phatboy

A friend of mine dropped this off the other day for me to check out and get into airworthy condition again. I have no idea how old this plane is, or the engine for that matter. We are starting to wonder if the engine, and electronics are even worth saving.

Friends name is Brian. Brian is just wanting to get started in r/c, and he couldnt put my sim down the other day. He had these put away in his house for a while now. They were payment for a job he did for a friend of the family. He wants to get into the hobby for little initial cost, so he wants to know if this will do the job. He is prepared to spend the money if he needs too, but we figure why waste a perfectly good example of older modeling.

He has the one in the pics below, as well as another. The 2nd is a low wing WW2 fighter looking plane he said, brown on top, white belly, with us-1970 on the side with a star. It supposedly clocked at over 100mph.

Take a look at the pics, and lemme know what you think. The radio is a futaba 4channel, with no frills what so ever, the engine is a K&B engine, but it doesnt have any displacement markings. I dont know what the plane is.

Can you help?

firstplaceaviator

My Feedback: (27)

Its' a Sig Kadet Mk I. It is a good trainer. I learned to fly with one in 1975.
The engine is a K&B Ball Bearing .40. It is a great engine. They are still in production!
I don't know the name of the muffler. I had one just like it in the 1980's. It was way too LOUD!
Do us all a favor, pitch the muffler and put on a good aftermarket muffler, like a Davis Diesel SM-II. (Saves clubs!)
The radio is junk. It certainly isn't 1991 legal. So, pitch it or put it on eBay as an antique radio.
I think Futaba quit making that radio in 1982!

Tell Brian we all welcome him to our wonderful hobby!

DOug

bla bla

It's a 2nd series Futaba. The M series from about 74ish.
The first Futabas where a similar shape abiet thicker, brushed aluminium case without those ergonomic shaped plastic sides.
I had both, but it was the M that represented a major breakthrough in design, function and a MASSIVE breakthrough in overall reliability.
Up until the Futaba M, operating an RC model was alway a gamble. What electronic component was going to pack up first?
Looking back it was without doubt the batteries that caused most of our headaches. We'd fly all day on a 400mAh pack!

It's a 4 channel tranny (i had the 6 ---what.... 6 chanels?!!!) and yes it has no bells or whistles because non had been invented... yet this was the ultimate in design!
Amongst it distinct inovations, the M series introduced ratchet trims that could still be found on top end radios until quite recently.
I would be interesting to see which servos it had. The orginal top end models where a light cream color with one end/top cut at a 30deg' angle.
Again they were an absolute break through in reliability and performance. They where strongand very fast compared to what was available else where. I'd say they where only as good as the absolute worst after market servos 10 bucks would but you today. But back then...wow... Nothing else was better.
Would I use it today?
Not a chance.

Gringo Flyer

My Feedback: (18)

The good news is you can get a basic 4 channel entry level radio with electronic gear for a little over $100.

Get someone who knows about RC engines to take a look at your engine and give it a good cleaning and checkout. Theres no reason it shouldnt run if it was in good shape the last time it ran. I have an engine that I just recently revived that hadnt been run in 19 years. Runs like a champ.

Get an experienced RCer to give the plane a once over as well to make sure it is still in good shape and flyable.

phatboy

I will let him know everything you guys said. I have flown planes and built planes before so Im checking this one out for him. Pretty much the whole thing needs to be recovered and some of the old epoxy taken off and replaced. The cockpit windscreen needs replacing, as well as the fuel tank.

Thanks for the quick responses fellas, Im sure he will be excited to hear that its a good plane. Its structurally sound, and from the looks of it, its never been repaired from a crash. Time to get to work on it...

Thanks again.

firstplaceaviator

My Feedback: (27)

The cowl is still available from Sig. You could also build a Mk II wing with ailerons if he so desires!
Doug

phatboy

This one has ailerons, so either it is a mk2 or it was upgraded. It also has a steerable nose gear. I think he still has the cowl at his house, if not we can make one pretty easily...keep in mind hes trying to get into it cheap. Then once hes comfortable get some nicer equipment. He doesnt even know yet if hes going to like flying them for real.

again thanks for the help so far.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

The muffler is a Semco. Huge noisy, but good mufflers. I have a few of the radios. That is an FN model, they sold in 77. My first one is being used by an old friend, well, was being used. I am trying to get it back for my display case. They are not legal to use. Good plane, good engine. Get a new radio and you will be set.

aerowoof

the engine looks like it has a front ball bearing so it may be a 40.the displacement should be under the screw that is holding the muffler on.as far as the radio it is wideband and should not be used unless it is narrowbanded but the cost would be better spent on a new radio.

phatboy

Yeah overall it looks like hes gonna spend a little under 200 on this one to get her flying again. I went to the hobbyshop this morning and priced some items. Fuel, fuel pump, small tool set, fuel tank, fuel lines, muffler, radio, spinner, balsa to make a new cowl, sig covering, some pre printed graphics, hot shot with hook ups for a car battery, glow plugs, and various other items.

I figure if he spends the money and I do the work, if he doesnt like flying, I can buy it back from him for the cost he put in it.

firstplaceaviator

My Feedback: (27)

It's definitely a Mk. I. Mine did not have ailerons. But, I didnt' build it. I was only 3 years old at the time. I soloed it on my 4th birthday!
My dad bought the plane from someone he worked with. It was his R/C trainer too! He was already a control-line flier and had tried R/C a few times before.
But, without an instuctor, his R/C planes never made it more than a few flights! Dissorientation got him with previous planes.
The Kadet was slow enough that he could keep up with it.

By the way the cowling is only $5.29 from Sig. The part number is SIGSH515

Doug

phatboy

Thanks for that part number, Ill make sure that we order one. I have a few more pics, and my previous statement of never crashed went out the window when I removed the covering from the main wing...it had a few spots that need repair, so Ive started cutting the sheeting away to repair those spots.

aerowoof

the damage you see is probaly not from a crash but a bad landing or a dead stick that did not make it to the field but tall weeds.looks like a wing tip got dug into the ground which could have caused the other damage as i dont see a break in the spar from the photo.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

more than likely, the damage is from someone sticking a finger through it.

phatboy

After additional inspection the entire sheeting on the left leading edge was cracked all the way down, and verticle in 4 places. Almost all the spars in on that side in the front were cracked as well, I applied epoxy to those, carefully removed the sheeting and cleaned up the spars for sheet replacement.

The plane would fly as it was, but I prefer to limit the variables when it comes to flying. I dont have anymore pics right now just stripping the covering from the fuse, and about to tear down the engine.

The servos in the plane are fp-s23. Would these be the ones that came with that controler. They look newer than the controler, the stickers are pristine.

Finally, its been a while since I was into this, the servos have a 3 pronged connection. Are they all like this, and how hard would it be to find a battery to power them?