RE: Top-Flite Contender
Anthony, congrats on the maiden and thanks for the pics it definitely makes me want to build another one. It's been an inspiration to see such a quick build, maybe one day I too can put one together as fast (not likely) . Happy flying ~Chris
Posted on: 8/12/2012 7:04 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11190960

RE: Top-Flite Contender
[quote]ORIGINAL: WacoNut I am going to go with a Red, White and Blue scheme. I wound up getting called into work today. I came home and started back in on it. I will get the wing completed today and get started on the fuse. Later!! Antthony [/quote] How can you go wrong with those colors. Looking forward to seeing it all dressed up. Don't know if you have a real flight sim but if you do the contender flies pretty much like the one in the sim. I taught myself to fly on the G2 realflight and a hobbico superstar. And picked the contender because I liked the flight envelope and Top Flite's reputation. Keep us posted on your progress it's making me want to build another one! Chris
Posted on: 8/1/2012 3:22 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11177606

RE: OS 1.20AX Unexplained Flameouts.......>>>
I had a fuel foaming problem in my GP minnow because the tank was hard mounted. Used a perry pump relocated the tank closer to the balance point where I could soft mount it easier it worked great and the bonus is it doesn't change balance throughout the flight. Just a thought if all else fails. Chris
Posted on: 7/30/2012 4:02 AM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Glow Engines"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11174215

RE: Top-Flite Contender
Looking good! Nice pace ya have going there ,keep us posted on your progress.I loved my contender until I let a friend fly it. Went in full throttle at about a 30 degree angle. What scheme are you going with? I did the navy blue and yellow like one of the reviews I read. Chris
Posted on: 7/29/2012 10:34 AM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11173363

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
I had a hard time deciding which kit to get, Four Star 120, King Kobra, or the Kavalier. I want them all but it seemed the Kav was just calling my name. In the past I've been a slow builder and now would like to become more efficient but keep the quality up we'll see if that can be done in combination. I've built kits and assembled arfs and the finished product of the kits have always been more pleasing to me. We kit builders have less and less options every year. Great Planes has dropped it seems like over half of their kits in the last few years and its time for us to take a stand and remind the industry we're still here. I'm almost 40 yrs old and would guess I am considered young as a kit builder. Some how we need to pass kit building to the next generation and we need simple to build and great flying planes like the Sig line imo to make it possible. Chris
Posted on: 7/27/2012 11:24 AM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11171403

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
[quote]ORIGINAL: blw Dodgers72, I think I squeezed in an 8oz Sullivan Flex tank, and later a DuBro. I used a Saito 56 four stroke and it sipped fuel anyway. You can widen the servo hole in the underside of the wing to take 2 servos, side by side. One for each torque rod. Or, better yet, put a servo in each wing. That's what I'm going to do on my next one. This one had only a little over
Posted on: 7/27/2012 10:59 AM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11171379

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Well I hope it glides okay then. Whats the largest tank I'll be able to fit?
Posted on: 7/26/2012 8:30 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11170777

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Well guys, I received my kavalier kit today. Impressive since I just ordered it Monday night. The contents are well packed and I'm really surprised at the quality of the cowl, it seems almost twice the thickness of other kits I've built! Based on the instructions and how it's constructed the Kav should be one tough bird no worries with the touch and goes. Build plans: Engine Rossi 45 Servos Futaba 3004 throughout Covering Koverall and paint Scheme University of Virginia Kavaliers [:)] Now I just have to score some extra brownie points with the wife to get it under way and finished in a timely manner. Chris
Posted on: 7/26/2012 7:59 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11170746

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
John "Being swallowed by the big two" could be looked at in different ways. I realize Horizon hasn't bought out any of the fore mentioned companies but the way I see it "The big two" are the big two because of their leadership in the market. Not just with planes,with all aspects of hobby in general. Hobby superstores if you will. Lets compare them to Lowes and HomeDepot and Sig to Ace hardware. The Big Guys next to the small guy. With any big business,the bigger it gets the less personal it becomes and instead is more about profit. The people leading the companies aren't in touch with the customers and make decisions based on a piece of paper with charts and numbers on it. At most Ace stores the Owners are often there and want happy customers and it shows. To me Sig is also like Ace "the small guy" and still very personal. I hear what your saying with your son building the kit and not wanting to take the extra time to sand and finish his model. Chinese products do make it harder to justify building a kit verses assembling an arf. Instant gratification is more and more common. The satisfaction I get with a kit verses an arf is 10 fold. I can stand back after a day of flying and say I built that from a box of wood, it's my creation. Its really to bad he didn't finish his plane I'll bet he would have also had more of a personal attachment to it then his arfs. Chris
Posted on: 7/26/2012 4:17 AM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11169762

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Belairbob great to hear about your 4 star 60. I love the wankel engines, never had the rc version mine is in my 1984 mazda rx-7. I didn't know of an rc wankel for 1/5 scale planes? Chris
Posted on: 7/24/2012 8:06 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11168091

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Called Sig today to verify my order on the Kavalier. It should be on its way soon and while talking to the gail she told me they expected to have some 4 star arfs by the Fall. So it looks like the none kit builders will have ample opportunity to have one in the near future! Chris
Posted on: 7/24/2012 6:49 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11168000

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Hey Tom, I'd love to do a build thread and log the hours spent on building it. An old timer at our field says it takes him about 100 hrs on his scratch built sport scale planes. He's 87 yrs old now and flies 4-5 times a week and is still really sharp. Anyone ever kept a build log on their Sig kits? Chris
Posted on: 7/24/2012 6:29 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11167975

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
In the very first post of this thread it reads "Let's hear from anyone who has ever built or flown a Sig kit and create a buzz about this company before they also become swallowed up like the previously mentioned companys and we're left with one or two of their Great Planes!!! (pun intended) SO LETS HEAR ABOUT YOUR SIG EXPERINCES PLEASE!!! " I really started this because Sig has been a staple of our hobby for many years and ever since Tower Hobbies dropped the Sig line they haven't had as much exposure. Since that time most of their arfs have been discontinued in an arf predominant market. There are fewer kit builders because of this but as someone already said in this thread, building is a hobby in itself. Some/most arf builders are intimidated by kits. Sig has some quick and easy to build, great flying kits that could easily change their minds. That's what this thread is about and hopefully help Sig and other Kit manufactures continue their companies and and not be "SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO". Chris
Posted on: 7/24/2012 4:14 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11167793

RE: Top-Flite Contender
I built a Contender about 8 years ago with flaps standard wing tips and a Super Tiger .51. Easy build and a very durable plane that can fly at a snails pace if you want it to. Happy building and flying!! Chris
Posted on: 7/23/2012 5:20 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11166474

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Just placed my order for the Kavalier from Sig!! Some of the previous posts had it calling my name. From the instructions it seems to be kind of a vintage build. Now I get to see how it was back in the day, and have to say I'm looking forward to it! Any tips from seasoned Kavalier builders/flyers will be much appreciated. Who knows I may even start a build thread. Chris
Posted on: 7/23/2012 5:08 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11166450

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
[quote]ORIGINAL: PatrickCurry [quote]ORIGINAL: mikimra I've flown Sig airplanes for years. Most of them were stick built kits, but I really liked the Senior Kadet ARF also. The pricing on the Sig website for the ARF is crazy high, but if you go to Advantage it's still priced reasonable, although on backorder status. If getting swallowed up by the ''Big 2'' increases availability and keeps prices in line, I'm all for it! [/quote] If Tower buys them, three things will happen.  First, the majority of the Sig products will be dropped.  Marketing will look at the product line to determine what is ''profitable'' and drop anything they deem not marketable any more.  That means all the control line will disappear (and if you think there are not many kit builders left any more, take a look at how many control line fliers are left, but yes, we're still out here) and all but maybe 3 or 4 of the most popular planes will disappear.  Second, prices will be increased to ''bring them inline'' with their other product lines and see what the market will bear.  Third, they will shop the designs out to see where they can be produced at the lowest possible cost.  The planes will be RE-DESIGNED to make it easier for the ARF manufacturers in China to produce them at the lowest possible cost like they've done with pretty much every other design they've ever purchased.  The only thing that'll make you think you're getting a Sig plane is the Sig name on their web site and their catalog to make you THINK you're getting a Sig airplane.  It will neither build nor fly like the plane you USED to buy from Sig.  Nor will they support you after the sale like the folks at Sig.  I'm not a ''Tower hater'' but they do seem to have become the ''Walmart'' of the hobby world trying to run everyone else out of business and squeeze every penny of profit they can out of what they sell.  I guess it's just the ''global economy'' they keep telling us about boys.  :( [/quote] Thank you Mr. Curry. That's exactly what I meant with this thread.I'm also not a tower hater I've been purchasing from them since I was 14 years old(1986). I can see that sig still has a good customer base and are trying to get their arf line established again. In the mean time it seems to me the kits are keeping the money flowing in order to get to that point. Hind sight is 20/20 as we all know. Whats here today could be gone tomorrow and I don't want the people that LOVE or even those that could LOVE Sig products in the future to miss out because we were caught sleeping. Carl Goldberg,Lanier,and Midwest are the ones that come to mind but there are many more beside them that are not with us as manufactures anymore.
Posted on: 7/23/2012 11:02 AM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11165923

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Ed thanks for the heads up on the Kavalier build. After looking at the instructions on Sigs web site I don't think it'll be a problem. Also I'm a finish carpenter by trade so working with wood is like second nature.
Posted on: 7/22/2012 9:26 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11165286

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Mr. Foley thanks for sharing your story with us. It really just makes me want the Kavalier that much more. I can't wait to get it started! There is great history that still seems to be closely attached to the present day Sig we still purchase from today. I really hope that never changes and after seeing all the posts today it seems like things are solid. Sometimes things slip through fingers ( lanier, carl goldberg ) and all that is left are pieces. It would be a real shame if that ever happened to a GREAT company Sig. Thanks to everyone who has read and posted in this thread lets keep it going I'm sure we've inspired some people today and I would have to say that one of them is me!
Posted on: 7/22/2012 9:18 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11165280

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
There seems to be a lot of talk about the kavalier. I'm kinda leaning towards it, especially since I was born and raised in Virginia. A good UVA cavalier scheme would be a perfect!!
Posted on: 7/22/2012 7:01 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11165124

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Quikturn, how hard is to build the king kobra with retracts and would the Super Tigre 90 be to much for it?
Posted on: 7/22/2012 5:48 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11165000

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
I think alot of modelers that don't build kits could be intimidated by the covering. I personally don't like/am not good at monokote so after my first time using it I've switched to sig koverall and dope. It is really easy to work with and with a little more time sanding and then painting the models look great. To keep things lighter I covered only the open structures on my planes and just primed sanded and painted on straight balsa on the other areas with great success.
Posted on: 7/22/2012 5:42 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164989

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
After reading through the posts I can't decide which kit to buy. These are the engines I have at my disposal. Which kit should I get? Rossi 45 OS 46 ax OS 40 la OS 61 fx Super Tigre 90 Super Tigre 2300 DLE 30
Posted on: 7/22/2012 5:05 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164937

RE: New Seagull Extra 260 180
Excellent detail under the wing!! All I did was put some orange stripes under mine. I'm also jealous of you shop! Chris
Posted on: 7/22/2012 4:32 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164895

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
If there is anyone reading this thread that has never built a kit or that hasn't built a sig kit by all means chime in there are some very experienced,seasoned builders and flyers in this thread. And for all the people that have or have had sigs of any sort do the same and add some pics and video while your at it. I've always felt that sig has produced some of the best flying planes because that was their intention' make great flying planes first and then the dollars will take care of them selves. Lets show everyone what we think of their products!!!
Posted on: 7/22/2012 4:25 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164887

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
oliveDrab: Love! the king kobra scheme. Are those retract on it? Looks like it'll be fast. Whats gonna be under the hood? aymodeler:I definitely understand your time restraints. Mine aren't as extensive as yours but glad to hear you can fill the void here on RCU. With warbirds its tough to draw the line between perfection and good enough at least on my board it is.
Posted on: 7/22/2012 3:43 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164830

RE: New Seagull Extra 260 180
It's my first ever photo posted sorry for the double image. I'll try and get some other pics up soon.
Posted on: 7/22/2012 3:19 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164788

RE: New Seagull Extra 260 180
[image][/image]
Posted on: 7/22/2012 3:17 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164786

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Ed I couldn't agree more!! I've got a few .40 size engines laying around do you think a rossi .45 aero or a .46ax and a .40 la which do you think would suit the kavalier the best?
Posted on: 7/22/2012 3:00 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164762

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
I really started this thread to let the people who aren't familiar with Sig to get a taste of what builder friendly and flyer friendly alot of sig kits are. Top Flite warbirds aren't hard to build but do take some time,effort and some persistence where some of the sig kits go together in a few weekends and also fly great. That is what I'm wanting anyone with sig experience to transmit here. I've built my share of arfs but there is some thing about the process of taking a box of wood,metal,plastic and transforming it into some thing that takes flight. Hey I know it's not for everyone,but for those that are tempted to build their first kit sig has some of the easiest to build and durable kits out there. And we all know if its built right it will far out last any arf sold even a sig arf.
Posted on: 7/22/2012 2:07 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164715

RE: LETS SAVE SIG BEFORE THEY GET SWALLOWED BY THE BIG TWO!!!
Nice hog Carrellh!! I can't argue with what you've said at all. I really believe Sig would rather sell nothing then to sell junk. With the market the way it is (arfs) how long can they continue with so few of them available?
Posted on: 7/22/2012 1:27 PM by Author "dodgers72" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11164684