Flies like a 30’s Racer Should, On Rails!
The 1/5th scale Ryan STA by Phoenix models is a fantastic sport flyer. Of all the single seat aerobatic sport planes that Claude Ryan built, this is one of my all time favorites. It made its full scale debut on June 8th 1934 and was an innovation in monoplane construction methods. I first built a version of this model back in 2017 and after about 25 flights, it finally bought the farm when a bundle of servo wires came loose from their Velcro hold-down in the fuselage and bound the elevator so that she couldn’t climb. I immediately purchased a replacement but didn’t get around to building it until about 18 months later.
Build Details:
The power system for this bird was totally designed around the Falcon 18”x10” Civilian Propeller. When I first saw the propellers on the Falcon Website, I knew I needed one on an airplane! Even though they are more of a 50’s style, it still looks great on the Ryan. To turn the big 18”x10” prop, a Electrifly 1.20 motor is employed. The electrons are supplied by a big 6000mah Admiral 50C LIPO and tamed with a Castle Ice 100A ESC. Even with this high power setup, I still get as much as 8 minutes Of mixed flight time. Crush it around the pylons at full throttle and you get about 4-1/2 minutes of racing.
- Phoenix Models Ryan STA
- Wingspan: 70.8”
- Motor: Electrify Rimfire 1.20
- Spinner: Custom Tru-Turn Red Anodized.
- Propeller: 18”x10” Civilian Propeller.
- ESC: Castle Ice 120A
- Servo’s: MKS DS1210 Titanium Gear (4)
- Hardware: All hardware from the kit. I personally think the hardware supplied was pretty legit.
- Pilots Scarf: Wyatt Grants Under Armor Tee that has supplied at least 3 other scarfs! Open cockpit birds have to have a scarf flapping in those high speed passes.
- Graphics by Callie!
Flying the Ryan:
If you can fly any taildragger, you can easily fly this bird. It would actually make a fantastic first taildragger for the uninitiated. It handles fantastic on the ground thanks to the extra wide landing gear. You can add power liberally at takeoff and be in the air in 10-15 feet or less but its much more fun to do a long rollout on the mains and slowly pull up. She accelerates quickly and is right at home when you roll left and yank back on the elevator. It’s a pylon racer at heart. This bird slows down pretty quickly when you chop the power thanks to the big prop acting like a speed break. It’s pretty fast on landing with even the slightest bit of power and you need to land her under power. Basically, fly it onto the ground and cut the power until the tail drops; Assuming of course that you can resist keeping power on and doing a big rolling touch and go!
See you at the field!
Ralph G.
