Faster Sig Wonder speed?
11-06-2007, 03:21 PM
#26
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: DurbanKwazulu Natal, SOUTH AFRICA
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RE: Faster Sig Wonder speed?
Oh she knows alright but doesn't mind too much provided that I clean up afterwards. 
My building table is right next to the dinning room table, so it's a good place for the cutting mat when I'm covering. I don't have a garage to work in but , maybe thats a good thing as garages tend to be rather chilly in winter and sweltering in summer.
My building table is right next to the dinning room table, so it's a good place for the cutting mat when I'm covering. I don't have a garage to work in but , maybe thats a good thing as garages tend to be rather chilly in winter and sweltering in summer.
05-02-2015, 03:59 PM
#28
My Feedback: (3)
Two years ago I purchased a sealed Sig Wonder kit from a late friend's estate thinking it would be a fun toy someday. Today is someday.
It was a huge estate and I worked hard to find a wing for every fuselage, a kit box for every started project. Not only was it a lifetime accumulation but also a part time internet estate business. So there was tonnage. It took 6 months but I managed to find every part for every plane and every kit. There was only one little partially built wing that looked like a practice piece which we eventually threw away. We had several sales and finally moved the remainder through an estate buyer. When no one bought the Wonder, I decided I would take it home for a rainy day. I also picked up a BSE Jett .25 from his workbench for my collection. I always wanted one of his BSE engines and I couldn't justify buying the BSE .60 just to save it so the .25 was the perfect compromise.
When I decided to start building the Wonder, I realized the .25 would be perfect. I'm now pretty sure that was his plan too. So I finally unseal the kit, spend a few days reading the instructions and perusing the plans. One evening the mood strikes, I clear the workbench, lay the plans out, cover them with plastic and dive in.
Huh, no spars. No problem, I'm a scratch builder and I've got lots of wood. I go in the closet for a couple of spars. Cut them to length, pin them down, I'm ready to go. Dig back in the box. What, no ribs? Oh no! He had started construction, that was the wing I threw away!!! He had started it and resealed the box. I had a good laugh and I'm sure he had a good laugh too. Time to start cutting parts, I do claim to be a scratch builder. I changed a few things to facilitate cutting of parts and my preferred building techniques. It's slightly beefed up internally for my intended purposes too. But externally, my wing is exactly the same as stock.
Fast forward. Today I maidened the Wonder with what appears to be a brand new Jett BSE .25. All I can say is "Woo Hoo!" Since the engine looked like it's never been flown, I've still got it running on the rich side. It's blubbering a bit in the straightaways and leaning out into a hard run in the turns. At this point, if I lean it much more, it goes over lean in the turns. That's cool, I can wait. But it is fast. Not speed plane fast, not racer fast, but for a silly little Sig Wonder, it's fast! I can't wait to see what it does when the engine can hold a leaner setting and I start playing with props. I'm currently running an APC 9x5. It was bench running at 16,000 so I clipped the tips just a little to reach the recommended 17,000 revs.
I slapped out 4 flights today and my face hurts from smiling. Hand launches are incredibly easy, it's at flying speed almost before it's released. Not one moment of lack of control like some hand launch planes that need time to reach flying speed. Very little trim was needed. A couple of clicks and we're flying straight and level. Of course, you don't get to fly straight and level very long. It eats up huge pieces of sky in a hurry, and at 37" span, you don't want to let it get too far away. At least not if you've got old eyes like mine.
When the double tails reminded me of an F-18, I started thinking of a faux Navy scheme, I've always liked the orange and white scheme on the jets at the base in Pensacola. I put lots more orange on the bottom than the top so orientation after blistering rolls is easy. Loads of fun on a shoestring budget (okay, I did get a deal on the Jett but I worked 6 months on the estate for that discount!)
Like I said, not a speed plane but this is the forum that will understand the joy of something quick. Besides, now that this one is out of the way, there's only one small repair to be done on another airplane before I can start on the Screamin Demon short kit. Put my piped Jett 428 race engine with a red sport carb and this one will be a real speed plane! More to come on that one in the SD thread after the repair project is finished.
Dave
It was a huge estate and I worked hard to find a wing for every fuselage, a kit box for every started project. Not only was it a lifetime accumulation but also a part time internet estate business. So there was tonnage. It took 6 months but I managed to find every part for every plane and every kit. There was only one little partially built wing that looked like a practice piece which we eventually threw away. We had several sales and finally moved the remainder through an estate buyer. When no one bought the Wonder, I decided I would take it home for a rainy day. I also picked up a BSE Jett .25 from his workbench for my collection. I always wanted one of his BSE engines and I couldn't justify buying the BSE .60 just to save it so the .25 was the perfect compromise.
When I decided to start building the Wonder, I realized the .25 would be perfect. I'm now pretty sure that was his plan too. So I finally unseal the kit, spend a few days reading the instructions and perusing the plans. One evening the mood strikes, I clear the workbench, lay the plans out, cover them with plastic and dive in.
Huh, no spars. No problem, I'm a scratch builder and I've got lots of wood. I go in the closet for a couple of spars. Cut them to length, pin them down, I'm ready to go. Dig back in the box. What, no ribs? Oh no! He had started construction, that was the wing I threw away!!! He had started it and resealed the box. I had a good laugh and I'm sure he had a good laugh too. Time to start cutting parts, I do claim to be a scratch builder. I changed a few things to facilitate cutting of parts and my preferred building techniques. It's slightly beefed up internally for my intended purposes too. But externally, my wing is exactly the same as stock.
Fast forward. Today I maidened the Wonder with what appears to be a brand new Jett BSE .25. All I can say is "Woo Hoo!" Since the engine looked like it's never been flown, I've still got it running on the rich side. It's blubbering a bit in the straightaways and leaning out into a hard run in the turns. At this point, if I lean it much more, it goes over lean in the turns. That's cool, I can wait. But it is fast. Not speed plane fast, not racer fast, but for a silly little Sig Wonder, it's fast! I can't wait to see what it does when the engine can hold a leaner setting and I start playing with props. I'm currently running an APC 9x5. It was bench running at 16,000 so I clipped the tips just a little to reach the recommended 17,000 revs.
I slapped out 4 flights today and my face hurts from smiling. Hand launches are incredibly easy, it's at flying speed almost before it's released. Not one moment of lack of control like some hand launch planes that need time to reach flying speed. Very little trim was needed. A couple of clicks and we're flying straight and level. Of course, you don't get to fly straight and level very long. It eats up huge pieces of sky in a hurry, and at 37" span, you don't want to let it get too far away. At least not if you've got old eyes like mine.
When the double tails reminded me of an F-18, I started thinking of a faux Navy scheme, I've always liked the orange and white scheme on the jets at the base in Pensacola. I put lots more orange on the bottom than the top so orientation after blistering rolls is easy. Loads of fun on a shoestring budget (okay, I did get a deal on the Jett but I worked 6 months on the estate for that discount!)
Like I said, not a speed plane but this is the forum that will understand the joy of something quick. Besides, now that this one is out of the way, there's only one small repair to be done on another airplane before I can start on the Screamin Demon short kit. Put my piped Jett 428 race engine with a red sport carb and this one will be a real speed plane! More to come on that one in the SD thread after the repair project is finished.
Dave
05-16-2015, 11:33 AM
#33
My Feedback: (3)
Thanks Speedie. With the twin tails I thought about F-18 color schemes and this just seemed a natural. With the bottom mostly the fluorescent orange, orientation is a snap, even when rolls are so fast that you can't follow them. Just stop an hold for a second to get orientation before you do anything.
I've flown it a bunch more and it's just a blast to fly. Simple, easy, throw it in the car in one piece and throw it in the air. And yes, a small plane at 120 mph really makes eyes pop in the peanut gallery. They just don't realize how tame it really is.
Airplanes are set aside for now, prepping for a trip in a few weeks, then one stab repair after I get back. Then it's time to start cutting wood on the Screamin' Demon short kit!
Dave
I've flown it a bunch more and it's just a blast to fly. Simple, easy, throw it in the car in one piece and throw it in the air. And yes, a small plane at 120 mph really makes eyes pop in the peanut gallery. They just don't realize how tame it really is.
Airplanes are set aside for now, prepping for a trip in a few weeks, then one stab repair after I get back. Then it's time to start cutting wood on the Screamin' Demon short kit!
Dave
Last edited by dbacque; 05-16-2015 at 11:35 AM.
10-10-2015, 02:45 PM
#35
My Feedback: (3)
Okay, I've had lots of fun with this one but today I upped the ante and moved from a cut down 9x5 to a cut down 8x6. Actually it is now a 7 3/8x6. The Jett .25 was really screaming.
Hokey smokes, this thing hauls the mail!!! I was afraid that the launch would be a struggle but it still flies right out of the hand. Looks like I can take the prop even farther! Next stop, over square.
But I'll hang out here for a while. It was fast. Way fast for a Sig Wonder! When I landed, the eyes in the peanut gallery were all whites. Seems I was the only person on the field who wasn't scared. But I was breathing heavy for quite a while. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing.
And I still am going to get to that SD project. It'll happen over the winter.
Dave
Hokey smokes, this thing hauls the mail!!! I was afraid that the launch would be a struggle but it still flies right out of the hand. Looks like I can take the prop even farther! Next stop, over square.
But I'll hang out here for a while. It was fast. Way fast for a Sig Wonder! When I landed, the eyes in the peanut gallery were all whites. Seems I was the only person on the field who wasn't scared. But I was breathing heavy for quite a while. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing.
And I still am going to get to that SD project. It'll happen over the winter.
Dave
Last edited by dbacque; 10-10-2015 at 02:47 PM.
10-11-2015, 09:32 AM
#37
My Feedback: (3)
It will put a smile on your face! I'm just back from the field and I'm still smiling.
With the .25, I only had to add one ounce of weight to the tail. But the small NiMh battery is mounted at the very aft end of the fuse and the servos are right in front of the battery.
I used a round mount and had to rotate it to get the muffler to clear the wing. Then the cowl was built around everything and faired to the Jett spinner.
I wound up with aileron flutter in the screaming dives so I've got some fishing weight counterbalances now and that did the trick. Actually, they were left over from my demised Hots so it was a quick and easy fix.
Be sure to let us know when you fly it!
Dave
With the .25, I only had to add one ounce of weight to the tail. But the small NiMh battery is mounted at the very aft end of the fuse and the servos are right in front of the battery.
I used a round mount and had to rotate it to get the muffler to clear the wing. Then the cowl was built around everything and faired to the Jett spinner.
I wound up with aileron flutter in the screaming dives so I've got some fishing weight counterbalances now and that did the trick. Actually, they were left over from my demised Hots so it was a quick and easy fix.
Be sure to let us know when you fly it!
Dave
10-11-2015, 04:40 PM
#38
Eliminator makes a 7 x 7 in CF...but it's $15 plus you need to finish it.
Whatever speed you are getting now might not be worth $15 if you don't see much noticeable gain.
APC does have a pretty good assortment of "specialty props" in their $4 lineup.
Whatever speed you are getting now might not be worth $15 if you don't see much noticeable gain.
APC does have a pretty good assortment of "specialty props" in their $4 lineup.
