Ready to upgrade Xk's nice model of Lyle Shelton's famous RARE BEAR, a world championship Unlimited Class air race winner many times over. The plane and owner/pilot were longtime favorites of mine and of many race fans, and the plane raced up until 2015 when it was retired.


I started my project with a replacement airframe instead of tearing down a readytofly bird. Saves me money and makes modding easier. You can actually get the entire RTF bird for $60 at AliExpress. Next time I will use a premade plane just to try something different.

Power is from a Talon 1204 6100kV brushless motor and the usual, reliable 7A 1S2S brushless ESC I like to use in most of my custom builds. The Talons are hard to find today, so I recommend the Eachine 1304 6000kV as a substitute for 1S power.

The receiver is the Spektrum Eflite AS6410L, a favorite of mine because it has AS3X to help deal with flying featherweight airplanes on windy days, AND because you can program AS3X for different mounting orientations or even turn it off completely and other options using the SPMA3060 USB dongle cable.

Even though aileron pushrod linkage is available for the A220 I decided to make my own just for the heck of it. I did order a set of linkages for the second build I am doing though.

As usual the rubberlike paint peeled off the white foam easily with simple handling. So after the plane was complete I ordered a second new fuselage and gave it light coatings with "MiniWax" clear urethane spray paint to protect the factory paint job. I like to use the SATIN finish version.

Then I repeated the building process, stripping out and moving everything from the peelingpaint body to the new fuselage, and now the plane looks awesome again. The urethane overcoat will help to keep it looking nice longer and prevent peeling.



Here is a parts list by request... Substitute what you cannot find.

The 1204 6100kV Talon motors are gone.
I use these 1204 6000kV motors now, also sold under the "EACHINE" brand name: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/325680...

The 7A ESC I use in nearly all of my 1S brushless planes: https://www.amazon.com/MOOKEENONEBru...

EFLU4864 2S DSXM receiver (use the receiver of your preference): https://www.ebay.com/itm/225517001434...

Urethane spray paint I used (clear satin finish): https://www.flooranddecor.com/woodan...

Prop hub. Prop needs boring out with a #23 or 4mm drill bit (ream by hand): Eflite Prop Adapter with Setscrew 1.5mm EFLM1933: https://www.ebay.com/itm/295797984308...


I hope to maiden the Bear soon. Happy flying!