Overview

The Right Flyer 60H is a .60 sized ARF trainer/sport design available from Hobby Shack. It's a good looking plane which has great flying characteristics. The semi-symmetrical airfoil contributes to these flying qualities, by adding the ability to perform aerobatics smoother and easier than conventional flat-bottom trainers. Yet, it still slows to a crawl for landing and is a gentle graceful flyer in the air. And because it is larger and heavier than .40 sized trainers, it flies smoother in higher winds.

Kit

The kit consists of all the basic sub-assemblies (i.e.- wing halves, fuse, horizontal/vertical tails), and all required hardware. Most of the hardware is of good quality, though I did replace the included clivises with metal ones. The instruction manual is clear, and has photos accompanying most major steps. I did modify the plane somewhat from the kit in adding a bolt on wing versus the rubber band method they choose. To do this, I added a piece of 3/8 inch plywood at the front of the wing saddle area and the rear. In the rear, you must cut out a section in the center to clear the aileron torque rods. I then added 1/4 inch threaded spline nuts through the bottom of each piece of plywood in the four corners of the saddle area, by drilling a hole larger than the threaded part of the nut and then tightening a bolt til the teeth of the nut grabbed the wood. Then, I epoxied where the nut touched the plywood. No modification was needed for the rear of the wing except to drill 3/8 inch holes through it to allow the 1/4 inch by 3 inch nylon wing bolts to pass through. In the wing front, I cut a hole to house a piece of plywood made from laminated (3 layers) 3/8 inch plywood. This piece is 2 inches from front to back, and is as wide as the wing saddle area. Before I expoxied this in, I fiberglassed the bottom of the wing's leading edge sheeting. After it was all dry, I drilled the 2 3/8 inch holes though it which lined up with the nuts in the saddle area of the fuse. Photos will be available that show the exact mods. I had to use large washers so the nylon bolts gripped the wing with enough surface area. This produced a clean, aerodynamic bolt on wing assembly, which is strong and secure. The only other mod was to the vertical tail. After I had epoxied the vetical fin in place, I felt it was not strong enough. So, I drilled 2 holes directly through the fuse bottom into the vertical fin. Into these holes I screwed in 3 inch wood screws. Yes, these weighed a bit, but it produced and extremely strong vertical tail. It is securely attached to the fuse and I have no worries of it coming free. Installation of all the hardware; engine, radio gear, and all other equiptment is straightforward and clearly shown in the instructions. I use a JR 622 6 channel computer radio in this model along with 4, standard sized JR 507 servos. They fit perfectly and operate smoothly. Also used is the standard 500 mah Rx pack. For power I chose the same engine which I had on my first 60H which crashed. It still runs great, and all I had to do was clean it after it went in engine first. It is an old Magnum GP .65 Se engine, produced by Thunder Tiger. The only thing is that it needs a new front bearing, but all else is fine. Even with the large screws in the tail, the model balanced perfectly. I am not a fan of the ARF covering which is used by manufacturers today, but it wasn't too bad on this model. It was sagging and wrinkled, but heating it with an iron and heat gun have produced good results. I added a strip of red sticker on the bottom of the wing to aid in flight orientation. Overall, it was easy to finish this model and it only took about 10 hours. That may seem like a lot for an ARF, but I like to take my time. It could easily be built in less time. I think the structure is sound and I feel it is pretty nice looking. It doesn't seem like your typical, "boxy" trainer, and I like that. I give the kit (If you can call it that....cuz it's an ARF!) an 9 on a scale of 10.

Flying

Ok, now it gets fun! We headed to the Eldorado Dry Lake Bed outside of Las Vegas on a Saturday afternoon. It was kind of cold, and there was a fairly strong wind (20 mph maybe?). I brushed up with a flight on my reliable FliteCraft Cardinall III (Soon I'll have a review of this plane too). Then we started the engine up and ran a tank of fuel through it since it hadn't been run in about a year. It ran great, and we set it a little rich. I checked the controls again (I had low rates as their recommended control throws, and high rates as a little more), and taxied out a little. Owing to its tricycle gear and wide stance, it was easy to taxi, and showed no signs of tipping in the wind. I turned into the wind and throttled up. After about 20 yards, I fed in some up and she jumped into the air at a 65 degree angle. I fed in a bunch of down trim and leveled off. It needed some right aileron (To counteract torque I think) and less down trim. It was really zipping along, even in the wind. But, it wasn't bumping around like my Cardinal was. I lowered the throttle to half and added some up trim. It was really floating around. The recomended throws were fine, and I only used high rates on take off. It definately flew like a trainer with the throttle back, but penetrated the wind extremely well. After a few minutes, I throttled back up to do some aerbatics. Loops were smooth and graceful.....big or small. Rolls weren't quick, but still looked good. Stall turns were easy, but I didn't try any inverted or spins. I'm sure it will fly well inverted, and it will spin. After 10 minutes, I decided to shoot some touch and goes. Initially, I came in too fast a few times, but on the third try I had it really slowed down. It glides well, but maintain speed. I flared, and it made a nice, nose high touch down on the mains. Roll out was short, and it was easy to control. The next 2 flights consisted of mainly touch and goes, because I like to land my planes...yeah it's strange, but I like my landings to be just right. I also flew some aerobatics and I'm very pleased...it flies so smoothly! Bigger is definately better!

Conclusion

This is definately a great plane. Easy to build, easy to fly. It's better than a .40 sized model, and is also better than a flat-bottom model. At only $130, its a good deal, and I'd recomend it over a .40 sized trainer any day. I give this a 9 (Out of 10) overall. So if you're looking for a first plane, or a good Sunday sport model, look into the Right Flyer 60H. Available at Hobby Shack