Finally got a Sig Citabria
01-11-2016, 12:52 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Finally got a Sig Citabria
Well I have been wanting one of these for a while now. As it happens, one of my customers is an older gentlemen who spent years in the hobby. He built a Citabria, but by the time he finished it, was not really flying anymore. The Citabria never flew. Now he's having some health issues and wants to sell some planes...made me a very reasonable deal on the complete model with engine & radio gear. It's got some hangar rash, but I seem to have a weakness for fixer'uppers. 
Will probably patch it up for now, go through it and prep it for flight, get some time on it this summer, then do a recover/restoration on it next winter (wouldn't mind a sportier trim scheme). I'm itching to fly it, I've read a lot of good things about this model's flight characteristics.
General aviation scale is really my main interest in RC, but up until now I've had very few scale models (finances, circumstances, space, etc). I am particularly fond of the Citabria/Decathlon planes, as I have about 10 very happy hours in a Super Decathlon back when I was in flight school. I can't wait to get this little beauty in the air!
Any comments/suggestions from current or former Sig Citabria owners are welcome. In particular, I'm curious as to how the firewall box is supposed to look (this one seems rather open), and also how folks are doing the cowling. I had to remove the muffler, needle valve, and needle valve keeper to get this cowl off, and it was still a chore! It may be a bit rough yet, but I love it...this is exactly the sort of GA scale model I would drool over and dream about when I was just a kid.
Matt
Will probably patch it up for now, go through it and prep it for flight, get some time on it this summer, then do a recover/restoration on it next winter (wouldn't mind a sportier trim scheme). I'm itching to fly it, I've read a lot of good things about this model's flight characteristics.General aviation scale is really my main interest in RC, but up until now I've had very few scale models (finances, circumstances, space, etc). I am particularly fond of the Citabria/Decathlon planes, as I have about 10 very happy hours in a Super Decathlon back when I was in flight school. I can't wait to get this little beauty in the air!
Any comments/suggestions from current or former Sig Citabria owners are welcome. In particular, I'm curious as to how the firewall box is supposed to look (this one seems rather open), and also how folks are doing the cowling. I had to remove the muffler, needle valve, and needle valve keeper to get this cowl off, and it was still a chore! It may be a bit rough yet, but I love it...this is exactly the sort of GA scale model I would drool over and dream about when I was just a kid.
Matt
Last edited by dabigboy; 01-11-2016 at 12:58 AM. Reason: Downsized pics....they were huge.
01-11-2016, 07:16 AM
#2
Nice plane, and a great acquisition. I've never had the Citabria but I agree, that box is rather open. I'm "old school", none of my planes have openings where oil can get inside like that. However, your plane has a 4-cycle engine and my experience has also said they don't throw oil like the 2-cycles do, so you may be OK there. Still, if it was mine I'd be closing in those sides.
Cowl removal: yeah, a bit of a chore but you don't really remove them all that often (normally). I think if she was mine I'd probably just live with it, rather than messing up a rather nice front end with large slots/holes.
One thing for sure - you're going to enjoy flying her.
Cowl removal: yeah, a bit of a chore but you don't really remove them all that often (normally). I think if she was mine I'd probably just live with it, rather than messing up a rather nice front end with large slots/holes.
One thing for sure - you're going to enjoy flying her.
