taildragger1589

Ha!I'm looking for the model they used to make her.Nick

KaP2011

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LOL, actually the Stuka is not mine, it was for sale here on RCU a couple of months ago. If the Stuka was mine I would have put a mr potato head in it.

I've got the one in the white shirt in a 1/4 scaleSpacewalker with Capt. Eddie in the back seat. That one gets some comments whenever people see it.

RICKSTUBBZ

KaP,

The paint scheme goes with the "Smith" quite well. looks good.

I think Hobby King has one or two pilots simular to what you are looking for....

waynek

KaP, your Mini looks great, best of luck with the maiden.

W

KaP2011

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The Smith flew today.........for about 50'. The engine died right after lift off and forced an emergency landing. Minor damage to the bottom of the cowl and wheelpants. Blasted engine was working great yesterday.
One thing I really liked was that it was not at all squirrly on the ground, the take off run was straight as an arrow. Either that or the practice with the Christen Eagle paid off.

rc_wings

Dang! Sorry to hear about the flame out! I find if you put in lots of expo on the rudder it can help tame the tail if it becomes a problem. Hopefully next time the engine co-operates for you.

RICKSTUBBZ

Hey KaP,
That second picture is pretty cool....It was snapped just as the mains were lifting off[8D]. Perfect timing

Glad to hear you got the first fifty feet out of the way.
Hope the damage can be repaired where you'll never notice it.
Good luck with the second maiden.

I have no doubt that flying a Cristen Eagle would help prepare one for a "Smith MiniPlane".
Lots of horsepower and short take off rolls help too.
Seriously though, it also helps to have the tailwheel set up like yours were the tail is held up pretty high.

KaP2011

My Feedback: (17)

Thanks for the best wishes guys. The damage was minor, scratched up the bottom of the cowl, bent the landing gear and spinner and the wheel pants popped apart at the seam. All of it should be easily repaired.
It does help to have the tail up high, the tail wheel puts the rudder up in the prop wash and it shows with the take off roll. It was very straight withonly alittle rudder needed.

The picture was a good one, the president of our club does them, it's his other hobby.

Here's a picture took at a recent warbird flyin. Mustang wing folded up on landing.

taildragger1589

Glad your first incident was minor! You'll probably be glad to hear that the smith flies as smoothly as she tracks on takeoff. Nick[8D]

KaP2011

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I finaly got around to doing the maiden flight on the Smith yesterday. The Saito .56 ran great this time around. However, flying the Smith was like jumping on the meanest bull in the barn. I nearly messed my pants. It took all the down trim I had to fly level and at full throttle it still wanted to climb. Tail heavy for sure even though it's balanced on the mark indicated on the plans. After I got it trimmed it was not too bad except it was very pitch sensitive. As I was flying I noticed that the groove for straight and level was very narrow, it was either decending or climbing. A friend at the field sugested that the wing incedence was off. I set everything per Sig instructions, 0 deg on wings, stab and engine. The friend sugested that the top wing would be better if it was +2 deg. Seems like I remember reading somewhere farther back in the thread that some guys had changed the wing incedence to improve flight.

Any insight or sugestions?

2.4ghs

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+1 degree on the top wing and O on stab and bottom wing works real good, you want that top wing to stall first, you can put a little washer on the front side of the wing and fly again im sure you will notice a difference.
mine is set up that way on the little sig and my 1/3 scale, If you would like I can check where mine balances at and let you know. But I believe mine was 1/8" forward from the plans I can check tomorrow.

KaP2011

My Feedback: (17)

Thanks for the info 2.4, I'll check my CG again, I have no dought it's right where the plans put it.I was going to move it forward when I got around to messing with it again. Right now it's sitting in the garage stareing at me.

taildragger1589

Hi guy!
I just maiden flighted a 25" bipe, The Stampe SV4B, that's very happy cruising around straight and level with a slightly aft CG.
As a coincidence, her top wing is about 2 degrees more positive than the bottom wing and stab.
granted the incidences to the thrust line are 7, 5, and 5. which make it look kinda cool as it flies slightly nose down when flying level.

Love the pics.
here's two of mine...

Nick[8D]

RICKSTUBBZ

Great Pictures of your “Smith� in the air!


You Know I did a lot of experimenting with my “Smith� before retiring it. Wing Incidence, engine thrust, balance point, and several engines and props. Wrote about most of it on this thread. Mine was built to be a sport plane and not a “scale� plane. Had a blast with it.

What I learned through it all is The Sig Smith Miniplane really doesn’t appreciate being over powered. At least it is not happy with a big torque producing prop. Too big a prop (Diameter) and too much thrust will make it do weird stuff. I tried a 13X4 with my ST51 and the amount of thrust and the P-factor just made it a handful to stay out of trouble when horsing it around.

It’s not a speed demon although it can handle the speed.

My experience showed me that a good 40 two stroke with an 11X6 prop was about the perfect combination for my airplane. Granted by today’s standards it would leave you feeling a little short on power....But that is where my plane seemed the happiest. Obviously an equivalent four stroke and prop should be good too – right?

I moved balance point for and aft with several different engines and never found anything that worked better than what Sig says. As I recall, exactly at the leading edge of the bottom wing.

Engine thrust was heavily dependant on which engine/prop combination I was running.

I highly suggest to anyone building one of these to put a little positive incidence in the stab. A couple of people have done this and wrote about it here. Almost every (if not every) person that built the plane with the stab set per plans has wrote about the significant down elevator required. If it is really bad you could put negative in both wings and the engine. Just a lot of redoing however you go about it.

I messed around with the incidence on the top wing can’t remember if I went negative or positive and I am too lazy to go digging for what I wrote. But when I changed the incidence I created as many problems as I fixed.

Also unlike many of the modern planes – too much elevator throw can be a problem for this plane.

Well, yours looks good - hope you get it trimmed out how you like it and have some fun with it. When you get it right it will do a beautiful Lomchevok....

rc_wings

KaP

I concur with Rick on his points. My SMP is so much fun to fly, and does not have any nasty habits yet that I have found. It slows down to a crawl for landings, and will take the speed like it is a pylon racer. Ground handling can be a little tricky, but then so is every plane of this configuration. Some expo really helps tame the hind end on take offs to prevent over correcting. It will roll, spin, spiral and snap like a champ......if I did not know better, would almost think it was Sean Tucker up there in his Challenger. LOL. I guess my expectations may be different in terms of what this plane will deliver. It is not a 3D plane or a Pattern ship, but just a fun weekend flyer. It will not do perfect axial rolls and that is why I have other planes more suited for precision style flying. I have a SuperTigre .51 on the front, and it is plenty powerful for what this thing was meant to do. A strong .40 would easily fly this plane. My only struggle was trying to get the right prop to slow the speed down. Finally settled in on a 12x5 APC, and although still on the fast side, seems to be a good combination for my style of flying with some throttle management.

As for what changes to the plan I incorporated......well Rick pretty much summed it up. I "may" have 1 degree of right thrust and 1 degree down on the motor, but this is likely pretty insignificant as the plans called for 0 on both. More or less just wanted to be on that side of zero for good measure. The horizontal stab is just under 2 degree positive incidence. Only a slight amount of elevator "up" trim was needed which is barely noticeable. I think 2 degrees would have been perfect. No additional trimming is needed at varying speeds as it holds a straight line. Wings are at 0 incidence for both upper and lower as per the plans.

She was done in box cover colours and looks good on the ground and in the air. Funny thing is not too many guys in our club gave it much attention when it showed up, likely due to it's small size even though it is 1/4 scale........that is, until it took to the air and then the jaws dropped! It is quite the little airshow performer.

Every model will fly a little different, and every builder will have his or her preferred method of building and incorporating changes to a design. Lots of tips on this thread. Some may have worked for certain models, but this what I did, and I cannot be happier with this little gem of a plane. What makes my SMP even more special, is that it was a gift from my girlfriend twenty some years ago. Finally got around to building it and that "girl" who became my wife got to see it fly. Yes women know how to "trap" a man!!!!

Best of luck ironing out the bugs in your little SMP.

Marko

KaP2011

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Thanks Rick and Marko. I'm going to get it in the hanger this week and go over everything. I'm not going to try to change the horizontal stab incedence because that would require a major hack job. I may add 1 or 2 deg of incedence to the top wing and adjust the CG alittle. Some expo on the elevator would also likely help a lot. I think I've already got 20% expo on all the surfaces. I think I'll also reduce the throw on the elevator. The elevator and rudder are huge for a plane this size.

I'll give an update next weekend. 

rc_wings

KaP,

I think you have a Futaba 14SG....correct? I have a 8FG Super and it is possible to import a config from the 8 to the 14. So, I could send you the file for my SMP if you want to see how I have it set up if that would be of any help?

Let me know and I can PM you with the file.

Marko

2.4ghs

My Feedback: (15)

Kap,
rc wings/marco have it right, although marco is running 2 pos in his stab witch makes the tail fly, in your case with everything at 0 you can make the same ajustments with your top wing and your CG I checked mine and it is in front of what the plans call for and I am running
48 4 stroke @5800 ft. asl. and it fly's it great. like they said a little expo in the rudder will tame in down a bunch on the ground but you will be shocked once you have it iron out it flys fantastic,
When I scratched built my 1/3 scale i was shocked at how it flew like the little one but like a trainer i would say, very easy to take off and very easy to land with no funny quarks about it. The 1/3 scale was built by my dad's full set of plans as he built 1 back in the 60's and I built a exact replica of his plane . Make your changes and go have fun.

If you look at my profile picture that is my dads full scale still flying today, of course a different color also. I still am in contact with the owner of my dads plane as he also flys RC.
my dad was the original owner of Aircraft Spruce and speciality and he sold the business/ name back in middle 60''s I was just a airport brat then.

RICKSTUBBZ

I have created a new edit on a couple videos I had of my old "Smith". I tried to keep it short and to the point.

http://youtu.be/LwtXV3C_Mbg

2.4ghs

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SWEET RICK, that is awesome great job and i love the colors you picked. They sure do fly well don't they.

RICKSTUBBZ

Thanks,

The colors were great - - particularly on a clear day[8D].
Scheme could have used some improvement[X(]. Oh well

They are just a "HOOT" to fly.

rc_wings

Dang it Rick.....now I gotta go fly mine. Been too windy up here to fly anything other than a kite!

Cool vid!

soliex

I haven't flown my Smith in a couple months because the Saito was acting up to the point I had determine what was wrong before I flew it again. I was thinking my tubing had too many bends and connectors to provide good flow so I ordered a fuel valve in order to simplify the routing. When I pulled the tank out I found that the pick-up had swapped ends on me (during one of my bad landings no doubt). I went ahead with the installation of the fuel valve and flew it today with no problems at all.

pkf3

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Do you still have that article?

2.4ghs

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Soliex just be careful with them valves there JUNK, the seal goes bad in them and leak just a heads up.