This was my second plane and first aileron trainer. It was a tank at nearly 3 pounds and woefully underpowered with about 165 watts. I always thought it laughable that it was considered a trainer. It was one of the tougher planes I ever flew! Takeoffs needed pavement, and lots of it, as that sad little motor got 3 lbs of plane in the air. After you got it in the air, be careful as there was no reserve power to save you if you made a mistake. Needless to say, I crashed that plane several times. I finally wrote off the fuselage. I ordered a new one from Tower and it stayed on perpetual backorder for over a year! I stuck the wing on a shelf and moved on....
Long after I gave up on that backorder, Lo-and-behold, if a SuperStar fuselage doesn't arrive at the house! I dug out the wing and some of the hardware and decided to rebuild. I found a big heavy brushless inrunner that would fit the old Speed 600 motor mount. The new motor is a Hobby King special, 1350kv. With a 2s lipo and 8x5 prop it maxes out at a whopping 300+ watts. That ought to solve that old underpower problem.
Now I haven't mentioned, but the SuperStar is ugly. I'm mean it really screams "clunky old trainer". Lucy agreed the ugly stripes had to go so off came the covering. Recovering was a chore, but I think it looks better. The cream and dark red give it a nice retro look.
After photos taken at the fantastic Lester Field in Austin, Texas.
Before...
After...
