Hi,

I'm flying for more than a year now and I still like it very much! My first plane was a poor trainer named Colibri. After 6 month I bought a fourstar 40 en mounted my 6,5 cc MDS engine on it. The fourstar is a great plane!
I want to take it one step further and buy a new plane and engine. I'm pretty sure about the engine; a Irivne 53 abc. I heard good things about it and it's weight/power ratio is very good.

I'm not sure about the plane yet. I was planning to buy the fourstar 60 but after some thinking I realised the plane is too big to fit in our car (we don't drive pick-up trucks in the Netherlands...) and the engine wouldn't be powerfull enough.

I'm looking for a kit build plane, which one could you recommend me?

thanks,
Richard

What style of flying do you want to go for? There are hundreds of choices out there.

You are correct, the .53 would be nowhere near enough for the 4*60. A standard 2-stroke .61 is the MINIMUM recomended engine for it. A .50 class engine would barely fly it.

The 4*60 could be modified to have the wing break down.... It would add appx 5 oz doing it with aluminum tube dihedral joning reinforcements and sawing the ply dihedral brace in half. The tailplanes could be modified for bolt-on attachment, allowing the plane to break down and almost fit back in its box. (wing chord too large)

You might want to look at the Sig Somethin Extra.

Nothing but great reviews, and a gass to fly! It'll match with the irvine very nicely. My buddy has built and flown three of them, he LOVES that plane. He flys it with skis in the winter! and he's running an MDS 58! with his latest. It'll do just about anything, and builds fast! Best of all, the wing is two pieces, so transporting is simple.

You can also look at the Super Sportster from Great Planes. I'm building one right now, and seems to be teh next logical step after the 4 star.

Although, I would lean towards teh Sig Somethin' Extra..

Look at a Decathelon as well.

hi again,

yeah I've been looking at the somethin' extra too. But I thought the engine would be to big.

I also thought it would be a steb back from a 4* to a extra because the extra is a mid wing and the 4* a low-wing. Does this make any
sense?

grt,
Richard

For me this question is easy. My second and 3rd plane was the Great Planes Big Stik .40. Awesome 2nd plane. Mine was an arf and I don't know if it comes as a kit but it was probably the best plane i've flown yet.

The Somethin' Extra is a step up in aerobatic performance from the 4*40. The proportionately larger control surfaces and wing planform with shorter coupling to the tailplanes makes the aircraft MUCH more responsive.

I've seen the Somethin Extra matched with an Irvine 53 and it was a VERY good match. A good pilot can take that combination and compete with almost any 3D "Fun-Fly" aircraft. (and do bette than the Fun Fly plane at some things...)

The only problem spot to watch for when building the Somethin Extra is the alignment dowel for the wings. Be CERTAIN that its glued in well. (and some people recommend replacing the dowel with a harder material) If the dowel shifts to the side, (or breaks) one wing will pivot around the main tube, and you'll have NO control of the aircraft.

The rubber band on "J" hooks for wing retension is just fine. It takes very little tension to keep the wing from sliding outward. Some people use a zip tie instead of the rubber band, just to be sure the wing won't shift... but its not really necessary.

thanks guys, Im pretty sure the somethin' extra will be it! I can't wait to buy/build the plane.
I'll let you now when I have more questions.

greetings,

Richard

Hubber, ya beat me to it! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

yeah, definitely a step up from the 4 star..

My buddy lengthend the rudder by about an inch, more rudder control.

Get longer 'J' hooks, as they can be quite short, and difficult to get the rubber band on. (remove the rubber band with an X-acto knife!!)

Some have 'heightened' the fuse by about an inch, go give better 'knife edge' flights.

Beef up the tail wheel joining point, prone to breaking the rudder.

Ditch the flying wires.

Make sure your root rib is EXACTLY on the plan / as per the plan. You don't want any gaps or angles with this rib.

Some people make 'foam' wing seats (cushions between the wing root and the fuse, made from the thin packing poly foam cut to shape)

When you're good with the plane, you'll be wishing for windy days. One club mate flies his backwards, and does vertical landings. (see our site, videos in the gallery for his flights)

It'll build in a week-end!

thanks for the tips! I'm checking your site right now and I'm very curious about the movies. Nice site!! I'm downloading the one featering the somethin' extra.

greetings,

Richard

I have had two somethin Extras.

The Somethin Extras are very manuverable airplanes and are alot of fun to fly.
They have a relatively thick airfoil which is part of why the manuever so well,
they also fly at a somewhat slow rate of speed. I had a Magnum .62 four stroke
in mine an was totally unable to keep up with a Yellow Aircraft Extra 300s 30-size
with a Magnum .51 in it. It is great flying airplane but the Great Planes 40-size
Extra 300S ARF is about the same cost and will much better than the SIG Somethin Extra.

What about the Seagull ARTF Zero?



Pre-covered in grey Oracover which I have primed with Prymol then painted green with an orange belly to match the Zero training squadrons.



Around 12 hours work should have it finshed. Fitted with an SC .53 2 stroke and 12 x 6 Master prop.

The Seagull ARTF Extra 300S is also a nice model at 58 ins. wingspan, fitted with an Irvine .46!



It took me around 12 hours to build. The fibre glass cowl is pre-cut for engine head access and muffler fitting!