Ok, I promised it and here it is. This is my build thread showcasing the build of a basic trainer type airplane. I have been considering doing a build thread of a trainer for about 6 months now in order to show a lot of new pilots that it's not as difficult to build a kit as they may think. A recent request in the Pay It Forward thread , [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=3381064[/link] , was for to help get a family into the RC hobby. I offered to build a plane if a kit was provided. This was the perfect opportunity for me to do this build thread. So I'm going to kill two birds with one stone here.

When I was asked which trainer kit to purchase for this build it was almost a no-brainer on the answer, the Sig LT-40. First of all, this is a very good flying trainer. It's a little bit bigger than other 40 size trainers which makes it a little bit more stable in the air and also makes it easier to see. The second reason for choosing this plane is that it is easily the most complete trainer kit on the market today. Anybody who has ever built a kit knows that you always have to read the “required to finish” list on any kit you buy. The Sig kit has everything you need to build this plane except for the covering material, glue, and building tools. There is no other trainer kit on the market that is this complete that I am aware of.

This build thread will cover everything from when I open the box starting this build all they way through the maiden flight of the plane. I plan on building this plane as close to the instructions as I can. If I make any changes from what the plans instruct I will document exactly what I am doing differently, and why I am doing it differently. I've been in the RC hobby for almost 10 years now and I have been building for 8 years. During this build I encourage comments and questions from everybody out there, because the RCU audience is why I am doing this thread.

Since this is going to be a construction article as well a forum for questions I will be taking lots of pictures as we go, and I'll post as many of those pictures as I can. If there is something you don't understand please feel free to ask me about it and I'll try post additional pictures to help explain it. Or if there is something that want to see that I haven't provided a picture of please let me know.

I will be building in the exact order of the instruction manual provided with the kit. On a lot of kits that I build I sometimes will vary the building sequence, but I want to do it in order here to help cut down on any confusion.

Ok, here we go. The first pictures posted here are of my working area, the magnetic fixtures I use to build with, the required shot of the unopened kit box, and first opening of the box.

Pictures
1. The "Box" picture. Unopened box.
2. Instruction manual removed from box.

Until next time

Ken