What would you suggest for a 3rd kit, an Ultrasport 40 or a Mustang 40 both by great planes. I want a fast plane and i want to put a 2 stroke (.46 thunder tiger) on the chosen plane. I think it might seem stupid to have a mustang with a 2 stroke engine on it. I hear that both planes are very similar in wing design. Also, do you suggest retracts for either plane? Do they cost a lot? I want something cheap, but i want them to be efficient. What would be the best price to get a decent retract system? I really like both of these planes and want one that is fairly easy to build(and especially to cover). Thanks!

The mustang would be fine with a 2 stroke. If you can handle a faster plane that likes to tip stall, either will be good. If you have problems with a tippy plane, niether will be good. Get the one you like the best and fly it fast. You won't have a problem if you get the propper help with it.

cardinal7:

If you go for the Mustang, Tower sells the B&D pneumatic tri-gear st for $70-$80, which includes the valve, hose, and air tank. For this price you can afford to send the nose gear unit to me. Haw.

The only thing you have to buy extra is the air pump.

Inexpensive, strong, and reliable.

Bill.

Neither of these planes is likely to tip stall.

Both definitely work well with retracts.'

And do yourself a favor, whichever one you get, cut the ailerons to make 6" flaps on the inboard side. They work incredably well! (You can walk next to it on landings)

THanks for you suggestions, I didnt realize that retracts were sooo muuccch!! i thought that they were like 20$ each? Oh well, whatever the price, i hope to get some anyway. I heard something about retracts being bad on grass strips. Does anyone know about this and why? I am not familiar at all with retracts and my runway is pretty harsh. Are pnuematic cheaper than mechanical? Are pneumatic more reliable? Also Minnflyer, Would flaperons work well instead of flaps? Thanks!!

P.S. I am still debating on which plane to get if anyone else has suggestions!!!

Cardinal7:

A set of B&Ds will cost the $70 I mentioned, the air pump is another $30 - $100 bucks for the first plane, and since you have the air pump, the next plane costs $70.

Or the $20 mechanical retracts. Yes, they do exist. But instead of a standard servo to work the air valve you have to use a special $100 servo to operate them.There are some off brand retract servos coming on the market, but even at $60 for the servo you're not coming out better on a per plane cost.

Retracts on grass? No reason why not. Generally speaking, fixed gear is stronger than retracts, but if you always land in a reasonable manner the retracts are more than strong enough, and we always do gentle landings, don't we?

Until your skill is polished, when flying off grass the fixed gear tends to last longer.

Your plane, though, follow your own wishes.

Bill.

Hitec retract servos are $28.95 from Servo City and $29.95 from Tower. Servo City doesn't charge extra to ship them to you, Tower does.

John

John:

Wow. I didn't know anyone had gotten that cheap on the retract servos. I might have to rethink staying with the Futaba S-136 servo.

Are the Hitec servos BB and metal gear?

Bill.

Part of the problem with retracts on grass is, the wheels tend to be smaller so they fit the wheel wells. Small wheels hang up in the grass causing excessive drag. As often as not, this will either cause the plane to nose over, or bend the struts a little.

If you don't have to re-align the struts every other flight so they don't bind in the wells, your lucky. All of this is especially true with less expensive, and/or lighter weight retracts. (Like the Hobbico $20 sets.)

Once you get into the bigger, 60 to 90 size planes, the struts must be heavier to support the landing loads and don't bend as badly.

Just my opinion of course.
Dennis-

The Hitec servo uses a single top BB and metal/nylon gears.
http://www.hitecrcd.com/Servos/hs75.htm

The 136 does have the advantage of dual BB's with a nylon/metal gear train, are dual BB's needed? I have a 136 that's been going strong for the past 13 years, but they are $49.99 from Tower and the Hitec 75-BB is $28.95. Hmm, big price difference. It's also interesting to note the Hitec servo has 91 oz/in torque while the Futaba has 76.4.

Personally, I'm going to try the Hitch should I ever need two retract servos in operation at the tame time.

John

What DBCherry says is right on the money... ie, small wheels/bent wires.

However, both of these planes fly great with retracts. Just make sure the ones you get use at least 3/16" wires!