Most of us have a go to.... the one that gets flown more than the rest of the fleet.

Mine is an Ultra Stick Lite 120 powered by a Zenoah G-20. It is a fantastic combo and has many hundreds of flights. It is the go to because it is easy to setup, handles those windy days, is fun to fly, and flies very well.

Another prime reason for its place on top of my heap... is that it has been so reliable for so long. If wanting to have flying fun, compared to challenges... it has been my plane of choice.

I expect most flyers also have a plane that they would identify as their go to... and that it has collected a lot of air miles and time on it.

After many many years... my stick needs some attention. The engine has a surging problem and the radio has a nervous tick... it is now time to give the tired plane some attention.

Mine was an Escapade 61. Then about 2 weeks ago I dumb thumbed it... again. It is repairable, but I’m thinking it’s time for something new. Plus I have another that I’m installing my first gas engine in (all my previous planes are electric).

For GS, I’ve been flying an H9 RV-4 pretty much every time I go out. I call it my GS trainer, as it’s the first plane of this size I fly regularly. Great flyer, but the springy landing gear are very unforgiving of anything less than a perfect, slow touchdown... especially on our imperfect, grass runway.

Mine is my rascal110, nearly 20 years old. Been through 4 engines, 5 covering jobs, two sets of radio gear. Currently have a VVRC 40cc twin on it. It's my favorite plane of all time.
Edwin

Mine is my old faithful Hangar 9 Pulse 125, initially powered by a DLE 20 and now by an RCGF 32. It was my second plane, bought and assembled over the winter of 2011-2012. It has been through many mishaps but has proven to be reliable and repairable.



The covering has been patched countless times and is looking really tired. I love the scheme and am not sure I could replicate it but one of these days it's going to need a complete re-do.

I find that my go-to airplanes become, over time, a little boring because they become so dependable and routine.
So what usually happens is that I let myself get talked out of them (an offer is made that "I can't refuse") in a weak moment.
And every dam time, I regret selling by the time a month goes by.

I need to quit doing that cuz I miss all of them, and in some cases, have built another of several that I had sold.

My Go-To PLANES tend to share that distinction. Depends what I want to do!

I have an old Sig Kadet Sr that was my trainer back when the instructions were chiseled into stone tablets. I bought it used, and some of the AMA stickers that were on the original wing were from 1985! Been re-covered, new, low-dihedral wing with barn-door ailerons and still rubber-strapped to the fuse. It's GREAT for calm days, just floating around the field.

Then, I've got my Lanier Yak with a G62. That's the one that goes in the truck most times. It's not the prettiest thing at the field, but neither is its owner!

I used to take about seven planes to the field to fly. Nowadays, one, possibly two if they'll fit in my truck. (the HAVE gotten a little bigger).

Do I have a go-to plane? Yup, just depends on which one I feel like goin' to! Lol.

my old ultrastick 40 that I converted to electric....plane is solid as a rock and never been wrecked but the covering is loose on all edges along the fuse...I came up with a few ways to keep it on but shes seen a lot of nitro fuel and 409 cleanings before the electric conversion

6s setup about 1400watts with a 12x6 prop

Originally Posted by grosbeak

Mine is my old faithful Hangar 9 Pulse 125, initially powered by a DLE 20 and now by an RCGF 32. It was my second plane, bought and assembled over the winter of 2011-2012. It has been through many mishaps but has proven to be reliable and repairable.



The covering has been patched countless times and is looking really tired. I love the scheme and am not sure I could replicate it but one of these days it's going to need a complete re-do.

awesome plane...wish horizon would make a new line up of the pulse again ...my Xt40 shown in picture

mine is this seagull models edge 540 powered by a .95AX when my 89 inch dynaflite decathlon wants to give me starting issues and i dont want to tinker with it the whole day ... i turn to my edge this thing take a beating and keeps on ticking

Originally Posted by AA5BY

Most of us have a go to.... the one that gets flown more than the rest of the fleet.

Mine is an Ultra Stick Lite 120 powered by a Zenoah G-20. It is a fantastic combo and has many hundreds of flights. It is the go to because it is easy to setup, handles those windy days, is fun to fly, and flies very well.

Another prime reason for its place on top of my heap... is that it has been so reliable for so long. If wanting to have flying fun, compared to challenges... it has been my plane of choice.

I expect most flyers also have a plane that they would identify as their go to... and that it has collected a lot of air miles and time on it.

After many many years... my stick needs some attention. The engine has a surging problem and the radio has a nervous tick... it is now time to give the tired plane some attention.

Update on the 120 Ultrastick Light

I'd done the engine repairs and had it running reliably again and had determined to change out the receiver due to the nervous tick that persisted intermittently but not having another 8ch, failed to do so. The nervous tick had not displayed a serious problem and manifest only as a very slight twitch of servos that was so fast that it didn't effect flight.

Then suddenly things went down hill. On a fairly windy day, the stick being my windy day plane was taken to the field and flew a first flight without problem. On the second flight, I clearly lost if for a short moment and after recovering landed. Someone commented that they had gotten blown around badly in that quadrant of the field shortly before and the comment added to my poor judgement and with the engine still running and it setting on the field awaiting a decision, I went back up, turned downwind and suddenly lost control again, and couldn't recover it.

It went in nose first and buried in the wet dirt destroying the fueslage foresection. The engine survived but needed a slight bit of straightening on the prop shaft that screws into the crank. The receiver functions ok, but obviously there is a radio failure somewhere. Either the receiver or switch harness has a problem or a servo is shorting out momentarily dropping supply voltage. The engine and radio gear has been in service for fifteen years and has provided likely a thousand flights.

The wing and stabs survived without much damage and my plan is to rebuild, and fit all new radio gear.