The Hangar 9 46% TOC Ultimate is a big model! For size comparison, the kit's major components are shown with editorial assistant Melissa Jones.

Designed by Tournament of Champions (TOC) competitor Mike McConville, the Ultimate offers true TOC performance in an exciting, gigantic package. Don't let its imposing size fool you; when you get used to its dimensions, you'll discover it truly is an ARF-and a beautifully engineered one at that!

The aircraft comes covered in Hangar 9 Ultracote, and the kit comes with a factory-built fuselage and main hatch, a formed canopy, four wing panels, interplane struts and tail surfaces. Also included are carbon-fiber landing gear, aluminum bolt-together cabane struts, a carbon-fiber top center rib, a tailwheel assembly and top and bottom aluminum wing tubes. The fiberglass engine cowl and wheel pants are beautifully painted to match the color scheme. Additional items that you'll need to complete the aircraft are highlighted in the instruction manual. It's much easier to build a model after you have acquired the necessary radio gear, hardware and accessories. This saves trips to the hobby shop and shortens the building time.

QUAD RUDDER POWER

To move that big rudder, the internal pull/pull cable system is driven by four digital servos that have been ganged together with pushrods, ball links and aluminum servo arms.

4 into 1 control Just in case you hadn't noticed, this biplane has one honkin' big rudder! It's huge! To move such an imposing control surface, four servos must be ganged together to actuate the internal pull/pull cable-control system. This isn't something you want to just cobble together in the basement. A quad-servo installation requires precise alignment and strong, adjustable linkages. Enter Nelson Hobby Specialties! Jerry Nelson's quad-servo hardware features ball-link connections that are fitted to each end of 4-40 threaded rods to attach the servo arms to each other. The arms are precision-laser cut of aircraft-grade 2024-T3 aluminum and can be used to assemble several multi-servo control- system configurations. Four 2-56 Phillips pan-head screws and four 2-56 sub-miniature elastic stop nuts secure the arms to the servo's output wheel. The system used in the Hangar 9 Ultimate bipe includes four 3-inch double servo arms, a 33/4-inch 180-degree tiller arm, eight interconnecting pushrods and 16 ball-link connectors. The tiller is connected to the stainless-steel control cables with Nelson's cable attachment fittings. The entire system produces nearly friction-free movement with incredible power transmission to the rudder! (These parts are available separately from Nelson Hobby Specialties. They can be used to make many control-system configurations. Call Jerry for prices.) To eliminate any control-throw differences in the 4-servo setup, a single JR MatchBox is used to dial in each servo to precisely match the movement of the others. This prevents the servos from fighting each other and, in so doing, minimizes power consumption. Nelson Hobby Specialties (877) 263-5766; nelsonhobby.com.

Aileron and tail-surface assembly
The 72-page instruction manual is typical for Hangar 9 and is very easy to follow. Each section is well illustrated and also includes detailed photos. Begin assembly by installing the ailerons. The ailerons and wing panels come drilled for giant-scale Robart HingePoints (item no. 309); just epoxy them into place and check their alignment. After you've installed the ailerons, install the aileron servos and fabricate the control linkage. Sal used 8-32 Rocket City threaded control horns with SWB Mfg. servo arms.

There are four ailerons, and each is driven by two servos. Eight, high-power digital servos provide loads of roll control!

Next, install the elevator and rudder hinges. The control surfaces are already slotted, but the slots must be enlarged to accept the giant-scale Du-Bro flat hinges. The tail surfaces are balsa covered with foam-core, but there is plenty of wood around the edges to properly support the hinges. The instructions suggest that you "pin" the hinges with toothpicks or small lengths of dowel. In the vertical fin, a strip of plywood runs the length of the rudderpost, so you must use a small drill bit to "chain-drill" the hinge slots. This technique is much easier than opening the slots with a Du-Bro pick and a slotting tool. Take your time, and make sure that all the hinges are aligned with one another before you epoxy them into place.

After you've hinged the tail surfaces, install the elevator horns and the vertical-fin alignment dowels. Mark the horizontal stabilizer's centerline, and bolt the stab into place in the stab-saddle area with four 6-32 bolts and blindnuts. Glue the vertical fin to the tail block, and slide the fin into place. The tail surfaces are removable. Two dowels at the top of the fin should match up with holes in the aft bulkhead, and two dowels at the bottom of the rudderpost should line up with holes in the lower fuselage. To hold the rudderpost tightly against the end of the fuselage, drill two 1/16-inch holes through the fuselage side and through the sides of the lower two alignment dowels. Thread two, 1/2-inch-long no. 2 sheet-metal screws into the dowels to secure them.

To complete the tail section, install the elevator servos and control linkage, assemble and install the four-servo, pull/pull cable control system, and attach the external rigging wires to the fin and stabilizer.

Landing gear and cabane struts
The main landing gear is beautifully molded carbon fiber, and it must be bolted to the engine box just in front of the main bulkhead. When you drill the attachment holes, make sure that you drill through the internal aluminum angle brackets. Then remove the brackets and roughen them with sand-paper. Epoxy them into place, and then bolt in the gear with 10-32 bolts and locknuts (make sure that the gear is angled rearward). Finish the landing gear by installing the axles, wheels and wheel pants.

The cabane struts are made of flat, bent aluminum, and they fit into slots that have been cut in the top of the fuselage. Secure the struts against the internal plywood formers with 12, 8-32 socket-head bolts, washers and locknuts. Don't attach the top center, carbon-fiber rib yet.