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-   -   Sig Midstar - Mods (https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/kit-building-121/9787209-sig-midstar-mods.html)

Sukhoi_Madness 06-07-2010 11:05 AM

Sig Midstar - Mods
 
Hello,

Life having kept me away from flying for the last 3 years I'm about to get back into it - and that includes building an airplane. :)

I was a reasonably competent sport flyer before the break and so I'm hoping I can get away with some time on a club trainer and then move onto a low wing trainer pretty quick.

I've got a Midstar kit which I'm planning to use for this purpose and so was interested in what modification / kit bashing if any is recommended for this airframe.

(Probably won't make it into a twin with retracts first time around ;) but any suggestions examples would be great).

I'd be interested to know too how much time it takes people to find their touch again after a break from the sport.

Cheers,

Matt

bigal126 06-07-2010 11:36 AM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
1 Attachment(s)
I built one a year ago and it was damaged in a mid air crash. When I rebuilt it, the following mods were made and it flies much better now.
1. Take all the dihedral out of the wing
2. Put a servo in each wing
3. Enlarge the aileron chord by 1/2"
4. Make it a taildragger
5. Took one bay out in each wing
6. Enlarge the Rudder

The plane flies great stock, but if you are an experienced flyer then you'll want to make the mods suggested. Without the rudder mod, the plane could not sustain knife edge and taking the dihedral out toned down the roll coupling and pitch coupling substantially. It also rolls more axially now. It's fun to fly and still floats in for easy landings. The plane rolls fairly slowly. The larger ailerons helps a little. Keep it at about 6 lbs and use a good 46 2 stroke. It's a blast.

oldvet70 06-07-2010 11:48 AM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
Quite frankly if you build it as a taildragger and don't overpower it I imagine that ,if you can buddy box it you ,may be able to skip the club trainer. I would not modify a thing. Just build as designed and keep it light.  The 1st Mid Star I had was probably 15 years ago and it's a great plane. Good luck getting going again.

Sukhoi_Madness 06-07-2010 11:56 AM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 


ORIGINAL: bigal126

I built one a year ago and it was damaged in a mid air crash. When I rebuilt it, the following mods were made and it flies much better now.
1. Take all the dihedral out of the wing
2. Put a servo in each wing
3. Enlarge the aileron chord by 1/2''
4. Make it a taildragger
5. Took one bay out in each wing
6. Enlarge the Rudder

The plane flies great stock, but if you are an experienced flyer then you'll want to make the mods suggested. Without the rudder mod, the plane could not sustain knife edge and taking the dihedral out toned down the roll coupling and pitch coupling substantially. It also rolls more axially now. It's fun to fly and still floats in for easy landings. The plane rolls fairly slowly. The larger ailerons helps a little. Keep it at about 6 lbs and use a good 46 2 stroke. It's a blast.
Thanks - that's exactly what I was thinking.

Sukhoi_Madness 06-07-2010 11:58 AM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 


ORIGINAL: oldvet70

Quite frankly if you build it as a taildragger and don't overpower it I imagine that ,if you can buddy box it you ,may be able to skip the club trainer. I would not modify a thing. Just build as designed and keep it light. The 1st Mid Star I had was probably 15 years ago and it's a great plane. Good luck getting going again.
That sounds promising - I'll probably do the dual servos and will certainly make it a taildragger.

Can't wait to get back into it now.

Top_Gunn 06-07-2010 02:28 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
Bigal:

When you enlarged the rudder, did you do it by making the vertical stab smaller, or did you leave that as is and add on to the rudder? I've got one of these on the back burner, and all these mods sound like things I want to do (plus adding a hatch: Sig kits drive me nuts by not having hatches, but they're easy to add).

Revy 06-07-2010 03:25 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
After you get the hang of this plane with the smaller motor, I started with a Saito .56, seriously don't be afraid to overpower it. I dropped my Saito .91 and had a huge grin on my face every time I flew it! It came to an end when my old Hitec Optic 6 got jammed up by RFI.http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f.../omg_smile.gif

Sukhoi_Madness 06-07-2010 03:40 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 


ORIGINAL: RevyMaxx

After you get the hang of this plane with the smaller motor, I started with a Saito .56, seriously don't be afraid to overpower it. I dropped my Saito .91 and had a huge grin on my face every time I flew it! It came to an end when my old Hitec Optic 6 got jammed up by RFI.[img][/img]

Yeah for sure...

Once I've got my wings back I suspect this plane will spend most of it's time at full throttle 12 inches from the deck... While my kit built extra will be lucky to do a loop 5 mistakes high incase I break it.

It's good to have a chuck around airframe you're confident with though.

bigal126 06-07-2010 05:13 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
1 Attachment(s)
I just edge glued a triangle piece to the stock rudder. I left the vertical stab stock. There is a hatch for the fuel tank. I modified it so the tank would sit a little higher because the engine went dead stick after 7-8 minutes. It helped. I squared off the horizontal stab and dropped the round wing tips because I didn't care for the look.

Revy 06-07-2010 05:23 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
At least you had something to work with, Big Al, lol...

http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSCN2346.jpg

bigal126 06-07-2010 05:26 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
Ouch! Looks and sounds like you fly hard and fast. I don't fly my planes hard because I am not capable yet (first plane ever)

Sukhoi_Madness 06-07-2010 05:28 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
That's a proper crash. Looked a nice airplane before that.

Revy 06-07-2010 05:32 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
Full throttle from a few hundred feet on it's side with a bit of rudder...I was like WHAT THE H-E_ double hockey sticks! LOL My fellow club mate had the same thing happen to him using a Hitec Optic 6 but was able to recover about 10 ft from the deck and saved the plane. We are both on 2.4 now.

Sukhoi_Madness 06-07-2010 05:33 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
Bummer. When I last flew 2.4 was only just coming on the market... Very keen to bin the 72 gear before I start back up.

Revy 06-07-2010 05:47 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
Its OK. I got an Aeroworks Edge 540T  following that crash ( as well as a DX7, lol) and quickly progressed to a 50cc Pilot SBach. Mid Star helped out big time! ;)

Alex7403 06-07-2010 05:53 PM

RE: Sig Midstar - Mods
 
Built two midstars the only mods I did were sullivan tail wheel bracket instead of the stock one and make it a tail dragger.
I have it for three years now and its a stubborn airplane crashed it twice nose into concrete and its still flying well.
knife edges, rolls in a circle and turns on a dime like there is no tomorrow and its coming for more.
sometimes I think my 46 AX on it is over powering it, this airplane flies on its wing not on its motor so there is no need to go crazy.
Sig midstar is a great airplane.



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