So ugly I have to fly it.
 

I recently received a "Free" plane. If there is such a thing... I will likely dump some money into this. I beleive it is a [link=https://www.balsastore.com/store/proddetail.php?prod=434]Balsa USA Stick 40 Plus[/link]. I took it into my local hobby shop and the owner said it looks like an old "Pole Cat" either way I just want to make it fly with an old school feel. I saw it and thought, "Wow! That's one ugly plane. I have to fix it and fly it.":D Does anyone happen to have a set of plans or instructions for this plane or a muffler for the OS .35 MAX-H it came with?

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Your right, Thats one ugly plane LOL.

Did you get the tail feathers with it?

Make sure you post a finished pic.

See ya,

Del

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

No, it was missing the tail feathers. This is why I am interested in plans.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Use to make those when you busted up the fuse and all you had left was a wing and tail feathers. They were called Swizzle Sticks.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Yeah, that is a fugly airplane. I resurrected a gift plane a while back.

[link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5406264/anchors_5406264/mpage_1/key_resurrection/anchor/tm.htm#5406264[/link]

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Hey Stang.

From what I was told, our club bought a bunch of these a while back, well, the club members did.. got a quantity discount on them to use for fun fly events. Everybody that was to participate in the fun fly events were to have one of these planes.

From what I was told, they are not great flyers. This is not from personal experience, but just information I gathered from others that had them and flew them. There are one or two left, but I've not seen them at the field at all.

They are easy to build (well, looks like you've almost got that covered) and can be built fairly light.. however... don't try a knife-edge.. :D

Dick.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Remember - Ugly planes fly better!

Brad

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Welllllll.... there are exceptions... :D

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Balsa USA still sells the kit [link=https://www.balsastore.com/store/products.php?cat=7&pg=5]here.[/link]

So give them a call!

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

You can buy the plans for 12 bucks, if no one has them:
https://www.balsastore.com/store/products.php?cat=8
Click the drop-down for "Other Model Kit Plans Q-Z"

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

For what it's worth, the Stick 40 Plus is not a bad flying plane. I flew one for a couple of years when learning. After it got boring, I built a new fully symmetrical wing, carved up the wing saddle area to fit, and flew it another couple of years. It finally ended up in the top of a 60+ foot pine tree when I misjudged its position. After rescuing it with a shotgun (don't ask), I salvaged the components and had a little memorial ceremony for my old buddy. :)

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

for what you spent rebuilding it i dont think thats a bad airplane, say it cost you about £10 english pounds to rebuild, a new plane costs £50 (airframe only) so 1/5 the price of a new plane aint that bad, and because its a trainer its bound to be Planted a few times when the pilot is still learning to fly

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

This is not intended as advice, just my opinion: If it landed in my shop I don't think I could resist giving that ugly thing a whole new skin. Building some sides and a fuselage would be a fun challenge and not that difficult. Get the tank where it belongs on the inside of the airplane. (I built and flew profile planes back as a teenager flying control-line and I always hated the way they looked. I'll never own a profile 3D plane!) I'd think weight and balance could be an issue but since you'd be adding in front and back of the CG I'm sure you could work it out.

Just my 2¢.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

While that would be an interesting/fun project as well I am looking at it like that 17 year old dog that is so ugly and pees uncontrolably on your floor that you just don't have the heart to put down. I want to sand the fuse smooth (a step skipped by the original builder) and give her some fresh colour recover the wing and build some tail feathers for it and fly it with a 20 some odd year old engine. I want those 65 year old guys at my club to get weepy eyed when they see it and feel like their 20 again when I let them fly it. As I am beyond the trainer stage I will likely let it be used as a club trainer and intro plane for interested spectators. All in the tradition of "pay it forward".

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

LOL. Well I'm not one to stand in the way of nostalgia. In this thread someone thought these don't fly well, another did, and I'm just thinking a more conventional "trainer" design would/could solve the flying probs, let alone solving the ugliness problem. :) But beauty is in they eye of the beholder, and if seeing this thing "restored" ugly as it is brings a tear to the eye of someone at the field, I'm all for it.

My aesthetic senses kind of drive me. I like planes as much for the way I make them look because I spend 10:1 time tinkering, restoring, recovering at home, vs. real flying. I met a guy at our club who built a magnificent Corsair but told me he doesn't fly. He wouldn't dare, he was strictly a builder but afraid to fly. But he had nothing but joy watching a buddy take it up. I hope NOT to be that guy, but I do get such joy out of this hobby in fixing old planes, recovering, and making them airworthy. Things I can do at home. My hanger is now just 4 planes. The first is a brand new Hobbico Superstar RTF which fell into my lap and started me into this freakin' obsessive hobby. Next two are OLD trainers I bought used ragged, put up hard wet and greasy. I bought the old trainers complete with nice engines and servos and cheap. Now I find I have the least interest in the Superstar since I've had so much fun restoring the others. I let my 5 and 7-year olds choose the covering themes for the old trainers. One looks like a military scout and the other is (gasp) pink and purple Barbie. The Barbie has the receiver from the Superstar, lol. The 4th is a (kind of rare?) Super Sportster Bipe, no engine or servos, that one of the sellers threw in for an extra $40. I hope that will be my second or third plane once I master the trainers. I of course will recover it and make it beautiful first. Maybe next winter.
:D:D:D:D:D

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

It's like a scrap bin threw up... good luck! :D

somegeek

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

You know how sometimes someone types something funnyish and you respond with "lol"? Well In this case I actualy did laugh out loud. I hope you don't mind but I am going to use that whenever I can:D Maybey I will even write it on the side of this plane.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

a
Well of course you must obey intellectual honesty when using LOL etc. LOL means you really did Laugh Out Loud. (Even a chuckle). Now if something is mildly amusing, if you're honest, you could LOTI (Laughing on the Inside). Now I have seen people write ROTFLMAO which is probably at best intellectually dishonest since it would be hard to type on a keyboard if you're really 'Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Arse Off.' But, perhaps you could type that once you got off the floor and still be honest. :D Otherwise, if something amuses you, use ;) grin, and save LOL for when you really snort out a chuckle. Just trying to keep intellectually honest here. And no I'm not 15, I'm a middle-aged old fart! LOTI!

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

I built one for my first kit and learned to fly with it. I used a plain stick 40 kit added strip ailerons and a single servo under the wing center. Made it a tail dragger and even made skis for it and flew it off of snow one winter. It did fly pretty good and served its purpose as a trainer. They are very tough. I was letting someone try it on the buddy box one day and waited too long to take it back. It stalled and spun to the left... I had moved the cg back.. I didn't have enough room to catch it and stuck it in the middle off the runway. Wing broke the rubber bands and came off the prop broke and that was it. Later gave it to a cowoker to use as his trainer.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Here is a picture of my old stick 40.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

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LOL (yeh, it made me giggle a bit)

ah middle-age... the age when the broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places :P

a couple of times on ebay ive seen a old vintage frog diesel thats in a bit of a state and i think to myself "that would look good when its restored and bolted to the front of a vintage trainer"

actually... i happen to have a set of plans for a Mamselle 52 upstairs... that would look good with a little diesel puttering up front...

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Not ugly enough:D That one looks nice.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

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OK, all fixed up and original it does look 'decent'. But still, I think the gas tank belongs on the inside:D

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

I could make you a sticker with my face on it if you really want ugly!

I kinda like it all stripped looking. honestly it is too bad you have to add covering to cover up what it looks liike now. mebbe you could use a clear covering and leave the remnants underneath so you can see them.

RE: So ugly I have to fly it.
 

Hey Mr67, I got a "free" airplane too, from a fellow flyer Banjoairplane.(he was the cook at the 1/2a funfly)..but its not old, its a Hangar-9 stick 40....I havent tried a pic since I switched to this laptop,,maybe I'll give it a go soon......good luck with the fix up...I hope to fly it this summer too.....Rog