Will an OS 40 LA pull the Ultra Stik without issues? Or, would I need to get a bigger engine for the US and just keep that one on the Slow Poke? The thought of going up when everybody else chickens out sounds appealing!

Crumpio: The folks who typically recommend Tigers and Four-Stars for second planes generally move up to warbirds and low-wing stunters, which look pretty but have some nasty surprises ready for the unsuspecting. I once thought my Rapture 40 could take just about anything I dished out, but found out I was wrong when I tried to do a kite hover in a light breeze. Needless to say, my squirrely Tango that spins like a fishing lure, does 10' loops, and is considered by some to be an advanced plane for someone learning 3D, is a bit more graceful. This is why it's in service, while my Rapture 40 is still in the shop after the major "fender bender". I think your Ultra Stick is going to outlast that advisor's Four Star, and you'll be up while he waits for the wind to calm down.

NorfolkSouthern

Norfolksouthern...
As Russm stated, the model tends to build nose heavy...that is one reason I mounted my servo's in the aft section near the tail feathers. Just look to the pictues I posted on an earlier post here. You will need at least two longer servo leads to make it work. and make sure you tie off the servo leads...don't let them just bounce around in the aft fuse. The nice thing with this mod, is that all our adjustments are easy to make...and you shift some weight aft.

The tail wheel assy. on the kit is a weak point, and that is why I went with a stronger unit. I like the leaf spring tail wheel assy's or the unit show in my pictures. I like a little spring to my tail wheels...and it helps save the model in your less then perfect landings.

I also placed a good strong plywood brace, under the landing gear, inside the fuse, epoxied to the floor of the model. The brace is about 3" long and goes from side to side in the fuse. This will give you added strength in an area that needs it. On the stock model, in time, you will eventually have repair issues with the mounting area of the main landing gear. This mod will cure that issue...but if you fly it into the ground at warp 10...that will be the least of your problems... : )

I never use stock fuel tanks in my ARF's. I use Sullvan or Du Bro...and there are other good name brands out there. I have had many issues with Chinese supplied fuel tanks...they leak, will leak or, are going to leak.

I fly the .40 size...and I've built and flown every size from the Mini Stick, to Dick Jensons Ugly Stick. They all flew well...all of them, and are tons of fun to knock around in the air.

Forget the four servo's in the wing...It may seem like fun...but it's more hastle then it's worth. And for a second model, you need to keep things simple...you know...the KISS number...keep it simple. If this model lasts that long...later during one of your rebuilds or repairs, once you know the model and can fly it...then go with four servo's if the ich to use four is still with you. But believe me...the set up, and Tx mix will drive you nuts. So just keep thngs like they were with your trainer and what I would recomend for your second plane.

Unless your floating in money...I would use a more cheap engine in your Ultra Stick. If you go with a .40 size airframe...use a .46 class engine. If you buy the .60 size airframe...use a good stock .60. This model flys much different then your trainer. As forgiving as a stick model is...they are pointers. they have no real neutal stability like a high wing trainer...and they will go where you point the model. And you fly this model...and it goes where you fly it. It will be a little un-nerving at first...but once you get used to how the model flys...you will love it. The Sato 100 will launch this model straight up...with authorty...I've seen it done.

NorforlkSoputhern,
I have a kit built Slow Poke...and it builds tail heavy...real tail heavy. I added quite a bit of nose weight to my model to get it to balance per plans. I used a heavy engine too, a K&B Sportser .45, with full mufler. So double check your CG. My model flys well in winds and rough air...but I'm a bit nose heavy, and set it that way on purpose. Our field gets gusty trade winds all the time, and my Slow Poke flys nice in the wind. Just keep your speed up on landing and set your balance on the forward end of the CG. Add as much weight as needed to balance, and don't worry if you add seven oz. of lead to the nose. I added...almost nine oz. of lead to get the balanc

Build it with the 4 servo wing... as long as you have a radio that can do all of the mixes... I had a US60 as my second plane, as well as a new Futaba 9C that I hadn't used prior to that plane.. Just be methodical about it, try one new thing at a time, and you will have a BLAST with the US.. If you have a radio that can do "butterfly" or "crow" mix, you will really enjoy it.. Take the plane up to 4-500 ft, chop the throttle, point the nose straight down with crow on (Flaps full down/Ailerons UP) and the airplane will almost slow down coming straight down.. it's really cool.. flair and it will land 10-15 feet past where you stopped your vertical decent.. Plus the 4 servo wing allows you to do elevator to flap mixing for VERY tight loops, Short field takeoffs with flaps.. etc, etc, etc... There is just soo much more that you can do with this plane if you build it with the 4 servo wing.. And the best part is you don't have to use it all at once.. take your time.. you'll love it..

I don't agree that the Ultra Stick is a perfect 2nd plane. It is a good first plane (realy good instructor needed), a perfect 2nd plane, a perfect 3rd plane, a perfect nth plane. I don't care how advanced you get in your flying skills and how advanced your follow-on aircraft get. You should always have the stick parked in your hanger somewhere real handy because you'll need it when it's too windy for other airplanes, your just not 100% but still want to fly, you need to safely practice a complex maneuver, or you just like to burn up the sky. There isn't another airplane that has its capabilities and still maintains a MILD MANNER flight envelope. It can be a roaring tiger or a floating feather it is born to be engine overpowered but you still can enjoy flying it on its lowest engine recommendations.

My next Ultra Stick: Ultra Stick Lite 120 (Evolution 25GX -or- Zenoa 26 Elect Ign -or- ????) Whatever gas engine that works and I can afford.

1: Ultra Stick 120 -w- OS FX 1.60 (I had 4 of these, fell of horses, got back on)
2: Joss Stick -w- OS BX1 (1.08)
3: Ultra Stick 60 -w- Saito FA-100
4: E-Flight Ultra Stick Electric -w- Parkflight 480
5: Joss Stick -w- OS BX1 (1.08)

if you build an Ultra stick, use the 4 servos in the wing, adding the flaps gives you more options, plain and simple...and it only cost you an extra two servos for a lot more ability.

Thanks

So far, I have 3 ounces in front, in addition to the engine. I keep the battery as far forward as possible. The CG is where the owner's manual recommends. I could probably add a little more weight to put it farther up, and see how it handles then.

NorfolkSouthern

If one wants to go to the trouble of re-drilling the engine mounts, the lightest one I found (GP, Hayes, etc.) was the Goldberg type that has two seperate rails. This mount is not only lighter but allows you to push the engine back right next to the firewall and shift more of the weight back. The two strokes that seem to be the best power to weight for this plane are the OS 55 AX and the K&B 61 twister. Both are lightweight and more powerful than the typical 46 and similar in size. Will a twister swing a 13x4 well?

Well, I got my Ultra Stick ready to fly sunday. Hope all goes well. Ill let PlanknHeli trim it first. Will update sunday night as to how it went. Wish me luck!

I too, chose the US40 as my 2nd plane. My trainer was the LT-40 powered by a TT Pro 46. Great trainer! My son and I used it for our primary training. It took 6 flights each before we soloed. It now has almost 200 flights. I can spot land it with ease and can do inverted laps around the field.

Now on to the US40. I powered it with a Saito .62 and opted for the 4 servo wing setup. Guidance is via Futaba 9C on PCM. I couldn't figure out all the programming until others on this site "showed me the light". Setting up the Saito has proven a bit more of a challenge. I put nearly a gallon of fuel through it on the bench then decided to fly it. First half of the first flight was pretty uneventful. I took off (first tail dragger) and did two laps around the field then did a touch 'n go. When climbing back out I flamed out and turned back to land deadstick. Not a bad landing and no damage.

Next time out to the field we play around with the engine and it seems to be running well at full throttle, mid throttle and idle (still a little new so it doesn't have a super slow idle). Point the nose up and everything still fine. I set it on the runway and open her up. It climbs out and I turn onto base leg then it flames out again. I turned downwind but it didn't have very much authority so I sort of crash landed at the edge of the cornfield surrounding our field. Tore the LG block off. That was repaired but I've since decided to move up to 2.4GHz. I'm now waiting on the converter connectors to arrive since I'm going to use the previous Futaba S3004 servos. The new radio is the JR X9303.

I also ordered a new UltraSwitch with the JR leads. All of that should be here by mid-week.

Additionally, I acquired a used Sig 4*60. Won a new Saito 100 on eBay and as soon as my servo converter leads get here I'll guide that with the X9303 as well. I bought an extra Spektrum AR9000 and AR 6200 recievers. I suspect it will be 4-5 weeks before the additional receivers get here via the JR/Spektrum Giveaway promotion.

How many of your US have a funny whistle when coming down hill fast???
We got 3 here who do it.

I think they all pretty much do it. Whistling that is.

Saitos come from the factory with SUPER rich setting on the idle adjust screw. Follow the instructions to adjust it. You will find it takes quite a bit of turning-in before it settles in all of mine took about 2i/2 full turns. You don't want to do this until you have about 32ozs of fuel through it, which you say you have. It is not like a typical 2-stroke glow than needs little to no adjustment. Start with 1/8th turn lean and check transition. Keep doing this until the transition is bad and then richen it a little until the transition is good that is your setting.

I fairly familiar with the process but, on the US40 with a sidewinder Saito, the low speed screw is facing the bottom of the aircraft. That makes any adjustments while the engine is running difficult. I use both a tach and the pinch test to set the HS needle and that works pretty reliably. Guess I'll have to shut down, make an adjustment on the LS needle, fire it up and keep checking.

My second plane was a UltraStick... a custom built US120 ( not 120 Ultra) powered by a Saito 180. Extensive use of carbon fiber( prop, landing gear, tail gear, reinforcement, etc.) , lightened and mods like counterbalanced tail. Light aas a stock Ultra 120, but much stronger/prettier. Scary first few times I fired her up ( great sound, power, and fury!!) BUT FLEW SO PERFECTLY that I had great confidence. I have also had a US 40 with a evolution .46 that was a great little plane untill the Earth ate it, and now fly a Jerry's Big Boy (120 size w/ 26cc Brillelli gasser) which is by all acounts, the premier stick ARF ever, at least untill the Jerry Smith Spoiler is released. I'm getting side tracked here but, the stick is a great plane for a second one. The 40 size flys great w/ 2 servos or four. For aerobatics 2 are fine, 4 for crazy stunts, but it would take a long time to exceed the capabilities of the 2 servo wings, so I recommend just 2, for cheapness and lighter wing load. There is no wrong way to set the plane up. I'm talking Ultra stricks, not big stiks, ugly stiks, etc.
Mike

here's a couple more.

And a couple shots of my Jerry's Big Boy (Jerry Smith)

You are correct. Any Stik/Stick is an excellent first model, if the instructor knows what he/she is doing. I've taught many folks to learn to fly with a Stik of one kind or another. It's all in the set up (trim).

Technically, Stiks are not high wing models. In modeldom, they are considered shoulder wings. Shoulder wings are not considered more stable than low or mid wing models if all of the models are using no dihedral. My first R/C model was a low wing model that I taught myself how to fly R/C with. It had lots of dihedral and was rudder only (Testor's Skyhawk), so really, there is no universal rule of thumb about which configuration is the most stable. It just depends upon how the designer/builder set up (trimmed) the model. Another generalization bites the dust. <G>

The Great Planes Big Stiks are also terrific flying models. If you don't need the dihedral, take it out. It is easy enough to do. I like enough dihedral to prevent the wings from having that droopy look. Also, models with a tad of dihedral land more majestically. Large enough ailerons with enough control throw have more to do with control authority than a smidge of dihedral.

The Joss Stik is a fine flyer. As is its low wing cousin, the Dragon Lady. They fly very similarly when set up (trimmed) similarly.


Ed Cregger

Yes!!! Given your configuration you need to have the patience you will be richly reworded. NOTE: Saitos also need a valve adjustment after the 1st hour or so of running. When it starts to surge you will know it is time upside is the adjustment is real simple.

Roger on the dihedral removal. When I built my 1st Joss Stick (above orange) it was the ARC (Almost Ready to Cover) version. The instructions that came with it showed you how to use dual airlon servos instead of the torque rod. In addition, I took the opportunity to remove the dihedral angle. She was awesome to fly after I realized the recommended 60-size engine (MDS-68) was woefully underpowered and replaced it with a Magnum XL 120. I eventually pulled the Magnum and installed an OS BX-1 (1.08) because the Magnum made me a dead-stick expert. My dept-of-field problems surfaced during one flight and I plowed it into the side of a tree I thought I was way in front of that tree when I turned in its direction, was actually in line with the tree. It took me a couple of years before I purchased the Joss Stick ARF (above red). Although it was still an excellant flying airplane, I got lazy in its construction and followed the norm used both the airlon torque rod (one servo for both airlons) and left in the dihedral. IMHO, the dihedral was way too much for that airplane. I still used the OS BX-1 but it was no where near as much fun to fly as the 1st one.

On a .60 UltraStick what kind of performance can be expected from a Saito .91 using PM 15%/18% fuel?

Thanks!

excellent performance, I've been running a O.S. 91 Four stroke in my Ultra Stick 60 for a long time now, seems to work best on a 14x6 APC for me, I use to have a saito 100 in it, but the saito kept falling apart.

How does a Saito fall apart. I can't picture that in my mind. I too had one with a Saito FA-100 and that combination was the ultimate for that bird. I ran mine with a 15x6 after breaking in the engine with a 14x8.