Hello everyone on rcu.

For the members that don't remember me I was a beginner maybe 8 months ago. I flew the avistar and any event that I had I posted on this fourm and great people like RCKen and Minniflyer helped me out. I want to get back into flying and found a great price on a sig 4 star 60 that if all goes well I will buy. The question I have for some of the good guys here is

Is there anything I should be advised on for buying used airplanes. I'm leaving my instructor for all the little annoying questions for getting back to air ready.


Thanks all,
seemefly_1

Just take whatever you would do for a thorough pre-flight of your own airplane...and do it twice.

take off the wing and cowl and all servo hatches and look at the structure for previous repairs, check the firewall for excessive oil soaking and previous repairs, take a good look at the covering for dimples and dents, reveals hangar rash, what usually does my models in. look for twistes in the wing and cracks in the tail. if it comes with servos double check for stripped gears. If it has a motor run it.

thank you and for the servos do i need to remove anything besides the front cover to show for a striped gear

In my experience you don't always find a stripped servo unless it's under load, and even then the gear could be almost gone, but could be intermittent. So, to see if servos are stripped, which they probably aren't, fire up your radio, turn the airplane on and work the control surfaces.

Even if you find a stripped servo it's no big deal, the gears are cheap and easily replaced > as long as you keep track of how they came off it's a piece of cake. I draw a diagram on a piece of paper and put the gears on it, in order as I disassemble. So no worries on stripped servos.

alright thanks for the help.
now if i can just find the newbie 4 stroke engine

I just got my first 4 stroke, an OS 70. They do seem a little intimidating since there are so many moving parts but I know it will be rewarding. Just ask a lot of questions like I did.[sm=thumbup.gif]

Ok well first question on four stroke is about making sure its health. Since I have never owned one I'm not sure how you check on that

The best way to check is to work with someone that knows how to check it and learn from that person. A lot of things can go wrong here and a trip to the hospital is part of that equation if you are not thorough. And, judging from what I read now and in the past, you should be working with someone with experience with four stroke engines.

Learning by yourself, while standing in front of that engine is not the answer.