Ultra Sport 60 (oz6177)

About this Plan

Ultra Sport 60. Sport model for .60 power. From RCM Aug 1989.

Quote: "All balsa thoroughbred for the advanced sport flier.

Advanced Sport Flier = R/C Flier who is comfortable with a low wing but is not interested in (or not ready for) competition.

I consider myself an advanced sport flier. I mastered (and loved) a Super Sportster (oz2633) 4 or 5 years ago, yet I will never be a competitive pattern flier. (Not enough precision in my fingers and not enough time to practice.) What I enjoy most is 'freestyle' aerobatics, although sometimes I just like to putt-putt around as slow as the airplane will fly.

I don't think that I'm unusual; in fact, among our local fliers most fall into this category. Why is it that there are so few kits designed specifically for the advanced sport flier? Think about it. The Ugly Stik (oz5175) was designed in the 60's. Radio and engine technology has progressed in leaps and bounds in the past 20 years, yet most of us are still flying Stiks of one type or another. There must be a better way.

What about sport/pattern designs, you say? Have you ever flown a Kaos (oz6251)? If you have, I'll bet you just smiled a little at the memory. If you haven't, you've missed out on one of the best flying sport/pattern planes ever designed. Oh, it isn't perfect. It doesn't snap or knife-edge very well, and it doesn't like wind, but nothing else in recent memory gives the same smooth and easy high speed aerobatics combined with truly gentle low speed characteristics. Unfortunately, the Kaos has never looked as good as it flies.

Beauty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder (to coin a phrase), and the Kaos is not ugly, it's just - well, kind of unfinished. Besides, even the Super Kaos (oz5523) is a 15 year old design.

The Ultra-Sport began as an attempt to create an advanced sport plane with the superb basic flight characteristics of the Kaos, yet more modern construction and appearance. As it turned out, only the Kaos airfoil remains unchanged. The Ultra-Sport is 10% larger to handle the greater weight and power of today's engines, the moments and areas have been juggled in order to improve snap/spin and maneuverability, and that big canopy and turtledeck do wonders for the knife-edge. The structure is sturdier and easier to build, but the wing loading remains the same.

Does it work? I have to tell you, designing model airplanes is always a bit of a gamble. You do everything by the book and sometimes it all works together and sometimes it doesn't. Things interact and sometimes the total is less than the sum of the parts - and sometimes it's more. The Ultra-Sport exceeded every design objective. Off the board, the first prototype flew better than I had any right to expect. It's more responsive than a Kaos and much smoother than a Stik. I expected that, but it's also faster than a Kaos and it seems to ignore the wind. There are four Ultra-Sports flying now, and they all display the same characteristics. I almost changed the name to Synergy.

The Ultra-Sport offers pattern-like performance without the need for a pipe, or even retracts. If you prefer retracts, bulletproof 2-wheel mechanical retracts are designed in. Like 4-strokes? The third prototype flies beautifully (and over 100 mph) on a 91 Surpass. Yet, unlike a pattern ship, the Ultra-Sport lands at a walk. It will maintain level flight at 30 mph air speed.

The Ultra-Sport's best characteristic though, is its complete lack of vices. There is no adverse yaw, no roll couple with rudder, no trim change with throttle, not even a fishtail in the wind. It won't snap roll unless you ask and the tail dragger won't ground loop (unless you hit a rock or something). You don't have to compensate for anything in order to make your flying smooth and precise. What this means to you and I is that with practice the Ultra-Sport will make you a better flier, but, more importantly, it will make your flying look better..."

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