[sweetpea]

Ok, Long Story:

So first; I met Ken and Jeff at the 2007 Las Vegas Huckfest. I had always wanted an ultimate and but never got around to getting one. Ken let me fly his PAU Ultimate and encouraged me to 3-D it. I flew very high up and didn't 3-D too well but Ken kept telling me to fly lower and not worry about losing his plane (He since knows better with my flying!). Then I watched Ken let everyone fly the 43% Edge except me. Somehow when it was my turn he "accidently" stepped on the wingtube cracking it. Ken had brought a trailer of New planes to sell with him. What he didn't know at the time was that I was very close to buying an Ultimate but just didn't have the funds to outfit.

Then we fast forward to the Shootout. As a competitor there is quite the prize pool. I went down the list and saw all the great prizes and on the list was a 37% Ultimate. Of course I didn't place well enough to get one of the DA's or the Krill planes but when it was my turn I jumped at picking up the Ultimate. Then it sat in my garage for 2+ yrs. I knew a move from Vegas was coming and I didn't have the time build/outfit or room for another plane. My master plan had always been to recover/repaint the plane in something custom as I never thought the silver/blue/red combo jumped out. While the covering is Monokote and should be shiny, something about the combination too me made it look dull.


Finally last week I stripped the covering off the plane. I recommend using a heat gun on any of the silver parts as this will stop the silver from leaving residue. Next I went through some schemes I had drawn up and some of those I saw on the internet. I believe I used one from back in the Aerotech design a scheme days and I modified it slightly to my covering ablities. To whoever I borrowed the scheme from......Thanks! Its not an easy one to do!

First Step was to lighten the fuse slightly. I found several places to drill some holes in the side of the fuse. I also put a hole in each side of the motor box. I plan to make a removable opening in the top of the motor box as well similar to the AW ARF line.

Second Step was to lighten the rudder. I used a compass and drew some circles on the rudder. Then I drilled them and used a sanding drum to enlarge them. Of course after I did all that I found my template for my 42% rudder that would have looked cooler, oh well.

3rd Step was to lighten the stabs the same way.

4th Step was to find a place for the Rudder servos to be in the rear of the fuse for a push/pull configuration.


***Check back for pics of all this as my camera battery died last night and I will edit them back into this post today.