E-Flite Slow Ultra Stick 1.2M BNF Basic With AS3X and SAFE Select

An airplane that deserves to be called more than "ugly!"

By Jay Smith | [email protected] - Photos by the author and Jennifer Alderman

As seen in the August 2023 issue of Model Aviation.

The Slow Ultra Stick is easy to fly and stands out well in the air thanks to the white, orange, and black color scheme, as well as a little silver from the fuselage.

SLOW STICK, Ultra Stick, Ugly Stick, and now Slow Ultra Stick—the ubiquitous "Stick" has come in many shapes and sizes throughout the years. It is likely that most pilots who have been in the hobby for a while have owned one or more, or at least flown one.

In electric form, Stick aircraft have been available for at least 20 years. It was my Slow Stick that got my father back into flying after he retired from being a hobby shop owner.

The E-flite Slow Ultra Stick appears to have grown out of ideas from a handful of aircraft by companies small and large. It is an evolution that looks to provide the best of what any easy-to-assemble and easy-to-fly Stick should be.

Some call this type of aircraft ugly, and some even have ugly as part of their title, but I appreciate what Sticks represent. Whether they have an actual fuselage or a tube, they are generally simple to build or assemble, fly well, and are easy to repair in case of a mishap.

Assembly

The E-flite Slow Ultra Stick is the easiest Stick airplane I have ever built, with the Hangar 9 Ultra Stick PNP 60-inch coming in at a close second. With this model, the servos are preinstalled, as are the motor and ESC. Assembly requires no glue, no rubber bands, and no headaches.

The first step involves connecting the rear fuselage section. The two sections slide together and click into place, and then the two included Phillips M2 × 14mm button-head screws ensure that they won’t come apart. On mine, the holes were almost perfect for the screws but did require slight pressure on the side of the screwdriver to make sure that they threaded straight and tightened all the way down.

The servo leads for the rudder and elevator are marked, with one having a silver stripe to make sure that you plug them in correctly the first time. A nice touch is a plastic retainer on the fuselage to hold the servo extensions out of the way.

The landing gear is next, and it only requires each strut to be slotted into the landing gear assembly until it snaps into place. I found that it took a bit of force to get the retaining latch to lock in on the flat spot on the strut, so I used my screwdriver to slightly flex the latch, and then it snapped in without any force required.

The vertical stabilizer slides onto the rear fuselage tube until the hole aligns for the retaining screw. The horizontal stabilizer then slides onto the rear fuselage tube until the bottom screw hole also aligns.

The vertical and horizontal stabilizers are secured using the included M3 × 22mm thumb screw. Interestingly, the three thumb screws (two for the wing) also included a grommet for each, but they weren’t mentioned in the instructions. I installed the grommets on the thumb screws. The elevator and rudder pushrods with Z-bends are then installed. The manual provides details regarding which holes to use on the servo arm and control horn.

The Slow Ultra Stick arrived with little assembly required and all of the radio gear installed.

When attaching the rear fuselage section, the two sections slide together and click into place. Two included Phillips M2 × 14mm button-head screws ensure that they won’t come apart.

The Slow Ultra Stick has a robust wing for a foamie aircraft. It is manufactured in a way that allows the aileron servo to be positioned in the center of the wing, even though it is a two-piece wing with a wing tube.

The tail wheel wire is slotted into a recess in the bottom of the rudder. The tail wheel wire is configured to have some flexibility to prevent overstressing the rudder on a hard landing.

I was really impressed with the Slow Ultra Stick’s wing. It is strongly constructed and manufactured in a way that allows the aileron servo to be positioned in the center of the wing, even though it is a twopiece wing with a wing tube. Quick tip: Whenever I am working on an aircraft with a wing tube, I measure the tube and mark the center of it with a silver Sharpie. That way, when I am installing it in a wing half for the first time, I know for sure how far the tube should go into the wing.

After the wing halves slide together, a wing retainer is used to strengthen the wing joint. The wing then slots into three wing pins on the front wing mount. I found I had to push slightly on the wing mount to get the three pins to completely seat into the wing.

Pay attention to the next step of securing the wing to the rear wing mount with the two included M3 × 22mm thumb screws. I say pay attention because they are attached from the bottom of the wing, not the top, even though there are holes on the top. My guess is that the holes are there so that you can confirm that the screws are securely attached to the wing. I nearly attached them from the top until I read the manual.

You then need to connect the aileron servo connector to the servo extension from the receiver and connect the aileron pushrods to the control horns in the indicated locations.

The battery mounts on the bottom side of the tray between the motor mount and the landing gear. A 2,200 mAh battery will take the entire space between the two.

The airplane includes wheels large enough to fly from grass, dirt, or pavement.

The transmitter setup is well documented in the manual and you can also download the setup file with a Spektrum radio. I followed it to easily set up my Spektrum NX10 transmitter. The recommended battery in the manual is a 3S 1,300 mAh, and it works great. The airplane includes a mounting point for the battery and a Velcro strap. I added Velcro to the battery, which attaches to the strap for an even more secure connection.

I was able to get into the rear center of gravity range documented in the manual.

Flying