I have spent the summer building my skills with a GP Big Stick 60 (converted to tail dragger) and am now quite comfortable with it. I am beginning to narrow down my search for a next plane to purchase or build over the winter. I am looking for something that can introduce me to more advanced aerobatics (beyond basic loops and rolls) and general sport flying without getting too far beyond my skill level. I have considered the GP Extra 300, but am afraid that may be a bit much of a next step (thoughts on this?). I am currently thinking about the Chipmunk and the Sig SE. I would like to stay in a 60, but will do the SE at a 40 if that is the best plane. I can use the 75 engine later for a warbird.

Thanks for your input.

I have flown both and can say they are both great airplanes....

The SE will be easier to fly though- The fat airfoil makes overall speed lower, slow speed flying more controllable and does more aerobatics than the Chipmunk-

The Chipmunk flies like a pattern plane more than 3D- (which is fine) but will be noticeably faster than the SE...

What "75" do you have? Tower 75?

I hav a Sig SE and Irvine-53 which is perfect-

Do a search on these cuz there is a ton of great info. (especially on the SE)

Also, the 4*60 and Ultrastick fit the bill for 60 sized---

Yes, it is a tower 75. It runs quite well. Starts consistently in 2 flicks of the prop. I occasionally have problems with the engine not wanting to stop. I just gently nose the prop into the grass and it kills with no damage. My o-rings are very tight. I am pretty sure that the air leak is coming from the fit between the carb housing and the rotating barrel. I had a burr on it and after sanding the barrell lightly the problem got worse. All said, I am happy with it (a good value)

Thanks for the advice. Given that I am still learning, controlability is more important than speed. Will the SE be faster or slower than the stick that I am flying? Will it be a good advancement from the stick to teach me more?

Thanks

I would go with the Something Extra. They are a very good plane for learning more advanced aerobatics, and are very easy to handle. Speed is not a something Extra's friend though. With the big tail surfaces, and ailerons, they were not meant to go fast. With a something extra you can fly all regular areobatics, plus ad most 3-d stuff as well with enough power. Get you a somethig extra, keep it light, and you will have a great plane thats lots of fun.

I would also agree and say go with the something extra. this plane has tought me so much as for aerobatics.
after my trainer, i made that decision to go for the warbirds instead of the aerobatic airplanes. I did that for a few years, but then wanted something more from flying.

since going into the aerobatics, I love it, don't know how I could ever do with out it. I would say, you need to make a choice if you want to go into the scale or the aerobatic section of flying. the aerobatic part will make you a good pilot, and really make you use that left hand more so then with the warbird part.

GB

Ditto what's been said already. The only thing I can add is that if your intent is to fly warbirds and not mess with fun-fly type planes, the Chipmunk would be a step in that direction. I've got both planes, and enjoy flying them both. The SE is for hot dogging and the Chip is for scale aerobatics. Both are pretty easy to fly. The SE will let you get away with more as it's much more manueverable. It'll land, fly and stall much slower, and is capable of some high alpha stuff. The Chip is better for "scale appearance" manuevers; spins, snaps, point rolls, KE, etc. and will help improve your scale flying. It won't do 3D manuevers, and will snap if you get it too slow, (but it's not a lead sled, so don't be concerned it'll be difficult to fly or land). Both are good choices, just depends on where you want to go next. One last thing, motors: Webra 50 for the SE, and Saito 91 for the Chipster!

The Somethin' Extra is a GREAT plane for anyone who is looking to move up and improve their flying. It's also a great plane even if you're the best pilot around. If you've got a little car, those wings are great. I loved that...Made me feel special using a wing tube.

The Somethin' Extra could teach you more in 5 minutes than that Big Stick can in 10 flights. It will take your confidence level up so high, you will probably dork it a few times from flying too low (trying new things). I say it's because the Somethin' Extra is cursed, but that's another story.

It's a GREAT flying airplane that will never bite you. It will let you get away with everything while teaching you to do just about anything you want.

It can fly fast...Assuming you set up the control rods tight (as they should be), use the flying wires, and keep everything as it should be, you can fly it at full throttle without having a problem.

Speed is not an issue on the Somethin' Extra like it is on a lot of other airplanes in it's class. It's a VERY strong airplane, stronger than any profile or current 3D airplane. Control surfaces are not as large as some of the others and they are stronger too. The downside is some extra weight...Expect about 4.5-5 lbs. That's not too bad. I guess my Sledge is 4.5 lbs too, so...

As far as engines, any 2 stroke .40-.53 you want. If you want a 4 stroke go with either the Saito .72 or YS .63. All others are too heavy/too weak in my opinion. If you do go with the 4 stroke, you will need taller landing gear for prop clearance.

I had a Pro .46 on 2 of mine and a Pro .40 on another. It's almost perfect, but I could stand having a little more power to pull vertical. I had another with a Saito .56 which gave basically the same performance in the thrust area, but everything else was drastically different. The torque and big prop is incredible...Man, what a difference that made!

The SSE was my second, third, etc. airplane. I crashed my unfair share. Low rates are necessary to start out and DO reinforce the landing gear mounting in the fuse. On high rates it is a handful. I flew mine with an OS 50 fx. Upgrade the control rods and don't use the ny-rods that come with the ARF or kit. I eventually went with the RAZZLE and a Saito 72. It is far better (for me) as it has more capability, flies slower, bigger, easier to see and cheaper than the SSE. Good luck

Botlerocket pretty much hit it on the head The SE is a plane that's got basically no bad habits, the Chipmunks get pretty snap happy if they're not setup right.

Mike

I flew my SE for the first time today and it was fantastic. It is my second plane, and I was able to take-off, trim it out, and land it myself on the very first flight. The flight was so clean, my instructor said I didn't even come close to needing him for anything and left me! Must have been the 3 point landing. After a thorough post-flight inspection, the second flight I was doing aerobatics and touch & goes. I have the Saito 72 installed with Dubro Heavy Duty LG and the kit wheels. Plenty of clearance with even a 13" APC prop with the Dubro gear on our grass field. The plane balanced 4" back from the LE with the Saito in the nose and no tail weight added. The Saito pulls it effortlessly. Vertical on half throttle. The plane does give confidence. Touch & goes on the second flight with my first tail dragger/low wing plane. What does that tell you? Believe me, the plane was making me look like I actually knew what I was doing, and that is quite a feat! The only thing I want to change now is to do something with the bottom of the wings. It rolls so fast it's hard to tell which ways up! I don't want to even think about going to the high rates. :0