Stopped in at the Hobby store today and of coarse I could not leave empty handed. Saw a Midwest Star Duster on the counter with a reduced price of $44.00 on it. I opened the box and it looked like a well put to gether kit, nicely cut ply, all balsa looked good. So I purchaced it. Looks a lot like the 4 * 40 by Sig. Went to the Midwest web site and did not see it listed. Just wondering if any one knows any info on this plane. It looks like it is a older model.

They were still around in the late 90's. I havn't seen one in probably six years.

Enjoy,

Jim

Mike B. I bought a Starduster from a pile of old kits in the back of our LHS a few years ago. It was our second tail dragger and we learned a lot from it. My son and I flew it hard for over a year with a Saito .72, our first 4-stroke. I loved this plane, the ground handling was good but not forgiving, we had to STEER it with the rudder. But the rudder worked fine and that Saito made great responsive power, for slow flying or fast so we learned a lot about throttle control. I did put taller main gear on it as the stock gear was a little too short for propellor clearance with the 4-stroke, we used a 13-6. We flew the h---- out of it all summer and well into winter, then we had a 3 and a half month period where we couldn't get to our club field on account of deep snow. The first day that we could get back to the field and flying, dumb thumbs dad put the Starduster into the ground in less than a minute. It was a big loss for us, but we have recovered. I bought a simulator for us to practice, vowing never again to let the non flying months cost us so much. The Midwest Starduster is very similar to the 4-Star by SIG, so much so I wondered if it was designed by the same man, Bruce Tharpe. The plans say no, there is another name there. Bruce Tharpe also improved the 4-Star into the Venture which is another similar and great flying plane. If there is one thing I would dare to mention as an improvement, I would sheet the turtle-deck area behind the canopy to stiffen up the tail section. Ours was quite flexible there and I had to re-tighten the covering a couple of times, but no hint of structural failure. Good luck with yours. If you decide not to build it, let me know and I'll take it off your hands, I have a spare but slightly damaged wing out in the garage.

Best regards from old bird.

Thanks for all the info. Do you think that my OS 48 FS will have enough power for the plane. Mods I was thinking of doing was sheeting the leading edge and turtle deck. I have a Tiger 60 with a G 90 on it and I was hoping the flying traits will be simiular so I could practice on the Star Duster with out burning as much fuel.

The OS 48 should be fine. Mine seemed to have plenty of power.

Mike B, I think your OS 48 FS should do fine. Ours went straight up quite a ways behind the Saito .72, and our field is at 5000'. I am running a Magnum .52 FS now in a Sportsman Aviation Ryan STA, and the power of the little .52 suprises me. Should be about the same as your OS .48 in output. I too was worried about the strength of the leading edge of the wings, but after the covering is on and tight it was really strong. The wing even survived the crash. The rear deck does need sheeting, IMHO. It was quite flexible but never broke.

Have fun with yours, and give us a report when you fly it. Happy landings from old bird.

I started the star duster today. I got about 3/4 don with the fuse assmebly. While assembling the horiz. stabilizer I noticed that there is a good bow. About 1/8 in while lying on a level surface. I dont know if I should use this or make new ones. I have the stabilizer on a flat surface now with wieght on it but when the wait is removed the bow pops back up. Besides that the kit is going together smoothly.

Wet the concave side and weight it down a couple days.

You may have to start over on that one.

Enjoy,

Jim

Here are a couple of pics, first time trying to up load.

Old bird, over and out.

Old Bird
I hope mine turns out as well as yours did. Looks real nice, I like your color sceem. I cut some new pieces for the horz. stab.

Todays progress:

Mike B, Looking good on your build. After looking at the pictures, I remember that after the build that I should have sheeted one more rib bay of the leading edge of the wing. That is because when I carry a plane to the flight line, I always grasp the plane by the leading edge of the left wing near the fuselage, and the fuselage just ahead of the tail surfaces. I am right-handed. I was always afraid that I would damage the wing when carrying it out to the flight line, but I never did.

Thanks for the kind words on the covering job, it was our first attempt at something more than basic. The bottom of the wing was covered in 2" checker board, red and white. I was trying to make it look something like the picture on the box.

Keep us posted on the build and flying, I really liked this plane, and still kicking myself in the a__ for dumb-thumbing it into the ground.

Old bird, over and out.

Old Bird
I have been debating on sheeting the wing, leading and trailing edges with cap strips. I was thinking of doing the build as shown in the plans then going over it with 1/16 sheet from the leading edge to the main spar, and from the trailing edge forward 1 1/4 in. with cap strips inbetween. I know this will add some weight but I will put my Magnum 70 rfs on it if it is under powered with the OS 48 fs. I really like this kit, the parts are all fully cut and pop out without any problems. I have had some that are just a bear. I think I am going to leave the turtle deck like it is, I like that look of the stringers through the covering. Working on the wings know.

Some more progress on the Star Duster. The fine isn't mounted yet, but it looked so good I had to put it in for the picture. I decided not to sheet the wing. It seems pretty strong with out.

Looks real good Mike, lots of progress in a few days. The wing IMHO is plenty strong as is, except as noted in a previous post.

Old bird, from the hangar deck, over and out.

Well here she is my finished Midwest Star Duster. Turned up pretty nice I think. One of my better covering jobs, still getting the hang of it even after several planes. I used 21st Century film as the base and Goldberg Ultracoat for trim. Boy do I hate that Goldberg stuff, thank goodness I almost have it all used up. I saw a box of the stuff at the hobby store and the price was $5.99 a roll. Thinking that it was the Ultracoat that I had heard such good things about I picked up 4 rolls. Mistake, this stuf is junk. I was real happy with the 21st Centruy stuff though. Any way as soon as we have some grass showing the Duster will be in the air. Here are some pics.

Mike, nice covering job. Give us a flight report after the maiden voyage. I still miss my Starduster, we have a SIG 4-star kit in the building line-up.

Best regards from old bird.

I put the Star Duster in the air for the first time today. A little bit of down elevator and left aileron and she flew beautifully. The tail comes up and stays level until you give it a little up and off she went. I think that ultimately I will need more power but vertical isn't to bad. I only got in one flight because for some reason the battery wasn't fully charged. I have it on the cycler now. Nice flying plane. Best 40 some bucks I have spent on a kit so far. I think this one will be in my arsenal when going to the field for a while. I'm guessing that it is alot like the 4*40 from what I have seen of it. As long as I dont get to cocky with it I think it will be aroung for a while.

Mike B. Good news on the first flight, looks like just you and I are paying attention to this thread. I think the 4-Star and the Starduster are almost identical, and someday I will replace ours with a 4-star. We, (my son and I), had a Saito .72 in ours, no lead required for balance. It flew in a spirited manner, our field is at 5000 feet altitude. I am still kicking myself for dumb-assing ours into the ground.
Enjoy a great plane, I am sorry to see that the kit builders are one by one dropping out of sight because of the ARFs. I am currently flying an ARF, a Sportsmen Aviation from Hobby People, Ryan STA. It too flies great, but like all the ARF's that I have looked at, needed lots of tweaking to be airworthy. I am looking for a larger version of the Ryan STA, and I see that the discontinued SIG kits are going for around $200 on ebay. I guess kit builders are slowly fading away and the suppliers know this, but the old timers are willing to pay a premium fot a discontinued kit.

From the hangar deck, best regards from old birdl

I too enjoy kit building, but there is something about getting a plane one day and having it in the air the next that is also appealling. Of coarse you cant take the credit for a ARF looking good, like a kit you built and covered. On the other hand when you put all the time in the world in on a kit and it goes in on the first flight, your that much more heart broken. I had some experiance with this today. I built a Tiger 60 this winter. I was on such a high from yesterday that decided that today would be the day to fly the tiger, even though the wind was gusting to 30 mph. I put the plane up and it needed some left alleron and up elevator. Trying to adjust the trims I made the mistake of taking My eyes off the plane for a second and that was all it took I cut the throttle before she hit but she hit hard. When I finally found the plane it was a tottal loss. The wing was missing over a foot on each end and had ripped ply and the blocks out of the fuse. The fuse was in 3 pieces and drove the engine into the peet moss about 10 inches, and that is frozen peet moss. It looks like the radio gear and engine will be ok but the plane is not repairable. Heart broken but thats the way it goes sometimes. Looks like it is going to be a great weekend so I will put the Star Duster up and see what it will do.