I'm seeking some advice on which plane I should look into building this winter/early spring. I have built three planes already the Tower Trainer 40, Kadet Senior, and the Sig Kavalier, my favorite. I definitely want a kit and not a ARF. I have know experience with a low wing tail tragger, but would like to get that type. Also I am looking for a plane that will do a high level of aerobatics. Keep in mind that by the time I have finished building this plane I will have many hours of flight time with my Kavalier. Some kits I have been looking into are the Sig Somethin extra, Great Planes Cap 232 or Extra 300S. I would appreciate the advice.

So long,
Kyle

I've built 3 of the Something Extra's. They are truly a great kit to build. I'm not sure if there is a nicer building kit out there. The last one I built I was able to have it framed up in a weekend. And when it comes to flying it's a great flying airplane. With the experience you have listed here I think this would make a great next step for you.

Ken

Guy there are about 100000000000000 choices that would be good for you[8D]. It really just depends on how big you want to go, how much you want to spend, and specifically what sort of aerobatics you want to perform. You also have to be honest with yourself and us about your skill level. If you are 100% rock solid on taking off, and landing consistantly smoothly,,, and can perform basic aerobatics with general grace and control, there are very few limits to what you could try next. If you are still a little shaky in any of the basics then you need to let us know where, so that a better suited plane might be suggested.

Why don't you dive right in to a 30%+/- builder's kit (extra, edge or YAK)? ...or even a Carden? (These planes are aerobatic enough for anyone).

It will take a while to build it right and you can use that time to save for the engine and servos if you need to while you continue to hone your skills.

I am itching to begin flying my gas planes...just too puckered-up about it $$$$. Definitely a Buddy-Box situation.

Thanks for the replies.

Money is one issue I will have to deal with, so I am not sure I want something larger than a 40 to 60 size model. As for experience, I feel very comfortable with takeoffs, I can do most of the basic aerobatics such as loops and barrels with confidence but I have not flown inverted to this date. My landings currently are about 50% consistently smooth, although practice will perfect that. The Kavalier does not allow me to perform aerobatics such as spins and knife edges, etc, yet it is faster and more agile than a trainer.

As for the plane I am looking I am not nessecarily looking for a 3D plane but want one with a fairly high level of aerobatic ability.

By the way I apologize for the mispelling in my fourth sentence. The word is no not know.

lol,, misspelling will NOT be tolerated in the forums you are hereby BANISHED forever!! LOL, dude if everyone that could not spell in this forum all lit a candle at the same time, you would be blinded from space.

Sounds like you need something like a 4 Star or maybe as Ken suggsted the Somethin Extra. I have not had any experience with the SSE.. A real scale plane might be a bit much if you are still struggling with landings a little and you cannot fly inverted. I know you want a kit, but the Sig Mayhem and the 40 sized U CAN DO would alos be good planes for what you are wanting.. Both are very stable and nice gentle flyers if you stay on low rates and go with the recommended CG.

Don't forget to take a look at the Great Planes Ultimate .40 Biplane Kit. It's a tail dragger, it's highly aerobatic, and it should be fun as heck for you to fly!

hey what are you talking about, I smell great, I mean spell great LOL. a second for the sig somthin extra a sweet looking plane easy build always a good thing , lots of performance when you go high rates on the throws, easy when on low

With your experience level I would also suggest the Something Extra. You would have lots of fun with it and won't kill it on the first flight and wonder what the heck happened!!![8D]

Do you think I could improve my skills with the Kavalier enough by the beginning of next summer to fly the Cap 232 kit.

everyone's forgetting probably the cheapest (in price but not in quality) kit i know of....

what about the tower hobbies uproar 40 or 60 size?????

either one will set you back less than a $100 and the uproars are a blast to fly.....i've got a 40 size that i've flown the living snot out of....i'm obligated to sell it to a former flyer looking to get back into it but i'm planning on building a 60 size maybe this winter

hey,

i have heard the tower uproar is a great plane, very aerobatic and would work nicely. I have one very similar to it. The Great Planes Dazzler, it has a 48" wingspan and can do snap rolls insanely fast, sometimes to fast. I have a O.S. .40 FX in mine and i get somewhere around 50mph or so in level flight at full throttle, dont have a radar gun so not positive Any other questions or anything about it let me know, i'll help as much as i can, good luck with your choice!

Get a cloud dancer.. different looks, a great flyer and (i think) available as a kit

Since you love your Kavalier, and mention the Great Planes Extra 300, that's my recommendation. Sounds like it will fit your flying aspirations, and it can be flown gently.

Not to disagree with anyone about the Sig Someth'n Extra, but it's short coupled and agile, and the Extra 300 is a little longer, looks a little more elegant in those loops & rolls.

Or, build them both, they're not very expensive!
Good luck,
Dave Olson

Some quality kits not mentioned, but certainly considered a good third choice would be:
Goldberg Tiger or Super Chipmunk,
Great Planes Rapture or Ultra Sport
Sig Astro Hog or Four Star.

These would be considered a little less extreme than some of the others mentioned, that could be a little too hot for someone of your experience so far.

I have seen all of these fly from kit form and are extremely user friendly.

The Four Star sixty size is laser cut so well that you have to be carefull removing the bulsa sheets from the box. The cut parts tend to fall out, so you would need to tape or mark the pieces as you remove them. I have built a couple of these in less than forty hours from box open to flight line. They are easy to kit bash also. If you want bigger, a ST .90 will pull one with authority and a good set of standard servos does well. It is a large, easy to see and easy to build airplane, compared to a scale kit.

If you don't have allot of building skill yet, this may be a good choice to hone your skills a little more, before diving into scale.

Good luck with this difficult choice, let us know how it goes with you.

Mike Boyd

Pure Genius!!!

Is there much difference between the Extra 300 .40 and the Cap 232?

At yr level I doubt wether you would notice much diffference between the two.... most plane of that type have fairly similar flight characteristics as they have all been designed to do the same thing! Im gonna go with what some of the others have already said, the sig somethin extra is a great plane to build and fly. The quality of the kit is outstanding, all the parts are laser cut so you can be sure it all fits together precisely. If you devote yrself to it you can put it all together in 1-2 weeks. It is well capable of all manouvres yr likely to do in the near future and it doesnt cost stupid amounts of cash!

I am not sure I want a quick, easy build but would like something that would take some time. In terms of flying characteristics is there much difference between the SE and the GP Cap 232 .40?

Limawer,
Absolutely there are differences. All Cap 232 have some squirrely characteristics to them that the Something Extra doesn't Bubbagates is a Cap expert so hopefully he'll add what all of them are, but in a nutshell they like to snap on you without much warning. The Something Extra on the other hand doesn't have many (if any) bad habits. Plus, it's a great building plane. In fact, I usually recommend this for people that are building their first kit because it's such a great kit to build. The instructions are so easy to understand and the parts just seem to fall together. It's really a great kit to cut your teeth on if you want to start building. I would say to start here. And once you're done building, it's a great plane to fly. You can tame it down with low rates, or turn up the rates and have a plane that will do just about anything you ask it to. The only problem with it is cleaning it. It can roll so fast that exhaust oil will literally cover the every surface of the plane!!!

Hope this helps

Ken

Although the cap 232 and the extra has the same wing they don't fly the same .The larger rudder on the cap has allot of authority ,where as the extra is in need of more rudder .The snapping characteristics are about the same ,slow either one down to much and its returned to kit form .The Something Extra is a great little plane ,like it has already been said and I agree a flier of your skill level this would be a great choice .Heres my choices of planes
1.Sig something extra
2.Great planes super sportster
3.Sig 4 star 40-60
4.Goldberg Tiger 60 -Tiger 2 40

Theres several others ,but whatever you do don't get ahead of yourself and build a plane you are not really ready to fly yet.
I think that we can all agree on this we all hate to see a plane go in no matter what the reason ,but it makes it worse on the pilot if its a dumb thumbs movement .

Good luck on your decision and build.

[link=http://morrishobbies.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_150&products_id=53&osCsi d=33788fe509b6f95d3b26819cda49fd14]Morris Hobbies - BalsaNova[/link]

Give this a try. Simply put, it flys like a dream. It is my third plane and I love it. It has a nice thick wing with lots of surface, it will fly at idle. It is very aerobatic. I am having some trouble doing flat spins, but anything else is no problem. Here is a build thread I did on it.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=4214661&key=