![\"6801\"](\"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/6801.jpg\")
<\/a>Phil Kraft’s Das Ugly Stik as published in RCM<\/p><\/div>\n
A less well known fact is that this\u00a0sort of mimicry is how Phil Kraft designed\u00a0the Das Ugly Stik in the first place. \u00a0In 1964\u00a0RC Modeler magazine published a design by Don Mathes called the Digester. \u00a0Mathes needed a test plane for his new digital radio. \u00a0The name Digester was short hand for Digital Radio Tester. \u00a0It’s a big plane with a big wing and three channels. \u00a0Looking at the airfoil and general layout of the Digester, it’s easy to conclude that Phil Kraft took it as inspiration, simplified the nose and tail, added ailerons, and scalloped the trailing edges for chuckles. \u00a0Phil did something right. \u00a0Although the Digester is mostly forgotten, the Stik is the most successful design in RC history.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Digester by Don Mathes<\/p><\/div>\n
50 years and dozens of Ugly Stik copies later, some of the original specifications have become less well known to the modeling community. \u00a0Several Stik copycats have been built with symmetrical airfoils or thinner profiles, or in some cases both. \u00a0A lot of folks think they remember the original having a symmetrical airfoil, but in fact the original airfoil was thick and\u00a0semisymmetrical.<\/p>\n
I thought it would be interesting to show how the original Das Ugly Stik airfoil compares to two very popular clones. \u00a0For the following illustration I started with a Stik rib in blue, copied it in red, flipped the copy, and superimposed the two images to show the asymmetry of the airfoil.<\/p>\n
As you can see, contrary to popular belief, the Das Ugly Stik airfoil is not symmetrical or even almost symmetrical. \u00a0The Great Planes airfoil remained fairly true to the source, but Midwest pretty much abandoned the basic design of the original Stik. \u00a0The airfoil is almost symmetrical.\u00a0 Another popular plane in today’s market is the Ultra Stik, which has a fully symmetrical airfoil.\u00a0 Some folks say it flies better than the old fashioned Stik planes, but that’s to be expected because modern pilots tend to favor any feature that makes maneuvers easier to perform.<\/p>\n Maybe this is useless information, or maybe\u00a0you want to build your own plane with the basic parameters of the Ugly Stik. \u00a0In any case, I thought it was interesting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For decades Phil Kraft’s Das Ugly Stik has been the standard by which sport planes are measured. \u00a0It’s common knowledge that the original Das Ugly Stik has been copied dozens of times by various designers and kit manufacturers, resulting in … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n