Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Hey guys,
I'm just planning for a build that I'm starting soon. I'm going to build my first ever kit build, and am doing so with a Sig Somethin' extra .40 nitro sport plane.
I'm really excited for it, and will begin getting all of the parts shortly!
If you want to keep track of my progress, feel free to subscribe to the thread!
<strike>I'm going to start this winter so stay tuned :)</strike> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Already building; build posts being on </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); "><u>SECONDPAGE
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Red = edited</span>
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RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Just started mine today. It goes together in a flash so far. I'll subscribe for sure, it is also my first kit build. We can compare notes.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

I've had a SSE 40 kit on the shelf for 4yrs. I'll be watching your thread. Maybe it'll get me excited enough to build it !! Good Luck !

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

I have built two of these planes. My first one had about 500 flights on it before I had a head on mid air with it. [:o] My second one is stored in Oklahoma. I didn't have time to pack it when I was moving to Alaska. Sig definitely makes nice kits. I like the laser cut parts. The Somethin Extra really flies together. It's a real pleasure to build! It's a lot of fun to fly too.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Ok so first of all here is my list of parts that I'm looking to use to build it. Note, this is not final.

(1) Saito FA-62A (Engine choice was based on my love for 4 strokes, and it turns out this engine is actually lighter than the OS 46AX! Never tried a Saito before, but never heard anything bad)
(1) 12X7 Prop (Good props for .60-.70 4 strokes, I've found)
(1) Spektrum AR6210 (Kinda disapointed about the price, but what can you do?)
(4) Spektrum DS821 Servos (Love these servos! Tough and reliable)
(1) JR ST47BB (Can't go wrong with these, good for throttle servos)
(1) Hobbico 2000mAh 4.8V NiCd RX Pack ($5 cheaper than a JR 1500 pack?)
(1) Standard Sullivan 8 oz Tank (Surprised at the price range of these tanks)
(3) Covering (Haven't decided on color scheme, I'm thinking white with red single stripes on the wings and tail section.)
(1) 2 1/4" Spinner (Have an aluminum one that is from my old trainer, they always look great)
Glues:Medium, and Thick CA, Accelerator and Debonder; 6 Minute expoxy; Threadlock (Blue); Aliphatic resin glue, Canopy Glue, Filler
(2) 2-3/4" Main Wheels, (1) 1" Tail Wheel
Sanding Equipment: Great Planes 5.5" and 11" sanding bars with 80, 150, and 220 grit sandpaper rolls for them

Whole thing will probably cost around $557 w/o covering, and with covering it should be between $590 and $610.
I'm going to have to wait a bit so I can save up money.
Stay tuned!<br type="_moz" />

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

You building "plain stock"?

Flight characteristics on low rates is good healthy sport flying. High rates? Hope ya can keep up. :eek:

Just finished my 3rd. Great maiden. Trying to think of any areas to address. Since the wings are constant thickness and there's no dihedral to mess with the wings are pretty straight forward.

On the ailerons, elevators, rudder and fixed tail pieces I knocked off the small bits of laser cut nubins. This was just enough that I needed to add a cap or two to get back to original dimensions. Not needed I was just being anal about cleaning up the brown.

I went with a Hitec HS 85 for the throttle. Positioned it in front of the phenolic wing tube. This allowed a nice straight throttle linkage. I adjusted the "J" hook holes to orient the holes / hooks vertically so that the rubber bands did not interfere with the servo arm linkage.

The engine was rotated 90 degrees and a built up wood cowl got fabricated. This ranks in there with personal preference.

Good luck and looking forward to watching.

BTW- the 3rd pic of the throttle servo was before opening up the "J"hook vertically.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

The Saito 62 sounds great. A couple of suggestions.

Add extensions to the landing gear or see if you can find a longer one. An 11-8 prop will catch the runway on all but the most perfect landings. A friend has a SSE with what look like 1 1/2" aluminum extensions screwed/bolted onto the stock gear.

If you go with the stock wing hold on J hooks with rubber bands, make absolutely sure you have good rubber bands and you wrap them tightly. Otherwise real bad things happen... After my SSE screwed itself into the ground, I replaced the J-hooks with 1/4-20 nylon bolt stud and 1/4-20 nylon nuts. If you put the stud in the same place as the J hooks are, it's close to the phenolic wing tube so there's not enough room for wing nuts. Maybe you can think of somethin' better. Some folks stick with the J hooks but use plastic tie-wraps instead of rubber bands.

Have an air vent for the cockpit/canopy. Mine steams up in the sun and now there are permanent marks on the inside of the canopy.

Dave

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Be careful with 1/4x20 bolts. I used em. 2nd flight out one vibrated loose and came out. Use your imagination. Yea, they were tight before the 1st flight. There is very little wiggle room on the inside of the SSE fuse for fat fingers and big screws.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Usually, if you use nylon bolts & tighten properly, they WON'T vibrate out. Since I've started using nylon bolts, I've never had one back out. I use them also to hold my cowls on. They're not as pretty as the stainless "button heads", but they work.! Also, if ya have a "hard landing" they will shear off usually saving putting the whole bottom of the fuselage back together.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

I'm no rookie to all the various sizes of nylon bolts. It's just that in this particular situation one didn't act like any other nylon bolt applications - wing mounts, landing gear mounts, hatch attachment, etc.. It may well have to do with the very cramped quarters of the SSE inner sanctum and that the bit of wood behind the nut's head is not complete as there is a sizable slot cut for the "J" hook. Just a warning.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Instead of rubber bands to hold the wing hooks I found a spring at a hardware store that works well,

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Ace Hardware has a great selection. Some people have used zip ties too.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Thanks for the advice, guys. I've certainly heard the debate of springs vs rubber bands vs bolts debate for the Somethin' Extra; I'm thinking of twist ties. And as far as landing gear mods or getting a new landing gear, I've had planes with the prop only 5/8" off the ground when level, hopefully it won't be that bad.

Mike<br type="_moz" />

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Twist ties - I'm not sure that that should even be considered.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

It's more likely to end up being a few rubber bands. A guy in my club has had good experience with twist ties but they do seem awfully flimsy. I'll decide when I actually have a wing to secure! :)

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Parts are ordered and the kit is on the way!!!!! Should all be here by Saturday (3 separate orders). I got everything (kit, glue, tools, hardware, engine, etc.) besides the radio gear and covering. So excited, hopefully I'll find time to build between school work! Anyway stay tuned!

Mike

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Ya gotta love the enthusiasm!!!!!

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Still the same enthusiasm since I was 9 years old :)

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Your gonna love the sig se kit. Easy nice building. The instructions tell you how to do everything. Good luck and enjoy!

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

<span style="font-family: Arial; ">First shipment of parts has arrived! Just need to get the kit (on backorder, should be shipped out to me in a week) and a fuel tank (Tower hobbies order was split into 2). The receiver and servos I will buy later on. The thing in the mail that excited me most is the engine :) man is it beautiful! I'm truly amazed at how light it is, can't wait to run it. I intend to get a video of the first run. Already built a test stand, just need to get the fuel tank. Should be here next week. Take a look at the pictures to see the engine and the random tools/glue/hardware that I got. And again, stay tuned!

Mike<br type="_moz" /></span>

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

First run of my engine :)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYEg1iAAb8[/youtube]

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

To extend out the gear on my SSE I used the gear & pants from a Great Planes extra 300 S worked perfect.
Good luck on your build its a nice fun one. I did make my Rudder and Elevator larger with balance tabs to help get it to 3-D better, but the plane's still more of a fun fly type plane but I like it.

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Jetblast- you are gonna love that Saito! I have built two Somethin' Extras, both had the same Saito 82 in the nose... Total Hogs but sooo fun to fly. Two recommendations for ya:

Instead of landing gear extensions, buy the DuBro glass filled landing gear. It is taller, very durable, paintable, and will give you all the ground clearance you need for touch and go after touch and go. Use nylon bolts to secure the gear to the plane and you will never tear out the belly.

Also, for holding the wings on... Try a SPRING of appropriate length and tension. Go to your local hardware store, get one that is close, and you can cut and or tweak the ends into eyelets, and you are good to go. Better than rubber bands, much better than tie wraps. Good luck, keep those pics coming!

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

Kit should arrive tomorrow afternoon, luckily I'm home from school tomorrow and Friday because of a teacher's convention so I may get some work done. Today I finished making my building surface. I wish I had one that's bigger (This is roughly 42" X 30") but this is big enough to build the wings and tail surfaces on top of the plans without having any funny angles; those are really only parts that need to be assembled on top of the plans. The fuselage I can probably build on the surface without too many problems. Take a look at the pics to see how I made the surface: old desk with some large ceiling tiles on top to pin into, and below the ceiling tiles I spent an hour with a careful eye and a ruler to put folded paper underneath in order to level out the tiles as much as possible. Still a few high and low points but I may sand those out if they really get to bother me. They probably won't affect anything and are very small, but little things like that annoy me and in the past my perfectionism has really messed up some projects...

Oh and thanks guys for all of the suggestions, I may get a larger ladning gear, considering the amount I'm hearing about prop strikes. I was also considering using a 13X6 prop, but am not sure yet, currently there is a 12X7 on the engine. If I do switch to a 13X6, it may be smart to get larger gear.

Anyway if I get work done tomorrow I'll be sure to post pictrues and/or questions. Stay tuned!
Mike<br type="_moz" />

RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
 

You won't be sorry using the saito 62, it will pull the SSE around nicely.

So your in school? High School? College?

Jason