acdii

Agreed on the power, while the FG-14 would have fit the stock mount, the FG-11 is the perfect power plant for it. Not a lot of power, just enough to fly it nicely. I found a 13x6 APC and will give that a try next flight to see if I can get a little more speed up for takeoff. I took the pants off too, will see if ground handling is better, should be since the amount of grass I found inside of them showed that it did quite a bit of landscaping. Since its a 4 Stroke Gas, it sounds perfect for the plane too. Doesn't have that weed whacker putter to it, just a nice Saito sound. Still undecided on the exhaust though, so wont be putting the cowl on anytime soon, besides, flying season is getting near the end, and will have plenty of down time to decide. Next year she will be fully dressed out though!

deanz406

My Feedback: (28)

Ok fellows. i did make an error in my last statement- The electric that Greg flies has an Eflite 52 motor, not the 32-- My mistake in typing. I am working on a E Flite Stearman that I'm powering with a 32 motor, and that's what I had on my mind while I was replying. I am making my decision on a compact 2 stroke for the T Clips, and am going to mount the motor in a sideways position. The reason for my choice for a .46 for this plane, is that I am flying a Hangar 9 Cub, 80" W/S, 6.5lbs, and it is powered with an OS 40FX, and flies with authority at full power, and cruises beautifully at 1/3 throttle. I'm going to at least start with the OS .46AX, and have a .55AX, and a .61FX available, but don't think either will be necessary. I'll try some aerobatics with the smaller motor, see how it performs, move to the .55AX, and see how it compares, and go from there. I haven't really taken the plane out of the box for closer construction inspection, but from what the other 2 members said, it appears to be a well built plane. Of course, as I am a bit of a nitpicker on construction, so I'll make any improvements I see necessary for a 2 stroke installation. I am trusting that Sig did their homework during the design stages, and were probably on top of the initial construction processes at the mfgr. I have always admired Sig kits, as they are top of the line. I'll try to get some pics of my installation, and flight reports. Dean

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Dean, you might be able to fit a Top Flite in-cowling muffler under the cowling since you are using an OS engine. I can save you some money and hook you up with the Exhaust header I have a couple of spares.

acdii

You might need to change the mounting holes for the smaller engines. If you look at my build thread I have several photos of the back of the firewall. They inset the 4 T-nuts for the motor mounts, so if you have to move them, you might need to fill in the holes so the nuts fit flat. Luckily the ones I had to do for the FG-11 fell inside of them and laid flat.

acdii

With the wheel pants removed, taking off is so much smoother. Once that tail comes up it tracks nice and straight. I down sized the prop to a 13X6 and gained a few hundred RPM, so I now have more speed on take off too, no more slowing down once the nose lifts, it continues to climb. Flew it for 40 minutes or so and still had over a half tank of gas. I even let my friend fly it for a while until his hands got numb. I found that crosswinds landings are nothing special, I landed on one wheel, rolled like that a few feet and gently let the other one down, then got the tail down, and it was a nice landing. The second time around, the winds had calmed to nothing more than a whisper so my next landing was smooth, right on the mains, nice and straight.

What a joy this plane is to fly. Still have to work on CG a bit, its nose heavy so inverted and knife edges are not looking so good, takes a lot of down to stay level, and I cant seem to find the right mix of rudder and aileron for a knife edge, it keeps rolling, one way or the other, so need to play with the radio a bit.

smkrcflyer

I'm thinking about getting one of these after reading all the flying information. I'm looking for a bigger electric plane that will fly good slow. I'm thinking Rimfire .55 for this one.

acdii

Do it, check with SIG on what they used for theirs, they are running electric in them.

Iunnrais

Mine maidened today. I went to the field expecting to have a lot of engine tuning work to do. The Saito surprised me and fired right up after just a couple seconds on the starter. Didn't take too long to get it idling consistently and transitioning well. She's still running a bit rich on the low end since it's essentially a brand new motor but it's at a good point to run a gallon through and get it really well broke in. Once I do that, I'll check the valve lash and get the low end really set well. Took 6 clicks of up elevator and that was it for trim. Not unexpected with a big fuel tank for the Saito up there.

1st observation: 14x7 3 Blade MAS prop on a Saito 100 is actually too much for the plane. Prop develops enough thrust at idle (forgot to tach the idle) that she wants to go ahead and taxi. We were running around 1/4 to 1/3 throttle up in the air and it felt very happy. Had it set to about 9300rpm at wot (about 300 rpm rich by tach). Go fig I did originally buy the prop & engine to power a 60 size P-40 so no surprise it wanted to have some speed. I'll order some 14x6 2 Blade props and see how well it likes those. I doubt this plane will ever see full throttle except when it's on the starting stand. It feels like it really just wants to cruise around the sky.

2nd observation: Low rates were ditched about 10 seconds into the maiden. Plane felt much happier at high rates. Aileron rates on high still felt a bit slow and I'll probably expand them a bit more than they're currently set. I do have lots of expo dialed in on the high rates which helps when cruising. Rudder was very responsive.

3rd observation: She's definitely a short base taildragger. Have to keep on top of the rudder during takeoffs & landings. I'm not going to claim any trophies with either my take offs or my landings today. Most of that is me just being rusty. We won't go into exactly how many times I aborted and went around today trying to get her on the ground. Responded well to minor changes in the throttle. One of the best visual responses that I've seen to the old throttle=altitude adage.

Very well behaved in the sky. She tracked well off the ground. The little bit of dihedral in the wing wasn't really apparent in flight. She would just sit there and hold attitude when I let off the sticks. Turns felt best with all 4 sticks working...add a little power and fully coordinate the turn and she looked very nice. I didn't do any aerobatics today. I'll save those for later. For now it's back to basics. I see a lot of touch and go landings in my future.

Running at low throttle, we never used more than 1/4 tank on a flight. I'm guessing that I'll never run this one dry before I'm done. Figure maybe 35-40mins of run time at current usage on the 18oz tank. Maybe longer. Nice seeing the reserve capacity in the tank. I've had issues before at the field where I needed to land and due to traffic, ended up ditching in the grass with my electrics.

I've got 3 issues to correct before flying again. I put in a remote glow with the socket right behind the wing on the top of the fuselage. I need to put in a plywood sister underneath it to strengthen the area. It flexes a bit too much locking in the igniter. Next, change the prop to get a little less pitch speed. Last issue is replacing a screw on one of my wheel pants. Blue Loctite vs. Fuel residue from the exhaust....Residue wins and screw disappeared.

Was pleasantly surprised by the relative lack of cleanup at the end of the day. I have a silicone diverter attached to the turboheader putting the exhaust directly under the fuse. Right wheel pant took the brunt (from sitting stationary during engine work) but the bottom of the plane was pretty clean. Most of the mess was from just back of the firewall to just behind the landing gear. Wings and the sides of the fuse were clean.

All in all a good day. Just wish that I'd had someone video the maiden so I could post it Ah well, maybe in a couple weekends.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

Great report! Any chance of some pictures of the engine installation? Also how much of the cowl was cut? Thanks.

Bruce

Iunnrais

Here is the engine. I've not cut the cowl yet, but there's going to be a pretty good sized hole in the bottom to accommodate the FA100 and the exhaust. You should be able to follow the lower line of the fuse and make an imaginary line through the engine for the cowl. I really think that the Saito 72 or 82 would be a better fit for the plane. The 100 is simply massive overkill. The valve covers and a good bit of the head will be exposed. Certainly should be no cooling issues I will say that this particular FA100 was a pleasure to run today. Easy starts and sounds very nice. But it'd be more at home tugging a 9+lb warbird than a 7lb sportster with the current prop. It'll still be cool once I have the prop size dialed in.

acdii

To balance mine with the cowl, and the FG-11, which weighs the same as the 100, I would have needed to add 4 ounces to the tail. I wound up cutting the bottom covering two spaces behind the wing, putting in some support and mounting the battery pack and 1 ounce lead back there. Worked perfectly.

I also did a dumb thing(which prompted the rebalance and cowl), I flew it a few times a couple weeks ago and one last time, went to take off, wind had changed direction so it was opposite of what I had been taking off of, and tail came up, nose pitched forward due to being nose heavy and I over compensated, so off it went, not fast enough for the wing. I tried to recover with rudder, but just couldnt level off in time and cartwheeled it. Ripped the wing off, pulled the bolt down block out and cracked the fuse at former 2 and 3. Its all fixed up now, and reblanced so it wont nose over when it comes up level.

My LT-40 tends to take off the same way, nose down a bit, and I know its nose heavy too, just a hair, but the long fuse on it prevents it from lifting off too soon.

The FG-11 is the fight amount of power for this plane, I would fear over powering it would rip the wing off. It can do some wicked maneuvers.

Iunnrais

Well, thanks to landeck, I got adventurous and went ahead and cut the cowl. Pretty good size hole as expected. I was able to leave the back ring of the glass intact. It just takes holding your tongue just right to maneuver it into place. Swapped out the prop while I was at it. We'll see if this one works out. Should drop my static thrust at idle a couple of ounces. (still need to trim the bolt for the prop hub a bit... will get to that another evening)

Sorry to hear about the inadvertent ground acrobatics. My battery is way back in the tail as well. Between the same formers as yours. Sounds like my battery is a little heavier as I didn't need to add the extra lead.

acdii

Just realized I didnt put a hole for the needle extension, but then again I have not had to touch the needle at all.

Iunnrais

Quick glamor shot after putting in the cowl and remediating the couple of minor issues. Thinking that I need a pilot sitting in there.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

lunnrais, thanks for the pictures. You did a great job of installing that engine. I am thinking of installing a Magnum 91 FS. It may take more cutting of the cowling. I wish I had an OS 65V I could install.

Bruce

acdii

Just an aside, the magnum 91 weighs more than the Saito 100 and the FG-11. I weighed them all.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

OK acdii, it is all your fault! I just ordered an OS 61V for the T-Clip. Oh well, I have been looking at that engine since it was announced because I have had such good performance out of the two 95Vs I have.

Bruce

acdii

I had planned to put a 91 on mine, but once I got it and placed the engine on the nose, decided it was just too much for it.

TomCrump

After seeing the airframe, and how it flies on a 46 electric motor, a .50 2 stroke, or .70 4 stroke, would be the max power that I would suggest.

I though about a .91 4 stroke, too, but I think that it would be too much.

Iunnrais

Given how much "extra" power I have with my Saito 100, I have to agree. .91 would be too much. That little OS 4 Stroke should do you just fine.

Not that it isn't nice to finally use the Saito. In my case it was an engine in search of a plane. I just didn't get a big enough plane

TomCrump

I have a .91 4 stroke in search of a plane, too. Sadly, this won't be it.

acdii

I have 3 .91 in search of a plane. Hoping to find the proper scale B-25 for them and scratch build it. The FG-11 is based on the 60 cased Saito, so that 61 should be a perfect match. If it wasn't for the 15-20 MPH winds, today would have been a fabulous day to fly. However, tomorrow seems to be promising, light winds, though only around 60. 10* cooler.

Iunnrais

I've an old .91 in search of a new head and crankshaft Really should get around to picking those up and repairing it so that it can also be in search of a plane.

acdii

Just thought I would drop these here.

hobbychina2010

You can use ASP 120AR Two Stroke Nitro / Glow Engines