*I* think Sig kits tend to build heavy if you are not careful. That is not saying they DO build heavy, but if YOU are careful they are NOT heavy. That tongue tangler being said, the reason ARF/RTF stuff from the Far East (there - got them ALL!) is lighter has to do with their poor hardwood selections seen in the light ply frames that are almost impossible to repair and also explain why they tend to be short lived.

My Kougars (all Mark II's) came in around 5.6 lbs with a 1 inch extension to the landing gear, a metal motor mount, and a Saito 50/56 on the nose. Not bad since I saw one someone else did with the standard .40 two stroke that hit 7.5 lbs! Boy that sucker sure did snap stall when it went!

I think the picture like the airplane looks fantastic!

LOL about the 7.5 lbs Kougar. That sounds about right in regards to the very first one I built in '81. But I had the K & B .61 with fuel pump so I had the power to get'er off the deck. The roll out was pretty long and it was really iffy for a bit.

Jim, I must admit I do build heavy I have a bad habit of liking to reinforce specific areas. The Top Flite Cessna 182 is a good example, I remade certain key parts in the landing gear area and firewall/engine mount area, substituting aircraft ply for lite ply the kit came with. I suspect this airplane will be a little heavier compared to TF's prototype but I'm hoping with these changes and the Robart front strut I elected to use the airframe will be a little more forgiving if the landing is a little harder than expected.

On the flip side the Ryan SC I have in the works is a semi scratch built based on the Dick Katz and the Jim Pepino designs. Katz used plywood for almost all his formers and wing spar doublers. I have gone with balsa and liteply on some of these parts and expect a big weight savings. Katz also had over 2 feet of hard maple to support his double piano wire main gear design along with plywood doublers on many of the 3/16" balsa wing ribs. My design uses a custom gear with a fixed based similar to a retract without an air cylinder and modified the wing to support this type of base, again saving weight but without sacrificing strength. Using a newer more modern design engine over the 4 cycle engine he used in 1994 design should add a little additional power. I guess the maiden on both aircraft will determined if I was right or if I'm the reason they put erasers on pencils. :)

Sushi, great looking plane dude. When were you in Muscatine? I grew up here but have lived a lot of different places.
I think a properly built SIG kit will compare to any ARF on the market, I have seen way too many with hot melt glue used in the construction.
My 4 Star 20 came in at EXACTLY 2.5 lbs as per the factory spec, with an OS 26 Surpass on the front. I also picked up another 4 Star 20 at a swap meet the other day and when I get it completed I will run it across the scale. This one is powered by a Thunder Tiger GP25.

One of the reasons ARF's and RTF's are built so light is because the manufacturer to build them as cheaply as possible for the profit margin. The manufacturer builds the ARF's and RTF's to fulfill the three months or 90 day warrantee. If your flying a ARF and/or RTF any longer than the written warrantee time limit, your just flying on borrowed time, IMO.

I was reading on Reuters today how the Chinese banks have started tightening their lending policies and raising interest rates on loans based on risk. China is having a very bad time with high default rates and their corporate debt is expected to pass ours. I suspect the cost of manufacturing cheap ARFs and RTFs will soon be affected if they have not already been affected.

Thanks. Yeah, this Komet is one of the very best planes I've built to date. A few tricky time consuming areas to look out for when building the Komet. The places where I've had to spend extra time and attention was the tail section where the turtle deck, stabs and fuse come together, how/where the canopy is mounted, and the cowling. Other than those areas, it's pretty straight forward of a build.

About Muscatine, I lived on the south end of town, the joke at school was we were the "south end hoods", most likely named that because it wasn't that "glamorous" of an area in town. My father lived there and worked at GPC for over 20 years. Loved the hot summer nights, fishing at places like Flaming Prairie, and the unforgettable smell of GPC in the air. We would always know who was on shift at the power plant by the way they would personally toot the whistle with the little chirp at the end, always a funny shout out across town. I lived there for only two years, from '79 to '81, but my father was there for over 20 years. Last time I visited was in '91 and I was very surprised to see how much the down town area changed. Plus the beloved Petite's restaurant right across the street from GPC main gate was gone and was a gift shop instead. Good times either way.

Maybe that's one of the reason's China is now flexing military muscle in Asia right now. From what I've been reading lately, they are attempting to run the US Military out of Asia. Guess their tired of eating flavored cardboard over there.:)

SIG has already started gettig their ARFs built in Vietnam. The next shipment of Rascal 110 ARFs are coming from VN & the Kadet Sr ARFs that are curently being sold are from VN..

Would you say Vietnamese airplanes are better, about the same, or worse built compared to the Chinese built airplanes? If you don't know that's OK too.

I really don't think there's going to be much of a difference between the two. In order to accomplish an acceptable profit margin, they will still need to build them the same way, in accordance to the time limit on the warrantee. Expect them to last no longer than the written warrantee, any longer and your flying on borrowed time.

My airplanes always last way past the warranty date because I build them and don't offer myself a warranty!

Muscatine still stinks.
I left in 81 for the Army and I am back again now for who knows why.
My 4 Star 54 is made in VietNam but the build quality is good. My only problem was less than stellar hardware. Still, when the Tnuts in the wheel pants proved unuseable they sent me new ones.
I am now just waiting for winter to leave so I can fly the darn thing. Mine ended up nose heavy with a one pound 2 stroke on the front(OS46SF with a Powerbox muffler).

I've been lucky with the Komet and it's built pretty balanced without having to do anything special like shift load or add weight to it. I did add a little materials to the tail area to strengthen up the stabilizer area a bit and did build four solid bulkheads throughout the length of the fuse between the trailing edge of the wing and the front of the horizontal stabilizer. This in itself would have made the plane a hair tail heavy. But then installing the larger engine with aluminum spinner seemed to balance it back out. No kidding, I put her on the balancer and she checks out balanced right off the assembly table. Unlike my SIG Kougar where I had to reposition the battery to get her to balance. My Kougar flew like a friggin arrow on the maiden too, so I'm hoping this Komet does the same.

So you were living in Muscatine at the exact same time I was, your just a few years older than I am. Do you have any younger brothers or sisters? If so it's possible I'd probably know/remember them? I didn't think GPC stank all the time. Yeah, there were times it was bad, but sometimes it wouldn't be as bad. For whatever reason I have a very keen memory of Muscatine, like Doug the bus driver who would park the school bus next to the sewage plant all day just so it would stink when he came to pick us up after school, or the guy (Dave W) who got ran over by the train because he passed out in the snow while crawling under it. Funny/crazy stuff looking back at it all after so much time and I'm sure you would remember these things too.

If you went to MHS you may know my younger brother Brian Phillips
I had to add a little tail weight to the 4 Star, very very little so it didn't bother me at all. Dry weight is less than 5 lbs.

Under five pounds is pretty light I think.

Right off the bat, the friends I remember in school by last name was the McCleary's (Mitch was a chick and her brother Mike I think). George Gomez and Junior Rodriguez were also two classmates that I remember by last name too. Everyone else I only knew by first name. In '79/'80 school year I was in 7th grade there. '80/'81 8th, so if your younger brother was the same grade at that time, then yep I would have known him then. I also knew the Ramsdales which would have been closer to your age since Bill had a few brothers older than I was, and from what I knew they were big time trouble makers though so not sure if you would have known them or not.

One of my teachers owned and operated the A&W. Mr. Radke was his name but unsure of the spelling. He was a devoted Chicago Bears fan. When I visited Muscatine in '91 after returning from the Persian Gulf War, the A&W was then a Chinese restaurant owned and operated by the Nguyen's who were Vietnamese.

Thanks you Skylark, I have been very busy. We lost a tech at work which doubled my work load, and we are moving customers to a new location so my weekends have been busy too. I checked my list to yours, my last entry was #67.

The good news, I WILL be in Toledo next week! I got me a few days off. Now to find a place to make me a shirt, in my planes colors, red white and blue, with a big ol #3 on it.

I met my wife in that resturaunt, she was working for them. :rolleyes:

When it was A&W or the Chinese restaurant? That's great.

I would like to be part of the brotherhood. I have had a PT-19, Clipped Wing Cub 1/4 Scale kit, Citabria Kit, Kadet MKII kit, Four Star 60 arf with Satio 100, Somethin Extra ARF and currently have a kit on the shelf already have some wing mods I'm going to incorporate, currently flying a Nitro Rascal ARF and a Rascal 110 ARF with EVO GX-26 for power doesn't have flaps but the one my buddy owns does. Thanks, Roger

LOL. Ditto!

If you haven't done so please check out Leroy's SIG 1/4 scale Spacewalker he just finished its fantastic!!!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/kit-...l#post11769695

Welcome to the brotherhood - neighbor! I spent my teen years just a bit north of you, Aberdeen. If I might, there's also the "sister" (I know, poor choice of words) B-hood for all us Kadet freaks, at http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/kit-...l#post11767085

Anyway, here's the Brotherhood, as I've got it right now:

[TABLE="width: 389"]
[TR]
[TD]Member #[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Ident[/TD]
[TD]Post #[/TD]
[TD]Page #[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Larry K (Live Wire)[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]skylark-flier[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]acdii[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]RCKen[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]DGUY[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]DBD1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]fix-n-fly[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]foodstick[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]UPF-7[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]jeffie8696[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]skyrat71[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Leroy Gardner[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]CanDo[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]JPMacG[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Thunder Chicken[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]5skyhawk172[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Cutlass 60[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Mr-Punk[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Sabreryder[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]eastkurt[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]FlyerInOKC[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]rtn9105[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]oliveDrab[/TD]
[TD]34[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]24[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]triumphman49[/TD]
[TD]33[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]25[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]ARUP[/TD]
[TD]36[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]willig10[/TD]
[TD]37[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]malitape[/TD]
[TD]39[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]OLDFLYER2[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]justin80[/TD]
[TD]45[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]30[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Jim Branaum[/TD]
[TD]32[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]31[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]crawler tech[/TD]
[TD]47[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]32[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]yel914[/TD]
[TD]48[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]33[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]ThunderBoat42[/TD]
[TD]49[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]34[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]sbd-3[/TD]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]35[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Thatsakitbuilt[/TD]
[TD]53[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]36[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]blw[/TD]
[TD]55[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]37[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Mike Gretz[/TD]
[TD]57[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]38[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Mako17[/TD]
[TD]58[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]39[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]jeffie8696[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]40[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]deanz406[/TD]
[TD]60[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]41[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]bchapman[/TD]
[TD]65[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]42[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]SrTelemaster150[/TD]
[TD]54[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]43[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]SushiHunter[/TD]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]44[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]n8rloves2fly[/TD]
[TD]43[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]45[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]M_Callahan[/TD]
[TD]52[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]46[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]carlosponti[/TD]
[TD]67[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]47[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]xxwolfyxx[/TD]
[TD]71[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]48[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]landeck[/TD]
[TD]72[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]49[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]cherokeenut[/TD]
[TD]76[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]50[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Mark Thomas[/TD]
[TD]80[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]51[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]rphiii[/TD]
[TD]81[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]52[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]n0kjf[/TD]
[TD]82[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]53[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]cymaz[/TD]
[TD]83[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]54[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]OldRookie[/TD]
[TD]84[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]55[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]gosch[/TD]
[TD]85[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]56[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]ThunderChicken72[/TD]
[TD]95[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]57[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]lfd47[/TD]
[TD]102[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]58[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]bikerbc[/TD]
[TD]103[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]59[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]badger5964[/TD]
[TD]104[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]60[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]N1EDM[/TD]
[TD]107[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]61[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Hfrank[/TD]
[TD]121[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]62[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Lowvoltage[/TD]
[TD]122[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]63[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]US185Damiani[/TD]
[TD]133[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]64[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]hsukaria[/TD]
[TD]137[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]65[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]lkruse[/TD]
[TD]151[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]66[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Sgt. Meyer[/TD]
[TD]154[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]67[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]G-JIMG[/TD]
[TD]160[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]68[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Hydro Junkie[/TD]
[TD]171[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]69[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Twin_Flyer[/TD]
[TD]173[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]70[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]oldsterling[/TD]
[TD]175[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]71[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]J T Caldwell[/TD]
[TD]177[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]72[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]cloudancer03[/TD]
[TD]204[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]73[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Super08[/TD]
[TD]206[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]74[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Hab[/TD]
[TD]212[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]75[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Smashmaster[/TD]
[TD]214[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]76[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Rv7garage[/TD]
[TD]215[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]77[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Neddy191[/TD]
[TD]228[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]78[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]JZHANDYMAN[/TD]
[TD]229[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]79[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Pete Lane[/TD]
[TD]233[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]80[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]SIGPlanes[/TD]
[TD]237[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]81[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]rcmichael[/TD]
[TD]238[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]82[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]larryshobbies[/TD]
[TD]241[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]83[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]skyraider71[/TD]
[TD]243[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]84[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Hawk570[/TD]
[TD]247[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]85[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]hogflyer[/TD]
[TD]249[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]86[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]cubcrasher[/TD]
[TD]258[/TD]
[TD]11[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]87[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]chandler_ace[/TD]
[TD]267[/TD]
[TD]11[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]88[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Firewalkerd1[/TD]
[TD]268[/TD]
[TD]11[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]89[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Robin A[/TD]
[TD]277[/TD]
[TD]12[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]90[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]GLGofLB[/TD]
[TD]317[/TD]
[TD]13[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]91[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]On the Deck[/TD]
[TD]346[/TD]
[TD]14[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]