I was volunteered to help out a newbie at our club.. He has purchased a hobbico superstar EP select.. I was leery due to seeing so many underpowered electric ARF's but this thing was a dream.. It did a ROG in about 30' and climbed out briskly at full throttle. It easily maintained level flight at 50% throttle and the rudder was more than ample for very nice turns.. The dihedral angle seemed to be just right... This newbie had never flown before or assembled an ARF.. He had no trouble putting it together whatsoever and it checked out fine at the field upon inspection.. It floats nicely poweroff and is ruggedly built too!... I was surprised to see full size servos in it though.. I would think micro servos would be enough and you could probably have ailerons and rudder for the same weight if micro servos were used... What a pleasant surprise it was to fly a box stock electric trainer that could actually climb and turn.. Hobbico got this one right.

You're correct about how nice of a trainer it is!
I would suggest having some help with this plane though... mighty fast for a "do it yourself trainer" type. There are tons of threads on the superstar but the easiest mod that makes a TON of difference is a 2.5:1 gearbox. I think they are 12.99 at tower. Also, I found MAS 12x8 folders work great! Another upgrade is getting high capacity batteries for more run time. www.batteryspace.com has 7 cell 3000 packs that run very well under 30 amps.

Thanks, I will pass along the gearbox, batt and prop mods to the happy new owner

i watch in awe as a friend drives his superstar arround the field where i fly . he is new at flying......it is so smooth and easy for him.

meenwhile i sit and try to tape and glue my hobbico aero cruiser back together for another try at flight....(my first plane)

wish i had started out with superstar first......

eef

Tic, I just picked one up used (taxied but never flown) I have flown for a few years now so I am not using it for a trainer, well I guess I kinda am using it for a trainer (first plane with landing gear) I am planning on using it for a AP (camera plane) and have done a few mods, and plan to do a few more. This plane is Very easy to mod.. I didnt like the tail dragger gear so I fixed that by moving the stock gear to the rear of the battery cover and installing a stearable nose wheel. Driving it around on the ground is cool . Let your new flyer know that he can get 10 min. flight times with $50 worth of upgrades from Tower Hobbies, Mag. mahem rev. rotation motor $19.99, Speed 600 2.5.1 gearbox $12.99 & add 2 or 3 11X7 APC props and your set to go. He can even upgrade the wheels to 3" wheels for easier take-off. All for just under $50, I think this is a great deal for all of these upgrades, all my other planes killed me with the cost of the upgrades. Tell your buddy he made a GREAT choise for his first plane Just dont scare him off by telling him how much you spend on planes and gear ...R...

really... I have one that ground loops so badly I can hear the pilot hurling in the cockpit.

Seriously, I have never flown it. no matter how much rudder I give it, 5 - 8 feet and it goes into hard left ground loops... its too darn big for me to hand launch. The gear looks straight.

If I hadnt switched to an e-starter, I would never have learned to fly.

I have been flying several other planes with no problems.

Any ideas?

The biggest help I can give is to get the 12.99 gearbox I suggested. Also make sure the normal pre-flight checks are done... It does fly but much better with said gearbox.

I've been in the hobby a little over 3 years and believe it or not, this was the first plane I ever tried with gear.... I had never done a take off from the grass and the plane went almost dead straight w/o me using any rudder and took off in maybe 30'... Maybe I just got lucky.. The owner had NOT used the included tailwheel but instead just had a plastic skid on the back

Another cheap powertrain is 8 2600 or 3000 nimhs with an endo 3.8:1 and a 12x8. ( 50 oz thrust, 55mph ps speed and 40 amp static draw per motocalc.)

I'm using this on a 82 oz 72" span jk aerotech big t and it not only gets it off grass easily, but allows my flying tank to stay up over 12 minutes on a charge. Your rarely over 1/2 throttle. On the 50 oz superstar it would liklely climb almost straight up, and flights should be much longer yet.


Dean in Milwaukee