At Wings and Wheels Model Spectacular a few  weeks ago I indulged myself and bought my first ARTF kit.  I have had no firm views on whether they are good or bad.  I have recently been teaching a couple of guys to fly and both had ARTF trainers.  I was pleasantly surprised at their vice-less flight and minimal trimming required.  So, reminding my good lady wife (Hazell) that I hadn't had a birthday present this year (because I didn't know what to have at the time), I found an ideal opportunity to buy and try an ARTF kit. 

I wanted something for my dormant Laser 62.  There are plenty of CAPs and Extra 300s etc, the ARTF market seems to be flooded with this type of aircraft at the moment, but no, I wanted something different.  I saw inside one of the tents the YT International Ultimate Biplane.  Now that was different to the usual ARTF type of kit.  Advertised for a .46 2-stroke and up to .70 4-stroke, good size cowl to hide most of the engine, I decided to have a look in the box.  I was impressed with the box layout and the care taken in the packaging of the components.  It didn't take me long to decided to buy it.  Out came my flexible friend (my credit card) and I was soon walking out with a large, colourful, glossy box.  

Over lunch at the side of the car I had time to examine the components in case there were some problems, and actually read the first few pages of the instruction book; I have never done that with an ordinary built-up kit.  I didn't start the kit until a few days after - work still gets in the way; that is the main reason why I went ARTF this time.  Spending a couple of hours a night over the next few nights and days at the weekend it slowly came together.  I followed the instruction book to the letter, even ticking off each stage as it was completed.  

The longest time spent was installing the Laser 62 - they can be a little quirky to install, side mounted on a rubber shock absorbed engine mount.  I decided to mount the silencer on the bulkhead and connect it to a home-made header pipe with metallised silicone tube; it all worked out very neatly.  Following the instruction book was a doddle, everything fitted as it should and all the parts were present as advertised.  

Today  (22nd July) was the day of truth - would it fly?  I had no excuse of bad weather or strong winds, so after a hearty pilot's breakfast I prepared the model for flight and loaded it into the car.  It is just a 20-minute drive to the target airfield, RAF Coltishall in deepest Norfolk, UK.  

After a few photos, it was time to fire up the Laser and take to the air.  After extensive pre-flight checks and a radio range check, the engine started first time and the mixture was set.  The aircraft was carried to the start point, full power control checks carried out, fail-safe function checked (all under restraint of course), timer set for ten minutes, model released, full power applied and off she went.  A nice long take-off run (to check engine and ground handling), a touch of up elevator and ROTATE!  

I initiated a gentle climb, everything seemed fine so I started a gentle right-hand turn into the circuit, climbed to 200 ft on the downwind leg and let go of the sticks, no adverse roll but the nose dropped; dialled in some up trim until the aircraft sat correctly, carried out low speed handling checks and checked the stall (very gentle, dropping the nose, turning right slightly).  After 5 minutes decided to try an approach - it handled very nicely, smooth with no twitching on throttle reduction, decided to overshoot and go around again.  Engine picked up well, gentle climb back into circuit, settled onto the downwind leg, called “Landing”, turned onto base leg, still looking good, onto the final turn, touch of up trim, throttle back and it gently sank into a 3-pointer, engine shut down, big smiles all round!  

So, after 33 years building from kits and plans my first ARTF was a success.  Would I buy another?  Well, considering it only took 12 hours to complete and can you buy a kit, the covering etc, etc for the same price, well that is a close one; I think that I would for a suitable sports model, but for a detailed scale model, NO! 

Now, where is my Top Flite Mustang kit? That is next for the work bench, I plan on that taking about a year.

Meet Ian on the personal profile page. Here's hoping we might be able to watch the progress here on Ian's Mustang.

The third attempt to glue the front windscreen in position worked reasonably well - how glad I was that I used the slower drying canopy glue rather than cyano, which was recommended in the kit instructions. The secret was in clamping it firmly in place and giving it plenty of time to dry. Being perfectly flat, the side windows were no real problem, except I might have put more adhesive on them than really necessary.

In preparing to run in the engine, I hit a snag that simply hadn't dawned on me before! I had purchased the recommended 16 x 12 propeller for the RCV engine fitted to a sports model, but when I fitted it I was rather alarmed to see how perilously close to the ground the tip of the propeller was and dangerously so once the tail wheel was off the ground and the model was truly horizontal. That 16" prop is enormous, and actually looks oversize for the model. Because of the 2:1 gearing of the RCV engines, they require props much larger in diameter than would normally be used with a 4-stroke engine of the same capacity, and because they are turning at half the speed you would normally expect, they need twice the pitch to maintain a reasonable airspeed. I could see myself doing in props even before take-off, so have now fitted a 14 x 14, giving me another 1" of clearance!

"The RCV engine has proved itself to be an excellent starter", says the manual, but could I get it started?  - darned if I could! Because of the proximity of the glow plug to that whopping prop, a remote glow plug connection is advised, and I then guessed that perhaps the extended lead from the remote connection was causing a drop in current to the plug and I was getting very little glow. I tried the plug directly on the glow starter and then on its extension, and found that this was, indeed, the case. But my power panel has no facility to wind up the current being delivered to the plug, so that meant yet another special purchase of one that does! Having sorted that out, she still wouldn't start, although a squirt of fuel directly into the carburettor allowed the engine to fire and run for just a second or two. Clearly, the fuel wasn't getting through, but when I checked the plumbing in every direction there was nothing evidently wrong. I removed the carburettor and flushed it though with fuel, re-fitted it and she fired up, to my great relief. You'll see also that the engine is started from behind the prop with the electric starter applied to a top starter on the crankshaft. The crankshaft has to be rotated clockwise, so the connections on the starter need to be reversed. Coupled with the fact that the starter needs to be fitted with a starter adapter, the only practical answer is a starter dedicated to the RCV . . . 

On to the finishing touches - wing struts, cowl and spats painted, pilot and panel permanently fitted, minimal decoration. Rigging the model is quite a game - the wing strut fitting is rather fiddly and I'm on the look out for something quicker and easier than having to screw the struts in place under the wing every time - are there any nice little quick-release fixings for this, please folks?  I've decided not to fit the optional jury struts between the wing struts and wing, so here she is ready for the strip, except that it's very unlikely that I shall actually fly her at our field with the spats fitted.

And the final verdict? Well, maybe this model was probably a bit too advanced for my limited experience and building skills, although problems encountered along the way have been overcome and have certainly taught me a lot! I think I'll give myself seven out of ten for a good try!