Not bad for an 11 day build in my spare time. Minor things to do, bend a taller LG, find a pilot tomorrow and paint the cockpit. Maybe make up the wheel pants and glue on the wing tips. Even the CG on this one came out right on. Maybe do a maiden this weekend but I would rather do it during the week when I'm all alone. It's a shame ACE no longer produces this kit, very small parts count. Just a tad heavy for an electric but we will see what happens. I just love these little 1/2A kits!!! Really don't like Coverite Microlite Film!!! Took a bit of work but I got it figured.

Nice job !

I recall some of those build SPRINTS myself !

I hope it flies well it sure looks nice.

Very nice, GB!<div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>I feel the same. Coverlite is OK (if one doesn't mind brushing Balsa-Rite!), but I notice it's very fragile to hangar rash and dents easily in storage. </div>

When there are only a few parts it's easy to go fast. I used Sigment, thin CA, Gorilla Glue and epoxy. Most of the few parts are hardwood so I used epoxy for the most part so I had a lot of down time waiting for it to set up. Sigment was pretty nice to go back to for a change of pace.
There are only two open areas on the fuse sides so other then the foam wings there shouldn't be any real hanger rash problem. The covering stuck pretty well and I don't use any type of stickum very often. Once in a while a squirt of lacquer hair spray if I think it's needed. My problem with the covering was the static effect, it likes to fold over and stick to itself when your trying to lay it out to iron. Not a huge problem but it happened with every piece!! I may give it a try on the open bay electric planes I have on the back burner?? Next up will be something a bit bigger and more work.

Nice day and I got the longer landing gear made for it so I took it out in the street for a ground handling test. It was all over the place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![&:] Sure glad I made the custom wing tips just for the ground looping. I didn't loop it but it got close. I was asked about the weight so I stuck it on my fish scale, you know all fisherman are liars except you and me and I'm not sure about you, the scale said it's right on 3 pounds or 48 ounces. It is a heavy little thing and on the ground it did take quite a bit of power to get it moving. Once the wheels loosened up a bit the ground handling got a bit better. Still, it's going to be one of those planes I want to get off the ground as fast as I can!!

It's all hearsay without a video, GB.  

Nice Ultimate Gene. Looking forward to the maiden flight report. I have one of the Great Planes electric arf's. Good flyer but it is sensitive on the ground and likes to flip over in the grass on landings. Surely it is not a pilot issue....

<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It can't be as hard as taxiing an old-timer with a reed set. Lag like swimming in peanu butter. </span><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I like those vintage wheels. Does it have a little toe-in?</span></div>

I can't see a little toe on this aeroplane..where is it?

Less cleaning so more time for drinking gene

Very nice Gene.

Did the maiden today. Pulled up the weather and it looks like high wind the rest of the week so I took advantage of the light wind today. On take off I allowed the plane to come up on step too much and I could hear the prop hitting the ground. Took it up high and did the trim work then came down and tried some stunts and just general flying. It flies smooth at about half power and doesn't have the vertical pull I'm used to, it's OK but it won't hold a hover very long. The loops were OK and the big stunt is the stall turn. The roll is the worst I have seen in a long time. It's more of a rollop. A very ugly barrel roll. Then I tried the outside loop, it doesn't like that at all!! At the time I was wishing I had more altitude but it came out of it OK.
Due to the weight and the linkage of the ailerons, it gets more throw from the bottom ailerons then the top, I rate this little plane as OK, nothing great but OK. I will be testing props on it though. I felt it was over propped with the 11 on it. My friends are using the 10 inch on the same motor/ESC combo but on a much lighter plane.
I managed to really shorten the prop on take off, over 1/2 inch!! But it still flew OK. I'm sure I can get it to fly better over time.
Gene

Congratulations Gene. Any maiden that you get to bring it home without repair is a success.

Thanks Steve, I was really expecting the worst on this one for some reason so it was a pleasant surprise it flew as well as it does. For the weight it really floats very well, that was a nice surprise.

I thought I removed a lot more prop then I did, it isn't that far out of balance but it was sure making noise and vibrating, it is shattered quite a bit though but I only removed a bit over half an inch.

Congratulations on the maiden.

Noise and vibrating after cutting and balancing or before ?

Zor

After removing half an inch on take off.

Gray Beard,

At the risk of being rebuffed I suspect that your prop is not really balanced.
It turns pretty fast in a very light weight model.

Such a small prophas to be balanced with nearly zero friction in its support.

Zor

Zor, I will be the one to rebuff you on this one, I balance my props, every prop I have ever used. If you read my post you would have noticed I allowed the plane to come too far up on step on the take off and ground off half an inch at take off and shattering even more. Of course it is going to be out of balance at that point but I flew the plane anyway knowing as soon as I took off the prop was toast.
Let it drop and forget about it. You are starting to dwell into the realm of stupid and beating the dead horse again. Let it go.

<span style="font-family: Arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">GB,</span><div style="font-family: Arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">Good you got some flying in. Odd how it barrel-rolls tho. Will changing aileron throws via programming help, or will you live with it?</div>

Hi Ed, the problem with the ailerons is all four are controlled with one central servo, I can get plenty of throw from the bottom main ailerons but the way they have the linkage set up so you only get about half the throw on the top. They have you cut down the control horns and mount them on the top of the ailerons so if I mount them on the bottom I will get much more throw. I haven't fooled with them yet but if I use the horns they supplied it would give me too much throw if I reverse them. I'm pretty sure that is the cause for the nasty rolls. I have the CG dead on the center of there marked CG and I hard mounted everything to get it there so I will need to buy some new lead strips to start fooling with that too. I need to finish up the Satyr I built and get that covered next and out of my shop so I can move on to the next build. In the mean time I will fart around with this little one and see if I can't get it to stunt better. I'm used to flying my little AW Extra electric and I shouldn't be comparing the two planes. The little AW is a perfect machine but they are apples and oranges. The other Ultimates I have built all had 4 servos on the ailerons and had a very nice roll. I'm pretty sure the ailerons are the problem. Can't have two at 15 degrees and two at 6 or 7 and think it's going to roll right. I knew it wasn't a good set up when I put it together but I did it to the plans/instructions. I also have to keep in mind it's just a goof off plane to have fun with. I will change some things and see if I can't make it better.

Thanx, GB. Keep us posted on the progress. <div>
</div><div>I know how frustrating it is to go through all the trouble of a build, only to have it perform sub-par. I have an Ace 4-20 that is a slug. It came out slightly overweight, but it just putts along at a fairly slow pace with an OS .26 4-stroke. Come spring, I'll switch props and probably swap out servos (Futaba 148s). CG is OK, I think it's weight and possibly airfoil. I feel yore pain!</div>

During the summer when it's nice and warm I spend about a week getting any new plane into proper trim and work out all the bugs, this isn't anything new or unexpected. As I was walking out the door I told my wife I was expecting a crash so I guess I'm ahead of the game. I still haven't checked the plane to see the stall and I never tried a knife edge or the Cuban 8. Just the roll, loops and stall turn. The hover was just to check the power, it doesn't have a lot! It sort of acted like the battery was low but it is the weight of the plane. It was designed for up to a .20 glow engine. I used the motor and battery I had on hand. It could use a bigger one.