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Sport or Fun Fly Kit

SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer -
Sig Manufacturing Co., Inc.
401-7 South Front Street
Montezuma, IA 50171-0520
Orderline 1-800-247-5008
webpage http://www.sigmfg.com/
Engine - recommended
.40 - .46 2 stroke
.56 - .65 4 stroke
Wingspan - 51.5 inches
Wing Area - 614 square inches
Length - 48.25 inches
Weight - 4.25 - 5 lbs
Radio - 4 channels with 5 servos
Typical price - $74.99 (Tower, MAN Aug 00)

Around October of 99 I started looking for my next plane. I wanted a decent everyday plane that would fly well and look good, and oh yeah, not cost too much. Honestly I skipped the Somethin' Extra several times. I was getting very close to buying the 4 Star 40, but when one of my flying buddies bought a Somethin' Extra, and Model Airplane News reviewed it, I became interested. Apparently I was very interested. Because my wife heard enough from me to choose the kit as my Christmas present! I can't tell you how excited I was to get the kit and engine for a Christmas present. But I'm sure what you really want to know is how it went together, what could be improved, and how it flies. I won't bother with every detail of construction, the instruction book does that, but I'll hit some key areas.

Construction

Overall the kit is extremely well made. The laser cut parts are very well done, and the hardware is of good quality and plentiful. However, there are a couple items in the kit that could be improved. The first area for improvement is in the wing sheeting. The balsa sheeting supplied in the kit is extremely soft for the job of covering a 4 1/2 inch wide wing bay. This makes the finished wing very delicate to hold. Most fliers I know lift their model by grasping the wing near the wing root, and holding the tail with the other hand. Because of the large distances between ribs, and the soft sheeting, it is very easy to damage the wing. To fix this, I added a stringer from the wing root rib out to the second rib. This fix was quick, easy, and inexpensive. Other than that, the wing is very well built, and the laser cutting makes all the parts fit together well. The second area of the kit construction that I find less than ideal is the tailwheel attachment. Attaching the tailwheel to the rudder has some definite draw backs. Here's the Somethin' Extra getting covered

Here's the Somethin' Extra getting covered

One of my flying buddies had problems with his tailwheel coming loose on rough landings. I altered the tailwheel mounting by using fiberglass both under and over the tailwheel wire, and I haven't had any problems yet. Just make sure you're not stingy with the epoxy when finishing this part. Except for the extra care needed when installing the tailwheel, the tail feathers are beautifully done. Their four interlocking, laser cut pieces build quick and strong. Fuselage construction is also excellent! But again, there is one special area to watch out for. The canopy/ hatch construction is a little complicated, but boy does it look good when it's done! I made one big mistake, however, when I went to finish this part of the kit. When I glued the lexan canopy in place, I didn't use the canopy bulkhead jig to ensure the rear of the canopy/ hatch structure kept the correct angle. I figured that since the canopy bulkhead was already glued it wouldn't move - I was wrong. When I taped down the canopy so the glue could dry overnight, the pressure of the canopy moved the bulkhead very slightly, perhaps an eigth of an inch. Because of this, my canopy wouldn't fit on the plane! But again, my friends came to the rescue. Owen suggested that I elongate the canopy hold-down pin hole. Since I had nothing to lose I tried it, and it worked! Just be careful when you glue your canopy on.

Covering

The Something Extra is a beautiful airplane that lends itself to a wide variety of color schemes. I found scale drawings of the airplane to be just the thing I needed to pick the best color scheme for my plane. It would be a nice addition to the kit to have a 3 view drawing printed on the last page of the instruction book. Luckily I have a friend who is a draftsman, and he created a simple drawing of the plane that I used to pick color schemes. I've uploaded the drawing he made me so that you can use it too! Just click on the link here and then print the page! (PS: The file is 105K) DRAWING
Several of my friends recommended using Goldberg Ultracote, so I gave it a shot! It really worked great! Ultracote was easy to work with and the colors didn't smear at the seems like some of the other coverings I've used. I only had one problem with my covering - green. The green covering I used didn't stick or shrink as well as the red, white, or blue. I don't know if the roll was old, or perhaps green is just a difficult color, but I'd think twice about using green again.

Flying

Rocks and his Somethin' Extra - photo by Joe Lupton

So how does the Somethin' Extra fly? I don't think I've really trimmed everything perfectly, but I'll tell you what I noticed. Because of the short landing gear, it's hard to get the tail up on take-off without touching the prop. So most of my take-offs are accomplished without any real rotation to speak of, and landings are usually tail first. But the take-offs aren't a problem - the OS Max 46FX seems to have plenty of pull with the 11 x 6 APC prop. As I said earlier, the ailerons are very effective, and I had to reduce the throws. So it goes without saying that the Somethin' Extra is very responsive around the roll axis. And she needs only very slight elevator inputs to maintain a level flight path while performing consecutive rolls. The elevator and rudder are rather large, and they provide plenty of response. But I think I'll have to reduce the elevator throw some, without dual rates or exponential, she's just too jerky. The rudder will hold a good knife edge, but she'd need more rudder, or more power, to do a knife edge loop. Of course we have to keep in mind that the plane is really designed for fun-fly events. Having said that, she slows down quick and has a decent top speed. I'm having a hard time getting her to do "snap" manuevers, but that's not really on the list of a fun fly plane's best attributes anyway.

The Last Word

I am very pleased with my Sig Manufacturing Company Somethin' Extra. It is the perfect size and style for a Sunday flier or Fun Fly plane. I love the laser cut parts, and the overall completeness of the kit. Her flight envelope is wide enough to please just about any kind of flyer, just don't try to race this plane. I would definitely recommend this airplane to a friend, but I would also tell them about the items I've encountered in my building.