Hello all... i really like this community.... you guys are the best at quik and reliable responses... as for this post, i have a quik question... i've built 2 planes now (kadet 40 and tele senior) and am currently thinking about starting a 3rd... i won it a night ago at our clubs meeting... its a 4 star 40 and i wanted to know how well this plane goes together... i built the tele in about 3 weeks and after getting started didnt think it was too hard, but ive never done an aerobatic plane... for that matter, anything else that wasnt a trainer style... so yeah, to wrap it up... i was just curious how the building of this plane is and if there are anythings to look out for...

again i appreciate you guys and all the responses that im sure will follow... take care and "fun flying"

Peter Griffin

If you search for Four Star or 4*, you will find tons of tips and modifications. To sum it up though, it goes together really well and is a great flying plane. With two kits under your belt, it should be no problem for you.

Have fun

Paul,

I think you will like the 4 Star. It was my second airplane and my first kit. It goes together real easy, and you have to try real hard to build the fuselage crooked. Building the wing is like building any other wing, no suprises there and the empennage is jsut sheet balsa, so all you have to do is sand, hinge, and cover. The plane flys very well, and is very tame on takeoffs and landings.

I am in the process of re-covering mine because the Rossi .45 that I used on it sprayed fuel all over the covering, and since that was my first covering job and it wasn't too good, some of the fuel seeped into the wood. :cry:

wow responses this quikly... thnx guys... the more the merrier too... i talked to a fellow out at the field today also, he said it was a great flyer, but there was a drawback... he said that i really should put a 4 stroke on it so that i can slow the plane down... he said that a 2 stroke would fly it to fast.. can someone elaborate on this... thanx a lot guys

Peace
Peter Griffin

My only guess is that the larger prop on a 4-stroke would create more drag. A 2 stroke is fine for this plane though.

I had the 60 size with an OS 61, it slowed down just fine. Acroman330 has the only plausible explaination. Larger disk helping to slow it down.

Peter
the first thing that comes to mind is "throttle back" I recived my 4* 40 kit yesterday and cant wait to put it together. Every one I talk to says you cant go wrong with this plane. The guy that really talked me into this kit said that he's built the wing in a solid day. I'm a little nervous cause the is my first kit. I've exzumed about 3 or 4 plane from the dead piles of other people but never one from start to finish.

From what I've seen this plane is a
great build
flys smooth
lands like a trainer i hope
and will do almost any thing u ask it to do!

I'm going with a Super Tiger .46 in mine

GOOD LUCK

There are lots of different threads for this plane out there. Type in "commenced" and you'll find one that's very helpful. I just finished the kit myself and the plane is great, fun to fly. One upgrade that you really should do is to put some extra ply material to the area of the fuse above the trailing edge of the wing as it tends to crack on hard landings. Lots of other things you can do but don't have to. You can tint the canopy, sheet the turtle deck, build a nose cowl, add about 1" to the rudder. Have fun. It's a great plane.

Ah, the Four-Star. What an awesome bird! I've had two of the ARFs (60), and even copied the design into a coroplast 'Cor-Star'. I'm bashing one into a twin at the moment. Anyway, this plane doesn't land anything like a trainer. I've yet to see a trainer slow down and float like the Four-Star/Cor-Star series. It damn near lands backwards with a 5-10 mph head wind. It's a joy to fly, easy to customize, and will take you to the next step.

If it has any drawbacks, they would be:

1) Knife edge. This plane doesn't knife edge very well. It has a tendency to pitch down. Bruce Tharpe (designer) implemented a 'fix' for this on his next design, the Venture 60. He angled the rudder hinge line into a swept back configuration. This cured the pitch down in knife edge. I have swept back the rudder line on my latest Cor-Star, but haven't flown it yet to test the theory. Others say that simply increasing the rudder chord helps as well.

2) Grass landing strips. The lack of sheeting directly behind the main wheels, has poked many a hole in the covering of my ARFS. We share the field with sheep, and an occcasional sheep turd will flip up and rip a hole in the open bay behind the wheel. If I was building a kit, and flew off a grass or other debris filled field, I would sheet that first bay.

That's the only 'down side' I can think of with this plane. Build it, and fly the snot out of her!

Sheep turd strikes! That's a new one on me. The nerve of those sheep. I thought we had it bad out here when the elk crossed the runway at night and left 2" deep divots from their hoves. Some sheep have no shame!!

I built this plane not long ago and it flies great. I would suggest putting in two aileron servos as i did in mine. I made hatches between the ribs and it works great. The plane does tend to land fast with a 2 stroke but with the mixing i can used on my radio I can mix the two ailerons to an airbrake. This slows the plane down really well and makes it rock steady. I have an OS 46 in the nose and it hauls the plane around. Mine will knife edge ok but it tucks to the belly some. If you try a flat spin make sure it's HIGH because the four star take a long time to get out. Mine takes 3 rotations and full opposite rudder. If you fly off of grass I would suggest using nylon bolts on the landing gear. Otherwise the plane is really easy to put together.