I flew my Kadet senior today. I LOVE THAT THING. You can make coffee and read the news while flying it. It's almost relaxing.

The only hard part is getting it to stop flying. I am using the entire runway to slow enough to turn and taxi back.

Is there a technique or a modification I could use to land and slow down more. I dun wanna add flaps unless I have to. I could add some washers and fuel tubing to make brakes, I guess.

I running a magnum .91, so it could almost fly at idle...and does in a headwind...just sorta...hangs there. If I give it any elevator at all on final, it leaps back into the air.

I think SIG ships these ARFs with helium filled wings or something.

Any ideas?

Agexpert, isn't it frustrating? Where i fly it is a private airstrip, 1 and a quarter mile long, and sometimes i feel like i'll need the whole length to stop my Excelleron when there is no head wind, which is often. So the question comes up, do you know what revs you are doing at idle, you may have the idle a bit fast, the Magnum will idle at 2000 rpm just like my Super Tigre 90. Next , are you landing on a hard surface or a grass runway? Also what size prop are you using ?
Bill, down-under in Australia

The prop, bigger diameter, smaller pitch, fly's slower, more drag. also allows for lower idle. Try no bigger than a 6 pitch. you'll be able to drop that senior anywhere you wish.

Larger diameter prop w/ less pitch, lower idle speed, longer, lower final. As a last resort, speed brakes or spoilers. Wheel brakes can also be added. Shotgun would work, too.

Dr.1

Right on with the longer and lower final, space shuttle approaches seem to be the norm for the un-seasoned pilot. Being that close to the ground for so long can kind of be intimidating.

Sorry to jump off topic, but how does that Fokker fly? I'll bet you don't have any trouble getting that to slow down! I want one!

Agexpert,
We have a very short runway at our flying field so I know first hand about trying to get slowed down, it happens to me just about every flight. I put some fuel tubing on my wheels to slow plane down and have been really pleased with the results. You can adjust the pressure the tubing exerts on the wheels to adjust how fast you want it to stop.

Hope this helps

Ken

The Dr.1 is not the beast in the air everyone says it is. You have to stay aware of 2 things, weight and drag. Although it's only 72 inches, it still weighs 14 pounds. It takes a lot of room to perform and recover from aerobatics. Due to the large amount of frontal area and parasitic drag, when you chop the throttle, it stops RIGHT THEN.

Takeoffs can be interesting and landings can be scary. You need to have a quick right thumb on takeoffs and you have to get air moving across the rudder to steer effectively. To land, you have to maintain about 1/4 throttle and keep the nose level on final. If it looks a whole lot too fast on approach, it's about right (remember the drag). You don't cut the throttle until it's about 1 foot high. DO NOT attempt to flair or make a 3-point landing. Touch on the mains first and let the tail settle. You keep your thumb on the rudder because it WILL swerve. It likes to nose over. Nothing new about this. The full scale ones did, too.

Other than these few minor details, it's a great flying plane.

Dr.1

Sounds like it lands just like my Dave Patrick 40 sized Ultimate, a real squirrly unit, but excellent in the air. I just love the idea of, It Stops Right Then, this really opens alot of interesting flying possibilities. What's the power? Prop? Kit or ARF?

OH...That's a good point!! (Prop Size)

I am running a 13-6 (um...I think)...yup...I just checked, 13-6.

I don't know if that engine, (Magnum .91 4-stroke), will turn much bigger, I need help on that one.

Clearance is not an issue...I upgraded the gear (Sullivan nose gear and a hunk of aluminum for the mains...I have another 3+ inches before the prop touches pavement).

I will also add some tubing for brakes...It's frustrating to land right in front of yourself and watch helplessly as the thing....just .....keeps....going. Any Left stick will drop a wing until it nearly stops, and I usually have to go 'off-roading' to turn the thing around...unless I plan my return-taxi very carefully.

Take-offs are great though, 6 feet and I can go vertical if I want to. You cannot, (well, I cannot), Flare-stop this plane on final.

I will call SIG and find out how to let the helium out of the wings.

I'm running a 15-4 on my little ultimate with a OS 91 Surpass, your magnum should turn a 15-6 I would think, although I'm not a Magnum expert. Try to alter your approach by cutting the throttle sooner on downwind and make a level turn to final at about 25 feet and give the throttle 3or4 clicks of power and fly it with just enough elevator to keep level, then use power to control descent, I know this is easy to say on paper, but with enough practice, this would be the prefered way to land. The senior being a floater might require that you extend your downwind out a little longer, which will force you to fly to the runway. It's always easy to add power coming in if your to slow. If you tend to wait to cut power until your final turn, that's usually to late.

Can the engine run reliably at a lower RPM? If so, do it. Take it up to a safe hight and slow the engine. See how slow you can get it and not lose altitude. Learn to use the throttle a lot. Most students do not use the throttle during a landing. Learn to use it. Try to come in a little slower each time until you learn the sweet spot for that plane. If you are not comfortable with this get an experienced pilot to fly the plane and detemine safe landing speeds for you.

It's an extensively modified Flair 1/4 kit, with a Zenoah G-23 running an 18-6 wood prop.

Dr.1

Since your plane is a "FLOATER" you may want to idle sooner while approaching towards the runway.. also You may be comming in a little too high so when you come in high and come down on idle your building speed. Just a few tips...

i just finished my k.s. arf and hopefully will get it up this afternoon, i fly at 8000' msl and burn 15% fuel in a gps 61 and it really flies (i had one before about a year ago and got out of the hobby) - im going to attach a box on it where i can stick my camcorder in and get some good video, you can really hang some stuff on/in it and it still flies great.

i can't decide what my next plane will be, very tempted witht he following:

sig hog bipe - i think this would make a nice compliment to the ks

unionville beaver 8' ws

phoenix citabria arf

I can't say enough about the Sig Kadet.....I have the ARF in blue....Super Tiger GS-45. Even though I have long since moved on to other planes I will aways keep my Kadet. I might even put some floats on it since I have pond available.

Good Luck