Thanks, I may take you up on that offer. I took your wing top view and measured it to compare with the dimensions in post 60. I came in close. Root 12.05. Tip 8.6. Post 60 shows the root at 12.5 and tip at 8.25. I'm in the ball park.

When I get time I'll see if I can draw out a fuselage. Then decide from there.

I finally have a Komander kit on the way to me. I've slowly been acquiring all of the kits I wished I could have had when I first start flying rc. I'm in a very nostalgic mode right now and it's very enjoyable to build and fly these kits. I got over ARFS long ago and enjoy the build as much as flying the completed model and yep, I'm one of the guys at the field who still fly glo engines. Have an OS 50FSR for the Komander which should do nicely.
The internet is sure a great thing to be able to find these old kits.👍

DeadstickDan says "fly glo".
Why, of course! lol

I fly glow, it's still fun, and after several sessions of Windex and Deadsticks, it reaffirms the cost of GAS Ignition and Brushless! :)

A man after my own heart. I started flying again after being away for 15 years. First thing I did was get a Kadet MkII to get back in the swing of it and I also discovered all the kits out there on the internet. My kit collection is pretty large, I'll never run out. The only thing I've never done was gone ARFs. They started coming on the scene about 5 years after I learned to fly. At that time they was real junk and couldn't withstand a hard landing. Plus I've always wanted to build my own, it was part of the fun of being in the hobby.
I built my first Komander around the early 80s and I put a OS Max 50FSR on it and never looked back. I'm going to finish the one I have and hope to get it airborne sometime this summer. Flys great with a 50 on it, plenty of power.
I'm hoping I can get to Sig for the fly-in someday and if I do I'm taking the Komander with me. Should be fun.

I've collected a lot of kits that I wanted, then sold them when I needed funds or space...turns out, these have become commodities, and un-built kits hold their value, even appreciate!
My last purge of excess personal "Inventory", I had to keep a couple NIB examples of the SIG Kadet Jr, (My first RC back in 1983), and the Komander (Which was no longer in production when I finally learned to fly, <Self Taught>). And, of course, the Kougar.
I consider those, must have's!

Fine job of encouraging gentlemen! I just ordered up a set of cores for this fine model. I've debated for the last few days, but the recent pics and chats pushed me over. I'm not sure when I'll get back to it, but at least it's in the works. It was $35 for the cores, which is a great deal, not bad on shipping either... $19.45 to ship from AR to CA. So far easy easy deal. We'll see how long it takes. I'm pretty sure it will work out fine...time will pass quickly, as I've got plenty of projects and things to keep me occupied.

ETPilot... Eureka definitely does custom cores. Just an FYI.

Well, that just got me to move up the agenda for my own set of wing cores........!!!!
(will order soon)
I'm sensing, there will be some major balsa dust being created here over the next few months!

Well get on those builds! It goes together pretty quick and like all Sig kits, are an easy build.

Big Stikflyer... I just thought about the .50 you had in your Komander... and I think I have a nice EVO .52 that will be looking for a home soon. It's now in a Hangar9 Showtime50 that's always been underpowered for my liking with that style plane... and it might just be the ticket for the Komander. I've thought about swapping the .52 out for a .91 which would liven the Showtime up quite a bit... but I've hesitated, as the .52 runs very well... which would be perfect for a Komander I think... Another reason I've not swapped it is the .52 is a great looking engine... and would probably look pretty cool slant-mounted on the Komander... in typical Komander style right. The Showtime has the engine mounted at a 45d with the engine slanted down and looks cool already. The engine mounted on the upside angle is just another feature of the Komander I've always liked.

There ya go, that'll give the Komander a different look. You should have plenty of power for your Komander.
The 50 FSR I'm using in mine is my original one I used on the first Komander back in the early 80s. It's been through 3 crashes and a few broken props but it's still going strong. OS really knew how to make a engine, that's the big reason I've been using them all these years. You get what you pay for.
I really need to get my workroom cleaned up and get back into the building mode. I have more than enough to work on.

​​​​​​Here's an engine update on my current Komander remodel in which I've inverted an OS .71fs. I tried to fit the larger .91 but no luck so I'm staying with her original motor in different configuration to hide all but the valve covers. I've even decided to create a side exhaust vent without muffler for added aesthetics. She will be extra "clean" given I don't land her in another tree.

Here's a little bit of nostalgia for you guys. Boy where have these prices gone to?

My Komander Kit came in the mail today!! It's like a time capsule opening the box. It looks like the kit is complete and looks very easy to build. Looks like this is the original Komander Kit and not the mkII. Just wish there was a date somewhere on the box or in the instructions so I knew how old it really was.😃

Dan

Moments like this, are almost like walking back into the Hobby Shop!

Thank the Federal Reserve/Rothschild system for robing us blind.

Dan, if the cover art has a blue komander with a yellow lightning bolt, you have the original komander. If the cover art has a red komander with yellow stripes, then you have a MKII but the box and build manual will state that. The MKI build manual has a two tone white and red komander. If you can post a picture of the box top and I'll tell you which one you have.

Komander
 

Hi Dan
Glad you got the kit today,hope it was in good shape.
Lane

More cool posts and pics! I'm curious to see Dan's kit as well.

Jay, I just noticed on that advertisement page, they described the tail-surfaces as "sheet-balsa". They also describe a "bolt-on wing" I'm also seeing that's a Mk I kit... by your description somewhere of the lightening bolt on the nose... I'm thinking I have the Mk II... as mine has (until it fell apart) a built up hor.stab... 1/4" stick style..very conventional structure... Was that stab, and/or the wing mount system changed from one version to the other?.. I can't remember what all changed... hmm... memory is faded tonight. Thanks.

I did save all the parts from that hor.stab, and will draw a quick plan to build a new one... I never did like the center/base... I'm going to add about 1/4" or so on that center area for the covering/mounting to be better able to bite on the fuselage/stab. I've got all the wood together to do most of the plane, with the exception now of the wing-sheeting and LE/TE stock. I'd already pulled new ailerons out for it... so.. It's back to the wood pile I go. It's now sort of a short short kit.. sort of... or is it a sort of short kit that's short ?.... :)

[img]webkit-fake-url://f15c0365-213d-43d8-929f-665fe622a1af/imagejpeg[/img]Original Komander kit👍

Sweet! Congratulations!

I see you're on the California coast too.. you ever do any slope soaring?... There's alot of activity over there. We're going to Goleta in April for the Weasel Fest.. Its a great day of slope flying right on the coast.

Is there a build thread on that Komander in the future?..

That's a MK1 kit. I have one along with a MKII fuse kit. There isn't a lot of difference between the two. The major difference being the MKII has a plywood bottom from the firewall to about 1/3rd of the way below the wing and some slight differences in the structure glued to the fuse sides to accommodate dowels for a rubber band on wing..

DGrant, I'm not familiar with a Komander every using stick structure for the tail surfaces. That sounds more like a user chosen modification to make the tail lighter.

The original Komander kit (RC-32) came out in 1973. Should be a blue box with a yellow zig-zag center strip.

Dale, the Komander never had a built up tail, it's always been 1/4 sheet balsa. Who ever built it did that on there own, I'm guessing to save weight. Also the only kit that gave you the option to have a rubber band wing was the MkI. You could use rubber bands or you could do the bolt on wing. The MKII only had the bolt on wing. One other change is the MKI used a plastic doubler under the wing bolts to keep from crushing the foam. The MKII uses lite ply for the mounting bolt area glued to the wing just like the Kougar.
​​​​​​​Hope this helps you figure out what you have.

Congratulations Dan, that was the first Komander I built way back in the day. I have a new MKII waiting for me to build someday. I rebuilt my MKI and she will fly again this summer. Good luck and I hope you enjoy yours as much as I've enjoyed mine. I've gone through 2 fuselage but I still have the original wing.

I have flown a couple of gliders but never tried slope soaring. I never knew about the event in Goleta but that is something I'd be interested in going to. There will be a build log on this Komander. I'd like to copy all of the kit parts to be able to make another kit. If a Staples or Fed Ex store has a copier big enough I'd make copies of all the printed balsa as well.

When I build this, I'll probably do the change to update it to the MKII by using ply on the bottom of the forward part of the fuse. There had to be good reason they changed that and of course will have a bolt on wing.

Thank you for the year of the original Komander issue. Let's see..... 1973, I would have been 11 years old.
Dan