TODAY IS
Plane of the Week August 3, 2015
Sig Kadet Senior Sport
This blue and white ARF is a tail dragger version of the previous SIG Kadet Senior tricycle gear version. Like many of us, I learned on the Sig Kadet 40 (had an OS 40 two-cycle back in the late 70's). Back in the olden days, we had to get kits, glue 'em together, and cover with Monokote (sounds a bit like my dad telling me he had to walk 5 miles barefoot to go to school back in the 30's). Things are much easier today! Love electric motors! I had been out of the hobby for almost 20 years and was looking for gentle flyer. That it is!
The kit was fairly easy to put together. I did reinforce some areas in the fuselage and the area around the front landing gear with a little 5 minute epoxy. I read about some complaints about loose glued joints and made a point about double checking the entire frame (transparent covering made the job fairly easy). It took about 10 hours for me to complete the plane and get it ready for it's maiden voyage.
It flys great, tends to climb a bit when I give it full throttle. It really floats for landings. Our field is primarily grass and with the large wheels it handles very well on the ground, even with the wheel pants.
I've flown it with 4 and 5 cell packs (my prefernence). With a 4 cell pack I need to wrap a couple more of ounces of lead around the battery to keep the CG correct.
After a year of flying, the covering is still tight. I've had to do a little repair to the wing and cowl due to an unfortunate meeting with a hay bale (hey, I didn't know they could fly!), but over all, I would say its sturdier that the Kadet 40 I put together (lasted much longer, too). As a born-again beginner, I would recommend it to anyone starting (or getting back into) RC planes