What is this plane?
03-13-2016, 10:43 AM
#1
What is this plane?
Other than poorly built and horribly covered, what the heck is it? WS is about 37". Inside I see the name SIG on it, but only SIG Balsa, so not sure if that's just the name of the wood company. The aluminum motor mount looks like an afterthought, and access to the fuse requires this to come off. Might be an interesting project. If I stripped it and cleaned up the wood, is this something I could just paint instead of recovering? I would fly it off of snow or water (grass too). Thanks.
03-13-2016, 01:29 PM
#2
I'm not sure what it is but it looks like a fun project to put a wing mounted pod on and place batteries etc. in fuse. Could fly off anything with a hand launch. Sorry I don't remember what it might be but I think I've seen one years ago . Enjoy !!! Red
03-14-2016, 04:47 AM
#9
Other than poorly built and horribly covered, what the heck is it? WS is about 37". Inside I see the name SIG on it, but only SIG Balsa, so not sure if that's just the name of the wood company. The aluminum motor mount looks like an afterthought, and access to the fuse requires this to come off. Might be an interesting project. If I stripped it and cleaned up the wood, is this something I could just paint instead of recovering? I would fly it off of snow or water (grass too). Thanks.
I'll tell ya what it is , , , , It's one EFFF!!!! of a lot better than reading most of the rest of the clubhouse threads lately .....
Now as to the airframe itself ;
For a cool little knockabout plane , I think it looks just fine and needs no cosmetic work whatsoever . Unless you have yourself talked into a need to turn it into a perfectly built "showqueen" , which it ain't ever gonna be , slap a motor and esc on it , rig up some servos & such , make sure it's somewhat balanced , and go fly the heck outta it !
PS , if it's really all that "poorly built" and not just "tastelessly covered" then just removing the covering will only leave you a poorly built airframe that still needs further work and at that point when you've 65 to 70 % rekitted it ya might as well have started with a BRAND NEW kit and built NO mistakes into that , while you fly the crap outta this "beater" plane as a "daily driver" .
They can't ALL be pretty , there gotta be a few mules in along the mares , the whole yin and the yang thing . Ugly planes need love too .
Oh , and , I almost forgot , I've likely built close to 50 kits give or take a few over the years and I can't recall a one of them having the company logo on the wood that became the actual airframe . I think on some of the "die crushed" (die cut) kits the logo might have been on the wood that the parts were cut (supposedly) out of , but not on the actual ribs & such themselves . This lends credence to either the theory that it wasn't built from a kit , or , that it was built from a kit but has already had major after the build woodwork done .
My vote is to fly it "RatRod" .....
Last edited by init4fun; 03-14-2016 at 04:49 AM.
03-14-2016, 07:00 AM
#10
Hey Init....great weather this weekend right? C'mon summer...we're waitin on you!
Ratrod may it, although the guy who owned this before me was pretty much a stock plane guy, not much of an experimenter. He might have gotten into the hobby later in life, and suffice it to say did not have the best build skills out there. The pic probably doesn't accurately reflect the true condition of the plane, it's intact for the most part, but it's rough. The covering is coming apart in places, and it looks like it's epoxied in some places, then rubber cemented in others. Believe me, I'm not the guy that has to have a perfect beauty queen in the air, but this just seemed like a cool little project to spend some time on. I "build" my first model this year and while I might not do another one anytime soon, I'd like to still experiment here and there, and this one I think could be a good way to keep going.
Ratrod may it, although the guy who owned this before me was pretty much a stock plane guy, not much of an experimenter. He might have gotten into the hobby later in life, and suffice it to say did not have the best build skills out there. The pic probably doesn't accurately reflect the true condition of the plane, it's intact for the most part, but it's rough. The covering is coming apart in places, and it looks like it's epoxied in some places, then rubber cemented in others. Believe me, I'm not the guy that has to have a perfect beauty queen in the air, but this just seemed like a cool little project to spend some time on. I "build" my first model this year and while I might not do another one anytime soon, I'd like to still experiment here and there, and this one I think could be a good way to keep going.
03-14-2016, 07:40 AM
#11
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It looks a bit like the fuselage is made from a float...is there a step or chine on the bottom...about where the yellow stops? Recently, I started building a "snow plane" using a 48" float and a left over wing from something...
M
M
03-14-2016, 08:44 AM
#12
Hey Init....great weather this weekend right? C'mon summer...we're waitin on you!
Ratrod may it, although the guy who owned this before me was pretty much a stock plane guy, not much of an experimenter. He might have gotten into the hobby later in life, and suffice it to say did not have the best build skills out there. The pic probably doesn't accurately reflect the true condition of the plane, it's intact for the most part, but it's rough. The covering is coming apart in places, and it looks like it's epoxied in some places, then rubber cemented in others. Believe me, I'm not the guy that has to have a perfect beauty queen in the air, but this just seemed like a cool little project to spend some time on. I "build" my first model this year and while I might not do another one anytime soon, I'd like to still experiment here and there, and this one I think could be a good way to keep going.
Ratrod may it, although the guy who owned this before me was pretty much a stock plane guy, not much of an experimenter. He might have gotten into the hobby later in life, and suffice it to say did not have the best build skills out there. The pic probably doesn't accurately reflect the true condition of the plane, it's intact for the most part, but it's rough. The covering is coming apart in places, and it looks like it's epoxied in some places, then rubber cemented in others. Believe me, I'm not the guy that has to have a perfect beauty queen in the air, but this just seemed like a cool little project to spend some time on. I "build" my first model this year and while I might not do another one anytime soon, I'd like to still experiment here and there, and this one I think could be a good way to keep going.
Oh yea , the weather was SO nice I went to my local park and flew one of my favorite parkflyers ! And yes sir , photos CAN hide many defects that are so much easier to see in person . You do have the right idea regarding the covering if it's not properly attached it's gotta go . I never use heat on removing plastic wrap like that (Be it MonoKote , Ultracoat , or whichever) that has already been attached because the more it's heated the more it shrinks and can actually crush the airframe if shrunken too tight . I would peel as much as possible first and then consider heat to loosen any leftover scraps that may still be adhered to the wood . You'll find a lot of it will just peel right off .
As a fun little project to sharpen the building/covering skills I can now understand the desire to "rip into it"
03-14-2016, 09:27 AM
#13
I love the Rat rod idea. Rip off the covering, light sanding, and then some auto body primer filler. 2- 3 coats of marine spar varnish will make it waterproof and you're ready to go.
03-25-2016, 10:15 AM
#16
Well finally stripped it down, most of the covering came off easily, some other areas has to be convinced. I think the covering might have actually held the tail-feathers on, the sort of "fell" off after I was done. The more I looked at this the more I think it was someone's one off attempt at building. The horizontal stab was cut from a single piece of balsa, very thin, and in the wrong direction of grain, so it was pretty severely cupped. Both parts will be replaced. On the bottom front part of the fuze the is a section of thin balsa, I'll probably throw glass a small part of that. Someone earlier mentioned bondo....I think a fair amount of that is already in this puppy. I'll take some out as it was loose, and then smooth it all out.
The wings were in pretty good shape except for the glass work done at the seam. I'll clean that up as well.
I think I might go the way of painting rather than covering, I'll decide after I've cleaned it up a bit. It would be primed then painted. I'll mosey over to the boat area for further info on paint but I'm thinking that the fuse will need either a few coats of paint and then water safe poly, or is there hobby grade water safe paint I can use?
The wings were in pretty good shape except for the glass work done at the seam. I'll clean that up as well.
I think I might go the way of painting rather than covering, I'll decide after I've cleaned it up a bit. It would be primed then painted. I'll mosey over to the boat area for further info on paint but I'm thinking that the fuse will need either a few coats of paint and then water safe poly, or is there hobby grade water safe paint I can use?
03-25-2016, 05:39 PM
#17
You mention water safe paint , A good thought but I think If I were setting up a plane for puddlejumping I think I'd go the Monokote route rather than paint just because I think I could get it more waterproof and lighter too with the Monokote VS painted fabric . I think by the time you got enough paint on enough fabric for it to be truly waterproof it is going to be too heavy to fly well .
03-26-2016, 05:08 AM
#19
You mention water safe paint , A good thought but I think If I were setting up a plane for puddlejumping I think I'd go the Monokote route rather than paint just because I think I could get it more waterproof and lighter too with the Monokote VS painted fabric . I think by the time you got enough paint on enough fabric for it to be truly waterproof it is going to be too heavy to fly well .
03-26-2016, 05:13 AM
#20
It's where this thing is a "flying boat" style that I keep getting the idea your gonna fly it off of water . I guess snow , even fine sand , or of course well cut grass could provide for flights where water ain't involved but with that hull I'd take it to my nearest small lake & have at it .
Anyway , power source wise , since you mentioned around 37" of wing , roughly in and around parkflyer size , I think (using the E flight system of motor rating) a "Park 480" size would be perfect .
Anyway , power source wise , since you mentioned around 37" of wing , roughly in and around parkflyer size , I think (using the E flight system of motor rating) a "Park 480" size would be perfect .
03-26-2016, 05:20 AM
#22
If the covering is allowed sufficent overlap , and your absolutly fanatical about making sure all the overlaps are perfect , total water tightness is accheievable with Monokote cause I've done it . I built an old tailwagger kit of a PBM back in the days when Monokote was new and spent several summers flying it at the lake at my family's cottage in Maine . I'll agree it isn't easy to get 100% watertight shrinkwrap , It is easier to get 100% watertight paint , but is is doable if he really wants the light weight of the plastic . I just think a proper painted fabric finish is gonna make it "pig heavy" and it won't fly well .
03-26-2016, 05:36 AM
#23
Ya know, paint is all they had before monkote came along,, and planes actually still flew 
for this little guy, we're just talking the hull, the wing is fine left with iron on, so weight gain would be minimal,,
IMO, All comes down to is it worth the work to have something that will last a long time,,, or something you just wanna drive it lke you stole it
for this little guy, we're just talking the hull, the wing is fine left with iron on, so weight gain would be minimal,,
IMO, All comes down to is it worth the work to have something that will last a long time,,, or something you just wanna drive it lke you stole it
03-26-2016, 05:51 AM
#24
It's where this thing is a "flying boat" style that I keep getting the idea your gonna fly it off of water . I guess snow , even fine sand , or of course well cut grass could provide for flights where water ain't involved but with that hull I'd take it to my nearest small lake & have at it .
Anyway , power source wise , since you mentioned around 37" of wing , roughly in and around parkflyer size , I think (using the E flight system of motor rating) a "Park 480" size would be perfect .
Anyway , power source wise , since you mentioned around 37" of wing , roughly in and around parkflyer size , I think (using the E flight system of motor rating) a "Park 480" size would be perfect .
I like simple, believe me. On those few planes that I couldn't find written documentation of the CG 1/3 of the cord has typically worked pretty well. I'm guessing that will be my starting point here, I'm just confused for a few reasons. The motor and battery (at least a 3 cell) will be in front of the wing. It's a nice fat chuncky flat bottom wing, with a good about of dihedral. Does the dihedral affect the CG to any degree. Also, is there any type of formula that says a wing has to be a certain length/width as compared to the length of the fuselage?
Thanks for the continued advice here.
03-26-2016, 05:54 AM
#25
Ya know, paint is all they had before monkote came along,, and planes actually still flew
for this little guy, we're just talking the hull, the wing is fine left with iron on, so weight gain would be minimal,,
IMO, All comes down to is it worth the work to have something that will last a long time,,, or something you just wanna drive it lke you stole it
for this little guy, we're just talking the hull, the wing is fine left with iron on, so weight gain would be minimal,,
IMO, All comes down to is it worth the work to have something that will last a long time,,, or something you just wanna drive it lke you stole it