Anyone have any info on a giant scale SIG Kavalier.

While in the hobby shop today they had a giant scale SIG Kavalier hanging from the roof that he got from the son of a guy who built. The guys AMA number was 109 so he probably had been at it a while..

Anyway this Kavalier had a wingspan of about 85" or so. Anyone know if this was a kit or a plans build? The guy said he had the plans but he was busy and I didn't look at them.

It was a pretty nice looking plane and had a big Super Tiger engine in, probably around a 3250 or something similar.

It looked like it would be a great sport flyer. Only problem was the one piece wing. I went in looking for a .40 size plane I could throw in the truck when I didn't want to hook up the trailer...but we know how that goes and you get distracted.

The Sig Kavalier is my all time favorite sport flying airplane. I have built several over the years, both for me and for fellow flyers.

Personally, I do not know of any kit or plans for a giant Kavalier. I would imagine that someone had the plans blown up and went from there.

Sure would like to see some pics of it if you can get some.

Bill Hodges

It's about 2 hours to the hobby shop so probably not going back anytime soon. It looked pretty good just looking at it hanging there. I might go back if I decide I can get the one piece wing inside my truck (I have a one piece 80" wing I can practice with but it normally just goes in the trailer). It was covered just like the box on the smaller one with the same canopy and a glass partial cowl just like the smaller one which made me think maybe they had done a kit a long time ago.

Judging by some of the other planes in his collection it dated back to the late 70's or early 80's maybe because there were quite a few pattern type planes of that era included.

Wish I was close enough to go look at it. Maybe there was a kit of it at some time. If there was, I sure would like to hear the history of it.

Boy, you really have me thinking now. It just might be an interesting project to build a bigger Kav. I had never really thought of doing that before. Time to pull out the plans and do a little figuring.

Here's a pic of my current Kav.

Bill H.

I know of no giant kit but it isn't that hard to buy a kit, make up a parts template sheet then head to Kinko's and have the plans and templates blown up to the size wanted. I have built a ton of the Kavs but never gave it a though to build a giant one. That really could be a great machine.

i did a kav several years back, enjoyed it greatly 'till i sold it - going bigger then. so, i copied the plans at 135%, resulting in a 75" wingspan and an MAC of about 14". this yields a wing area about 1048 sq. in. i was thinking a 3W28 or something to fit in the relatively narrow (by current design standard) front end. with its rear carb, i thought it could be wedged in.

a few issues have to be solved. with an enlarged plan, you of course have to make your own fiberglass cowl. in addition, unique to this model, is the canopy fit to the front of the wing, right at the wing mount. of course, no canopy is ready made for the enlarged version, and one would have to be moulded or found that would fit. an alternative might be to make a wing mounting plate, and go with a profile piece for the center of the wing. each rib is a different size on the tapered wing, but each is shown on the plan. however, you could use templates at each end of a rib pack, and sand a tapered rib set. you could also build in the all important washout that mccullough used. or, for that matter, a guy could cut a foam wing that would duplicate all that. the nosewheel would have to be mounted to the back side of F1, and even then may not clear a rear carb setup, though i think that could be worked out. i suppose a guy could go tailwheel, but in my opinion if you make too many changes to a design, you end up not building that design at all.

anyway, that's as far as i have thought it out. i go back to the project from time to time because that kavalier is just a sweet little airplane..

Meathook:

I agree, there would be some challenges involved in building a bigger Kav, but I think it would be a very interesting project. I am still thinking about it and may have to give it a try. If I do, I will do a build thread on it.

Bill H.

A friend of mine has a blown up version that has I believe a Supertigre 2500. I have flow it! Great flying plane.

John

There were some folks in JAX that had plans to a big cav..80 inch wing i think...dont know if they are still around or not

Would it be possible to buy a coppied set of plans so I can blow them up to a 60 size? I just flew a Kavilier that is approx 10 years or older that someone gave me. Great sport plane.