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Desert Sky Model Aviation's ARF trainer is a primary trainer with a flat bottom airfoil. This was the first ARF assembled. The term "build" does not apply since everything is already done. Before the Desert Sky trainer was purchased, a Carl Goldberg Eagle II was being used for training and until the unthinkable happened; it crashed running full throttle straight into the hard baked Texas ground. There was not much left to rebuild. This produced the need for something that could be built quickly. There had been some previous correspondence through the Internet with Paul McIntosh, the owner of Desert Sky Model Aviation. On his web page, an ARF trainer was listed for $89.95. After discussing this plane with Paul, the decision was made to try it. The plain brown large box arrived a couple days after the order was placed. Inspection of the contents showed that everything had arrived safely. The box was divided into compartments and all the sub-assemblies were individually bagged to keep everything safe. The kit is very complete. The landing gear, wheels, fuel tank, motor mount, hardware, and hinges were all included. The items needed to complete the kit were epoxy and CA adhesives, an E-Z connector, wing saddle foam tape, fuel tubing, radio and engine. A nine page instruction set is included with the kit. The plane is all wood, covered with Oracover, and very well constructed. The wing uses a standard D-tube for construction. The fuselage and wing had a nice, solid "feel" to them. The plane is covered all in white with stick-on decals. The bottom has red stripes to help determine orientation. The model was inspected thoroughly and all the joints appear very well done. Assembly of the model begins with putting together the various sub-assemblies. The landing gear and wheels are assembled, the fuel tank and fuel lines are put together, and then the control surfaces are hinged. The hinges that are included re the CA EZ type hinges and these were used. The next phase of assembly is to prepare the fuselage. There are some slots to cut out for the push rods and tail surfaces. The landing gear nose bracket goes on next. After that the push rods are installed. That is all that is required before it starts to look like an airplane. The next step is to join the wing halves. There is a plywood wing joiner that fits into a slot in the wing. All of the parts were test fitted first and it basically locked together. It felt solid before it was even glued. Building is more fun when everything fits like they are supposed to. The instructions call for using 5-minute epoxy and holding the wing joint as it sets. Due to a lack of patience, the wings were set in a jig and 30-minute epoxy was applied and allowed to cure overnight. Finally, a servo is installed in the wing, the trim tape is placed over the joint and the wing is complete. Final assembly of the fuselage requires sliding in the hardwood dowels that are the anchor points for the rubber bands that hold the wing on. Next, the tail surfaces are installed. Again, the fit of the pieces is excellent. The rudder slides into a slot and butts to the horizontal stabilizer then this sub-assembly slides into the fuselage and locks. Everything felt tight and was properly aligned before it was glued. At this point, the plane is basically complete. All that is left is the installation of radio and engine. The instructions do a good job guiding a novice through this tedious process. The instructions recommend Z-Bends for most of the push rod connections. These could be tough for a beginner who may not have the proper tools to make sharp, dependable bends. After the landing gear components are added, the trainer is ready to balance. To balance the model with a Fox .45 engine, about 8 ounces of lead was required in the nose. A quick touch-up with an iron on the covering was done to clean up the wrinkles. The covering job was good but the ends of the control surfaces were not covered. A drop of CA was applied to the end to seal them from any fuel residue being absorbed. The trainer was taken to the field and given a good preflight check. The instructor took it off and put it through the paces. Only minor trimming was required to fly straight and level. It has been windy every time the trainer has been flow so it is hard to tell when it is properly trimmed. It is a nice flier. The throttle can be reduced and some up trim dialed in and the plane will just float along. When the throttle is reduced little more and it makes a nice predictable descent. High-speed flight is good. It will go where you point it and it moves along nicely. Some down trim is required at full throttle because the plane will gain altitude fairly quickly with the increased speed. The instructor did some basic aerobatics with it; loops, rolls, and inverted flight with a lot of down elevator. Stalls are very gentle. The nose drops and it starts flying again. The Desert Sky ARF trainer is a nice product. The construction is very good. The only items that were less than desirable were the small foam wheels but these were used simply because they were the ones supplied. Also, the control horns and clevises feel kind of cheap as compared to the quality exhibited by the rest of the plane. The landing gear did not seem like it would hold up very long bit it has been surprising. After some terrible bouncing landings, the landing gear is still holding up. It is made music wire pieces that mount into the fuselage which seems to have a lot of spring to it. The plane was reported to be built in China. If this ARF is any indication of the products coming out of China, they could be around for quite awhile. Overall, this a great value which is every bit as good as any of the other trainers in the colorful boxes but costing substantially less. All the control throws and the CG set on the rather mild but as experience is gained, they will be increased to keep the plane matched to abilities for a long time. |
