Hello,

I'm assembling my first ARF, which is a Hangar 9Ultra Stick 40. I've made a few mistakes along the way, but I'm learning alot.

One of the mistakes was not taking enough care to ensure that the vertical stablizer was perfectly centereted along the fusealage. I should have used some type of jig, but I didn't. The epoxy is now set and the vertical stablizer is not centered. It is off center by just under a 1/16".

How critical is this?
What is the best way to correct this?

Thanks for the advice.

Is it 90 degrees from the stab ?

1/16 shouldn't be any problem.


Bob

It is leaning a couple degrees to the right as well.

Could it be straighten with flying wires from the
fin to the stab ?


Bob

Thanks, Bob.

I will look into flying wires...I think it may work.

How will these defects affect flight? Should I avoid flying it until I get the vertical stab "trued up"?

IMO,


It maybe hard to get Trimmed.

Bob

A flyer at the field has your same plane 40 size ultra stick. He had the same problem with his vertical stab. He did not try fixing it and it flyes very well the way it is. You may have to do a little trimming on your first flight but you should be able to do it with your radio. Good luck...

Lou is right. You will need to spend some extra time "trimming it" do the wire trick & it should just fly fine. Just remember, next time, get it perfect. ( The plane will probably just fly a "little crooked")

Hay brownd,
I doubt you will have any flying issues with such a small out of centered stab...even if it is a couple degrees out of true-side ways. The Ultra Stick (and all Ugly Stick types) fly well...and you will be very surprised when you go fly this model.

I've an Ultra Stick .40 that I'm now rebuilding after five years and over 400 flights. I needed to install a new fire wall (broke in three different engines on the model...K&B .45 Sportster, K&B .61 Twister and Super Tiger G.90), re-inforce the second bulkhead where the wing pins plug into the fuse, and a re-cover of the fuse. The model is well built, flys very well and I can fly it in high winds. I'm hard on my models, and I abused this model, rode it hard and managed to ware out two sets of tires on the kit. I did install a Kleet Tail Wheel when I first assembled the model, and its still in flyable condition...: )

I placed my servo's aft near the tail, re-inforced the wing pins (installed brass tubes over the wood dowl pins), reinforced the main landing gear floor (inside the model) and flew it first with a four servo wing...and went to a two servo wing later, using flaperons (the programing got to involved for me with my Tx).

I also have had a few less then good landings with this model and the repairs are easy. By the way, I placed my elevator and rudder servo's in the tail for easy access for adjustments and to add a bit of weight in the tail section. Even though the K&B .61 Twister is a light weight engine...placing the servo's aft helped the CG.

It is a great flying model, very forgiving and a good second plane for the newbe.

Soft Landings Always,
Bobby of Maui

Is the vertical stab turned off center as well? That is , is it going to act like a rudder? As long as the stab is parallel to the thrust line, you really shouldn't have any problems. if it isn't parallel and requires rudder to trim, then you will still be able to fly the heck out of it. It might act up in a knife edge, and may not track straight in a loop. But heck, just go out and fly that thing before you really start considering modifications. That's one of the best all around planes on the market. You are going to love it regardless.

Bob from Dallas

(Where did all these Bobs on RCU come from?)

Bob from Dallas, Ultra Sticks knife edge like absolute crap anyway...so it's not a big deal.

Thank you all for the advice.

I will probably have it ready for the first flight this weekend. I'll just put her up as she is and see how "crooked" it flies. If I can't get it trimmed well, I'll try correcting the problem with flying wires. I'll post the results here.

Thanks again.

<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 9pt">Man I was laughing when I read this. I've been flying the Ultra Stick for about 4 years, up until it's untimely demise in June. If you could do it with the US 40, I have done it! Doing the knife edge with the US is like doing the waltz on a high wire 1000 feet up with your shoes tied together and one arm tied behind your back. You can do it, but it takes serious concentration and everything control surface had better be active! </span></div>
Bob (from Dallas)

Knife edge! My red US 40/OS .55AX will do consecutive knife edge loops. They're large and oval shaped, but this isn't pattern.

I am using a strong, digital servo with pull-pull on rudder. I have 3 degrees of anhedral on each wing panel to cancel out the roll with rudder. I have also mixed in nearly 1" of down elevator with full rudder to stop the pull to the top of the plane with rudder.

That to me is poor knife-edge ability.

Well, not the KE loop....but the INTENSE amounts of work you had to do to get it there.

Thanks for making my point Ed. I would say that your wing modifications alone pretty much rule out thepossibility that the OPwill be able to apply this to his crooked stabilizer.

Bob

There is a guy at our field that prefers US's. He is, admittedly, ultra skilled. He will start at one end of our runway and KE to the other, flipping it from one side to the other. He not only has thumb skills but is an outstanding builder and also understands what it takes to set-up a model. He flies it with an AX-55, does Harrier rolls, waterfalls, walls, hovers at 5 ft. off the deck and generally does more with a stick than anyone I know.

It is fun to watch. I've always wondered what this guy could do with a MOJO.....

After 3D'ing that stick, I don't know if he could do much with a plane that had no KE coupling in roll or pitch and had more than enough control surface throw to do anything you want. He'd have a hard time relearning 3D on a plane without all of those bad habits .

I finally got out to the field this weekend and the Ultra Stick flies great. I didn't notice any issues caused by vertical stabilizer being crooked. It just needed a small amount of left rudder trim, but nothing more.

Thanks for all of your suggestions and tips.

Good to hear. Fly well!

Bob