Super Kraft Staudacher GS-300 ARF

Model Airplane News, May 2002 by Trachten, Craig

FLIGHT TEST Most of us will probably never experience the thrill of a ride in an aerobatic aircraft, but taking the sticks of the Super Kraft Staudacher GS-300 just may be the next best thing; it's a .60-size dream machine. The craftsmanship and quality of the materials can't be beat. The pleasure of building this aircraft can only be surpassed by the thrill of flying it.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

Super Kraft's almost-ready-to-fly (ARF) Staudacher is constructed entirely of balsa and covered with UltraCote. It comes with nearly everything you'll need to get it into the air: a painted fiberglass cowl, ABS wheel pants, aluminum landing gear, a motor mount, a fuel tank, wheels, a canopy, decals, a main wing brace, a detailed instruction manual and all of the necessary hardware.

ASSEMBLY

As with most ARF's, construction begins with the wing. First, be sure to pull the factory-installed servo-wire pull strings up through the wing before you epoxy the wing halves together. Test-fit the center brace and make sure that it bottoms out on each side with the straight edge facing up. At this point, I usually wrap a 314-inch piece of masking tape around each wing root. Epoxy the wing halves together and set them aside to dry. When the wing has dried, removing the tape will also remove any excess epoxy. Pegs on the wing's trailing edge ensure proper alignment.

It's a good idea to start the stabilizer installation while the wing is drying. Measure and mark a centerline on the horizontal stab, and mark a vertical centerline on the firewall. Slide the stab through the fuselage until the centerline can be seen through the vertical stab slot, making sure you center it. The distances between the centerline on the firewall and the tip of each side of the stab should be equal. Mark where the fuselage meets the stab, and remove the covering on the stab within these lines. Check for proper alignment, and epoxy the stab into place. Attach the vertical stabilizer in the same manner: test-fit, check alignment, remove the covering and epoxy into place. I applied a healthy amount of epoxy to the sides of the fin slot so that when I inserted the fin, it forced the epoxy down, so it bonded the fuselage, horizontal stab and vertical stab into a single unit.

The next step is to install the radio tray and pushrods. Temporarily mount your engine on the fuselage so that you can locate and drill the hole for the throttle pushrod; then testfit your servos in the servomounting tray. I found the servo openings small, so I used a hobby knife to enlarge them. Don't mount the servos on the tray at this time. Test-fit the servo tray in the fuselage and epoxy it into place. The dowel and wire pushrods supplied with the kit will work fine, but I prefer to use Dave Brown's fiberglass pushrods. They are strong and easy to build, especially if the model requires a pickle-fork elevator pushrod as this one does. I find that inserting a pushrod chase from the tail to the radio compartment is the easiest way to feed the pushrods through the fuselage. Simply insert the pushrod wire into the chase and push. With this method, they're fed through the fuselage without being hung up on a bulkhead. Last, attach the servos to the tray.

The instructions recommend a three-line fuel tank instead of a filler valve-something I don't ever remember seeing before. I always use a three-line system when the aircraft has a cowl. Although it isn't mentioned in the manual, I always clunk my third line; it makes fuel removal easier and more efficient. I also always use differentcolor tubing for each of the fuel lines. Cross up the lines just once, and you'll know why!

Wheels are good things, so let's install them next. The tailwheel and mounting bracket are one piece, and three wood screws secure the bracket to the fuselage. Temporarily install the rudder and mark and cut the slot for the steering-arm link. This link is somewhat weak; it broke on the first rough landing. I repaired it by bending a 90-degree angle about 1/2 inch long in the tailwheel wire; then I drilled a hole in the rudder and inserted the bent wire directly into it. I suggest you do it this way the first time. The main wheels are easy to install: just bolt them into place with the supplied hardware. Because I fly off grass, I opted to install Du-Bro 350T, 3 1/2-inch wheels. To accommodate the larger wheels, I enlarged the opening in the wheel pants with a sanding drum.

Epoxy in the elevators and rudder, but don't get epoxy on the hinge joint. You can use petroleum jelly as indicated in manual, but I find it a little messy. I bent the hinge, applied light oil through a needlepoint oiler, worked the hinge and then wiped the "ears" with an alcohol wipe before I expoxied it into place. Either way, make sure your control surfaces move freely.

The instructions call for the use of RTV silicone to install the fuel tank, but this makes it difficult to remove the tank if a problem arises. I chose to slide the tank into place and then stuff foam rubber between the four sides and the fuselage. I then cut a craft stick to size and CA'd it across the back of the tank between the side walls. The foam prevents the fuel tank from moving, and the craft stick secures the tank to the firewall. Repairs can easily be made by cracking out the craft stick and sliding out the tank.