SIG Komander
09-11-2018, 07:21 PM
#302
Made some pretty good progress tonight. Capped the leading and trailing edges of the wings, rough carved them, will sand to shape tomorrow outside. Fuse sides assembled and in the process, made templates of everything.
09-11-2018, 07:47 PM
#306
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"House of Balsa F-86"......if less than 20 years in the hobby.......eyebrows raise and say "What is that?" lol
I have a SIG King Kobra (kit bash) that I started about 4 years ago......from past experience, when an airplane gets on the back burner.....it takes about 5 years for me to get it back on the bench.....so, I plan to have it resume the build this winter.
It happened to my SIG Kobra....started in 1989.....finished around 1994.
Started my Direct Connection F18 around 1998.....finished around 2003.
My Pica P40, got sold after 1 year of back burner.
My current garage potato, 1980 Camaro 454 project....has been on the back burner for 3 years now......license plate already ordered.....FN454.
I have a SIG King Kobra (kit bash) that I started about 4 years ago......from past experience, when an airplane gets on the back burner.....it takes about 5 years for me to get it back on the bench.....so, I plan to have it resume the build this winter.
It happened to my SIG Kobra....started in 1989.....finished around 1994.
Started my Direct Connection F18 around 1998.....finished around 2003.
My Pica P40, got sold after 1 year of back burner.
My current garage potato, 1980 Camaro 454 project....has been on the back burner for 3 years now......license plate already ordered.....FN454.
09-11-2018, 07:52 PM
#307
Ya, that's kind of what happened to the GS Mustang. Been busy with other things and haven't got nearly as much done as I would like to. Taking the extra step to put in rotary drives on the ailerons and flaps to hide the linkages, a real pain in the ass job. Was hoping to get the top of the wing skinned before winter, not sure if I'm going to make it. It's on my larger bench in the garage, so when winter hits, too cold out there. At least I can do the F-86 on my small bench. Still saving the pennies for the Kolibri micro turbine.
09-13-2018, 05:21 PM
#308
Not much on the wings today, sanded the leading and trailing edges down flush. Since the fuselage is needed for a lot of wing construction, I moved on with it and got the bulkheads in, halves put together, top rear sheeting and push-rod tubes installed (I've never cared for the wire and stick push-rods). Time to clean up the bench again so that I can finish with the wing construction. The only changes I plan on making to the wing are to install either some hardwood blocks or hard balsa blocks in the wing for the wing bolts to go through. I found the wing a bit squishy on my old Komander when tightening down the bolts.Also plan to add a solid section to the trailing edge wing tip instead of having the ailerons go all the way to the tip like I did on my Kougar and laminate some wood to the aileron stock provided so that I can sand them to actually fit properly as they're too thin near the middle of the wing (also did on the Kougar, looks MUCH better and they're stiffer).
09-16-2018, 08:59 AM
#310
I should be writing my technical paper for one of my engineering designations due in a month, but things are coming along so nicely. Squaring up the wing and gluing the leading edge brace in place. Also test fired the motor to be sure everything was OK after the crash. The pressure nipple was broken off the muffler, but other than that, still runs great.
Last edited by HAL9KPCM; 09-16-2018 at 11:10 AM.
09-20-2018, 07:02 AM
#312
The Sig Komander was the first kit I ever built, at the ripe age of 15 in my dad's basement. I did a HORRIBLE job on it but dang was I proud. I actually flew it quite a bit and the wing is still around. I'm pretty sure the fuselage was tossed in the garbage during the years I was out of the hobby. Great memories there with this airplane.
09-21-2018, 11:41 AM
#313
The Sig Komander was the first kit I ever built, at the ripe age of 15 in my dad's basement. I did a HORRIBLE job on it but dang was I proud. I actually flew it quite a bit and the wing is still around. I'm pretty sure the fuselage was tossed in the garbage during the years I was out of the hobby. Great memories there with this airplane.
09-21-2018, 12:29 PM
#314
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I did an overall horrible job on my first "built" airplane, also a Kadet Jr at age 10.......it hit the ground on maiden (what is an instructor?).....wind was stronger then the top speed of the airplane at WOT......plane appeared to fly backwards......was over my dad's new 1984 Dodge conversion van, I panicked, and pushed down elevator....well, it was "back on the ground." Learning curve, don't fly when wind gusts exceed 30+ mph........next flight, note to self.....get up high......ok...now it's high, and far away......time to make turn.....it's 4 mistakes high, and way out.......turn looked good, until it stopped flying......apparently, big OAK TREE got into the way. Friend climbed up and retrieved it.... at least 50~60 ft up........3rd flight, I modified the wing for ailerons, but some time had passed since my last attempt to self-learn to fly.....the Futaba transmitter was used in a Tamiya Bruiser, and I lost the ratchet from the throttle, as the transmitter was modified to use a shift gate for the truck....don't tell the FCC. 3rd time the charm....don't fly so high....keep it lower.....take off at high school base ball diamond......from home base, fly outwards.....plenty of space ahead, and NO trees! I found that having limited stick time, I was over-controlling the ailerons trying to keep the wings level....the Kadet Jr does great knife edges when you're not planning on it. To make a bad thing worse, I could only go WOT, or Idle.....I couldn't fly at any other speed......with the airplane doing a knife edge pass 3 feet off the deck, over-controlling the ailerons side to side, I somehow manage to pull off a somewhat knife edge circle, back towards home plate....with the chain link fence behind coming up fast.......pull hard elevator....and ALMOST cleared the knife edge maneuver, except the nose wheel found the chain link fence hole.....and managed to pull out the oil soaked firewall, engine, nose gear, and all. Airplane settled down into a quiet un-powered glider.....and made a perfect 2 wheel landing, nose high......engine/firewall/nose gear, still hanging from the fence. That was it, 3 short hops on my first airplane. I planned to fix it, until my brother playing basketball in the backyard, found the wing and smashed all the ribs......airplane went into the garbage can (after I took a baseball bat to his glider, and gave his airplane the same royal treatment......that's what we did when we were 10~11 years old, revenge). Engine now sits in a display box on the shelf, and the nose gear mount, is all that remains of the original Kadet Jr. Oh, and the Futaba radio sits in the closet, no longer legal, being wide band AM.
09-21-2018, 07:34 PM
#315
Well, bulk of the construction is done. Time for sanding, filling, sanding, and figuring out what kind of colour scheme I want to do. I haven't decided whether to make it the same as I had it, or the same patterns with different colour combinations, or something completely different.
09-21-2018, 09:19 PM
#316
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Looks good. You find out fast just how big this plane really is when you have to sand it down.
I was looking at your other pictures and I see you fly off grass. What size wheels are you using? I set mine up years ago with 2.5" on mains and 2.25" on the nose but it didn't like the grass very well. This time I'm going to try 3" on the nose and 3.25" on mains. That should help, I hope.
I was looking at your other pictures and I see you fly off grass. What size wheels are you using? I set mine up years ago with 2.5" on mains and 2.25" on the nose but it didn't like the grass very well. This time I'm going to try 3" on the nose and 3.25" on mains. That should help, I hope.
09-21-2018, 10:15 PM
#317
Actually, we have a paved runway, but everyone tends to do their landings on the grass I went with the suggested wheels using 2.75 on the mains and a 2.25 on the nose. I eventually switched the nose to a 2.5 as I am running a 12" prop on my 4-stroke and was always chipping the tips. That little bit extra made a difference and I stopped chipping the tips and it was a bit easier taxiing back to the pits.
09-29-2018, 04:14 PM
#321
Bulk of the covering work is done now. Just need to finish the control surfaces, paint the canopy and cowl, install the radio, and hope for some flying weather before the snow comes.
A bit of deja-vu, exactly two years ago today, this is where I was at with my first Komander.
A bit of deja-vu, exactly two years ago today, this is where I was at with my first Komander.
Last edited by HAL9KPCM; 09-29-2018 at 04:18 PM.
10-07-2018, 01:38 PM
#322
Well, started roughing out the radio equipment and I have no idea what happened with this Komander, but my first one had the battery just behind the front bulkhead and the servos in the mid point between the CG and the rear bulkhead. This Komander, servos are going back as far as possible and the battery will be going BEHIND the rear bulkhead.
10-07-2018, 02:24 PM
#324
I figure that may account for some of it, then started thinking, I'm not using the dowel pushrods, I put in solid wire in tube, that's a bit lighter, and I got looking at the Dubro spinner I have in my junk pile {2 screws holding it together), I think this one is a bit heavier than the.snap together Carl Goldberg spinner that I previously had. A few grams will have to come off of it though to clear the 12x5 prop. The nose gear wire on this one is a bit longer. My old one, I had to slide it down in the mount a bit for prop clearance, so a few grams of nose weight there... I guess it all adds up pretty quick. Also just remembered, I made the line where the red colour meets the stripes on the bottom of the wing the furthest aft CG point.
10-07-2018, 02:39 PM
#325
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All of those will factor into the difference too. The tail is 2.5 to 3 times further away from the C.G., compared to the nose.
So, even if you mounted the servos and battery in the same location, in reality, you'll probably only need 1~2 oz of dead weight at the furthest rear part of the fuselage to balance it.
Moving the servos a few inches, has little net change.....since they are close to the C.G. to begin with, and only weigh 3 or 4 oz.
The total finished weight, will probably be close. That's my bet.
So, even if you mounted the servos and battery in the same location, in reality, you'll probably only need 1~2 oz of dead weight at the furthest rear part of the fuselage to balance it.
Moving the servos a few inches, has little net change.....since they are close to the C.G. to begin with, and only weigh 3 or 4 oz.
The total finished weight, will probably be close. That's my bet.