IC Trainer

[karlpaine 0]

 

Hi all,

 

I'm due to pick up an Arising Star airframe complete with SC 46 engine, Thursday evening. Just wondered if anyone had anything suitable for a first IC plane that they would consider selling?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Karl

 

[Trevor 25]

 

Hi Karl,

When you say anything suitable, do you mean radio, servos etc. or field equipment?

 

[karlpaine 0]

 

Hi Trevor,

 

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking more of the actual plane itself, just to see if there were any alternative options. I've heard the Arising Star is a pretty suitable model.

 

Karl.

 

[Martin 0]

 

From what I've seen, the Arising Star is basically the same as a Boomerang (also from Seagull), but is an older model with a flat-bottomed wing. Provided the model is in sound condition, it will be fine as a trainer. I've seen a few of them around the club from time to time, and I've never heard any complaints.

 

If the model is set up with tricycle undercarriage (with a nose wheel), you might want to convert it to a tail wheel. This is pretty easy to do - see this forum post: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3462 (which was written for the Boomerang I, but should equally apply to the Arising Star).

 

If you want to keep it as tricycle, I think I still have a spare nose leg which I can bring to the field one Sunday. They tend to get bent while people are learning to land!

 

[karlpaine 0]

 

Hi Martin,

 

Thanks for the message. I've heard good things about it's suitability as a trainer, so I'm pretty pleased with it. Got the airframe and an SC 46 engine for a good price, both of which are unused.

 

I'll look into converting to a taildragger, but if not will give you a shout about that nose leg at some point.

 

Karl

 

[arun 0]

 

Hi Karl,

 

I would consider switching your order for a Boomerang II. As Martin says they are essentially the same airframe except for the wing section. You will probably find that the semi-symmetrical wing section on the Boomerang gives better performance in wind (this is the UK) as it is less likely to balloon as you turn into the wind and of course a better level of lift if the craft is inverted. You may think you won't be using it for inverted flight, but chances are it is going into this attitude as you increase in skill, or during training. In the latter case, your instructor will have a better chance of recovering the airframe from a low-level situation if they can call on inverted-lift.

 

Totally agree with Martin on the nose-leg. Whilst learning 3-point landings is a great skill for all pilots, unless you are learning off of a smooth runway (and even if you are) you are going to spend a lot of time replacing broken props and nose-legs. This gets expensive, and the latter usually stops play for the day which isn't what you want when training. Pretty sure the Boomerang II comes with a tailwheel conversion kit.

 

Ultimately you won't go wrong with an Arising Star or a Boomerang II, but I don't think the Boomerang II is any harder to learn on, yet has some advantages over the Arising Star. The Boomerang may serve you longer into your flying career due to its inverted performance (e.g. I still enjoy a *very* low inverted pass with a trainer - it teaches excellent inverted rudder and aileron control due to the dihedral working against you).

 

Cheers

Arun