mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

Get us some pictures. I have considered going electric on the wonder. I don't know if the snow would cause any problems with the electric motor.

foosball_movie

I think he crashed it.

foosball_movie

Another Wonder is down....

RIP: Sig Wonder

Sunday February 10, 2008

Denton, Texas

After unsucessfully completing a four-point turn at 100 mph at a height of five feet, Sig Wonder was laid to rest at approximately noon on a perfect Texas winter day.

Mr. Wonder is survived by an OS .25 FX engine, three Hi-Tec servos (although one was so upset about the loss, it stripped all its gears), and a Spectrum receiver. It's tail was retrieved and will be displayed at its parent's home.

We thank the Wonder's service to the RC community.

iflyg450

Just about done with mine using a MDS .18 I haven't decided what to do for servos. I was thinking Hitec HS-85MG for elevator HS-81 for Aileron, HS 55 for throttle. What do you guys think about that?

frenchie79

I'm not sure of the 55. I don't believe those little servos hold up to the vibration. The rest is fine. I'm going to use a HS225 for Elev., HS81 for Ailerons and throttle and a OS25FX for power-just ordered today.

BIuehawk

My Wonder is over 10 years old with a OS .15 FP in it. Never seemed very fast to me. Maybe because I used a fabric-like covering and filled in the weave with dope? Thinking about building another one with a hot Enya .15-.19...any ideas or comments?
Do the new kits still require scoring the aft part of the fuselage bottom and "cracking" it upwards to get that upward sweep??

foosball_movie

Yes.

Tango Juliet

Has anyone considered enlarging the plans for this little bugger? I do have a Combat Gremlin with an OS 25FX on it, but I'd like to have a larger version of this for say a 46 or 55, or even enlarge it more and add retracts and a 65 or 75.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

I've been thinking about building a bigger one, too. I guess I'd have to get another kit and trace all the parts to get it to come out right. The kit's cheap, so that wouldn't be much of a stretch.

I've heard there's a guy at the Marshall, Michigan club who built a giant scale one- 80" wing with a 60 on it, I think. He hand launches it just like the original.

Seems like most of the nice performing 40 size models have some where in the vicinity of 550+ square inches of wing. I suspect a "hot" 40 size Wonder would do well with around 400 square inches. The trick would be to keep it light enough so the wing loading stays low. The original is hard to beat at that: it's around 14-15 oz per square foot.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Here's a kind of big Wonder. I don't know of anyone who's built one, but I'm thinking about it because I definitely want another hand launched model with good performance and a very low wing loading:

PLAN pl-1191 cat. 1,
T-BIRD
Our Price $13.00
by Peter Peverly,
60" span, 980 sq. in., .40-.46, 4 ch., built-up balsa and plywood, one sheet 34-1/2" x 70-1/2",
Issue: RCM 5-95

The plans are available at rcmmagazine.com

Tango Juliet

Still not what I had in mind though. I'm not a fan of hand launching, and I think an enlarged Wonder would be well suited to retracts.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Go for it. The kit is only $45 from towerhobbies.com I ordered plans for the T-bird and something called Fox II today, but I may yet scale up a Wonder. With retracts like you're thinking about, it could still be hand launched, making for a very flexible aircraft.

The original is 37.5" WS x 9.25" chord, yielding about 347 square inches. The current measurement between the firewall and the wing LE is 3".

Let's try some percentages:

150%: 56.25" WS; 13.875" chord; 780 square inches. A bit smaller than the T-Bird, but a nice size for transporting, especially with the removable wing. I'm thinking a 46 would give good performance.

200%: 75" WS; 18.5" chord; 1387.5 square inches. Definitely 60 size engine territory. Still reasonable to transport.

Looking at mine, I'm thinking one could use a firewall mounted nose gear retract, like the Spring Air (available as Robart thru Tower) The nose wheel would end up back under the wing and behind the fuel tank, where there's plenty of room for it. The fuel tank has to be mounted as high as possible in the Wonder, anyway, up under the top sheeting, so there's room for the nose strut under the tank.

The wing might have to be beefed up a little to take the stress of the mains, as the original has no center section reinforcement. Perhaps spruce spars, perhaps just some 1/16 or 1/8 ply sheer webs out to the landing gear location? The original CG is 2.375" behind the LE, which is 3.5" for 150% and 4.75" for the 200%. Landing gear mounts would require some beefing and engineering behind the CG somewhere, but with the thicker airfoil, there should be plenty of room.

If you decide to try it, I'll order my kit at the same time. We should start another thread for the build.

Johnny C!

Just in case anyone might be listening, I'm just getting
started on a Wonder Twin. I have scarfed up a few OS
.10 FP's recently.