I had a chance to look at the new ULTRA-RC QUEST today. I had gone to pick up a new cowl for my old Quest, (mine had been modified for several different engines and was getting worse than Swiss cheese!).

The first news is that if you have a Quest already and you need spares, they have a contingent of cowls, canopies, U/C, and major parts etc. they even have the colors of the covering available.

I have built two Quests and was eager to see what was different. This is what I found:-

1. The fuselage has a new front end. Much more more conventional with a firewall and a bay/hatch for a fuel tank behind the engine id so desired

2. No more beam mounts. Regular mounts included

3. The parts are laser cut this time.

4. The Wing is shorter to improve the snaps. 68.5" vs 72".

5. The whole plane is lighter.

I did not see it but I think the stab has moved a tad for better down lines.

Lots of "red" ones available this time.

More pic's in next note

New front end

Eric,

They look great. Do you by any chance know the new spec for the wing, like the wing area? In addition, could you advise what is the engine mount included in the kit?

Regards,

Kevin

The old QUEST pictured below was very good on a YS .91 or a 1.10. This lighter version looks to be another good match for the YS 1.10 of 2-c .91's.

Oh! I almost forgot the price is $249.99. See ULTRA-RC.com

Eric, Is the cowl huge or is there another piece to cover the tank hatch? Could you show the acces. pack that comes with it?
thanks

Eric,

First, thanks for posting this information. When I built my Quest I referred to your earlier build thread a number of times.

Do you feel the fuel tank/hatch compartment is strong enough on the new one as shipped. I remember on the other one you added some reinforcement. Does the firewall on the new version have right thrust built in?

Thanks,

Larry

Hi Larry,
It looks OK. I would need to get my hands on one to be sure. It would not do any harm to slip in some lite-ply to be sure. I would always put an extra plate of some 1/8" marine-ply on an ARF where the blind nuts go for the UC, just for good measure. [It stops them pulling through the original ply]

It uses regular radial "T" type engine mounts. I always fit a Hydemount, so I would probably move the firewall back my customary 1". I saw (no pun intended) that the side-thrust etc. is already there. I also forgot that it comes with a CF elevator joiner.

Even with a bit of kit-tuning a $250 91-120 4-c plane is a good deal. A bunch of folks used their older 1.20 YS's. FZ's and AC's and even some YS 1.40's (I plead the fifth on the last one). You can still put the rudder servo @ teh back if you go heavy on the nose-noise-maker :-)

One thing they didn't do on the new ones (I've got one) is mark the centerpoint of where the mount is supposed to go. It's not in the instructions, and it's not marked on the firewall. They were going to call China and get back to me, but I haven't heard back yet.

I used an ST 90 with a Macs pipe/Mueller wrap around header on my last one (met an untimely end), and I intend to do the same this time. Used a Hyde mount. Didn't have to move the firewall for the 2 stroke.

I saw the FRP elevator joiner. Better than the wire one they used before, but I think I will go with two of the JR mini digitals again, one on each elevator half. The elevators are awfully big for a joiner.

Jon Lowe

Hi Jon,
Please let me know how you get on with the mark-2 version. I am sorely tempted to get one for my aged but still hot YS 91, just so I could fly it against the original.

I fitted Bolly gear to mine BTW. It was lighter and just lying around my shop already finished off from another project. I usually paint the canopy and relieve some of the tank into the cockpit area.

Jon,
I'm building a Zafiro and have a new ST90 and thinking of doing the same thing you did (wrap around header and a mac pipe, it would all fit in fuse of a Zafiro). What kind of prop and RPM's were you getting from your piped set up?
Jeff

test - please ignore - trying new avitar

Jeff,
Unfortunately, the plane met its end before I measured things. The last props I ran were a 16x6 and 16x7 APC. 16x6 gave very good vertical, but would go supersonic very easily in the air. 16x7 gave good, but not great vertical, and did not go supersonic, but it also speed the Quest up more than I'd like. Maybe a 17x5 or 6 would have been better? This was with a ST 90, wraparound header, Mac's Quiet pipe, 15% Mach7/Morgans fuel, with a Perry pump. I used the header at stock length directly into the pipe. Worked well, and JUST fit in the Quest without lengthening the tunnel. By the way, this is an old ST 90 SK, not the G, but they are basically the same.

Hope this helps.

Jon Lowe

Well, I tried hard.... I ate "bad-for-me" candy, I drank a coke-a-cola or two, I even watched HBO specials and the Wings channel, but I could not resist the temptation of a new Quest sitting in a box only a few miles away.

One short car trip later, I was taking everything out of the box. I tore off all of the wrapping. This is about a 30 minute task. Then I cut up the box and disposed of the evidence before the "boss" got home. The empty brown box is a giveaway. A carton with a picture still on it is a dead giveaway. Anything on the bench is ignored. (BG)

The first thing that I noticed was that covering is a bit brighter, Ultracote I think. I could see evidence of lightening in the canopy floor etc. It definitely felt lighter all over. The laser cutting was evident in the wing roots and elsewhere.

I am pleased to say that this version is only available with red as the primary trim. No more "girly" pink!.... I like the tinted canopy and the new firewall. I'll throw on a Hyde YS 91 "A" mount and my refurbished YS 91.

With the shorter wing and lighter build this should be just what I want. I'm going to build it with the abilty to have 3-D and pattern throws.

More as it comes together.

Regards,

Eric.

Eric,
Actually, I LIKED the pink! Real men fly pink airplanes!!

Anyway, I cannot get an answer out of Ultra on where the center of the engine mount is supposed to be. They have owed me an answer for over a week. A second email goes unanswered, which surprises me since they were good about answering email before. Is your firewall marked?

You are right about the lighter construction. Very nice.

Thanks.

Jon Lowe

Jon,
I doubt if they can answer the question. The instructions are a wee bit basic.

Are you using a Hyde mount? All you are really doing is lining up the cowl/engine relationship.

Either way, on the last two Quests that I built I fitted a firewall and had to figure out the mount position.

First, I taped the cowl in position so that it matched the "lines" of the side view and from above.

Then with a "cross-bar" and a set-square I located the center line by measuring back from the position of the nose ring.

Just lay a short steel ruler horizontally across the nose-ring opening.
Then put the square through the hole until it touches the firewall.
Adjust the square to just be short of that depth.
Place the square on the center of the x-bar. (Spinner opening center)

Now you can see where the horizontal center should be.

Do the same thing in the vertical plane and you can mark the height as well.

You can see through the cheek cowl holes or, as in my case, pre-cut the rear of the cowl for air ducting.

The square that I use is the woodworkers type that has a sliding ruler section in it.

If you are not sure just call me.

Eric.

P.S. A always use Bolly FAI gear. It's lighter and flexes better on landings :-)

Jon,
I just finished fitting a YS 110 "A-type" Hydemount to my Q2. I remembered to measure the position of the motor.

With the cowl all lined up to match the lines of the fuselage, the center came out as follows.

Vertical Center-line 2-1/16" from the right hand side.

Horizontal Center-line is 2-19/32" from the bottom.

Interestingly enough the Hydemount spaced the engine drive washer out perfectly at 5-3/8" from the fire wall.

To answer other questions. It looks strong enough but I still added some lite-ply in eitehr side of the wing-dowel-former and I cut into the canopy floor to allow for a center mounted pressurized tank.

Regards,

Eric.

Thanks Eric! That helps a lot. I will be using a Type A mount also with my tuned pipe ST 90, so this will be perfect.

Jon Lowe

Join,
I'll do pictures when I get my new spinner.

No spinner yet, but here's some "A" type Hydemount pictures and the way the cowl lined up.

Regards,

Eric.

The Hyde distances and dimensions etc. fitted with no modifications. I went for the rudder servo in the back again. It just seems to save weight and allows the battery to be what is moved to suit my CG. needs.

I did put some lite-ply on the sides behind the firewall. Habit I guess ;-)

I was also given a tip by George Asteris. He told me to lay a 3" wide piece of 20 oz cloth inside the fuselage, down one side, across the landing gear ply-plate and then up the other side. He has built around 12 of these planes and he says that the landing gear plate won't pull out if you do this.

Regards,

Eric.

Hey Guys,
I just saw the 3D Quest 90 back on "E.B.A.Y." by Racing Devil Hobbies also a G2 version. I am happy to see that some have taken over where Creek Hobbies left off. Just a quick tip, I used the MK Dual ball bearing elevator coupler on mine and it worked great.

Good Flying

Jon,
Update and Change - I have almost finished the Quest-2 and it does NOT need the rudder servo to be at the back. I had it there to begin with, but now I have taken it out and covered over the hole with some scrap Ultracote. The rudder servo is now in the pull-pull position as per the instructions. The battery is up against the firewall and I now use a the regular spinner backplate instead of the lightened one.

I am also fitting a new Quest cowl to my 1.40L version, so while I have them both in the workshop, I will weigh the Mk-1 and Mk-2 fuselages and wings to see how they compare.

Regards,

Eric.

I had to add ballast to the nose of my original Quest, even with a pull-pull rudder, running the ST 90. I had the battery pack right behind the engine.

What do you think of the GRP joiner for the elevator halves? Is it stiff enough? On my original, I went to two small JR digitals instead, because the wire joiner was too flexible.

Jon Lowe

Jon,
Update and Change - I have almost finished the Quest-2 and it does NOT need the rudder servo to be at the back. I had it there to begin with, but now I have taken it out and covered over the hole with some scrap Ultracote. The rudder servo is now in the pull-pull position as per the instructions. The battery is up against the firewall and I now use a the regular spinner backplate instead of the lightened one.

I am also fitting a new Quest cowl to my 1.40L version, so while I have them both in the workshop, I will weigh the Mk-1 and Mk-2 fuselages and wings to see how they compare.

Regards,

Eric.
[/quote]

Ref. the Joiner. VERY stiff indeed.

Tips;

- Dry fit all the hinges.
- Use 30 min epoxy.
- Put clear tape on stabs to stop glue-ooze reaching the back of the stab.
- Tape stab tips at netural.
- Wipe excess epoxy off with denatured alcohol.
- When cured, Zap the mylar hinges

Drill the horn-bolts through the stab joiner.

Eric.

P.S. I posted the weights last night but don't see it here?

What weight are your new Quests coming out at?