Oh good grief. Not another #$^@ Sig Somethin' Extra
09-10-2020, 09:25 AM
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Oh good grief. Not another #$^@ Sig Somethin' Extra
I just had a very successful maiden flight with the SSE that I recently built. I build one of these way back when they first came out, and have recently gotten back into glow flying.
The thing is both a puddycat and a tiger. What a sweet, honest-flying plane. It's a keeper.
Saito .62 in it (seems like a perfect match). Unlimited vertical, but I haven't tried to hover it yet. It will probably take nearly full throttle to do so, at 5 lb. I have a little lead strapped to the engine mounts, because I came out about 5/8" tail heavy. I will experiment with removing the weight as I fly it more and get less rusty in my abilities. I haven't flown a glow plane for nearly 15 years, up until today, but I have been flying little electric foamies and my Blade 230S heli up until now.
Mods that I recall, but there are probably more:
- Shortened rudder, lengthened it and added a counterbalance. Reduced roll coupling and increased authority.
- Added counterbalance to elevator
- Replaced the goofy OEM landing gear with one from a SIG Kadet 25. That gives me the ground clearance for my 13" prop, but I still wish it were a little taller. It chews up tall grass while taxiing.
- Carbon fiber rod tail braces, instead of steel rods.
- Sullivan tailwheel bracket.
- Moved right side of firewall back about 1/8" for some right thrust.
- Pull-pull rudder.
I have an 8 oz Sullivan fuel tank in it, turned sideways and the fuel tank floor lowered so it could fit without touching wood. Covered in Ultracote, in pretty much the same color scheme as the box. HS-225MG servos all around, except for an HS-82MG on the throttle. LIFE 2S 700 Rx battery. Spektrum Rx.
With my change to the rudder, it does a respectable knife-edge. Of course, I wish it were better at that, but at least it will do one, and hammerheads are incredible
The thing is both a puddycat and a tiger. What a sweet, honest-flying plane. It's a keeper.
Saito .62 in it (seems like a perfect match). Unlimited vertical, but I haven't tried to hover it yet. It will probably take nearly full throttle to do so, at 5 lb. I have a little lead strapped to the engine mounts, because I came out about 5/8" tail heavy. I will experiment with removing the weight as I fly it more and get less rusty in my abilities. I haven't flown a glow plane for nearly 15 years, up until today, but I have been flying little electric foamies and my Blade 230S heli up until now.
Mods that I recall, but there are probably more:
- Shortened rudder, lengthened it and added a counterbalance. Reduced roll coupling and increased authority.
- Added counterbalance to elevator
- Replaced the goofy OEM landing gear with one from a SIG Kadet 25. That gives me the ground clearance for my 13" prop, but I still wish it were a little taller. It chews up tall grass while taxiing.
- Carbon fiber rod tail braces, instead of steel rods.
- Sullivan tailwheel bracket.
- Moved right side of firewall back about 1/8" for some right thrust.
- Pull-pull rudder.
I have an 8 oz Sullivan fuel tank in it, turned sideways and the fuel tank floor lowered so it could fit without touching wood. Covered in Ultracote, in pretty much the same color scheme as the box. HS-225MG servos all around, except for an HS-82MG on the throttle. LIFE 2S 700 Rx battery. Spektrum Rx.
With my change to the rudder, it does a respectable knife-edge. Of course, I wish it were better at that, but at least it will do one, and hammerheads are incredible
09-20-2020, 11:00 AM
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Wing attachment
As mentioned, I made some design changes to the plane.
One of those was this wing attachment gizmo. I was trying to rig up a combination of springs that were long enough and strong enough to prevent the wings from spreading outward during fast rolls. Spread out far enough so that the rear wing dowels exit the holes, then the wing rotates around the aluminum tube, and you crash.
I came across this spring in my workshop parts bin, and it works perfectly. It is plenty strong enough to hold the wings in tight, yet not too strong to install, or too strong so as to crush wood or pull the little J-screws out of the wing halves. I happened to have 2 of these springs, so the 2nd one goes in my little bag of spare parts that I carry in my flight box.
You can see the overall dimensions in the picture. The spring wire diameter is 0.040". Maybe someone building a SSE or looking to improve their wing attachment can find one of these springs at a hardware store (or in your workshop parts bin).
I installed heat shrink tubing on the hook end of the spring, just to further reduce the possibility of metal vibrating and causing radio interference. Probably not necessary, as the spring is pretty tight when installed, hence no vibration. Just a "just in case" thing.
One of those was this wing attachment gizmo. I was trying to rig up a combination of springs that were long enough and strong enough to prevent the wings from spreading outward during fast rolls. Spread out far enough so that the rear wing dowels exit the holes, then the wing rotates around the aluminum tube, and you crash.
I came across this spring in my workshop parts bin, and it works perfectly. It is plenty strong enough to hold the wings in tight, yet not too strong to install, or too strong so as to crush wood or pull the little J-screws out of the wing halves. I happened to have 2 of these springs, so the 2nd one goes in my little bag of spare parts that I carry in my flight box.
You can see the overall dimensions in the picture. The spring wire diameter is 0.040". Maybe someone building a SSE or looking to improve their wing attachment can find one of these springs at a hardware store (or in your workshop parts bin).
I installed heat shrink tubing on the hook end of the spring, just to further reduce the possibility of metal vibrating and causing radio interference. Probably not necessary, as the spring is pretty tight when installed, hence no vibration. Just a "just in case" thing.
