Kadet Senior ARF tail dragger
06-28-2005, 02:52 PM
#26
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RE: Kadet Senior ARF tail dragger
Curt, nice job with the Kadet, it does fly great, especially as a tail dragger. I'm surprised that Sig doesn't offer a conversion kit for it. I have been flying mine as a tail dragger for over a year and it is still one of my favorite planes. I used a pull-pull cable for the tail wheel steering and it has held up nicely on our grass strip. I have an OS 65LA for power and it has been a great combination, plenty of power, cheap and reliable. I have never had a dead stick and I haven't touched the needle valve since the second flight! I'll keep this plane until it can't fly anymore.........
06-28-2005, 03:17 PM
#27
RE: Kadet Senior ARF tail dragger
I have had a couple dead sticks on mine, but there are a couple factors. 1. This is my first four stroke engine and at first I wasn't adjusting it optimally. I got some help from a more experienced club member and it has been running a lot better ever since. 2. I am using a fueler valve, and I am beginning to suspect that the valve might be a piece of crap or at least might be adversly affecting fuel flow in some way. 3. Right now I only have problems if I run the engine full out for a long time ... that could possibly point to a heat problem (?) Before my next flight I plan to open up the cowl a little more so the engine can breath and cool better. 4. I bought the engine off ebay so who knows ... you take your chances on ebay. :-)
I suspect that if I open up more air cooling for the engine and ditch my remote fueler valve I'll be in good shape. Then again, it could be something entirely different, or could be pure cockpit trouble. :-)
If I knew everything already and if everything worked perfectly from the start, life would be a bit boring. I guess that's why we play the game ... to learn and grow. I'm still getting schooled by the old timers, although I still have all my fingers. :-)
Curt.
I suspect that if I open up more air cooling for the engine and ditch my remote fueler valve I'll be in good shape. Then again, it could be something entirely different, or could be pure cockpit trouble. :-)
If I knew everything already and if everything worked perfectly from the start, life would be a bit boring. I guess that's why we play the game ... to learn and grow. I'm still getting schooled by the old timers, although I still have all my fingers. :-)
Curt.
06-28-2005, 03:29 PM
#28
RE: Kadet Senior ARF tail dragger
Oh, I finally got some in flight pictures of my Kadet ...
I think the Kadet continues to be my favorite aircraft ... it's just so easy to fly that there's just nothing to sweat. I've got a scale Citabria that is really nice (mostly because someone else built it) so I'd hate to ding that up and I don't want to take any chances with it. I have some faster sport planes and they can be pretty hot on the landings. Those all are fun when I want to go burn holes in the sky. But the Kadet is just pure relaxing flying joy. :-)
On a different topic, I got to fly a Rascal110 with an OS 1.60FX 2-stroke last week. That's an awsome combination ... it really moves out under power. A couple seconds of full throttle and you are either too high or too far away or both. Awsome big, elegant, smooth aerobatics behind a big awsome sounding engine. If I could fit one of those in my car it would be on my short list. After seeing the Rascal and the Kadet, I'm a big sig fan ... although you definitely want to put a couple extra rubber bands on the top wing of your sun dancer ... sadly I saw one of those pop off in level flight last week ... and this was with "the fix" installed. :-(
Curt.
I think the Kadet continues to be my favorite aircraft ... it's just so easy to fly that there's just nothing to sweat. I've got a scale Citabria that is really nice (mostly because someone else built it) so I'd hate to ding that up and I don't want to take any chances with it. I have some faster sport planes and they can be pretty hot on the landings. Those all are fun when I want to go burn holes in the sky. But the Kadet is just pure relaxing flying joy. :-)
On a different topic, I got to fly a Rascal110 with an OS 1.60FX 2-stroke last week. That's an awsome combination ... it really moves out under power. A couple seconds of full throttle and you are either too high or too far away or both. Awsome big, elegant, smooth aerobatics behind a big awsome sounding engine. If I could fit one of those in my car it would be on my short list. After seeing the Rascal and the Kadet, I'm a big sig fan ... although you definitely want to put a couple extra rubber bands on the top wing of your sun dancer ... sadly I saw one of those pop off in level flight last week ... and this was with "the fix" installed. :-(
Curt.
06-28-2005, 06:08 PM
#29
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RE: Kadet Senior ARF tail dragger
Hi Curt:
Thanks for this most interesting thread !! As a modeler since the early 50's, I have found SIG products to be of excellent design and quality for many years. The recent introduction of their ARF aircraft surely will be a boon to the hobby, and to SIG / Herr as well. I have taken delivery of a Kadet Senior ARF and am investigating main gear, 4-1/2 in. Trexler main wheels, steerable tailwheel gear, electric power and will put it on 40 in. Zee Doo floats by October. I already have the waterproof Pentax video camera that will be installed ( haven't decided where yet ) probably under the fuse at about the CG for what I hope to be awesome vids of water takeoffs / landings, as well as pics/ vids of folks houses around the lake. Will post pics of build as soon as the "Spring / Summer Burst" and July 4th are behind us, and I can get some build time in.
Thanks again to you and all the contributors to this interesting and informative thread. And thanks for the great photos, too!
Best regards,
Russ
Thanks for this most interesting thread !! As a modeler since the early 50's, I have found SIG products to be of excellent design and quality for many years. The recent introduction of their ARF aircraft surely will be a boon to the hobby, and to SIG / Herr as well. I have taken delivery of a Kadet Senior ARF and am investigating main gear, 4-1/2 in. Trexler main wheels, steerable tailwheel gear, electric power and will put it on 40 in. Zee Doo floats by October. I already have the waterproof Pentax video camera that will be installed ( haven't decided where yet ) probably under the fuse at about the CG for what I hope to be awesome vids of water takeoffs / landings, as well as pics/ vids of folks houses around the lake. Will post pics of build as soon as the "Spring / Summer Burst" and July 4th are behind us, and I can get some build time in.
Thanks again to you and all the contributors to this interesting and informative thread. And thanks for the great photos, too!
Best regards,
Russ
