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Precision Aerobatics Ultimate AMR Review
Finally, a premium aerobatic offering becomes available in biplane form as Precision Aerobatics weaves their Fiber Fusion through two wings!
Introduction
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| ULTIMATE AMR | |
| Wingspan: | 40 inch / 1014mm |
| Wing Area: | 582.4 sq inch |
| Weight: | 38.45oz / 1089g |
| Length: | 43.08 inch / 1095mm |
| Wing Loading: | 9.5oz sq ft |
| Servos: | Voltec VTS-70MG |
| Battery: | PA 3S 2,200mAh |
| Motor: | PA's Thrust 40 |
| ESC: | PA's Quantum 45A ESC |
| Prop: | PA's Vox 13x6.5 or 14x7 |
| Manufacturer: | Precision Aerobatics |
| Available From: | Precision Aerobatics |
You’re forgiven if you thought that the category of “high performance aerobatic planes” is for monoplanes only. Not too many aerobatic biplanes make the scene. But recently, Precision Aerobatics took on the challenge and set the bar for small aerobatic biplanes in doing so. The result is the Ultimate AMR.
The full scale Ultimate design itself started as a wing adaptation on the Pitts design. What's more popularly known as the Ultimate started to form when Gordon Price changed the fuselage to give it straighter lines so it would fare better in competition. The Ultimate wasn't terribly popular in full scale circles but turned out to be more popular in RC form. It can be tricky to get information about, although UltimateBiplane.com is the ideal place to start. By appearance, the Ultimate AMR seems closest to the 10-300 version of the full scale Ultimate with its long and slender lines of a high performance aerobat matched with the romanticism of a biplane. I needed no other reason to stand in line for one.
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Box Contents
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THE POWER TRAIN
3D aerobatics rely heavily on a reliable power system. When you're beyond the stall at low altitudes, the well-being of the plane is solely in the hands of the power train. If it fails, something's going to get cracked. "In thrust we trust", or so it goes. Reliable power systems are required for the avid 3D aerobatics practitioner.
PROP ADAPTER
I wouldn't normally mention the prop adapter, but this little guy is a beast. I have read many times in the forums that once it's on you need a bearing puller to get it off, and they're not kidding. The prop adapter becomes one with the motor, and it's not coming off. The result is a prop shaft that spins absolutely true, and you'll never have a shaft rotation problem.
Vox PROP
Couple the prop adapter with the Vox prop and you'll have a whisper quiet and smooth power system. The Vox 14x7 that came with the package came pretty close to perfectly balanced, I tipped it on one side ever so slightly before mounting.
THRUST 40
Large amounts of thrust, smooth, quiet. It apparently comes with some "RotorKool" technology, but I just bolted it into the plane and expected it to work flawlessly. The AMR cooling ducts air to the motor quite well, and the whole equation delivers on its promise of making the plane ready to dance to the whim of your left thumb.
QUANTUM 45 ESC
Did its job well. The flight sessions with the AMR are typically 6-8 packs flown back to back. I never had it stop for overheating, object or otherwise. At some point I accidentally set the brake and had to fly that way until I found the instructions again, but it's easy to reset back to normal.
PA 3S 2,200mAh V2
Of the 8 similar spec packs that I have flown, the PA V2 pack is the smallest and lightest of this size. With a little research I found that they are among the lightest packs on the market. You may even think that it can't maintain the volts or will deplete faster, though you would be wrong. The PA V2 pack flew as long as any other in my collection and still had 20% left in the tank as should be the case. This pack has quickly become my favorite pack to fly any aircraft of this power requirement.
Awesome, that's all there is to say.
Supplied for review was the "iPAs - Pro" package (Integrated Performance Airframe-Drive System) plus the 1.8" Ultimate carbon spinner. This is the most convenient way to go; it includes everything and saves a few dollars off the total as well. The spinner is not included in the package, but trust me, you will most certainly want it. All you need to bring to the table is transmitter, receiver and a charger. While the plane could be set up as a champion little sports plane with a non-computer radio, a computer radio is required to set it up as intended for aerobatics (expo rates, mixing, etc). I used my Futaba 10C with R617FS 7-Channel receiver. If you go for the plane or power package only, then naturally you'll need to source equivalents of those respective components yourself. There is a "drive" package that includes motor, speed control and prop adapter.
The first thing that hits you when you take the parts out of the box, is simply their quality and presentation. It's drool-worthy.
matching numbers |
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the important bits |
In the first photo of the boxes you'll notice the two matching numbers: One box has the fuselage, the other has the wings. The numbers are important because part of the manufacturing process assembles the wings and fuselage checks and confirms the incidences to insure a great flying biplane. It was certainly the first time that I've seen an RC plane listed as "matching serial numbers" like a collectors car.
The iPAs package contains:
- Ultimate AMR airframe
- Thrust 40 brushless outrunner
- Quantum 45Amp ESC
- Pre-soldered gold plated bullet connectors
- CNC prop adapter
- PrecisionAerobatics V2 Lipo - 2200mAh 3S 20-40C Lipo
- Voltec VTS-70MG metal gear servos (x4)
- Carbon extension servo arms
- Deans Ultra plugs and gold plated bullet connectors
- 14x7 Vox wooden propeller
- Lightweight servo extension wire
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All parts supplied are stiff, strong and straight. They're almost downright artistic. Precision Aerobatics took the "lighter flies better" saying to heart, and it's plainly visible. Overall, part quality is top shelf; the cowling and pants are made from many layers of finer fiberglass and the cowling sports nice carbon reinforcements around the edges. They obviously take great pride in quality and presentation.
What you will need to complete:
- Battery connector of your choosing
- Thick and thin CA glues
- 5 minute epoxy
- Soldering supplies (for servo extensions and battery connection)
- 1mm and 1.5mm drill bits (or inch equiv.)
- misc small tools (scalpel, pliers, screwdrivers, etc)
- Trim sealing iron
Assembly
The instructions outline tried and true techniques for the building process so it all happens quite smoothly. It takes an hour or so longer than a typical monoplane ARF to account for wing mounting and the creation of the interplane linking of the top and bottom ailerons. The instructions have all the info, so I'll tell the story with pictures, captions and details of my deviations and findings.
Fuselage
The first steps are to clear the holes in the covering to make way for their respective pieces. I then moved on to mount the landing gear. Be sure to keep all scraps of covering as they'll come in handy later. As an example, the covering from the cooling hole is used to re-cover the hole for the landing gear plate.
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I encountered a small hiccup for the wheel pants: Some trimming is required of the landing gear legs with a knife so they can be seated properly. Even when trimmed, the seating isn't all that flush. It is recommended by the manual to add epoxy as required. It's a shame to use glue for this, but the result is a very tidy and sturdy leg/pant setup.
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The fit of everything is exacting, and the motor box is no different. Make sure to remove the C-clip as per the instructions and it will spin just fine. The air ducting glues right on the side with epoxy or thick CA.
Be cautious and check the templates for the spinner. There are two cutting templates provided; APC-e props and another described as a wood prop. Because the package came with a wood prop I just assumed that was the one and went ahead with cutting. But it turned out to be not so, and I ended up with an oversize hole. They will have this corrected in the future, but be aware, and make sure it's right before cutting that truly sexy spinner.
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Tail
Adding the stabilizer to the fuselage is like most ARFs; clear the covering from the appropriate area, apply epoxy and slide into place. On the AMR you need to carve a little out of the rudder post to create the slot, and there is a balsa block and a patch of covering to make it all pretty again once the stab is in place. The bevel of the rudder has a large flat-spot and to get the right amount of throw requires a larger than normal hinge-gap. However, the hinge gap does allow plenty of room to add the supplied covering and tape needed to seal the hinge line. The end result of rudder and sealed hinge line is actually quite pleasing.
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Electronics
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VOLTEC SERVOS
The interesting detail about the iPAs-pro package is not that it includes everything, it's that everything is Precision Aerobatics' own products, including the Voltec servos. They're well presented and appeared to be very solid. The four servos provided with this package are 10.7g metal gears. All the servo heads have a metal rings around them to make sure the nylon doesn't stretch and crack, very tidy.
The Ultimate package is supplied with all the servo extras needed for the plane: servo arm extensions and lead extension wire. The hardware that comes with the servo in the packet makes a rigid and tidy installation.
Performance
The servos center well and seemed to be quite quick. During the course of the review they have held up nicely. My original tail wheel was abusing the setup, and after a few repairs I started abusing it back. The problem is that the rudder servo is directly connected, and if the wheel arrangement isn't right it will take a pounding. As a result, the rudder servo started getting the jitters followed by gear failure (I also need to add that an overzealous tail-touch that crushed my rudder didn't help things either).
I replaced the servo and tail wheel arrangement and have not seen an issue since. In reasonable use, these servos have really delivered, including surviving a few stalling situations.
After a great many flights, the servos are performing well. There does not seem to be any introduced slop in the servos themselves at this point.
The next step is to put in all the things that breathe electrons and connect up all the control surfaces.
The lightweight servo extension wire supplied is quite nice and enough for two planes, but it requires soldering. Servo mounting also comes with a word of caution to make sure you follow the manual recommendation of pre-drilling all servo holes, especially the tail servos. I assumed that the servo holes would be backed with plywood and that they could be self-tapped if I was really careful. The first part was right, the second, however, was not. The servos at the back have tiny individual screw size ply islands glued to the balsa, and any extra pressure will pop them off. I opened up the covering on the belly, popped the other little ply squares and glued in full ply rails across both servo holes. I recovered the hole with the airflow piece that was taken out just in front of it. I then self-tapped the screws into the new rails. If you don't want to open up the belly and add your own servo rails, you really will need to pre-drill all holes.
Everything else about connecting up the control surfaces went really smoothly. The pushrods use solid and accurate old-school techniques, and the servo arm extensions bolt right onto the Voltec servos for a really slick installation.
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Wings
Now comes the very satisfying process of mounting the wings. With the exception of mounting the cabane struts to the fuselage, this is the process that typically comes with dismantling the plane for easy transport. The process takes about 15-20 minutes, though the plane will fit in a small car without taking the wings off. I used Dubro Kwik-Links on the bottom of the interplane pushrods connecting the ailerons instead of the EZ-link connections since my Ultimate was destined to be pulled apart (for shipping to SEFF), and this would ensure the process was easy and that the pushrod length was maintained throughout the process.
Tip: when bolting on the top wing to the cabane struts, do the front and back bolts in pairs. This forms a bolt hinge that makes things easier when you get to the front or back.
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Flight Preparation
My flight preparation followed the manual straight down the line with respect to throws and expo curves. The included deflection gauge surprisingly doesn't have some of the required angles but you can get close enough with the deflection. Because the coupling mixes are subjective and personal to setup, I left them out until after the maiden. I balanced the plane as per the description in the manual, gave her the once-over and was ready for aviation to happen!
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SEFF 2009!
This event was awesome, and I was eager to meet up with the Precision Aerobatics crew including their USA chief and their demo pilots. Being able to watch the demo guys and chat with them directly was a cool experience. Talented thumbs aside, their planes were clearly flying well. Chris Jewett offered to explain a trimming process that can be used for all planes. I had seen mention of it online and was keen to try it out:
- Start from a clean slate with all surfaces centered, and set the stock battery pack so that it half covers the holes in the front of the battery tray.
- Using a deflection gauge, and make sure there is enough throw on the control surfaces of 45 degrees or more in both directions and that the travel is equal in both directions.
- Take off, and trim to fly level at half throttle, and then head into the wind to trim the rudder so the plane flies dead straight.
- Climb high, and kill the throttle. Just before or at stall, point the nose straight down, and take your hands off the sticks. If it starts to pick the nose up, then it's nose heavy, and the battery should slide back. If it tucks under, it's tail heavy, and the battery should slide forward. The idea is to experience power off trim/CG changes as the plane accelerates through a full range of flying airspeed. You should do this a few times with each setting, each time changing the airplane's angle to the wind if there is any.
- Now trim out the knife edge pitch coupling: roll to knife edge, observe what happens, adjust the elevator mix and repeat until it's tracking straight. Do this for both left and right knife edge. As per instructions, the AMRs need to counteract a little tucking to the gear when trimmed to fly level (or straight down in this case).
I cycled through this a couple of times and had the AMR tracking like an arrow. Chris finalized the trimming session by thrashing it about like his demo plane, and it was straight tracking in all directions and ready for action! In hindsight, all that my AMR was missing from my original trimming was truly mixing out the knife edge coupling. My plane ended up with a little down trim as mentioned in the manual, and with the resulting elevator coupling mixed out it was perfect.
There were a few Ultimate AMRs hanging around the 3D flight line at SEFF, and it was a pleasure to be there with one of them. My AMR logged over 3 hours flight time during this event alone.
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Aerobatics!
This is what this plane is all about; high throws, thrust and intense aerobatics. Its super light wing loading makes it friendly for those finding their footing with such maneuvers. It tracks straight, is very predictable and wont be snap out or making things difficult unexpectedly. Advance the throttle, and the plane is surprisingly quick. 3D is fun, but everyone will enjoy carving out large and swift maneuvers with the AMR's sharp, sleek lines and adept tracking.
Harriers and Elevators - The AMR is solid performing upright and inverted. Elevators could be a little steeper with a little more elevator throw than I have it set up, but it never gave me enough concern to stop and make the change.
Flat Spins - Nice, flat and takes very little to initiate. It does like to slow in the spin, so it takes a few practice runs to find out just how much throttle you need to keep her turning at a consistent rate. For coming out of the inverted flat spin, start advancing the throttle a little before you want to pull out or it may stay locked in longer than you intend. The easiest (and sexiest) way I found to come out is to smoothly advance the throttle, and it will speed up the flat spin but stop descending. You'll get control authority back, and you can fly/roll right out of it (coolest if you come out straight into a rolling something or other).
Will it blend? - Blenders with this plane are violent and awesome. The plane will take these has hard as you want to push them and produce a whole pile of "wow" for any audience you may have.
Knife Edge - The AMR has massive side force generators between its wings so it has no excuse but to be awesome at this maneuver. With the right CofG it does tend to tuck towards the gear a little, but mix it out right, and this plane has great knife edge. It's not quite a profile model, but it’s close. It will lock into the knife and steer around quite aggressively with the elevator. Hit the power, and stretch it out for a nice loop.
Snaps - They are quite excellent, and the full negative snap is insane. It has a lot of pitch and roll authority, and you can get into an opposite snap very quickly. A basic sequence I enjoy with this plane is opposing snaps in quick succession.
Waterfalls - Some planes will waterfall by accident but I found that it took a little more throttle finesse to keep the Ultimate’s tail flipping under the plane. It may be my thumbs, but I found repeated descending waterfalls difficult. Moving the CofG back and increasing elevator throws may help if this is an important maneuver for you.
Knife Edge Spins - It’s as if this plane was designed for this alone. The extra wing makes the visual a little different as there's more area on the rotating line, but it's quite easy to set up, tight and very sexy indeed.
Rolling Circles - When I'm lazy, I like to fly around rolling circuits using elevator only. The AMR did not exhibit the usual "he's not using the rudder!" tail wobble, so if you keep a little speed on and a reasonable roll rate, you don't even need the rudder for some very smooth rolling circles (very handy for learning, makes you look better than you are).
Rolling Harriers - Trim the plane right, and it is the ideal machine to start learning this quite involved maneuver. For those yet to learn the rolling harrier, fly the AMR into a harrier and just throw a single roll into it every now and then. It's buoyant and forgiving and will help you get the stir and on the way to rolling harrier happiness.
Hovering and Torque Rolls - Very solid. Lock in, and the torque rolls will just dance in front of you. A couple of times it did enough rolls on its own that I had to concentrate on which way it was facing before I interacted with it again. It has a ton of ailerons, and if you can stay on top of it there's enough to put it in a slow anti-torque roll.
GALLERY
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VIDEOS - large widescreen (720 x 406 mp4)
Downloads
(Quicktime Player is easiest, though anything with the mp4 codec, like VLC, will be fine. Large videos also work on iPhone/iPod-Touch. Vimeo embedded player links will be provided when article is published)
Durability
I've cut this plane no slack in abuse, including a crash at SEFF due to low rolling harriers that I didn't keep up with. It came down on its lower wingtip, and then landing gear and nose. I was expecting an absolute mess but I walked off the strip with a plane that by all appearances looked fine. The result was a few cracks in one wingtip and few breaks in the fuselage formers around the bottom wing saddle. I spent 30 minutes making some 1/16th ply doublers for formers and it was back in fighting shape.
A few flights back into abusing it, and the motor departed the plane in flight: I should have given the motor box more attention. The plane sustained no damage at all even though it was a very ungraceful arrival. TIf you have an excessively hard arrival of one form or another, give the motor box a thorough going over, and consider adding some thin ply doublers behind the firewall. For those looking to abuse their AMR beyond reasonable limits (overpowering, flying unbalanced props, knife edge limbo under fixed objects), PA has a page where a minute or two can add a little more strength to the motor box.
But mounted into the rudder, the tail wheel setup relies on balsa alone and puts all the strain on the servo. Very shortly into flying the AMR I was hooked on harrier landings, and the tailwheel gave up in short order. I repaired it a couple of times, but it just couldn't take the punishment. Without too much surprise it damaged the servo. During SEFF I made a carbon tail skid that was a little more sturdy, but I have since solved it all together by adding a ply block into the tail and using a Dubro 40 size tail wheel bracket.
While very forgiving it's not indestructible. It is made of balsa, light ply and carbon: if you did something bad that really deserved cracking, you will probably crack it.
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Is It For Beginners?
Nothing about this plane has been designed with beginners in mind. It's an aerobatic hot rod that flies like it's on rails. Polite and sensible sports plane is about as far as I would back it up on the learning tree. It's a very solid to fly, and the AMR could make an excellent 2nd or third aileron model on low rates. I would make the Ultimate AMR the destination of learning rather than the journey.
Conclusion
The Ultimate AMR has been a ton of fun. It looks spectacular, and it's agile enough that I could safely fly it in the field next to the house. The extra equipment in the iPAs Pro package is of equally high quality with specific mention of the power system which is powerful yet smoother and quieter than any other electric setup I've run. Each flying session is 8 packs back to back up to 4 times in a day, never one overheat or hiccup. Honestly, I would change not one component of it and will most likely be going back to PA for power systems for other models. I've put well over a hundred flights on this plane, and it remains as stiff as when it came out of its box in spite of the trauma I’ve brought upon it.
Pluses
- The level of completeness in the "iPAs - Pro" package
- One of the sexiest ARFs you can field
- Solid aerobatic and 3D performance
- Awesome power train
Minuses
- Correct template for supplied prop not provided with spinner, check before cutting
- The tail wheel setup
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Flight time: 15+ hours
Last edited by theKM; Jul 20, 2009 at 11:54 AM..Discussion
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Jul 20, 2009, 12:10 PM
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central PA.
Joined Sep 2004
18,661 Posts
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Vimeo embeds of the review videos:
The flight envelope review vid
Single unedited review flight
Roll'n with the AMR - one month later
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Jul 20, 2009, 12:15 PM
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BoCo
Joined Sep 2007
1,736 Posts
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Great review and very thorough. I still can't get my AMR to flat spin well - I'll follow your advice next time I'm out with it and see if I can get it dialed in.
Ryan |
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Jul 20, 2009, 01:40 PM
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Tanner, Alabama
Joined Oct 2003
6,063 Posts
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Nicely done, Arron. I saw you wearing that AMR out at SEFF. Not too shabby!
Love the pics in the review...  Andy |
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Jul 20, 2009, 01:51 PM
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Panama
Joined Jul 2005
2,980 Posts
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Great review!! i can personally say that i saw Aaron flying at SEFF, and everytime he took out the AMR he flew non stop
 and at may times at SEFF the 3D flightline was full of Ultimate AMR's flying!!
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Jul 20, 2009, 03:54 PM
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central PA.
Joined Sep 2004
18,661 Posts
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Thanks guys. Fun plane, fun review. Was fun flying with Dan, Herc and the guys. When my rollers are as low as Dan's I'll post the video
I was looking at the links, and I didn't link up the last vimeo video correctly (the review download is right, third vimeo vid is wrong). The third vimeo link above is fun, but all the good shots are in the real one (naturally). So, the "one month later" review vimeo video is actually this one, enjoy...
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Jul 20, 2009, 04:13 PM
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Columbia SC
Joined Feb 2005
4,191 Posts
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Great review dude! It is very well written and I hope to see more of these from you in the future.
BTW: I officially nominate the pic below for the best pic ever award (in the non p0rn categories of course)! |
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Jul 20, 2009, 04:18 PM
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Tanner, Alabama
Joined Oct 2003
6,063 Posts
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I don't know, Chris...it's kinda hard to compete with Tram on this one. Oh! This one would go in that other category!
 Andy |
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Jul 20, 2009, 04:19 PM
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Columbia SC
Joined Feb 2005
4,191 Posts
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Lol! Yep, it goes in the other category
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Jul 20, 2009, 06:15 PM
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central PA.
Joined Sep 2004
18,661 Posts
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I was pondering using this pic...
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Jul 20, 2009, 06:36 PM
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Tucker, GA
Joined Dec 2007
2,299 Posts
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Great review, great flying. Well done Aaron.
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Jul 20, 2009, 07:06 PM
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Joined Jul 2004
396 Posts
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Airplane
If the airplane looked like the Ultima with the center wing supports, like the real one, I would probably buy one. That is to me, the only draw back, to this great flying plane. I had an Addiction, and flew it to death. That plane was a real show stopper. One year of hard flying with that plane, till I had servo failure. I think I'll buy another one down the road. Nice review tho.
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Jul 20, 2009, 07:43 PM
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Midlothian,VA
Joined Jan 2006
307 Posts
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Thanks for the review, got one coming Wednesday.
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Jul 21, 2009, 06:35 AM
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Swanton, Ohio
Joined Feb 2005
7,990 Posts
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Excellent review Arron!!
Your build pics. and written text definately amplify the quality of this airplane and it's capabilites were well explored in the videos you posted. I can tell you that I spotted for Arron on several of his Ultimate flies down at SEFF this year and Arron was absolutely tearing it up. He must have flown this plane 20 + times at SEFF. Few people know that Arron actually developed a new maneuver with this plane down at SEFF that is currently being looked at by both the IMAC and Pattern BODs. It's called, "The Crazy Man" maneuver and if you have someone standing behind you as you are flying this maneuver they will usually say something like, "Oh man this isn't going to end well!"  Great flying with you Arron!! |
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Jul 21, 2009, 06:44 AM
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Sydney Australia
Joined Jun 2004
1,380 Posts
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Hi Arron
Well done! Thank you Adad Precision Aerobatics Team |
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