Contacted Sig again, still no word on when I get my replacement wing for my SU31. It's been three months now.

Vince

Everytime I have emailed or had any dealings with them , they have been super quick and to make things right,or answer.
I recieved a SE kit with some soft balsa on the stab . I emailed em and they sent me a new stab .I HAD it 3 days after the email.
might try emailing again. They seem very eager to keep the modler happy to me.

I have been in virtually constant contact with Sig over this issue. Every time they tell me they can't give me a date for shipment, but I am first on the list.

The same old "song and dance" is getting a little old after 3 months. I get the impression they will not reintroduce the SU31. I was told they were in negotiation with a new manufacturer of the SU31, that was three months ago.

Sig customer support has always been first rate as far as I am concerned, but this plane has obviously stung them pretty bad. They have no wings for it in stock. One could surmise that they have had plenty of trouble with it.

Vince

Last Sunday, a Sig Sukhoi suffered some adverse aileron
flutter, it looks like the ribs and trailing edge section
are weak and gave in to the flutter.
luckily the aileron horns ripped right out so the plane was
able to land

My friend owns a local hobby shop (HobbyTown USA). He had to order some items from Sig earlier this week and asked about the Sukhoi. The customer rep for Sig stated that they were not going to produce any more of them. This is what he was told.

The reason I had him inquire is because a flyer at my field was flying his Sukhoi about 2 weeks ago. He was flying across center, made a left turn to head back across center field. After he completed the turn, he added power. About 3 seconds later, there was a very loud "bang" almost like a shotgun in the distance, and we watched his wing part ways with the fuselage. The left half went straight out to the left and the right out to the right, in pieces. We recovered everything, and were just wondering if Sig would stand behind it. Like I said, they stated that they were not going to offer this airplane anymore.

Hmmmm.........what a way to spend $420.00, eh?

Skyclad

If it's true that they are not going to produce any more, they are in for a round of negative publicity from me. I was promised a new wing. If they cannot deliver, they can buy this one back from me. Yes, what a way to spend $429.00.

I managed to save mine on it's first flight when the flutter almost destroyed the wing. I was horrified at the shoddy construction I saw when I peeled back the covering to repair the wing. The wing is repaired and I have been flying it, but it has 2 degrees negative incidence in the left wing near the tip.

I have been in email contact with Mike Gertz of Sig about my wing, and he has been telling me it's coming, just can't tell me when. I hate to think he's lying to me, Sig can't afford that.

Vince

Hey guys

When did you guys buy your Sukhois. I just got mine from Chief. Now I'm worried that my wings are also defective!! After all Chief had a sale on them. I asked them if these were a second production and they weren't sure . I figured that they turn over a lot of merchandise so.....

Now I see that Sig may not have even started a second run so these must also be bad!

I'm waiting for a back ordered YS-140 DZ (lost one already in a Sig 300-ex). I wont install it if these wings are suspect!

I might be crazy... but I aint stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the input

Earlier this year I test flew my Sig Sukhoi with a zdz-40. After the second run around the field the plane nose dived and I had no control. Luckily for me a friend was video taping and it was quite clear that the fusalage broke just behind the trailing edge of the wing. The rudder and elevator assemblies were perpendicular to each other.

Not sure what happened. After about 3 weeks Sig sent a new plane to me which I promptly sold (the buyer was told of my previous problem prior to purchase).

So bottom line, Sig's customer service was there for me, but the specific plane was not. So its either poor design or a poor build back east, way east as on a different continent.

At that point I opted to never purchase another ARF again which I havn't. I now have a GP 330L 33% thats almost finished and have a Carden 35% edge in the boxes ready to be built this fall/winter.

Hanger 9 has come out with their Sukhoi, of course its a bit bigger and almost twice the price.

Chief Aircraft has lowered the price on the Sig SU31 to try and clear their stock of this bummer. I can assure you that the one you just bought is the first production run, as there has not been a second run to date. I was told by Mike Gertz of Sig that the intiial production run was 1200 ARF's. He acknowledged they had some wing problems, but was a little elusive on how many....wonder why? It's a crap shoot if you got a good wing or not. The only way to tell is to remove the covering and inspect it.

If I were you, I would send it back, even if you have to eat the shipping charges. I am only flying mine as a result of extensive wing modifications, and hardware upgrade. Not exactly what I had in mind when I decided to purchase an ARF.

I have also bought my last ARF

Vince

Hello Vince

Thanks for the Info on this problem.

Unfortuantley as I need the room and trusted Sig I have already discarded the shipping and original boxes. I dont think I can return them. So... It looks like I'll need to inspect the wings! Its sure far better than taking a chance.

I guess the problem has been soft wood? I have had trouble with their 300ex. the fuse aft of the cockpit was so lightly built that a tip stall exploded behind the cockpit! The prop, spinner, and wheel pants weren't even damaged!! When I complained to them they couldn't be bothered and I was essentialy forced to pay $200 for a new fuse! Well, this one I reienforced from the tail to forward of the cockpit. I didnt have any more problems. I also have their Cap 231ex and its been fine!

I have a lot of arfs and they have all been ok! I have a bad back and cant build very much so I have to rely on arfs! Now I'll really be becareful when dealing with Sigs' products. Its a shame as they have always had a great reputation for many many years!

I'm sure mant poeple , who dispise arfs, would say thats what you get for buying arfs! But if Sig or anyother company puts their name on it and collects the money they should make sure
1 They are of reliable construction and
2 That when problems arise from poor quality that they stand behind their merchandise and make good for it!

Its hard to get a good reputation and even harder to keep it!

again Thanks for the help

fgpierce

I emailed Mike Lee of Sig this morning about the discussion going on here of Sig discontinuing the SU31. He got back to me almost immediatly.

He said all rumors of Sig not re-releasing the SU31 are just that, rumors and not based on fact. The firm that originally built the SU31 is not Sig's regular ARF builder. They have contracted with the regular ARF builder to produce this ARF again. They were expecting 250 wings for this bird last week, but they didn't arrive yet. I was assured that I will be receiving my new wing very shortly. Mike told me that they pulled two kits from distributors in the hopes of sending me a wing, but both wings had problems. Mike also said Sig is proud of the plane and pleased to have it in their lineup.

As far as the one you have, I guess you could either take your chances with the wing, or call Sig and see if you can exchange the wing for one of the newer ones.

Good luck
Vince

I have the Sig Sukhoi with a BME 50 gas engine and have not had any problems what so ever.

I did not use any of the supplied hardware though and used metal gear servos on all control serfaces. Linkages have NO slop.

I added 1/8" lite ply behind the firewall and glassed the wing joint about 3" to each side of center. I got the control surfaces as close as posible and gap sealed the ailerons.

The plane came in at 15lbs, very light with a gas engine. It is a rocket vertically and the huge cowl slows it dramatically on downlines.

I added 2 degrees right thrust to the engine.

I am prudent with power in level and decending flight.

Joe Brannon

rthorne, I am the one that purchased that replacement from you ,
its doing great ~~w/ zdz 40 ~~ no problems after a dozen flights !!!
My zdz40 is a little disapointing though ..

Snotlocker:

Thats great! Whats going on with the zdz40? Is it not quite enough for the plane? I'm in the process of installing a zdz80 on a GP 33% 330L. I should be flying it in a few weeks.

Vince

Thanks for letting me know about your e-mail with Sigs' Mike Lee. I'm not sure as to what Ill do but flying as-is is not an option!

Fred

From all the posts I've seen regarding SIG's ARFs I'm coming to some conclusions:

The SE ARF is too heavy, but is otherwise a good product.

The SU-31 (first run) is not something you want to buy.

The Cap 231ex is great.

No word yet on the 4-star 60 ARFs.

The 300's are iffy.

Bottom line: SIG's kits are awesome - especially the later laser-cut kits. But if you want to buy a SIG ARF, wait until the suckers-er-um-early customers have had a chance to wring them out a bit. They're not getting a good rep on ARF support, either.

'tis sad. I really like SIG kits. Too bad they've had so many problems with the ARFs. Sounds like they need to either stick with the manufacturer that built the Cap 231 ex or just send someone over to the manufacturer's site and inspect the wood and construction for some time.

That's why I am putting together a Yellow Aircraft 120 Sukhoi.
Awsome quality so far.

If you guys remember, the Cap had the same problems on the first release. I had one that broke apart and got the same run around from Sig. I have a feeling that Sig uses it's customers as test pilots!