From my understanding, when you build a kit, it comes with nothing much more than the wood and plans as well as instructions? In other words no gear, wheels, control rods or things like that?

On a 4star, how much can you do without having to order those items(tank, gear, wheels, rods, etc...?)

A few hours? 10+?

Reason I ask is because of our financial situation I don't spend a whole lot except what my wife gets me for my birthday and other special days(father's day most recently).

Anyways, I can afford a kit now but my birthday is another month away. I'm still swaying on whether to get the kit and start or get an ARF for one more plane and then get the kit for this winter around Christmas.

I just don't want to find myself spending an extra hundred dollars right now on the extras, plus the coating. I have a feeling that's where I'll be at though in terms of costs after the kit.

Well, you can certainly build up the wings, and put most of the fuselage together.

Eventually, you will need servos, a motor, motor mount, fuel tank, and a receiver. Most kits come with most of the items, some include a tank, but some don't.

You can certainly build just about everything without having most of the additional items needed for flight. Servos, for instance, can be mounted just about any time because of where they go. I had a Four Star 40 but can't remember if it already utilized two servos for the ailerons or if I added them myself. Some come with one servo in the center with torque arms going the ailerons on each side. If the out of the box design comes with one servo, in the center, then you can put this on just about any time. If you decide to do the dual-aileron servo setup, you will have to decide when building the wing and not include the torque rods and make the servo mounts in the center of each wing side, centered on the middle of the aileron for that side, and against a rib or hard point. You can build in a hard point for this at the proper rib (center rib) for the "servo box" during the build process using 1/8 ply.. and, as I said, I don't recall if the Four Star was already dual aileron setup or if I added that myself. If you do decide, as I said, you have to make that decision before building the wing.

As far as the motor is concerned, well, you can certainly build everything without the motor and motor mount, then when you get the money to pay for a motor and mount, you can add those at that time.

I don't really see any roadblocks to building without some of the "required" materials.

Of course, you will need glue..

CGr

Drewhosik,
What you will need to complete a kit varies from kit to kit. While some kits will have everything you need except for covering other kits will require you to purchase almost ALL the hardware. The only way to know for sure is to consult the kit to see what is needed to finish. You can do this by researching the kit on Tower Hobbies website where they will you what you need. For the 4-star here is what they list

I usually budget the same amount of money that the kit costs for the extras. So if the kit costs $100 a good rule of thumb is to figure that it's going to take an additional $100 to finish the kit (not counting engine or radio).

Ken

Most kits come with a substantial amount of hardware included - pushrods, control horns, hinges, fuel tanks and wheels. Sig, the manufacturer of the Four Star series, is noted for including a generous supply of hardware. Except for the Ready-to-Fly (RTF) offerings, you'll have to buy the engine, prop, radio and covering yourself.

Years ago I built a Sig Kadet LT-40. Everything but the engine, radio, covering, glue and sandpaper myself. Shoot, they even included a nice spinner and 3 wheels in the kit. I wanted a different color so had to buy one separately. I also wound up changing the nylon pushrods out for metal ones so had to buy those.

On a different subject relating back to choosing an aircraft. The Hangar 9 Twist was another option I was looking at. From what I understand, it can be very tame if dialed down properly. I will be on my 2 1/2 aircraft. Long story made short is I had a stick about 6 years ago that went in when I thought I was over the field(turns out I was still far back and over the bushes and it dissappeared when I went below the tree line on an approach(darn depth perception)). Then I bought another aircraft(Seagull Boomerang) about a year ago and have been flying and repairing that ever since(landing gear issues and a few flights in fields where it was rougher than my plane could handle) I'm still on that plane but I'm ready to move on. The Boomerang is semi-symmetrical and so was the stick I had before which had very little dyhedral. No I'm not a genius flyer but I can hold my own and have done the simming thing on the computer from G3.5 to other forms(I'm also a Microsoft Flight Sim fanatic so I'm pretty coordinated in terms of flying whether it be a joystick or a remote control).

Anyways, some people have moved from a trainer to a twist without issue and even though I have a high wing trainer I can't see why I would run into much trouble. Plus I have a gentleman who's been flying for about 10 or 20 plus years and has everything from gasser yak's to a whole lot more and I'm sure he wouldn't mind maidening her plus giving me a hand(maybe on a buddy box). Plus, one other guy told me he will get me to try his easy sport 40 at some point. I don't plan on flying for at least a month or more on it which means I'll have plenty of time to try out the sport and get some more flying in first.

What are your thoughts on it.

I don't know about the Twist. I went from a trainer to a Goldberg Tiger 60, then later on a Sig Four Star 40. I also had a Goldberg Skylark 56 in the middle there some where, but that was a big mistake and I paid the price for that mistake.

Now, several years later, I can see what I did wrong and know that I have the capabilities to fly just about whatever I want to fly, but that was then and this is now.

I can recommend something like the Tiger 60 OR the Four Star 40/60 aircraft because I've flown them and know what they can do and how they can be 'dialed down'. I had someone maiden both the Tiger and the Four * for me back then, as you plan on doing. This is a good thing. You can also ask for a few flights on the buddy box to help coordinate yourself to the plane and get used to the difference from that low wing'er and the high-wing trainer, and there are some real differences, of course.

So, your choices are fine, and your decisions are sound.

Build them straight and power them correctly. Don't over-control with to much throw in your control surfaces, and you will do just fine. You can dial in more throw as you get used to the way the plane flys.

CGr.

If this is your first kit or build. You'll spend close or more than $100 becuase of tools that you might not
have.
The iron and heat gun combo will be around $50
Two rolls of covering $20-$30 depending on your choice.

The *4 .40 comes with wood,hinges, control roods, landing gear, engine mount, screws and binde nuts

you'll need

Wheels $5-7
Tail wheel and assembly $5
fuel tank $5
CA $ 5-10
epoxy $10-15
Wheel axial $3-5
spiner $5
fuel line $2-5
$5-10 for the tap ....so you can tap the wing bolt mount for the wing
exacto knife and blades $5-10
Sand paper $3-5.

little items..I probably left out some things...

It cost me around $150 to build a 4* .40 which as the same price as the ARF.
I like to build and bash the 4* and make my own colour scheme.
Also i knew i had to learn how to build or have a decent understanding of R/C airframe .
Becuase I crashed all 3 prebuild models (Contender, Supersporster, Avistar) which I purchased
from a FUN FLY all for $120..Learn to build so I can learn to make repairs.

If you shop around you can get an ARF for around $85-100..aonther $15-20 to have it ship to your front door.

I use to save my money for Hobbie Peaple's sale. 2-3 times per year they'll have sometype of sale
to move inventory. And the fun fly swap meet of course.
Plenty of horse trading once you join a club and get to know some of the guys.

I have more than $15000 into R/C over the years....Still cheaper than a Harley or an $80000 sand rail

Ken, that list if I'm not mistaken is for the 4* .60 which calls for an additional servo, extensions and a Y-Harness in comparison with the .40 version so in the end it might be a little bit less if the .40 version is his case

He didn't really say what version he was going to choose. Mine was the Four Star 40 and that's what my assumption was in my post. But, you're right. If it IS the 60 version, he will need the extra stuff. If it's the 40 size, he can do without it. According to Tower Hobbies, the Four Star 40:

REQUIRES: Engine: .40-.46 cu in (6.5-7.5cc) 2-stroke
OR .40-.53 cu in (6.5-8.7cc) 4-stroke
Muffler: Sports-Style (Engine mounts in an upright position)
Radio: 4-channel with 4 standard servos
Servos: 4 Standard (1-Aileron, 1-Elevator, 1-Throttle, 1-Rudder)
Misc. Items: Glow plug, 1/4" foam rubber padding, medium fuel tubing,
fuel filter, propeller, building and field equipment.

For my Four Star, I converted it to a dual aileron servo setup only because I wanted to do it, not that it needed it. It worked out pretty good, I might add, and flew just fine.

CGr.

Actually it was for the 40 version. I already have a covering iron and stuff.

How about the question on the twist. What are your thoughts?

As I said, I am not familiar with the Twist, however, I've read a lot here on RCU about it and it sounds like a fine aircraft. Perhaps someone will chime in and give you more information than that.

Best of luck, though. You will enjoy the Four Star. On the maiden flight of mine, I asked one of the club pro's to do it for me. He took that thing off, climbed straight up, while doing the climb, he did about 6 aileron rolls while going vertical, then when he hit the top, he did several loops with rolls. He said he was trying to make sure the fuel system worked ok. No matter, it looked very cool. And, I was impressed at how it handled. When he landed it, he gave me back the transmitter and told me to take two turns out of the rudder.. then go fly it!! ha..

CGr.

I can give my thoughts on the Twist. I have flown three planes, LT-40, Ultra Stick 40, and a Pulse XT 60. I have flown for about two months without any accidents. I tend to fly "normal" meaning I like to fly my planes the way I see real planes fly, I do not try a lot of wild aerobatics, maybe a loop or stall turn here or there but nothing crazy. A friend of mine at the feild talked me into flying his Twist the other day, bad idea!! I had control for maybe a nano second before it became a frenzied yellow blur heading very fast in the wrong direction. He did admit to having the controls set pretty extreme, but I was amazed at how hard the plane was to control.

While the Twist can be "toned down" I really don't recommend it for a second plane. The Twist, and it's counterpart the Sig Something Extra, are designed to be aerobats. I have flown both of them and they will turn loose and do rolls until the cows come home. If you're not ready for it you can get in trouble in a heartbeat. I would highly recommend getting the 4-star as your second plane and then consider the Twist as a 3rd plane. I've seen a lot of people move up to this plane before they were really ready for it and get into trouble with it. Yes you can "take it easy" with it, but the problem comes in when something unexpected happens. Then the pilot tries to get out of it in a panic and just makes the situation worse because the plane is now out of control for him.

Hope this helps

Ken

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Ken, I don't know how many times I've asked a question and every single time(just about) you've answered it to the best of your knowledge. you know, you could really open up a business and make a living just giving advice at a dime a question.

Thanks a lot.

Ah, Thanks, Ken. I've flown the SSE before. And, if not toned down, they are a bear to control.

I was at the field where one of our newer members had a new plane. He had bought the SSE from someone else that had built it, and set it up for his liking. He was an accomplished pilot. So, the new guy, was not an accomplished pilot.

He took off with the SSE. I was standing there watching him, he was all over the sky. I thought he was going to destroy it at one point. I asked him, "Have you trimmed it out yet?" He said, "Trim it.. I can't fly it!!!!"

I asked him if he needed help and his answer was a resounding YES. So, I took over and flew it for a few minutes, noting that it was truly all over the sky. The sensitivity of the controls was way beyond what I expected. But, I managed to figure it out and got it on the ground for him... yeah, rolling, as in landing... not crunching as in crash. Wphew!! [X(]

I told him to do something about the throws.. he did not know what to do, so suggested, for now, that he use the TX End points and remove a lot of the throw... which I helped him do.

Once done, I flew it again for him and found that tamed down, it was quite nice to fly, but it was very VERY reactive. He did manage to fly it twice more that day and successfully landed it without further incident.

If the Twist is anything like that, well, it's a handful for a new pilot, or even as a second plane. Very reactive.

CGr.

you said that you have RF g3.5, right? they have a twist on the swap pages you can download...I think it flies pretty much like what was described above, check it out.

Actually I don't have it anymore. But when I did I had more than my share of fun with the Yak included and had no problems hovering it even before I got more than a dozen flights on my trainer. But I didn't think the sim really translated to real life enough to say, hey, if I can fly the twist on 3.5 then I can fly it in RL

Well, I took the plunge and ordered the 4 star afterall. It'll give me something to do until I get can the servos and receiver for this new plane. I want to strip the engine out of the trainer for now but I am leaving the receiver because the end of it has stripped wire and I'm concerned I'll damage it more if I try moving it. Instead I'll just keep testing the signal range on that receiver when I get an engine for that plane eventually again and get a new receiver for this new aircraft plus get some servos while I'm at it. I will probably start a build thread on this in the kit section soon. I won't have the kit until probably 2 weeks from now

This is my 13 year old students first build with A lot of help from me. It's the 4*60 though. All the 4*s are great builds and an outstanding choice for both building and A great second or third plane. We did leave off the end bays in the wing and extended the rudder by an inch. There are other little {very little} mods that may be made, or not?? I did change out the landing gear to A glass set I had but didn't really see anything wrong with what came with the kit. This one is getting the Saito 1.00 and we fly off of some very rough surfaces so the gear was just A little something I added to be safe.
Your going to like the build and love the plane!!!

drew I have both the Four Star and the Twist. Both are good planes. I don't know if I could have gone straight to the Twist without the Four Star, but I suspect I could have. Its true that the Twist is a very forgiving plane and the thick airfoil makes it very light and easy to land but it does go where you point it! I think you made a solid move and after a little time with the Four Star you can yank out all the gear and put it into the Twist. The Twist ARF is only $100 and works well with standard servos and the included hardware. An OS 46 AX will give you enough power to hover and do sick inverted flatspins. Enjoy your new Four Star and please post pics when its all done!

Do you mean on the Twist or on the 4-star?

And I plan to post a build thread. Might help if I get into any kind of trouble building and I have a question, plus it'll be fun