I need a little advice for me new Hangar 9 Ultra Stik 40 that I just received. Mainly, I'm interested in what your thoughts are for what engine to put on it. I'm kinda interested in a 4-stroke, but I'm not fully convinced. My first plane has an O.S. 46 2-stroke on it, which I've been extremely pleased with. But for this second plane, I've been considering a 4-stroke for it. I've kicked around the internet and have been looking at the Magnum .70 4-stroke. I'm not really sure why, maybe it's just to get some experience with something different. I know they sound better and use less fuel, but does it really buy me anything? I'd like to try something new, but if it's not really worth it, maybe I should just pick up another O.S. .46. Let me know what you guys thing!

On another note, I'd also really like to know what servos you guys recommend. I plan to go with the quad-flaps option. I don't know much about servos, since I bought my first plane RTF. Any input appreciated!

Thanks!

The engine choise is mainly personal preferance. I mounted a saito 72 on my ultrastick, and went through alot of props. I would break them on landing. The O.S. 46AX wouldn't be a bad choise. I think if you are going with a two stroke, maybe
bump it up to a 55AX. That or a 72 size four-stroke would provide plenty of power.
I would highly recomend you do not use the supplied metal engine mount. And if you choose a four-stroke consider mounting your tail surface control servos in the tail. My Ultra stick came out VERY nose heavy with the .72 and stock motor
mount.
As for servos, standerd ball bearing servos are all you need. I used futaba 3004s all around and never had a problem with servo stall.
The ultra stick 40 was my second plane also. It is a lot of fun. Useing a four stroke, and setting up the quad flaps really taught my a lot about engines and computer radio set-up. I used a futaba 9C for control.
Good luck and have fun.

Yes,...throw away the supplied metal engine mount and get you a good plastic one. I fly my Ultra Stick with a Saito 56 and it is plenty of power, not unlimited vertical but enough. I had a 4 stroke already or I would probably went with a much cheaper 2 stroke, like a Thunder Tiger 46 Pro. I just feel like a really nice four stroke is a waste on a plane like the Ultra Stick. The Ultra Stick is a no-frills , beater type plane that is never going to be "fancy", just put the cheapest engine that will do the job and go fly. Save the four stroke for a nicer plane.

ive got a 46ax in mine with all ds821 servos and this plane setup like this is a hoot to fly!!!

Oh yeah. I've got an Airtronics RDS8000 for control. I'm not sure if that makes much difference on your answers or not, but I forgot to throw that in on my original post.

Just yank the .46 out of your first plane and mount it in the Ultra Stick. It only takes about ten minutes to swap out the engine.

Save your money for a later purchase when you find something other than a 40 sized plane, or decide to go scale and want the 4 stroke sound.

If you buy an engine for every airplane you can afford to buy only half of the airplanes you want. If you buy a radio for every airplane, even less.

I used a Great Planes engine mount. I also used a Dubro tail wheel mount and most Saito 56 engines but have used Saito 50 and 72 engines

That's a very good point about not buying an engine for every plane, and I fully agree with you. However, with this being only my second, I'll probably buy an engine for it, so I can have two planes to take to the field. From there on out though, I seriously doubt I'll be buying an engine for every plane. Like you said, they're too easy to swap out.

So let's say that I decided to go 4-stroke (not that I have, I'm still leaning toward the OS .55)... I could go on the cheap (kinda) with a Magnum 70RFS at $180 or go with the higher-end Saito 72AAC at $225. The big difference that I can see is the weight. The Magnum is quite a bit heavier at 21.2 oz than the Saito at 16.6 oz, which would seem significant to me for this size plane, but I'm just a newbie. Is the 4.6 oz weight savings worth the extra $45?

If you have the money for the Saito you will never regret owning one.

Weight is already a factor up front

I flew an Ultra stick 40 for most of Sept, and Oct. Great plane and I had lots of fun with it. I put a OS 46AX on mine, (from my Avistar) and it flew great. Not unlimited vertical climb, but very enjoyable.

I did have a tough time balancing it though. It was very nose heavy. Instead of using weight on the tail, I cut up the H9 motor mount, used a wooden prop, and a Pitts style muffler. With all the mods, only 1/4oz of lead was required on the tail. I haven't tried the flaps on landing, but have used them at about 2 or 3 mistakes high, and just puttered around at idle. An OS 55AX will really get it moving along. For me, just flying for 2 summers, it fast enough now. Enjoy. Daren

My Ultra Stick 40 started life with a Thunder Tiger 46 pro and I should have left that engine on it.
But I got the four stroke bug and after much reading on the forums I became convinced that the Magnum 61 would be the engine of choice.
The Magnum engine ran perfectly but it was barely equivalent to the 46 pro on power. Everyone has their own idea about perfect power but I really don't see how a 50 class four stroke is enough for this plane.
In short order I replaced the Magnum 61 with an OS 70, while this fixed the lack of power the 70 was a lot heavier than the 61. I put a high capacity 6v battery in the rear of the fuselage to balance the plane. It sorta flew like a brick with wings and I never really liked the plane.
I recently sold it to one of my buddies and he put an OS 55AX in it and it seems to be the perfect engine for the plane.
Vertical is very strong, and it floats in for landings now.
When I built mine I set it up for CROW and played with it a few times, then I disabled that programming in the TX, while some people love the feature I would just use the full length ailerons if I was doing it again.

The 46 you have is a fine match.

I have a Saito 72 in mine, I like the low end torque, but the 2 stroke is going to give you little more speed. I guess it depends on what you want from this plane.

We just maindened our with a TT GP-42. This is a bushinged engine. We will be upgrading to a Aviastar .53 soon, but the plane flies nicely with the TT-42.

You don't need to go nuts with power on this plane. Just move your current engine over until you know what you want out of the plane, then look at what you want for an engine.

We did not go for the quad flaps. This decision was based on conversations I had with members of our club. The plane is relatively easy to land; it just glides in, at least with a GP-42 and a 10x6 prop. We will fly again later this week with an 11x4 or 11x5 to see what it is like.

Jack

The quad flaps is more of a sales gimmick than anything else. I've had three Ultra Sticks without the quad flaps and they did just fine. Sorry to say that my forth one has flaps but I rarely use them.

If you want true performance, just the two servos in the wings is much lighter