Four Star 60 ARF assembly problems
 

In putting my Four Star 60 ARF together there were some problems. This may have already been covered by someone, but I didn't find these problems.

I searched on RCU and read about other's problems with this ARF but mine were different.

When pulling the servo wires through, they have to dog leg out of the servo box and through the main spar then they turn and go through a paper tube to the root. Getting the plugs to jiggle around through the spar and make the turn through the paper tube took a little pulling back and forth. As others have mentioned, I recommend taping the strings to the plugs instead of tying them.

They say to use 12" extensions on the servo wires but on mine w/Hitec servos, a 6" extension would have been long enough.

The hold down bolt hole in the wing, on one side, did not match the one in the plywood cover. The covers matched each other and were right. The wing was drilled wrong. Yours may be different?

The tank is installed upside down in the fuselage. It wasn't mentioned in the instructions but the stopper hole goes to the low side instead of the high side. The tank will not fit in the fuselage the other way. The inside vent tube goes the long way. There's a small amount of extra room in the fuslage above or below the tank. You need to pad the tank with foam rubber to hold it vertically and on the sides to prevent twist. This is not mentioned in the instructions. The 10mm sq balsa retainer works fine. The aluminum tubes supplied with the tank would not bend witout pulling apart. I substituted some K-S tubing.

The engine mounts have a top side and a bottom side. The longer mounting tabs go to the top which is the reverse of most situations. It's not mentioned in the instructions. They did mention to use Loctite on the screws that hold the mounts to the fuselage but then they say to not tighten the screws until later.

The landing gear has a front side (tapered) and a back side Straight. The wheel position is too far forward even when the gear is mounted with the wheels farther back but would be worse with the wheels in the forward position. This is not mentioned in the instructions. You will need to land the plane in the three point manner to avoid it bounching back into the air on touch down.

There is a poor fit between the wing and the fuselage. The airfoil shapes are not the same between the wing and fuselage.

The plug at the stab and fin position at the rear of the fuselage was fimely glued in. It took a lot of patience to find the parting lines and to dig out the plug.

There are extra items in the parts bags that the instructions do not mention. For example, where's the fiberglass tape supposed to go?

This ARF appears to have been made by World Models for Sig? They are most likely made in batches and yours may be different from mine which was a early one.

In the instructions, they go to great length about how to install the wheels and axles onto the landing gear. Mine were already installed.

The fuselage cowl cheeks are cut down for a 2 stroke engine with a front needle valve. They should have been left for the owner to cut incase he had a rear needle engine or a four stroke. The Ora Cover is a darker red than normal Monocoat red but the darker red Monocoat seems to match pretty well?

Of all the ARF's I've assembled this one has been the worse with problems.

Yet, It turns out to be a fine looking model.

Enjoy,

Jim

RE: Four Star 60 ARF assembly problems
 

Wow, don't know what you got but the one I got in the spring had most of the problems you menationed save that the 6 inch extensions on the wing servos would have been adequate. I fly on a grass field and use 3 inch rubber wheels and had no bounce problems. I did use a Sullivan tailwheel assembly so the tail sits higher than with the Sig stuff. My fuselage had not cut down for needle valve, I had to make it myself. The thin wood sliver that is supposed to go over the stab is a joke. I replaced it with half inch triangle stock because I was increasing the rudder by one inch in cord and one inch over the top and counterbalanced it. Biggest problem I had with mine was my own mistake, I used a Great Planes fueler. The soldier joint failed after maybe ten flights so it got bypassed. I uused Super Tigre 60, later a .75, and finally a .90. Flew great with all of em. You'll enjoy flying it.

bob

RE: Four Star 60 ARF assembly problems
 

Oracover = Ultracoat in the US.
www.horizonhobby.com is the US distributor.
That might help you find a closer color match.

I'd bet the fiberglass tape is to reinforce the wing center joint. Of course, you have to remove a bit of covering to apply it; kinda sucks on an ARF.

RE: Four Star 60 ARF assembly problems
 

Reinforcemnt of the wing joint would be the obvious connection. I did not use it and with everything I did with the ST 90 in it, without a failure including the rekitting, and I do mean rekitting. Only one rib outboard of the sheeted center section survived intact. So I don't think there is a structural issue there.

bob

RE: Four Star 60 ARF assembly problems
 

A couple of other things that I had on mine that you did not mention. I tried using the nyrod pushrods and found them constantly binding. This put pressure on them inside the servo tray area. I had to add a brace to keep them in place. Finally I just swapped them out for regular steel pushrods and it works fine now. I also had a problem with the throttle cable bending because the cable sleeve wasn't long enough. Once I added some length and another brace inside the servo area it was OK. I am also running an OS91 surpass 4 stroke engine, and when it idled, the fuse cheeks vibrated so much that the botom front of the fuse started to split at the glue joints. I reglued the joints and put in a wooden dowel across the front and screwed it in between the cheeks using cowling screws. (You can just see it in front of the valve guides in the picture.) It was fine after that. I used a sullivan tail wheel assembly, but didnt have anything to really attach it to. So I took a wooden dowel, drilled a hole in the bottom and through where the stab glues on so I would have a good solid piece of wood to attach the tailwheel bracket to. As far as the block of wood in the fuse at the tail, I agree, it was a b**ch to get out. To get the servo wires through the wing, I use a piece of string with a hex nut tied to the end. It took a little doing, but it wasn't too hard to get it threaded through.

After all that though, I am really happy with the plane. I love flying it, and still get it out to the field once in a while.

RE: Four Star 60 ARF assembly problems
 

I've been flying my 4*60 ARF with an MDS .78 and happy with it. I did come across most of the "problems" Jim listed, though many of them are simply petty annoyances having more to do with quality control than serious structural concerns.

1. I taped the string to the servo extension to form a pointed end - better for negotiating the tight turns. Sig could have easily engineered this better.

2. I use two (2) 12" extensions for each of the ailerons. One attached to the servo, one to the RX, which is burried in foam. This way, I can attach the aileron servo leads with the wing and fuselage sitting firmly on the ground/bench.

3. I had to enlarge one of the wing hold down bolt holes, too. I did this before gluing the ply plate, so the end result is pretty clean.

4. The tank orientation is okay. The upturned vent line just needed to be a little longer. As per my usual practice, the fuel tank is siliconed in place solid. Foam padding often cause more vibration-induced fuel sloshing than it helps.

5. I used GP adjustable mounts instead. I am usually a tightwad about ARF hardware and use most of the OEM bits, but this one is well worth the expense.

6. One of the fields I fly at is grass and the 4*60 has a tendency to nose over on thick St. Augustine grass, even with the landing gear set up for added forward rake. I would suggest a taller tailwheel bracket for flying off concrete. I find that getting the airplane to sit on the ground with a more level attitude helps with landing bounces more so than main gear position relative to CG.

7. Poor fit of wing LE to fuselage cutout - YES. TE is not too bad.

8. I suspect the fiberglass tape is meant for the wing joint. I peeled back the Ultracote and fiberglass the center joint with a wider piece of FG cloth. Curiously, the factory had pre-install FG over and wrap-around the root rib. I like FG'ing wing joints whenever practical.

9. My landing gear came with wheels installed, too, though I ended up dissassebling them to replace with larger wheels anyways.

10. Mine came with some minor damage on the left cowl cheek, so I added FG to the cowl cheeks at the same time I did the wing joint. No biggie.

11. I ended up using dual elevator servos, since I forgot to install the wire "U" joiner when I glued on the horizontal stab. DOHHH!!! No matter, works better with two servos anyhow. Consequently, I had to go with pull-pull rudder, since both the tubes are used up for elevator servos.

Overall, I would say the $199 (now increased to $209) price tag is too much compared to other ARFs you can buy at this price. For example, I am building a couple of 72" aerobats made by GSP and they are better built and much better values for $199. I ended up paying much less for my 4*60 because it came damaged, so it was a fair deal for me. Personally, I wouldn't pay $200 for it.

RE: Four Star 60 ARF assembly problems
 

Oh, forgot to mention my single biggest and one remaining complaint - the solid red covering. I can't tell top from bottom even with the full regalia of factory-supplied decals. I am going to put some bright yellow strips on the wing bottom.

Otherwise, warts and all, the plane flies exactly as a 4* should - smooth and floaty.

RE: Four Star 60 ARF assembly problems
 

I also had trouble with the included push rods. It took more power than the servo had just to work the push rods. I found that the Blue-yellow Sullivan # 505 Golden Rod fit through the tubes just fine. The blue outer Golden Rod sleeve will fit inside the installed black sleeves perfectly. Then the yellow Golden Rod actuating tube works real smooth inside the blue tube. I didn't use the nylon colored push rods that came wioth the model.

I added 1/4" triangle stock to the inside corners of the cowl cheeks.

I replaced the throttle pushrod with the Sullivan product with the black inner tube.

I used automotive 1/4" black trim tape on the inside of the canopy to make it look like the one on the cover.

I glued the front and sides of the canopy with canopy glue to try to keep oil out of the inside of the cockpit.

The big decals on the sides of the fuselage and on the wing are difficult to seperate from the backing at the point of the longest star spoke. Using Windex during installation is a absolute must.

Enjoy,

Jim