Sig Four-Star 40

The outermost 15" (five bays) of the left leading edge has been damaged and inexpertly repaired. This photo shows the outermost 9" (three bays) where the poor state of the repair is most evident.

The outermost 25" of the right wing is also damaged -- almost the entire semi-span of the wing! Again, inexpert repairs have been carried out, and this photo shows the state of those repairs.

I left the wing exactly as it was. It was flying as is, and I decided if I could get it going, I'd invest in a wing-kit from sig (for under $35).

Instead I stuck in four standard servos and a FMA receiver I had lying around, with no clever tricks on my part. I just dropped the servos into the bays and screwed them down into the original holes.

Next, I dropped in a stock Thunder-Tiger Pro .46 fitted with a muffler from a Tower 45. Again, the engine went straight into the holes left by the original engine with only a little coercion!

I had a bit of a problem with the tank, which was fitted with a three-line system and obviously gave trouble because it was coated in black silicone. I fitted a new tank bung and a two-line connection to carb, and muffler.

The canopy was trimmed in black vinyl tape which had gone gooey. I removed this and cleaned up the canopy as best I could. It didn't come out too bad.

There was a bit of an abortion to get the antenna to exit the airframe, but I went with it until I can think of something better. (Why do people build aeroplanes with no facility for accommodating the essential antenna? Big companies too, not just ham-fisted balsa-fettlers.)

Balanced, throws set, here she is ready to fly! (Assuming that wing can actually lift it into the air...)

Murphy, the pilot, is no stranger to my hangar! He was originally the pilot of my ill-fated Speed Air, which did not survive it's first flight.

When the original owner of the Four-star was looking for a pilot figure, I offered Murphy for free, and away he went. Now he's back again!

Murphy got his name, because after the rapid demise of the Speed Air, I figured that if something could go wrong with an aircraft flown by this pilot, it probably would go wrong...

She flew.

The engine was a little hesitant after sitting unused for a while, and it took a couple of circuits before i could trim her out properly, but she flew. That is a good start.

Actually, it wasn't the best day. The sky was blue and the sun was hot, but there was considerable gusting and the gusts were strong.

This shot was taken as a strong gust struck the aircraft as she made a low pass. The aircraft twitched quite severely and I had to bang on the horses and pull it up and away from my photographer.

Another gust and another twitch, as I approach over the fire-ravaged wild tamarinds. I didn't have too much difficulty maintaining control, but I couldn't afford to take my eyes away for a second!

Up in the Wild Blue Yonder!

I was cautious at first, given the condition of the wing, and the state of the weather but after a while I was fairly relaxed with it.

While I was flying, everyone around me was saying what an excellent colour yellow is for visibility. Funnily enough, i was telling myself the exact opposite. Maybe if I build a new wing, I'll cover it with red covering instead of yellow!

She seemed to be quite capable. I'm hoping I might go for my 'B' Certificate with this aeroplane. Of course, the engine will have to be sorted properly first, and it would help if the wing wasn't so completely buggered...

After landing, I set 25% expo on the elevator because it was a little sensitive at high rates.

I was able to loop, roll and generally heave it around the sky a bit, although I didn't try anything ambitiously excessive on it's maiden flight. Maybe not the best model in the entire world, but not bad for 75 Bajan dollarettes.