Very nice TCraft Lover!

Tcraft—

Very nice rendition of the “Smith�[8D]. It is hard to tell for sure in the pictures….But, it looks like you have covered in cloth like maybe SIG Cover-All and painted.

Thanks guys. Yes it's Koveral filled with poly-crylic and painted with Rustoleum from rattle cans.

Well into the final stages of completing my SMP. Painted up some parts today and the colour does not match worth a crap! I used the Top Flite rattle cans to match the covering and it's more orange. Far from the missile red it is supposed to be! Gonna try another can and if that fails will have to try to better match with something else. DARN IT! Was hoping finish it this weekend, but not the case. Almost there and looking forward to flying this little gem soon.

Just rook mine out for the first flight of the season today

Well folks, its a sad day for me. My miniplane, as good-looking as I think she is, has always been a beast to fly. I blame myself: she was my first "real" kit, and I built 'er heavy. But man, it seems like I never bring her home from te field whole! [:@]


I got into this hobby because I love a challenge and love to fly, but man am I tired of being afraid to fly this model. Today was the last straw (rudder servo failure made me nose it over on touchdown, cowl damage and broken engine mount, some cosmetic damage too). I think I'm gonna pull the engine and electronics, put them in a custom SSE, and sell this poor heavy bird in the LHS. Sooooo tired of post-field repairs. [:'(]

So, so long folks. It been fun, and I wish you heaps of better luck with your Miniplanes than I have had!

[quote]ORIGINAL: Dope Fiend

Well folks, its a sad day for me. My miniplane, as good-looking as I think she is, has always been a beast to fly. I blame myself: she was my first "real" kit, and I built 'er heavy. But man, it seems like I never bring her home from te field whole! [:@]










Well shucks that's a shame.I've been biding my time waiting for that just rightday to maiden mine.I must admit I'm more than a little nervous after reading this. You'll have better luck with your Cub.

Sorry to here your have had it with your miniplane. I too have built a couple of lead balloons. Been there. Done that. Sounds like another testimonial about the importance of building lighter than you think it needs to be. A few ounces here and there will turn a fun flyer into a Dud.

guys hi,
my name is Doron andI am new to this forum so...

Iam currently building my own SIG Smith Miniplane and came up with some problem:

it really seems to me that the cowl is to small
what i am trying to do is to put the 2 halves togetherbut they just wont get into the fuse.

Is this problem familiar to you?
am i doing something worng?

thanks in advance

Doron

Doron,
I can't speak for every builder but I had to remove a lot of material from the bottom corners and sides to get my cowling to fit back far enough. Good luck on your build. There's lots of skills to be developed with this kit if you don't already have them.</p>

Hi Doron. I had to do some significant carving, sanding and shaping of my fuselage when trying to get my cowl to fit. Had to remove quite a bit if material from the bottom of the nose in order for it to fit. A razor plane comes in handy here.

WOWso fast repliesI didnt expect this...

Thanks guys for the advices
after these,I guessI am not doing everything wrong so i can keep on building.

best regards

Doron

It's a great build,keep it up. I'm still waiting to maiden mine.</p>

Any Miniplane updates? C'mon, boys- it's FLYING season!

As for me, I have decided to keep my Mini flying, but have done a few things to lighten her load. She was such a BRICK; was just not fun to fly.

I am hoping that by doing away with the onboard glow and all it's associated OUNCES, and switching to a lighter LiFE RX power supply, that my Mini will fly better and not be such a beast! I just love this plane too much to let it go

Hey Dope Fiend! Glad to hear you are enjoying the little SMP. I had a little setback with the paint match on the cowl and wheel pants so it delayed things a bit. Have just repainted (last night), with a new batch of red and it looks pretty good. Have a couple minor things to complete and hope to maiden it next week, and then fly the snot out of it on that week of my vacation. Have a couple other projects on the go, so was not totally devoted to completing the SMP. Will provide completed pics, and full flight report soon after I hope!

Looking forward to the photos

I built on of these about 20 years ago and never quite finished if. Plan on recovering it and finish all the hardware to get it flying this summer.

Good! 20 years is a looooong build!

Dope Fiend,
It’s good to read you have decided to give your Smith another go. Even though mine is fully retired - I could never get rid of it. It has too much sentimental value for me[8D]. No doubt, even a few ounces should help on the weight. I hope you’ll write about the differences once you get it back in the air.


Marko,
What did you end up using for paint? Sure looking forward to finished pictures and flight report. Maybe even some video????


Anyone that is interested,
I have probably written about this before, but…….[:-]One piece of advice I have on this plane is -control surface travel. These days most of us set up control surfaces with extreme travels. But the Sig “Smith� has little appreciation for that[X(]. Ailerons as much as you can get - no problem. Some differential is good too. Set the elevator and rudder up as the book says. For the Rudder use a dual rate for takeoff and landing. In fact I used low rate for all surfaces on takeoff and landing. For taxiing, yes, you’ll want the rudder and elevator on hi rate. But, when it’s time to take off - use the low rate until you’re in the air. If you use the rudder when landing, same thing - low rate will smooth things out. Once on the ground and slowed flip back to hi for taxiing.
With the control throws and balance point listed in the book this plane will be capable of snap rolls and lomcevaks like you want believe. I think I have an example or two in at least one of the videos I posted of mine. Take my ramblings with the grain of salt it is served with and good luck.

Hi Rick,

I used TopFlite LustreKote missile red epoxy paint, and it turned out more orange than red so did not match the covering well. Apparently this is an issue with the bright red. Took a chance and purchased another can from a hobby shop up here and lucked out. Match is almost perfect with the Monokote covering. Seems like the LustreKote is difficult to get here in Canada as most shops have stopped getting it for some reason, and had to pay almost triple for it! Bummer they have also discontinued most of the shades that match the film. Needed to do a touch up on my Sukhoi only to find out Orange is no longer made. Ended up then having to do a complete repaint on the fiberglass parts and was very lucky to get a good match with little expense. Hopefully the enamel I used will stand up to the glow fuel. The engine runs pretty clean, so am sure it should be fine with a little care on my part. Did not have enough surface area for either job to justify the expense of an an epoxy paint order from one of the mix it places down south. Anyways...they both look good.

Looking forward to flying the SMP after all this time as well as my Sukhoi again. Never fails....last year she dead sticked on me for the first time in three years on the last flight of the year and I could not get it back to the strip. Landed in a mucky field pulling the gear off resulting in slightly damaged paint on the belly pan and cowl. She is prettied up again and now is equipped with a smoke system, so am anxious to see how that works out. Our club is putting on an airshow in a few days for a senior's home that my wife works at, and she has them all pumped up about a "smoke show".......so the pressure is on to deliver! LOL.


Cheers,

Hi guys,

Well I never got around to maiden the SMP...but I have finished it at last!!!! She is ready to go, just need some time and a nice day, both have been difficult to co-ordinate! Balance came out bang on without having to shuffle anything around, or worse add weight anywhere. Had to repaint cowl and wheel pants, and although not a perfect match the second time around with a new can of LustreKote, was much better than the first time. The pictures don't really show the difference, so I will live with it. Will try to get some video of it in flight if I can get a buddy with a steady hand to do the shooting. Was a fun build, and can't stop admiring it.

Cheers,
Marko

Wow. I mean, Wow!

Looking verrrrry good! Nice work, and please let us know how the maiden goes.

Hey thanks Rv7! Am really happy with the way it turned out. Glad I did it in the "box cover" scheme as one reason why I fell in love with this little plane in the first place!

No doubt. I have changed my RCU handle a couple times since then, but I used to be "flycfii", the originator of this thread. Several builders have since contributed here and surpassed the quality of my build... and you my friend are one of them! Just awesome.

Well much appreciated and glad to hear you are still hanging around in this thread!