Hi,

Hope someone can help or give me some adivce i recently purchased a 'Great Planes Super SportsStar 40 ARTF Kit' but ive got it out of the box to check it over and the tail and a few areas near the wing are wrinkled, is this normal on a ARFT ?

The planes covered in Monocote but the tail section is the worst, and i cant build it like that, how do i remove these wrinkles to give it the nice smooth finish, do i need to buy a heat gun and a iron !!!!!

Ive never use a heat gun or iron before so if someone could give me any pointers i would be grateful.

Also reading the instructions i need to make a 1/4 Inch plywood engine mount, as my engine seems a bit small in the instructions they give u a template but whats the best tool to cut the plywood with ?

Many thx for your time in advance, i just wish a ARFT was a ARFT, seems alot more work involved than my last plane....

you need and iron or heat gun, if you can afford it get both, the heat gun works great, just litly go over the wrinkle with the gun and they should shrink right out, i had to do this with my avistar, it worked fine, just make sure to keep the gun moving, so you don't melt the monokote.


plywood, i use my 10" craftsman band saw, or a small hobby miter saw works good also.

good luck,

Make sure that you only apply enough heat to get it smooth. YOu don't want to heat it to get it to shrink the the smallest possible size all at once.

Is this the GP Super "Sportster"? If so, it comes with an adjustable fiber/plastic type engine mount here in the states.

You say your engine seems a bit small. What engine are you planning on using? Are you sure it will fly the plane? I'm not sure why they'd have you MAKE an engine mount for an ARF?

I'd go buy a plastic mount.
Dennis-

You CAN just use a regular household clothes iron to get out the wrinkles. start with the lowest setting, and work your way up until the covering starts to shrink.

Thx guys, ok i used a travel iron althou i had to have it nearly max temp to actually get the creases out and it worked really well, not 100 percent but a dam site better than it was, im happy with the result, so thx guys for your help and advise and soon i should hopefully be flying my Super Sportstar 40