Sig 4-Star 54 ARF

[technoid]

Because of health reasons I've been using RealFlight as my RC experience but recently my wife told me to get a plane and fly again and she would call me if she needs me. So I've been looking at planes and engines trying to decide the best way to go. At first I wanted to go with a Glow engine because that's what I used to fly, but after finding out the cost of a gallon of fuel and then having to drive 20 miles to get one put me off of that choice. So then I looked at electric and gas and decided to be a guinea pig and go with the new OS GGT 10 Gas Glow Engine. I did some research on it and it was hard to take a chance because there were lots of posts talking about problems with it. But none the less I decided to take a chance that OS actually built a reliable Gas Glow engine. So what does all this have to do with RealFlight? Well the plane I bought is the new Sig 4-Star 54 Yellow ARF so I decided to model it to see how close I can get the RealFlight version to the plane I fly at the field. Here's three pictures to start the thread. First a picture of the new ARF version I'll be modeling and then a picture of the Kit version and the engine I bought. When Sig released the ARF version they made a few changes that made it better, at least to me it did. They changed the Canopy to a sleeker version that fits the fuselage better and increased the control surface area to make it quicker responding. They also clipped the wings from 59.75 to 54 inches and added a Cowl and Wheel Pants. They left the cheeks on the fuselage so you can leave off the Cowl and have the traditional look, and since I like to see the engine that's what I'll do. And since I'll be flying at a grass field that doesn't get cut that often I'll also leave off the Wheel Pants. I don't know when I'll start modeling the plane because I need to put the kit together and get everything setup. I'll also be adding comments on the OS GGT 10 to let everyone know how it performs for me. Hopefully I'll get it going and not have any trouble with it. But I'll post what happens either way.

 

[U-Bird]

Never flew the ARF version, how ever the kit version flies GREAT!!! Put a O.S. 91 Surpass on it and ......OH Yea...!!
Your right, Glow fuel is out of sight, especially if your retired and on a fixed income with the price of gas going up and the yearly rape with health insurance. If you decide to do a Sig in RF think about this for a CS.
Oh yes, thank you for your comment.

 

[technoid]

Never flew the ARF version, how ever the kit version flies GREAT!!! Put a O.S. 91 Surpass on it and ......OH Yea...!!
Your right, Glow fuel is out of sight, especially if your retired and on a fixed income with the price of gas going up and the yearly rape with health insurance. If you decide to do a Sig in RF think about this for a CS.
Oh yes, thank you for your comment.

Ha.. I like the red one but the candy is a bit sweet for my old teeth. I'll be doing a stock CS for it so it looks like the box that way there's room for you guys to do the rest.

 

[csgill75]

Fuel prices, convenience, messy clean up and no tuning or break in requirements are the reasons I went electric. You can put an electric motor on that plane and get better performance, more torque, and all you have to do is switch out batteries when you want to fly again. With 3 packs I can fly all day with the charger always charging the discharged pack. Granted it doesn't sound the same, and the initial investment in good batteries is high but the packs are good for a couple years and you can charge them pretty quickly if you're careful. The motor won't wear out and who wants oil all over the place? Plus you don't have to smell that fuel smell if you store the plane in the house.

 

[csgill75]

As for the model, I built the kit version Four Star 120 a lot of years ago(previously mentioned I flew most of the sig catalog). It was a great model, I had a 2 stroke 1.20 OS, Mac Header and a tuned pipe. I flew it a lot and then sold it to one of the guys at the field.

 

[doug schluter]

nice to hear your getting back to RL flying technoid , also good to have feed back on the O.S GGT 10 gas glow engine i know the Sig 4 star will fly excellent for you

 

[technoid]

Fuel prices, convenience, messy clean up and no tuning or break in requirements are the reasons I went electric. You can put an electric motor on that plane and get better performance, more torque, and all you have to do is switch out batteries when you want to fly again. With 3 packs I can fly all day with the charger always charging the discharged pack. Granted it doesn't sound the same, and the initial investment in good batteries is high but the packs are good for a couple years and you can charge them pretty quickly if you're careful. The motor won't wear out and who wants oil all over the place? Plus you don't have to smell that fuel smell if you store the plane in the house.

I started to go electric but after lots of research I couldn't get my head around an option I had to take so many precautions with. I was cautioned by all the guys at the field to either keep my batteries in an ammo can, a fireproof safe, or fireproof bags at all times whether charging or not. Then after seeing a few videos like the one in the link below I decided to go with a gas engine. There's not much cleanup with gas and hopefully by the time I remove the remaining gas before I go home there won't be any smell either. Granted he was charging the battery in the plane, not a good idea, but batteries can do the same thing after charge is complete so this type of thing can happen after you put the battery back in the plane. Before I retired Texas Instruments made everyone at the engineering center I worked at turn OFF their laptop and bring them to centers setup in the halls throughout the building and have the battery replaced in their Dell laptops due to several fires breaking out while in meetings with the laptop being used at the time. So this type of stuff happens and I'm a chicken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9mcNvOGKtI

 

[csgill75]

I started to go electric but after lots of research I couldn't get my head around an option I had to take so many precautions with. I was cautioned by all the guys at the field to either keep my batteries in an ammo can, a fireproof safe, or fireproof bags at all times whether charging or not. Then after seeing a few videos like the one in the link below I decided to go with a gas engine. There's not much cleanup with gas and hopefully by the time I remove the remaining gas before I go home there won't be any smell either. Granted he was charging the battery in the plane, not a good idea, but batteries can do the same thing after charge is complete so this type of thing can happen after you put the battery back in the plane. Before I retired Texas Instruments made everyone at the engineering center I worked at turn OFF their laptop and bring them to centers setup in the halls throughout the building and have the battery replaced in their Dell laptops due to several fires breaking out while in meetings with the laptop being used at the time. So this type of stuff happens and I'm a chicken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9mcNvOGKtI

You have some valid concerns but proper handling of lipos as well as correct charging has to be observed. Don't do stupid things like over charge the battery or charge at a high rate in the aircraft.its not like your handling dynamite or anything volatile. I've lost some packs myself but they were the Hobby King variety and were cheaply made. I now only put Thunder Power or Gens Ace packs in my aircraft and charge at the recommended rates. If I'm charging in the aircraft it's only at 1C, which is the slowest but safest rate. It produces no heat. I store them in the basement, about 70% charged with no worries. I use a LiPo Sack to charge at the field and in the house at the higher charge rates. Sure they will probably pop off when you crash, but I've seen aircraft burn with glow fuel too after a crash. The pros definitely outweigh the cons.

 

[technoid]

You have some valid concerns but proper handling of lipos as well as correct charging has to be observed. Don't do stupid things like over charge the battery or charge at a high rate in the aircraft.its not like your handling dynamite or anything volatile. I've lost some packs myself but they were the Hobby King variety and were cheaply made. I now only put Thunder Power or Gens Ace packs in my aircraft and charge at the recommended rates. If I'm charging in the aircraft it's only at 1C, which is the slowest but safest rate. It produces no heat. I store them in the basement, about 70% charged with no worries. I use a LiPo Sack to charge at the field and in the house at the higher charge rates. Sure they will probably pop off when you crash, but I've seen aircraft burn with glow fuel too after a crash. The pros definitely outweigh the cons.

Yes I realize they can't be that bad or most people wouldn't be flying with them. But for some reason I just couldn't pull the trigger and order them. I almost did several times. I just got back from the field watching the Gas guys fly battery powered planes too. So I understand the danger is low, it's just not for me. At least yet!

 

[csgill75]

Great that you're getting back into the real aircraft hobby. It's a lot of fun. When was the last time you flew? I have flown pretty regularly since 87 but I've taken some breaks for a year or two here and there. I used to fly glow/gas all the time but now it's almost all electric. Only my 1/4 scale Extra 300 is gas now and I have flown it in 4 years. I'm thinking about making it a wall ornament. Or convert it to electric too.

 

[technoid]

Great that you're getting back into the real aircraft hobby. It's a lot of fun. When was the last time you flew? I have flown pretty regularly since 87 but I've taken some breaks for a year or two here and there. I used to fly glow/gas all the time but now it's almost all electric. Only my 1/4 scale Extra 300 is gas now and I have flown it in 4 years. I'm thinking about making it a wall ornament. Or convert it to electric too.

I think it was about 1987 when I got out of the hobby. I got so busy at work I couldn't do it anymore so I sold all my stuff. I had just bought an OS 91 to put on something and the guy that bought it all ask me if I had anything else. I told him I was saving the new engine and he said he'd make me a good offer so I sold it too. So about the time you started is when I stopped. I got a few things in the mail already but the plane and engine and the largest part of the shipment hasn't got here yet. But I can't wait to start flying again. One of the guys as the field that's just starting has an Apprentice and let me fly it and land it too. He said you're doing so well just land it, but I didn't want to take a chance on his plane but he kept saying do it so I did. So I got my feet wet just a little bit already. One of the Gas guys has a large Extra and Yak with Zenoah's on them. The other guy fly's an 8 ft. wingspan Great Planes Giant Stik. I'm lucky because the flying field is in a park about 5 minutes from me, probably more like 3 or 4 minutes if I checked it.

 

[csgill75]

You are very lucky. I don't have a field to fly with other people around here. Closest one is about 60 miles away. The nearest hobby shop that has Heli parts is 60 miles away too. I fly in my yard outside, a friends farm or the vacant lot across the street. I'm also the only person in my group of friends that flies. A couple of them have RC cars but that's it. I've been flying solo for 3 years . It's one reason I really like RealFlight Multi-player. I've been trying to get some of my friends interested in flying but they are chicken..

 

[opjose]

CSGILL75 I'm sorry to hear that.

For me part of the enjoyment of going out to the field on the weekends, is to get away from normal "life stuff" fly for a bit and shoot the breeze with other die-hards.

I find that when there is no one else out at the field my interest wanes more quickly.

When other club members are around, I end up spending 6-8 hours there.

 

[csgill75]

Yeah I used to belong to a club in Florida. I know what you mean about the comradery. It didn't help that my best friend own and operated a hobby shop either . Every week I had a new toy to play with....

 

[technoid]

Yes I have to admit that half the fun is watching others fly and talking with everyone. I went out to day and told everyone my plane was in and I'd be building it soon, but I promised the wife to get some house stuff done first so it will have to sit for a bit.. but I'll get there. Had some new planes at the field today too. Two of them flew but one had problems and only took a couple of short test flights. But he'll get it fixed for next time. But yeah, sorry to hear about flying solo!

 

[mwilson914]

I know of two fields in the area I live at, but they are over an hour drive to either of them. The field I used to fly at was public land and a bunch of us used to fly there. Then the field was rented out one time to the Seattle dog show people. After that, all these people from Seattle would come up and just take over the field with their dogs. We couldn't safely fly our helicopters with people and dogs below. Sadly, they are all very snobby and wouldn't share the field with the local people. They even refused to leave once after friends of mine spent a ton of money to reserve the field for the day. We eventually physically removed them after about an hour of fighting with them. It's just not worth trying to fly RC aircraft in real life anymore because there is nowhere I can fly.

 

[technoid]

I finally finished all the work I needed to do on the house before starting on my Sig 4-Star 54 ARF so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of the starting point. I know this is the real plane but I plan to model the 4-Star 54 ARF after I'm finished building the real one so I thought I'd post a few pictures of the real build before I start on the RealFlight version. I plan to weight the parts so I can model the RealFlight version accurately so I need to get something to do that with before I start.

 

[doug schluter]

good to see your starting on your RL Sig 4 Star 54 that is going to be a great flyer , keep us posted as i'm sure being that you will at some point do the RF version

 

[csgill75]

You're going to have fun with both the build and flying of the 4 star. I've been out of the glow/gas aircraft for so long, I didn't know they made gasoline engines that small. Makes it very economical.

 

[technoid]

You're going to have fun with both the build and flying of the 4 star. I've been out of the glow/gas aircraft for so long, I didn't know they made gasoline engines that small. Makes it very economical.

It's sure going to be interesting getting it going. I've read good and bad reviews about that engine but I thought I'd take a chance on it because it will let me fly all I want for very little money. And not be very messy since the ratio gas to oil is pretty high. I'll post here how it goes once I start working with the engine, good or bad. Hopefully good because it wasn't cheap.