The "threads" say that the Sig 4 star 60 is a great second plane and I am in the market for #2. I know SIG recently released the ARF version. Has anyone purchased and flown one? What did you think of the kit and. Aprreciate any comments, suggestions.

Hi Tony:

I bought the Sig Four Star 60 ARF. It was packaged very well and had no damage from shipping. Assembly was easy I built it in about two days.

The only problems I ran into were:

the holes in the fuse for the wing dowels were drilled to high, I used a round file to fix that

the control rods for the tail would would bind at the fuse exit, so I replaced the ny-rod with 36" Sullivan 4-40 steel rod(after people told me that the ny-rod would expand and contract with temp requiring trim changes with temperature)

The tube for the receiver antenna was too tight to feed the antenna all the way through.

These were very minor problems and the plane went together really well. I'll be flying it tonight, I'll let you know how it goes.

Stephen

Stephen, thanks for the update, look forward to your comments on flying your new bird.

Stephen, could you tell me where the antenna tube is positioned in the ARF. I just built one from a kit & was trying to decide where to run the antenna lastnight.

I didn't have the wing dowel problem,but I did experience the others.For the nyrod exits,I just fingered a drill bit at the end and it worked fine,I was able to get the antnna out the end with a little patience.As for easy to fly,my seven year old son who just started flying solo this summer flies and lands it with no problem.Mine/his has a OS 91FS,great combo.This is an excellent kit,quality is great.You won't be sorry.
BTW the antenna tube runs along the floor of the fuse.
Mike

Fed-Ex just delivered mine today! It will have a Saito 100 up front.
Bill

I've had the same problem with the struggle of getting the antenna wire through the tube on ARF's.
Go to your HS and get a 36" length of small diameter piano wire. Add a small trickle of medium CA to the tip of the wire, place the tip of your receiver antenna flat on the glue (try to get about a 1/4" of adhesion) and give it a shot of accelerator. Run the wire through the tube, then run a sharp blade along the piano wire to separate the two and your in business.

Tman,

I just got my four star 60 yesterday and I was impressed with the quality. The covering is perfect. I was surprised to find the CA hinges already in the control surfaces. They were not glued in but at least I know I wont have to trim to make them fit . I've only bought H9 arfs before and am always trimming hinge slots. I plan on adding some additional covering to mine. The plain yellow (or red) is boring. I just wish it came with rubber wheels rather than faomies and I agree with everyone that says the tail wheel has to go. The instruction actually reinforce the fact that the tail wheel assembly is weak when they say you might "rip it off, But you should just glue it back on".

Have had several of the 4* 60 kits over the last few years and
they all flew very well. Incidently, if you are having problems
"pushing" your antenna through the tube, spray a little
silicone spray lube into the tube and the antenna will slip through
easily. Use the small spray tube that comes with the spray can to direct the spray. I have used this method for years.

Well I finally flew my 4 Star ARF. It crashed on the second lap around the field. It seems the elevator servo was defective sometimes it's fine and other times it oscillates back and forth.

Stephen

I have had 3 Four STAR 40'S two FOUR STAR 60'S and one FOUR STAR 120. All of them will do a dead flat flat spin, knife edge, and a great knife edge spin. If the plane is built straight and side balanced correctly they will do continuous loops inside and outside by just holding full up or full down elevator. This plane is one of the biggest foolers out there. If you put a hot engine in any of these planes they are more aerobatic than most of the Caps and Extras and yet have no bad habbits at low speed. They advertise this as a second plane but it is so much more than that.

Stephen, hope you are able to fix your plane. If you knew you had a potentially bad rudder servo why would you chance using it? They are cheap enough to replace.
I had the same experience once and after isolating the problem to the servo, replaced it right away.

Well the plane is totaled, but it'll be ok for spare parts. The servo in question was on the elevator. The previously bad servo ,the rudder, was replaced and is working fine. I range checked the plane before flying and everything was ok, the elevator servo seemed to be working fine. Even now after the crash the elevator servo will work fine for periods of time,but it will occasionally oscillate and wont respond to control inputs for a few seconds.

Stephen

Are the wings straight or do they have some Dihedral ?

The 4 Stars have a little bit of dihedral. I have built them with and without dihedral and they flew about the same on knife edge. I would recommend to leave the dihedral in.

I have the 4*60 arf w/ a Saito FA91.It took me about 12 hours to get it together.I had the problem w/ the wing dowels,but that was about it for assembly.The trouble I ran into was setting the CG.The plane ended up a little tail heavy(probably epoxy).Using a 14x6,the plane takes off in about 15 ft. of runway.Extremely stable in flight.All in all,a great bird as a low wing trainer yet will do some fancy flying as well.I would suggest it to anyone.

Hank

Hi Hank... I flew my fit 4*60 with a Saito FA91 for the first time Sunday & I have to say I LOVE this plane.

Hi Charlie
This plane is turning out to be one of my favorites.I'm still having a little trouble with the CG though.The Saito is a light motor for its size.Still,its lots of fun.

Hank

Here's a pix of the tail wheel mod.....double-up on the light-ply tail-wheel piece and go for it....this happens to be a Klett .60 size...

Hank... mine balances at 1/8" behind the main spar (checked upside down). Flys great this way. I didn't have to add any weight.

I flew my 2nd 4 Star 60 last night. It flew great, I love this plane. The CG was perfect with an OS .91 FX.

Stephen

I have had several 4 Stars of every size and I have found out that if you slowly add tail weight, about an once of lead at a time, the plane will be a better flier especially on knife edge. It your balance is right the plane will fly hands off inverted if you fly level without a sink rate. You will also have to cut down your elevator as the plane gets closer to being tail heavy. If you fly a lot of knife edge and advanced flying this will make a big difference. If you fly intermediate level flying don't bother with changing the balance like I mentioned.

the only thing i noticed is that the servo tray was a little weak so i used 1/4 stock under the tray and it made a big a big difference other then that it's a great plane.

I've been flying my 4 Star 60 ARF for about 5 weeks now. It trully will make you a better pilot. I concur with the few problems the other guys ran across. It does have a weak main landing gear. I'm going to try a Hanger Nine heavy duty .60 size and see if it is any better. I was told to get a Kletts fiberglass, but can't seem ti find a .60 size anywhere. Defineately replace the stock tail wheel bracket with a sullivan! Other than that, a great plane. I put an O.S. .61 FX on mine, and it will run for over twenty minutes, with fuel to spare! Another great plane I recently put together and flew was a Graupner Super Air. Unfortunately, due to a radio problem, it augered. I will be replacing it, however, as it was an awesome .40 size plane!

Just found a way to test the firewall integrity and the wing and H. stabilizer soundness with the mods mentioned here.....

A brand new .76 Sport Jett engine



Gosh, what an engine! This thing actually scares me. It seems to have more horsepower than my lawn mower. It'll turn a 12-6 prop at 14,300, or more.

Took her out to the field yesterday to try it, but it rained. Nuts.

Will try again and report back on if this plane can take it!...