Superstar 40 tips
 

My 'better half' (my wife) got me a Superstar 40 trainer ARF for Christmas (exactly what I wanted!! man was I thrilled!!) I wanted a trainer to replace my beat up PT40 (the old version, with no ailerons) just to fly around with. It sure looks good in the box, I have completed a couple of ARFs and this one looks like the best built, best quality out of those I've done.

Will be powered by a OS 40 FP and a futaba attack 4 channel radio, S148 servos.

Any tips/tricks I need to know about Superstars before I start assembly?

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Nope,
Great flying plane!

As far as set-up, with a 40 in it, put on some bigger wheels to help her get goin in grass.. Also she seems to REALLY like the CG at 4"

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Like Ice Man says. The Superstar is a "beaut" trainer & it makes an awsome hot rod later on.. The FP will do fine for your training days, but the Superstar really takes to a good 46. A tail dragger conversion is also something that you may want to do before too long. When the time comes to hop it up, give me a whistle -- I've done half a dozen of these birds & I have a pile of suggestions.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

I love my Superstar. I plan on recovering mine, it's pretty beat up, and then putting it on floats. BTW, along the same lines as this thread, anyone got any suggestions about maybe changing the wing mount to bolt on instead of rubber bands?

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

If you are still occasionally smacking the ground with it, leave the elastic bands in place, but if you are past that point, convert it to bolt-on wings -- you will loose a bit of drag by getting rid of the dowels & bands that stick out in the slipstream. While you're at it, get rid of the dihedral -- the Superstar really responds well to that mod.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

good deal!! I wanted something I could finish training with, and maybe cut up a little bit with it later.

I plan to finish wearing out that little 40FP on it then sticking some sort of .46 BB on it. I need to get started on putting it together...

It looks so good I hate to skin it up!!

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

.46 BB?

Put in a Super Tigre .51! I got one in mine! Whatta combo!

Britbrat,
Could you send me a list of mods? I've been flying mine quite a while now and it's becoming boring... [email protected]

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

started putting it together last nite. GOt the wing pretty much assembled, waiting for the epoxy to dry on the stabs now. So far so good, except the monokote isn't stuck all that well in places. I'll take a heat gun and go over it, maybe that will take care of it.

Should I put the engine as far forward on the mount as possible? Or do these planes have CG issues?

Also, What about the "clamp" that holds the engine down? SHould I do away with that and drill holes?

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Initially, set the C-of-G right in the middle of the recommended range, & position the engine to suite for balance. Point the engine dead straight down the midline & use the clamps.

You can experiment with the C-of-G later, when you are more comfortable with the plane.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

got'er together, did a preliminary radio check and a few taxi runs in the driveway...maiden tomorrow if all goes well!! Balanced out at 3 1/4" with no weight, i put the engine as far forward as practical. By far the easiest balancing ARF i've dealt with so far.

Sure is a nice lookin' plane!

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

It flew great, only prob i had was skinning the underside of the fuse tail because I flared up too high landing..done that three times. Just enough to skin the monokote off. Going to rig up a small skid to prevent that in the future. Will eventually make it a taildragger.

Only flight issue was I could not get a nice aileron roll out of it for love or money! I guess it's got too much dihedral?

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

USMEAGLE.. You have to push LOTZ of down elev. when your inverted in a roll.. If not the plane WILL NOT flip rightside up.. I found my did nice rolls with full down elev. on High Rates while inverted...

You must of flared way up eh? I somtimes drag the tail on mine for the fun of it but never so hard as to rip the monokote off.. Come in slower with the nose slightly up then do a "long flare" this is where you flare higher from the ground but keep 1-2 clicks of power..it'll settle in right on the mains and hold the nosewheel up until you let it down or it runs outta speed... I do this with mine and haven't had a bounce in quite some time..

Good Luck.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Increase your aileron throws -- in stock form it has too much dihedral to do nice axial rolls, but you can speed up the rate by increasing the throw. Also, do as Ice Man says -- use some down elev in the roll -- & add full rudder.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

yeah, i did flare kinda high i guess :D it "floats" in a lot different than my old PT40. Plus i think my main gear is bent too much, the plane has a slight nose up attitute. It took off a pc. of monokote about 1/4 the size of a dime on the very tail, so it barely hit.

I did experiment with the rudder during rolls but i didnt think about elevator (duh?)..still, i had a ball flying my superstar!

Thanks for the tips guys!

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

I put a Saito 72 with a 13x6 on my SuperStar 40. WOW!!!!

THROTTLE CONTROL........ is an understatement.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

I love my superstar, It is a great plane. The aileron rolls are fine with me, Kinda slow near the end, but fine.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

How did you fit a 13 inch prop on there? I have 3 3/4 inch wheels, and I moved the nose wheel as far down as I can and still stear it, and I can't go past 11 inch

.46 BB = .46 ball bearing engine

Have fun with your plane, it flys great

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

I put 3.5" wheels and it cleared easily. Is your landing gear really spread out on the mains? That will make it lower. I am going to make it into a tail dragger to get some more clearance up front.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Saito 72 with 13x6...

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Update on the plane in the above photo. I recently converted this trainer that I have had for the past 3 years into a taildragger with a bolt on wing conversion also.

Converting to a TD removed 1 lbs of dead weight now. 4-1/2 lbs now with a Saito 72.

I'll try to post photos later.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

DTB, you're nuts. I like the monster front wheel to hold that big-***** engine up[X(] The superstar was my first glow plane.I found that it rolled quicker if I gave it full aileron and rudder. And as it has been said before, you have to give some down elevator when your inverted. Towards the end of mine, I converted it to a tail dragger. I figured since I flew off grass, I could just let the tail drag without putting a skid or anything on the back(big mistake). It worked really well - for awhile. If you look close, you'll notice that the elevator control horn is the lowest point on the rear of the plane. I had that clevis come off in flight - not much you can do at that point other than throttle back and pray.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

I haven't done any modding to my SS, except replace the landing gear, that nose and main gear sucked, so i put dubru main, and sullivan nose, which will work much better

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

HAHA, you are probably right. I can actually make the trainer torque roll maybe 1.5 full revolution before it falls out. It doesn't like it at all. It is wild to see a trainer hovering then starting to torque roll. A friend had a U-Can-Do to go in a few weeks ago unfortunately and he gave me the main landing gear which was the pefect width for the trainer since the U-Can-Do is so narrow.

The Saito pulls it very well.

When I am training a new club student, I make it a practice to have them to learn to fly inverted because you never know when you may find yourself in a situation where it has become inverted and they need to know what to do if that happens.

Pilot Chad, if you are new to RC, once you get more time under your belt with your SS 40, you will start wanting to change it up a little. Take it slow and you will be fine. I just noticed that you have over 900 post so I take it that you are doing like me and like to play around with trainers as they are fun to fly.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Since this thread came back up, I guess I could give an update of my superstar (the one that started the thread)..which is still flying just fine!! It has suffered some wing damage, firewall, and tail feather damage- all fairly minor and all repaired- and still flies great after around 55 flights.

The ONLY gripe I have is that the stock main gear is JUNK. Absolute JUNK. No matter how good I grease a landing it still bends the main gear a little bit. It's like the wire is just too soft.

Anybody got some taildragger conversion tips? I converted my PT-40 to a taildragger (best thing I ever did for it), should I convert the superstar the same way? Or would I be better off getting better trike gear?

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

The SS 40 converstion would be the same as the PT-40 with only minor changes. Put the center of the Landing gear axles level with the leading edge of the wing and put a tail wheel on the rear. The tail may be a little different from the PT-40, but you can figure out what changes need to be done since you have converted before.

Good luck.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Here are the photos as promised.

The SS40 lands more like a stick now as a TD. Tons of fun, but still very easy to fly. It's actually pretty cool to see a trainer in a TD formation taxiing to take off, then pop up on the mains only with the tail floating then lifting off.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

man, sure made it look a heckuva lot better! I bet it does REALLY well in the air with the fourstroke..

My Superstar is on the building table now (H9 twist is in the flying rotation), gonna cut the wing, take out the dihedral, add some ply to the fuse and convert to a taildragger, and do the bolt-on conversion for the wing.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

DTB, I have been flying for about 3 months. I started in febuary and soloed in march. I enjoy messing around with my trainer and plan on making a bomb drop for it today now that i have extra channels. I also plan to use my tx for my room when i am too lazy to turn on the fan or something... That will be a while because i am spending all of my $ on this four star

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Thanks USMeagle, I haven't flown my trainer for about 3 years and decided to put it back into rotation. I started flying it again and got bored again also and decided then to change it up some. So I changed the color scheme slightly (blue stripe is now black if you didn't notice), put a Saito 72 with a 13x6 prop up front, did the bolt on wing conversion, maxed out the control surface throws and recently converted to a taildragger. It is so much fun now, but it still flys the same which is very easy but a little more responsive. I basically created a "Hobbico SuperStar Stick".

I was flying the plane yesterday and had the plane hovering. It will start to torque roll and did two complete revolutions, but will not stay there long due to the dihedral and small control surfaces even though they are maxed out. Several members are now considering converting their trainers into a TD.

If you are a seasoned pilot, then I suggest playing around with your trainer as I did to make it more fun, but the cool thing is that it is still a trainer when it needs to be.

I never really like the circus color scheme before.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/upfi...77/Ki18087.jpg
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/upfi...77/Cx75345.jpg

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Chad, you will only get better with time so hang in there and burn that fuel as often as you can. I have a sim and they are good investments but they don't teach you what to do when a bug has decided to make a home on your eyelid or up your nose and your plane is still in the air. [:'(]. There is nothing like doing it in real life. I remember years ago when I started and had my first solo. I was nervous as a tick and I'm sure that hasn't changed for the new pilots now-a-days.

After you have completely mastered the trainer is when I say to move on to your 4*40. If you can knife edge, hover, fly inverted and land without thinking about it, is when I tell students that they are ready to move on to something a little more advanced.

I think too many new students rush to their second plane(s) trying to impress others or being over confident.


BTW, I highly highly recommend the ceiling fan deal you have in mind for you 7C. I have a 9C personally which has a few more bells and whitsles, so I have my Futaba 9C connected up to my lawnmorer and can park my butt in a chair on the porch and cut the yard, sip my lemonade, have my feet propped up and even wave to the neighbor occassionally with a fake smile all without breaking a sweat or getting tired just from using my 9C. LOL.... :D You should think about upgrading.

I now thinking about the 14MZ. Can you imagine what I would be able to do with it? That would be amazing.

The 9C makes life easy.

J/K, the 7C will do just fine and is a great radio. My 4*60 uses 7 servos with all the mods I've done to it.

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

yeah... Mom was already outraged about the price of the 7c with digi servos... I am gonna owe her now... But she will get alot of money when i am pattern flying champion or an airline pilot:D

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

So you're putting digital servos in your 4*40? Wow, I have digital servos in my Funtana S 90, but that is a much bigger plane and more aerobatic, but the digitals will work fine and will definately spoil you with their precision and next thing you know you'll be trying to put some digitals in your Hobbico SS40.

Good luck dude with the planes, oh and your mother.[sm=RAINFRO.gif]

RE: Superstar 40 tips
 

Yeah, i will probably replace them with ball bearing when the next plane comes... But it is just something to get me through for now. I have to wait till tommrow to play with my transmitter more because it has to charge.... School will be slow....