I Just finished up my Somthin Extra and I haven't even had it in the air yet and I already have the urge to build something else. I had a 4* kit in the closet so I decided to get going on it. I figured I'd post progress on here since this plane gets a lot of questions from beginners. I've built 2 4*'s in the past. The first plane crashed and taught me 2 valuable lessons: the first is to be careful when checking your CG and the second is to never fly in the fog, not even light fog. The second plane had a longer lifespan, I flew it for a few months and sold it. The 4* is a good airplane but there are a few things I don't like about it such as the ugly canopy, odd nose shape, flexible wing with no sheeting, etc. I decided to correct those things and others in this build.

I started with the wing. I know the stock 4* wing is light, easy to build and works well when built straight. I just don't like something so flexible that I can warp it just by shrinking the covering. For this latest 4*, I decided to scratch build a wing with a D-tube construction and cap strips. I started by using a W-1 rib as a template and making the spar slots deeper. I eliminated all of the small sub-spars. I then cut a set of new ribs from this template. Since I was clipping the wing and using sheeting, I figured I could space the ribs at 4" rather than the 3" shown on the plans. Once the shear webs, sheeting and cap strips were installed, the wing is straight and rigid while still being light. I also made mounts to put the aileron servos in the wing. Once the other half is done, I'll come up with some sort of wing-tip shape.

This is the most that I have ever altered a kit so I hope that I don't regret it. There's only one way to find out.