I've decided to go with the Sig 4* .40 kit as a second plane. Ill be running a .40 LA engine with a 4VF Radio (Good chose?)
Just a couple of questions:
1) Would elimanating 1 wing bay from each wing be a wise chose? (Ive heard its got a very light wing loading and i dont know if my engine is powerful enough with a 59" wingspan?)
2) Ive heard that the tail wheel is weak. Is it an option to put it on the fuse and somehow connect the rudder onto it to turn?
3) Is a balsa cowl easy enough to assemble on? (Side mounted engine?
4) How does it fly?

If theres any additional information or suggestions you think i should know please tell.

P.S. Could i put some scale items on this plane such as wheel pants, interior cockpit design, etc..
And would rounding the edges on the top front of the plane be accepable to. (For looks)

Thanks alot,

Papa

here a link to a review of the kit
http://webpages.charter.net/rcfu/Kit...s/4Star40.html

Check it out
I think you will be OK with your engine choice.

Don't eliminate the wing bay but do put in an extra hinge so that if you want to cut off a wing bay later you can.

Tail wheel is fine, Mine lasted over 200 flights with no problem, (wire broke and I replaced it and the new one build exactly like the original has about 400 flights)

LA 40 will be fine but don't expect unlimted verticle. Use an 11-5 prop and you'll be very happy.

3" wheels give better ground clearance and the extra drag make it eaiser to land.

This is quite possibly the best all around sport plane you can get for a LA 40. Keep it light and build it just like the plans say.

Enjoy
Tom

I agree with Tom,cutting the wing off gives you a little less stablity,and faster roll rate,roll rate is fast enough as per design,plane flyes good floats on landing,quite a few people use them for second planes,they are more like third planes on the learning curve,so untill you get lots of stick time I'll suggest keeping the rates low.

Hows the landing on this plane? thats what im really concerned about. Ive heard its hard to bring the plane down. Thats why i want to cut the wing.

The plane comes down easy,just throttle back to min.speed and slowly if will float down,if you try to land it with a lot of elevator then it will balloon up.

I just finished a kit-built 4*40 as a second plane and now have four flights on it. 1) mine is a rocket with a 46FX so yours should fly fine on the 40LA without modifying the wing. 2) I used the stock tailwheel and it seems to work just fine- there seems to be very little stress on it. 3) I didn't build a special cowling but I have seen a post somewhere on this board that points to a site that shows how to build one. 4) It flys very stable but its much quicker than my LT-40. It seems like the 4* will turn a loop in about a 5' diameter at high rates.

If you have dual-rates then set low rates at around 65% with 20% exponential to start with. The recommended rates are good for flying once you get the hang of it but would be tough for a relative beginner to land with.

Add whatever you want to in order to dress it up. Also, I rounded the upper deck to the fuse at the front on mine and it looks great. Since you are looking at a kit you will have a choice of colors and patterns- be sure to keep visibility in mind.

As for landing it does tend to float, but not nearly as much as my LT-40. I was flying in a slight crosswind this afternoon and the big trainer took some work to keep it level on approach. The 4* didn't even seem to notice the cross-wind! For those of us that are used to big-winged trainers, landing the 4* is a breeze.

I would be more concerned about taking off. put some toe in on the mane gear these will make it track better. this plane flies vary good keep it light. You also whant to keep the cg slightly aft.this will help it from tip stalling. I like to land mine in some wind . Try to fly in some wind.

I do not agree with the aft c/g,can make the plane sensitive in pitch and float for ever on landing,if the plane tracks any better it will fly itself,never seen or heard of a 4* with a tip stall problem,Icgl you may have problems with your plane.

It is an aerobatic plane. the aft cg helps in a spin and four tumbling . my 4* hase no problems it flys the way i whant it to , its not a trainer. I like it to float it helps for slow high alfa flight. It is also fun to fly will in the back of a moving vehicle.

Yes I know exactly what a 4* is, over the years had 5 ,have one now that I play with at times,4* 120 w/G38.The question was asked by a person that has very few flights on his LT40,with that amount of training a tail heavy model can and is usually a disaster,as an instructor of many years I've seen a lot of wreaks on tailheavy planes.If you are happy with your set up then have fun flying it,but from your comments it sounded like you had problems,sorry for reading wrong.

Hi Papa,
You are gonna love this plane. I have the OS48 FS in mine. I like the sound and the power. Here is a picture,



Good luck,

HTH

Joe

I'm building a 4 Star 40 also. I mounted a Magnum 52 4stroke inverted. I built a cowl from balsa, it is almost done except for final sanding and drilling holes for the exhaust and carb needle. I have more time into the cowl than the rest of the kit altogether. I just started covering last night. Have fun, Mike.

I think with the others, build it as is. The .40 LA seems to like a 11/4 prop best for me. If it seems to float too much on landing, raise both of the ailerons a little bit at a time, flies the same. Just helps landings. Air planes are made to fly on the wing not the engine. HAPPY NEW YEAR big max 1935

Howdy Papa, Look at the following site for some ideas on your 4*. It has a nice section on the
cowl idea. ..
http://www.renderwurx.com/rc/sig4star/ ...
Later....lownslo

Is there any side effects to a side mounted engine to much weight to one side, etc.. (Is an inverted engine better?)
Also i know Big Max mentioned i should use a 11/4 prop. Right now im using a 10/6 on my kadet. Which one is best for the 4*? .(OS 40 LA)

side mounting an engine is fine.

Just follow the instructions included with the kit they sometimes show different mounting methods for the engine.\


as far as the prop goes I've used 10-6, 11-5, 11-4 get one of each and see which combination suits your model and flying style.

By changing prop size and or pitch you can either get more speed or more pulling power.

Bottom line is to try different props and prop manufactures to find the prop that suits you best

PAPPY: I would mount the engine upright . build it as shown and just have fun with it. Now the next one ask us & will have fun with that one! I am with out one at present & can`t stand it!!Just a real fun plane ! HAPPY NEW YEAR , MAX

Here is a picture of my 4 star 40 that DSJBEAN (Doug Johnston) built for me. He increased the control surfaces by about 5/8" and added dual aileron servos. He also added some triangle stock to the tail and du-bro fiberglass landing gear is used. Maybe he could reply to this post and mention any other mods he made to the plane. The plane is an amazing flyer.

Mike

\
I've owned many 4*40 as you can tell from my name great plane you won't be disappointed.Some flyers when building the kit removed 1 panel from each wing half for faster roll rate but most who did were electric flyers and loseing a bit of weight by doing so.The os 40 la will fly the plane ok no lightning speed which you won't need anyhow.As for a prop use a 10-6 a 11-4 or 5 is a bit much for the la and will cause over heating.Another thing you can do as most of us who own 4*s is make your rudder about an incher higher and about an inch wider this makes the plane hold in knife edge much better as you get more experience.AS you get more flying time the 4* will do almost any airbatics from flatspins, either rightside up or inverted, knifedge anything you want injoy. IT's a great 2nd plane or 10th doesn't matter this plane is alot of fun.

I don't know if anyone has had this happen to them, but my first 4* 40 I built with the help of an experienced builder, spent months on it to be sure it was straight and well balanced. On it's maiden flight, I had the more experienced pilot fly her, she lifted off the ground, got buffeted by the wind slightly, then banked to the left, the pilot yelled "I have no control" and the plane slammed into the ground. Upon checking the wreck, we found nothing wrong with the radio or equipment (range check, servo throws and directions, along with many other preflights were done) the thing that we decided may have happened is, according to the directions and the plans, the wing hold down plate is really not on anything solid (except for a bit on the trailing edge and on the center), so a little pressure could cause the wing hold down plate to break through the covering. I must have tightened the bolts too tight one time and weakened the covering and the wind may have busted the wing hold down plate through the wing. Now I don't know for sure if this is what happened but when looking at the plane, one wing hold down plate was attached to the fuselage (like it pulled through) and the other attached to the wing. Just in case, I had the complete plane and mechanics checked by a professional builder and sent in the radio, servos, batteries etc. to airtronics to have them fully tested and they were in great working order.
Has this happened to anyone else flying a four star.
I am definitely going to build another and make sure that the wing hold down area is strong.
I have seen someone flying this plane, have the main landing gear shift (didn't tighten bolts well enough) and be able to slow the plane so much as to have it settle into the grass at practically no velocity and not damage a thing.

here is my before picture

four star after

wing hold down area

Ok i just got the Sig 4* 40 looks great out of the box.
I want to add a couple things of my own.
1) I actually im thinking of installing the engine inverted? Has anyone done this. And would raising the crankshaft about a half an inch effect its flight. (or it doesnt matter where it goes)?. I am also going to get a remote fuel filler valve and a remote glow ignitor not that expensive.
2) Im planning on building some sort of hatch on the side of the fuse to accomadate my fuel valve, switch, remote glow plug, and outlet to battery (charger). Is there a certain way to do this. (Im not exactly sure how to lock the hatch into the fuse?
3) For the balsa cowl is balsa sheets suppposed to be use and curved around the engine or do i need blocks? Traingle stocks? A ring piece?

Thanks for the replies,

Papa

Yes,some people invert them,when you move the engine off the thrust line you will probably introduce some or more cross coupling,such as increasing the speed causing the plane to go up or domn in pitch instead of neutral,lot of people aren't aware of this because they didn't fly at the thrust line to start with,just assumed the plane was supposed to fly that way.Some brands of the items you are adding come with a hatch on them.Any or all of the named items for the cowl,each builder does it different.Also other cowls work nice,Laser is one I've seen a lot on the 4*.