A bit left field, but what about something like the Farmhand 90 (for 30cc Petrol) plan pack (except there's no plan) with build instructions on DVD, http://www.trapletshop.com/us/p/13249/farmhand-90-dvd, this one from Traplet magazines but there must be other similar "kits" around.

I would not recommend a cub for a first build .. They are a wonderful build but possibly a bit complicated .I am not sure why I say that because a Sterling Piper Tri Pacer was my first build . I think a Four star , a Tiger , One of the sticks or something along those lines would be a good choice .. having a good building table is important .. Its nice to at least have a dremel and a scroll saw . You will need an assortment of glues that you can pick and choose as time goes on ..Also a assortment of tools that you can collect as time goes on .. I would suggest buying good tools because cheap ones usually wont do the job and you end up needing to replace them anyway ..Once you start building you might want to consider purchasing some of your building hardware from places like Micro Fasteners . It is so much cheaper and nice to have on hand . For some of us building is the biggest part of the hobby . Flying is the ten percent cream that comes to the top . Keep your eyes open for a drill press and a band saw if you want to continue building ..They are very nice to have ..

Just Noticed AMA has a article about the Newbee !
And yes to a Sig Four Star 120. I had one and it flys great ! It can accept a wide range of engines .
I powered mine with a US engines 41 CC. The newer generation of engines a 20 - 30 CC would be
fine.
The Larger the easier to fly !

Oh and Happy Holidays !

The DLE 20 with a wrap around Pitts or stock muffler will fit in the GP 60 cowl with no modifications. Room to spare!! That is a fairly large airplane. A 20 would be too large for the 1/5 SIG CUB.

While the 1/4 SIG CUB is not much more than plans and a pile of sticks and sheet wood in a box (but an excellent airplane when complete) something like the GP 60 CUB is a much easier and more modern build. Not one of my favorite CUBs but not a bad project.

The SIG 4 Star 120 would seem to fit the bill being a larger airplane and a decent kit for someone without much building experience. As someone else suggested, I would recommend a smaller first build though just for the experience. Use those first few builds as learning experiences!

It is a shame in today's ARF world that people don't learn building skills along with flying skills. I certainly applaud people who choose to go back and learn those building skills.

Now THAT would be cool painted up like Dusty Crophopper.

I work at General Dynamics on 17 and Mound. If I'm looking for anything other than basic stuff, I drop by the Prop Shop on my way home. In fact, I have one ot their stickers in my back window. We're out of town or I would have been there by now.

I live about 5 Miles from Nankin Hobbies in Farmington. They get a lot of my business.

You guys are going to think I'm biting going too much, but this is what I'm looking at. The instructions look very complete. I've done similar sheeting repair work on my 120 size Cap232. Actually, if I showed you pictures of my Cap against this model, you can't tell the difference

This is almost exactly the same size, wing area and weight as my buddies Aeroworks Extra 300 60 size. He has a DLE20 in it. It will take some firewall modification to make it fit. I built a similar AW Edge 540T. Had the ailerons switch and crashed it on maiden. Armature mistake, I know.

http://manuals.hobbico.com/gpm/gpma0236-manual.pdf

Abrams,

What kind of bird are you looking to build? SIG is known for making great-flying built-up kits, but most of them are gentle flyers, and you appear to already be at the aerobatic 3-D bird level of flying, since you're talking about Edge 540's and such. I'm assuming that you're looking for something along those lines?

If you've built these as ARFs, then you can probably manage to build a well-made kit of the same style of plane.

You should try Precision Cut Kits dot com. You can get kits, and plans, and much more. I used to like to get the plans and the manual. I d hang the plans on the wall for a while before I ordered the kit, and that would give me time to gather all the hardware, glues, covering, etc. I'd need for the build. Also, hanging the plans on the wall helps to keep the drool off the plans!

~ Jim ~

Abrams, I think you would do well with the GP 60 sized Extra. I've flown a couple of these and thought they flew quite well. Should be a project you can learn some new skills from and have a good flying plane when you are done.

I agree. The gp extra was my second kit to build. Fairly easy also. I was able to get a dle 20 in it also. Just ask take your time and ask questions if you get stumped.

+1 SIG and GP are great kits, there is Top Flite, Balsa USA - as an advanced pilot you probably don't want to build a trainer, but here are some cheap kits to start with: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._Cut_Kits.html

I'd just get one of these to get your feet wet and if something goes wrong, you lost just $30.

I have mostly ARFs, but like to build once in a while just for the fun of it. And I use mostly standard Gorilla Glue and some Epoxy, when extra strength is needed. CA works a lot faster, but I don't like the nasty stuff.

So I normally start working on the wings and the tail and fuselage at the same time, so I don't have to wait for the glue to cure.

Excellent! I think that will work perfectly. I'll maybe get some carbon fiber landing gear and some fast servos.

Inevitably they go down. It would be nice to have a plane I can rebuild the right way. I'm glad to hear the DLE20 has been done and it works.

Abrams, Wow how did this happen? All us so called experts chime in with great suggestions, a Goldberg tiger, a Sig 4- star, a stick, a Cub, and the consensus pick of the "experts" was a Sig 4-Star 120 was the ideal choice. So you pick an Extra 300? You know, maybe that's not as crazy as it first seems. Last year we had a young teenage newbee in one of my clubs decide to do his first kit build after just learning to fly and only two or three ARF's. He chose a great Planes extra 300, the 40 size not the 60 your'e looking at but still the same plane. Guess what, he was successful. He did a great job building and covering it, and best of all.....IT FLEW! He had a build thread on here and a search should pull it up if you want to see what he ran into. If a teen can do it so can you. To paraphrase someone else here on RCU, to build a kit "all you do is glue all the sticks together, then sand off everything that doesn't look like an airplane!". Great Planes kits are nice with very good instructions. Best of luck.

What happened is I took the advice of the experts. I looked for a kit with good instruction. All the hard stuff is stuff I have done on repairs. The stuff I need to know is on the kit instructions.

I'm also a 46 year old engineer the likes to build stuff. When I started this, I should have posted the repair I did on my Cap last year. My engine stalled over trees and landed in the top of one. We carefully pulled the plane out. The lead edge was broken near the fuselage. I took all of the monokote off, took the sheeting off of that side, repaired the structure, re-sheeted and re-monokoted.

That at was the beginning. Before I monokoted, I extended the wing 1.5" on each end to form nice rounded corners. Then I made molds of the corners and formed lexan lenses and mounted LED navigation lights. I need to finish that project out by putting the controller in for the lights.

But I still haven't done a full build.

Now my 10 year old son... I'll probably start him next year on a simpler build. He would LOVE to have a gas powered Ultrastick. He can land a plane greasy like a french fry. Doesn't know his aerobatics so well yet, but he can fly.

[QUOTE=Abrams;11691218]I have done some repairs on ARFs, but have never built a kit from scratch. What is the best way to get started? Any books, magazine, anything you can recommend. Unfortunately I don't know anyone that scratch builds.[/QUOT


What plane are you wanting to build??....Scratch building is VERY rewarding...or can be a nightmare!!!.. So I'm wondering what your looking to build...here is my spacewalker, blown up sig plan...and now my Rarebear being built right now...working on fuse...Nick Ziroli... First thing is, is to NEVER let people crap on ya....I hope you build!! its a nice way to burn up spare time...Build something simple to start...order plans from sig, or some place like that...and use your head when building..you dont HAVE to use what the plan says!! just work at building light...I build on the heavy side, and guys bash me all the time...but i don't care,,,my planes fly awesome!!!...if you EVER need help,,,PM me,,,I'll help you as much as I can...It seems like anymore, people just can't get enough of telling people they can't do it, or shatter the dreams of doing something so nice!!!...here is my "Scratch builds"

I Think you'l do just fine, plenty of good background experience and knowledge. Go for it!

Cublover, that has to be the most unique plane I have seen. I like it. I bet you've had a lot of conversations over that plane. Way to go.

I love building. "Cool"...lol

That's a great reason, and I can't think of a better thing to focus on. If you don't have local modelers who are experienced (and they really ARE getting to be harder and harder to find), then good instructions are paramount.

~ Jim ~

I have built several wild wiz delta wings. They are very easy but do not build like an airplane so I decided to build a kit. I wanted something easy so I built a pete n poke kit. its pretty easy but took me all winter because I am a very picky builder such as wings were built straight and when I assembled it everything went together perfect. I would suggest it too as a first kit. I have several arfs up to 100cc but I am more proud of this 40 size kit because of the work and enjoyment I put into it. sometimes I wonder how many people would be flying if arfs weren't around.

I started with delta wings too. Mine come from ritewingrc.com. A good friend of mine got me hooked. I've built 5 of them so far. Every time I get one out I hear. I haven't seen a zagi in a long time. After a couple 100mph passes, someone is always saying OMG that thing is fast.

To me though, nothing beats planes with landing gear. A couple of years ago a friend took me to Pontiac Miniature Aircraft Club. Within a week I sold my T-Maxxes and bought a used half built Kangke 120 Cap232. The following year I started training my son. Now he flies a nitro Easysport.