Hello all. I'm new to the forum and am getting back into the hobby after being out since the early 2000's. I've been flying some small electrics to get back into the hang of it. Today I picked up a larger kit built plane off FB Marketplace. The person I bought it from got if from someone who had passed away. He had no idea what it is and neither do I. Does anyone know what plane this is and possibly the kit manufacturer? It's has an 84" wing span, the fuselage is about 67" and it weighs about 13 lb. without an engine. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

-Ethan

it kind of looks like a modified SIG Four Star. They look like similar modifications that Tom Pierce did - https://www.tompierce.net/rcplanes/sig4star/index.htm The cowl does not look like it was an original part. But it looks like the builder sheeted the turtledeck, put shaped wing tips on, flipped the canopy to make it sleeker, shaped the tail and stab then added a cowl. If you took pictures from other angles and the bottom it might help.

Thanks N8theSk8. I does look a bit like a Four Star. Maybe it was a 120 kit. I think you are right about it being modified and the cowl not being original. It seems to be well built and someone put time and effort into it. I'll get some more pictures and post them.

It may end up being a winter project. I'll need to check through it and make sure everything is good to go. I've been looking around at engines. I bought a G38 from the same person I got the plane from. I knew it wasn't in great shape, but I should have looked it over more closely. The crank is bent on it. I didn't pay much for it so I'm not out much.

-Ethan

You are welcome. I know there was a lot of folks that personalized the 4 star from whats in the kit. The only one that was not done that I have seen was to extend the rudder to help the knife edge.

Here are a few more pictures. This will be my first plane of this size and first gas plane. I generally flew .40 - .60 size glow when I was flying before. I've been flying a couple of foam electrics for the past few weeks and am getting the cobwebs knocked off my flying skills. I'll be moving on to some of my old .40 size glow planes before long.

Yeah looks like a 4 star or similar kit. the ailerons and the notch at the front look like the four start. Also put the aileron servos in the wing. the elevator rudder linkage is interesting. I haven't it seen it configured that way. Good Luck. I hope its a great flying plane for you.

TBH you may not ever get a solid answer. There are a lot of airplanes that follow that general planform and it has, as noted, been modified. The interior looks like other short kits of old production kits that I have seen. I'm betting that if you unscrewed the sheeting on the bottom of the fuselage you will find bell cranks going out to the linkages on the tail surfaces. That's not a thing you often find on a production kit. Is there a bell crank out to the ailerons? Or is that just an old servo arm on the linkage?

I used to kit bash stuff all the time. Its hard to say. I used to jokingly say

"If it looks like the box...you messed up"

You can really change up a four star a lot. Only thing I ever messed up is building oe with ZERO dihedral.. what a mistake.. had that reverse pitch issue going into corners.. Had to put some air damns on the wing tips to fix it.. Still flew awkward. I should cut that wing in half this winter and change that.

I do believe that's an AeroPro G-Shark. These came "ready to cover", and were available in the early/mid 90's give or take. A few popular engines for these were the Zenoah G-45, or the Quadra 41 or 52. Any modern engine in that size range would work fine I'm sure though.

It's a heavy dinosaur of a plane, but sounds perfect to learn about larger RC planes. Yeah I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's a G-Shark. I see one every 10-20yrs.. haha. Good luck with it.
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