pmuscutt

I just aquired a Sig Skybolt which is no longer kitted. I have read through a smattering of old posts but seems to not be a lot of real meat I'm looking for. Sooooo, does it tend to build tail heavy like the GP super skybolt? I heard that the cabanes are a pain and some people have experienced failures. Any suggestions on how to improve the cabanes, perhaps build them like the hog bipe which I don't know how they are rigged. All info like I coulda,shoulda will be helpful. Thanks.

Patrick

CurtD

My Feedback: (1)

I built two of these years ago and was very happy with the building and flight characteristics. As far as the cabane goes, if you follow the directions carefully and know how to solder well, it goes together nicely and is plenty strong enough for the model (mine were both .60 2S powered). The only thing I did was replace the wooden dowel the kit gives you to pin the top wing to the cabane. I used a piece of brass tubing instead but piano wire (1/8" is what I remember) will also work. The wooden dowel is just too soft and weak. I could see it failing after a few flights. The top of the fuse is molded plastic which is ok but it wouldn't be difficult to replace it with formers and balsa which would hold up longer.

Don't overpower it. This version of the Skybolt is an older design and is really meant to be powered by sport 60's or maybe a .70 4-stroke. My old Blue Head ST .60 would pull it through vertical 8's with out too much struggle on top.

It's a fun airplane and not bad to build. It flies really well and is reasonably rugged.

KidVermin

My Feedback: (3)

Patrick:

All bipes build tail heavy because of short nose moment, with the exception of the Christen Eagle because of their short tail. It helps if you cut 1 1/2" down to 3/4" lightening holes in tail surfaces.
My Sig Skybolt has a Magnum 80 4c and 8oz. of lead beside the crankcase.
Like Curt, I used 1/8" rod threaded both ends and screw on nuts at each end to secure wing to strut. I don't know about weak struts if you wrap fine wire and solder enough. Mine was finished off with Bondo and filed/sanded smooth.
I'd suggest you build it as a 4 aileron version so you won't get bored with it too soon. My older Midwest Stearman is lower aileron only and is not really that exciting to fly.

alchemy

I just purchased a Great Planes Super Skybolt. I also purchased a OS 91 FX engin to go with it. The building process is going very well. My question is: is there a site I can go to that would give me ideas of covering the plane. I bought white fabric Century 21 for the base but I would like to fdo something special on the plane. I also would like to know how it flys and what size prop I should use. Thanks for the help. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Bruce

Boss248

I flew my SB with an O.S. 61FSR and an APC 13/6 prop...mine was a little heavy because I painted it but it flew real well and was fully aerobatic. The .91 witha Pitts style muffler will be a good combo. I was using an APC 13/8 on my .91FX but it was piped so I really am not sure what prop you can use but it will work with a 13/8 piped or not. My buddy has an APC 14/10 on a stock muff and it seems to do good. Try to keep it light as possible and if the fuse sheeting that goes arounf the nose area on the sides seems real hard don't use it..go buy some softer wood because the wood has to really curve and stay that way. All in all it was a good plane and is plenty strong...mine lasted a bunch of flights and was finally retired. If I had it all to do over I would Monokote it with yellow and do a black start burst on both wings with 2" checker board on the bottom. The reason I say yellow and black is that is the only 2 colors that Lustercoat paint really matches the yellow and black Monokote...plus it just looks mean as hell sitting on the runway...

alchemy

Your plane looks really sharp! Did you retire it or did it meet it's fate with ground "0"? I have purchase two large rolls of Centry 21 fabric in white and was planning on painting it afterward but after seeing yours in green and yellow I may just change my mind. I do have a pitts muffler for it. What did yours weigh in at?

Bruce

Boss248

Bruce...the pic in the avitar is a full size Ultimate 200 that I will be doing the Carl Goldberg Ultimate 300 in the colors and style you see in the avitar. My SB was covered in Super Coverite white and was painted with the now discontinued Hobby Poxy. It had starburst red and bleu. It never did crash but was retired for reasons I don't remember. I never did get a wieght on it but is was heavy but it was still a darn good flying plane.
I have used the covering you are getting ready to use but never painted it but it is very good material and will take paint well i am sure.
Below is the full size pic of the full size Ultimate.
I am real good at copying color schemes but I suck if I have to think up a scheme of my own so I look until I find something I like and just copy it. I see a bunch of really talented people designing some really nice schemes and I am always a bit jealous but what the hell. I will find the pic of the black and yellow SB that is posted here on RCU...I think it looks good.

Boss248

Here is the SB I was thinking about...I really like this simple but striking contrast...the builder did a really nice job of covering it.

jucava

Have you see the latest MAN, on the SIG advertisement they're showing the Skybolt, are they teasing us?

aerobatixkid

My uncle has one of these with an OS 91 Surpass!

This pic was tooken along time ago, and since been fully starbust.|

[img]skybolt.jpg[/img]

WYDAH

Hi Boss,

Glad you like my Skybolt. Just to clarify, mine is the Great Planes kit and not the Sig. Only had a chance to take it up 8 times last season, but it does fly beautifully. If you want to see more pics of the build etc, feel free to check out my website.


http://fire.prohosting.com/wydah/index.html

69chevelle

My Feedback: (19)

Does anybody have the instructions? I have the kit and plans but no instructions. If someone can scan them or give me a link to where I can get a copy I would be grateful.

Thanks in advance,

Frank

WYDAH

Hi Frank,

The Great Planes website has almost all the manuals for their kits. Here's the direct link to the 5MB manual.
Enjoy!

http://www.greatplanes.com/manuals/gpma0170-manual.pdf

Oh, your probably looking for the SIG manual.... sorry don't know where to find that..

wolfstar

this is my first kit i found it fun to build i powerd mine with a tower hobbies .61 and it has plenty of power i had
to make a muffler extension because i couldnt find a aftermarket muffler for the TH engine
i dont know why but mine came out perfectly balanced but it flies wonderfull and with 4 allerons plenty acrobatic.
if you still need the instructions Frank i could scan them for you
it isnt mutch but im proud and i wanted to show it of.

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

WYDAH,
Great looking SS. I apprecriate you posting all the construction photos on your site too.

I have the GP Skybolt kit and am planning on starting construction on it soon. Do you have any hints on it that you think would be useful?

I was concerned about them "being tailheavy", and wondered if you found this to be a problem. It seems that your GMS engine is pretty light, and I'm planning on using either an OS 91 or my YS 91 four stroke if that helps you answer the weight question.

Thanks in advance,
Dennis-

WYDAH

Hi Dennis,

Glad you like the site. I had been taking pictures of my build since the beginning, and felt I had to put up a quick site to document my progress. The GP Skybolt was only my 2nd kit build, and I found it very straight forward with no real problems. The Great Planes' instructions and plans are very well put together. My Bolt is pretty much stock with only a few exceptions. I went with a Pull-Pull setup on the Rudder which worked out very well and was easy to setup. I also went with two seperate servos and Sullivan Golden-rods for each elevator half, using a servo reverser on one half, as opposed to the single servo and Y-rod setup in the plans. This too worked out well, though it did take a lot of fiddling to get equal throws on both halves. In addition I went with a Sullivan Tailwheel bracket. These things are great and they take a lot of stress off of the rudder hinges which I think would be a problem with the GP setup. Also went with an AeroGlass fiberglass cowl. I did assemble and prime the kit cowl, and kept it for a spare since it didn't turn out too bad. One other change was to the aileron connecting rods. I felt that the 2-56 rods connecting the upper and lower ailerons was just a bit too weak and could flex slightly under load. I would either upgrade to 4-40 rod, or I even went with some carbon fiber rod which has no flexing and is perfectly rigid.
Now about weight and balance. This plane does build tail heavy. Believe it or not, my GMS .76 along with the huge J'tec Pitts Muffler I attached, and the GP Aluminum Spinner and prop total 33oz! Yes, that's just over 2 pounds! You can see a pic on my site of the engine sitting on my scale for weight. I also moved the servo tray forward by about 1.5" to center it between the wing hold down braces. Even with this setup I needed to add 2 oz of weight under the engine mount to balance the plane properly. My AUW without fuel is just over 10 pounds.
I only had the plane out to the field twice last season, for a total of 8 flights. It behaves nicely, and the GMS .76 with a 12x6 prop seems to have plenty of pull. I fly off from a grass field, and have no trouble getting airborne. I'm not into the wild aerobatics, but the plane can easily climb to do nice large straight tracking loops. I've kept the ailerons rather numb while I get some more experience with how it flies, but the rolls are still pretty sweet. My biggest issues are with the landings. (Isn't everyones in this hobby??). Out of my 8 flights I've only managed to really nail two of them. The others have either bounced in hard, nosed over after touch down, or once I brought it in too slow and stalled it from about 4 feet high.. oops. Most of these are probably due to pilot inexperience, though I think some of the nose over issues are due to the grass field which is none to smooth. If I don't give it some up elevator right at touch down it wants to lift the tail and ride in on the nose.
Overall a wonderful plane and I'm sure you'll enjoy building and flying yours as well. Hope this helped answer some questions you might of had.

rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

Dennis, my GP Skybolt is almost finished and I solved the tail heavy problem by using a Saito 120 up front. I pretty sure power will not be an issue, nyuk nyuk.

GrnBrt

My Feedback: (5)

Damn that sure is pretty in those colors!!!! I have a 1/2 finished SIG Skybolt I got in a trade and I hope you don't mind but I saved the picture as i may just be a copy cat, darn it is pretty but I all ready said that now didn't I?

WYDAH

Sure GrnBrt, don't mind at all. Plus since your on the opposite coast from me I don't think I'll have to worry about bumping into you at the flying field with identical Skybolts..

I'll even attach my 3-view drawing of my color scheme for you. Good luck with the completion of your kit, and be sure to post some pics when your done.

runover1

My Feedback: (10)

Boss248, I love that full size Ultimate, do you have any other photos of it since I might want to copy that scheme too, if that is alright with you? Do you know what the under cowl extension is for? What is the difference between the 100, 200 or 300 Ultimates?

Wydah, what an awesome job! Do you really fly at a soccer field or do they borrow your field? I like the way the top view of your skybolt and how the top of the bottom wing reflects the ceheckerboard pattern. It almost looks like carbon fiber or something. How are you able to make 3-view graphics of your planes before you cover it?
Really cool stuff guys.

I don't know if it is really helping Patrick, but I hope so.

flyn4Him

I built a Sig SkyBolt many years ago. If my memory serves me right, it weighed in at just over 6lbs with an OS 61FSR Special Edition swinging a 12x6 zinger. It was the most awesome bipe I've flown to date. I built it with 4 ailerons with one servo(under the bottom panel) per 2 ailerons. I had sooooo much fun with it until I attempted a snap roll on take off. Well, you can figure out the rest. I covered mine with monokote and painted the turtle deck, cowling and wheel pants. I also installed the engine inverted with a tatone muffler. As far as CG problems, I had none. It balanced right on! Take care and hope its warm and dry where you are.

In Christ,

Joel Chavez

promag

I am flying one Sig SB with Thunder Tiger 61 and Bisson muffler. Prop 12x6 or 13X6.

Flies very nice. Mine was build with ailerons only in bottom wing. Not so good for wild aerobatics. I beleve better install ailerons in both wings.
Lands wonderful. Also change the wood dowell for brass tubing to fix top wing in cabane.


Paulo

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

WYDAH,
I just save that 3 view too. I may use different colors though. I have some Cream and some Metallic Brown that might look good together.

Question: do you think it would be possible, or advisable, to try and eliminate some weight from the tail during construction? I'd wondered about all that lumber back there and thought I might be able to reduce it somewhere. What do you think?

Thanks again,
Dennis-

rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

I thought about cutting holes in the sheeting but I only thought about it, I never did it because I used a big motor.

WYDAH

Hi,

I don't feel I'm experienced enough to comment on the lightening aspect. I wouldn't know what is structural and what could safely be eliminated. Does seem like a lot of wood goes into the rudder, Vert Fin, and Horz stab pieces though. Not to mention the bottom fuselage sides get planked and have to be carved and sanded down to shape. That wood seemed very dense in my kit at least.

Runover1, the 3-view I think I scanned in from the back cover of the GP manual. I simply save as a bmp file and use something like Paint, or Unleaded to color in the areas to see how certain color combos look put together. Nothing too complicated.