ORIGINAL: R!aan

Gary harris- that canopy looks great! Where can I get those?
ARUP- The V tail seems quite interesting! Sorry to hear about you loss[], but i think you put what you learned from it to good use!, If i do decide to go with the stock landing gear i will definitley reinforce the gear plate, i will defenitely put that one in my list for to do's.
Riaan

ORIGINAL: R!aan

I ordered my 4 star a few days ago and it is due to arrive here on the 3rd (tuesday) I also ordered a avistar .46 which at $50 souns like a steal, but I'm not going to put my hopes up just yet. There are a few modifications that I would like to include in the build, mostly to improve it's looks:
- Make a better looking balsa cowl based on the current one
- Position the canopy so that it looks better
- Sheet the turtle deck
- Reinforce the landing gear area
- tint the canopy
- make wheel pants
- (and mayebe)Look into retracts, I solved the prop strike problem on paper, but i havent put it into practice [:-]
Just keep in mind that this is my first KIT but i do have experience that I build up when I had to fix a badly damaged glider wing ( I ended up with a smashed up glider from my cousin, but now it flies again :P)
I have about a month of summer holidays left so I will post an update with pics each day.
Thanks, hope you enjoy it and PLEASE comment on my Ideas! Riaan

ORIGINAL: R!aan

Thanks Biff! I'm considering the canopy, but I am a bit cautious about shipping price for just the canopy... I am still considering it though
Riaan

ORIGINAL: R!aan

Thanks,I'll keep that in mind Gray Beard [img][/img], Would it be stupid of me to try and clip the wing 1 bay on each side after I get use to the plane? That is if it survives me [img][/img]
Riaan

ORIGINAL: Gray Beard


I was a pit man for a racer and he was always having me remove wing bays, I removed so many from one plane it turned into a lawn dart. You just peel back the covering and remove then then iron down the covering again. It helps to have extra covering on hand though, just in case. I attached two photos. One I think {it was a thumb nail on my puter} is an Extra 260 kit I built and I looked at ARFs in the same size range until I found one that I thought the canopy would fit. It was so cheap I ordered 3 of them. I have a lot of stuff in my shop from doing things that way. The other photo is my 12 year old student with the plane we built together. It is missing a couple of wing bays, has one of my Extra canopy's on it, the kid just had to have it silver. I think I added an inch or so to the rudder? The kid was a really good pilot and learning stunt flying so I did a few mods. I was going to cowl the engine but he had a Golden Knight Saito 100 and just had to show everyone his pretty engine so it got mounted upright. I can't blame him either, it really is a good looking engine!! Remember, it's your plane, you can do anything to it you like!! Being here in the states we have a lot of sources for all the items required so a lot of things we may do is out of the question for you just due to the shipping costs. I have four hobby shops close enough to drive to or I can mail order and have stuff here in three days. If one of us says you should try or do something you may not have the source for the parts needed??

ORIGINAL: buzzard bait

What is the deep chin for? Looks like a lot of frontal area right behind the prop, which will rob some power. Side area looks out of balance front to back...you could add some rudder or fin area to correct that. Did you decrease the stab area? I wouldn't do that (unless you also clip the wings), but you can keep the same shape if you enlarge it (you'll need a bigger elevator then). Wing shape is cool. Kit bashing is a lot of fun, and the 4 Star can definitely use sprucing up, but just be aware of the aerodynamic effects.

Jim