ERB

I've always been a fan of the "sticks". After trashing several regular trainers I learned to fly on a gp stick about 12 years ago so needless to say I've always thought of the sticks as kinda like my first born child. I've always said the most fun plane I ever had was a Das ugly stick that I tore all the pvc covering off, took out the dihedral, built up larger control surfaces, and slapped on a Webra 120. I've been out of the hobby for about 4 years while going to college, drinking beer and chasing women; but when I saw the new ultra stick 60 naturally I had to have one.

Bright yellow, red & blue. Ahhhh ... These colors are so brilliant It would even make Ronald McDonalds proud. They should rename it the Mc Stick. Aside from the color I don't have enough good things to say about the new ultra stick. Parts fit was excellent, the manual was the easy to understand and well thought out, and the hardware was decent. I can't believe how far arf's have come in the last 4 years. Wow! Real Ultracote, prehinged surfaces, holes drilled for wing bolts, servo tray installed and push rod tubes pre-installed in fuse. This thing is as easy to put together as popping a bag of microwave popcorn!

However I do have some beefs. The supplied gas tank must have came out of the happy meal toy box because its crap! Then it comes with pink and green fuel line? What’s up with that? I replaced the tank with a Dubro 13oz that fit perfectly. I also wish they could have left the stickers off. Maybe its just me but I hate stickers. Whenever I see a sticker it reminds me of those red-neck piss-on stickers, anyway I got mine off but it took a lot of prying and pulling and Is to much to ask for just a few small sheets of the original covering for patch's and stuff like that?

Ok to the good stuff... First flight in 4 years and it was like I didn't skip a beat. First flight was with the Saito 100 & Graupner 13.5 X 8 prop at about half throttle. I flew smooth circles just to get the feel back. Just a few clicks of trim here and there got it flying hands off. Then came in for a slow as a walk touch down. Fueled up again - Lined up with the runway - Punched full throttle - added rudder - Took off in about 10 feet climbed straight up for a hammer head - back down for 2 ft off the ground inverted flight- several loops and spins - needless to say I was having a blast..

Summary: If you are like me and try to live by the "kiss" method. This planes for you! Everything you need and nothing you don't. The Saito 100 is plenty of power to yank this light plane all over the place. But I may go back to my old trusty Webra 120 for some serious overkill. I didn't get to play with the quad flaps yet but can't wait to try them out. Hope this helps anyone thinking of getting one of these.