next move

my poor old tutor is about on its last repair job,getting gastley over weight..like 45oz!.....i need more practice before i risk the new chipmunk,and am considering a u-key 40,any pros,cons,tips or suggestions...thanks,jerry

Jerry:

The U-kie 40 is exactly what is advertised! They are about as close to "ready to fly" as is possible and fly well enough that about 70% of the Intermediate flyers that I know could see a benifit.

Enjoy one!

All three of the Ukey series airplanes fly well enough to do a reasonable pattern, build fast & are easy to repair with 5 minute epoxy. If you're hitting the ground on a regular basis they are the way to go.
Nils

Jerry --

Adding to the U-Key praises above, Joe always responds to e-mail questions immediately, or at most 24 hours.

Another advantage is everything is "hanging out in the open" so modifications like a two-wheel gear, adjustable tank mount, tailwheel, carbon-fiber pushrod, adjustable rudder, adjustable leadouts, or whatever you want is pretty easy.

The covering is a little ugly and wrinkled, but the craftmanship overall is excellent, and things line up. Packaging is excellent, and I can't imagine shipping damage.

You will probably turn an ARF into a kit, but that's the fun. If you wanted to use the ARF approach, you could probably put in two hours of labor and one or two days of drying time, you could be flying in short order.

LAST EDITED ON Apr-18-01 AT 07:30 AM (EST)

LAST EDITED ON Apr-18-01 AT 07:28 AM (EST)

My expierence was a little diferent than Larry's but U-Key's are cool.. I just finished putting two of the 35's together.. One to be used as a trainer for the wife and one is going to be an engine test bed. The two I received needed a little rework of the wing alignment holes, dowel rods and elevator in order to make things line up correctly. I discovered that if you remove the bellcrank bolt, and set the fuselage on a flat level surface you can use the outside core cradles to make sure the wing is straight.

All you need is a flat-level surface, a cheap pocket level and a scrap of 1/2 inch balsa. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I have attached a photo showing how I used the cradles to position the wings while the epoxy was curing.. I used 30 minute epoxy to give me plenty of time to get things straight. The picture doesn't show it but I held the wing in place with lead weights. The fuselage is sitting flat on the table with a scrap of 1/2" balsa under the aft end. You can move the balsa forward or back till the motor mount is level. The wings are supported by the cradles which just happen to be the perfect height to place the wings in correct alignment.

As a side note: The small level came from Sears and I normally use it in conjunction with my incidence meter to align the engine to the wing on profiles. I level the wing and rubber band the level to the prop shaft. (It has a V grove in one side just like it was made for this) A small C clamp holds the engine in place while I mark the mounting holes. The result of all this is a perfectly straight airplane with the wings, elevator and engine exactly on center.

Joe is a great person to deal with, I had a problem with one of my wings getting damaged in shipment and he replaced it.. no questions asked.. Highly recommended..

[photo not recovered: Ukey1.jpg]

Leonard,

I uploaded the above image to your site but like an idiot didn't save the URL. For some reason I was thinking the script would automatically link the image to my message but discovered it doesn't work that way. If you can find it just delete it.

Thanks,
Bob

I have a Ukey 35 and it is possibly my best flying plane. It is slightly modified, I put a different rudder on it, added 2-wheel landing gear, and put a balsa canopy over the bellcrank with a cutout in it to clear the bellcrank, strictly for looks. I use a OS.25FX on it, it has more than adequate power, and it turns very tight, and fast. I've crashed it twice, and simply epoxied the wing back on, and covered the area with clear packing tape. It looks a bit beat, but if anything flies better now. I use it to practice maneuvers I don't want to risk my nicer looking (and easier to break) planes on. I did replace the original elevator hinges with cloth hinges, as the ones which came with it started peeling off.

One of my slide guitar heroes Bob Brozman always maintains that steel bodied National guitars never sound that good until they have been properly 'dropped' at least once.....

And take heart, those of you who crash. The Nats has a long history of "boo boos" that turned out well.

Les McDonald once had a leadout fail at the Nats and crashed his plane the day before qualifying. A hasty repair had the plane back in the air in time, not only to qualify, but he won with it that year.

Not long after, Bob Gieseke, not to be upstaged, attempted a practice flight with the lines hooked up backwards. It ended up chewing the prop off. Nothing hurt, except his son, Joe, grabbed the plane, shoved it into the ground to stop the engine, and ended up shearing off the nose (no plywood doublers) and one wing. The plane was put back together in time to qualify and win.

And, of course, there was the time Bob Hunt left the motel, ready to head out to the Nats site. He set the plane behind the car as he loaded everything else in. Then headed out, but forgot to put the plane, itself, in the car. He backed right over it. Of course, after they hastily repaired the plane, he won that year. His first win at the Nats.

I guess it just takes a little incentive, sometimes, to bring the best out in people.

So, if you crash, remember, you can rebuild it and still win.

Maybe.

I'll file that under "Why the heck didn't I think of that??!!" Great idea Bob!
Nils