I'm building a Sig FourStar 60 with extensive modifications. I have a FourStar 40 and love the way it flies. I've gotten bit by the Pattern bug and I'm planning on trying my hand at a little Sporstman competition so I'm going to use this airplane and if I decide I don't want to compete in pattern after a season I'll still have a nice sport airplane to fly that didn't cost an arm and a leg.
FuseThe fuse sides are built from three pieces of light ply a forward piece, a rear piece, and a doubler. The instructions tell you to glue the fore and aft pieces together then add the doubler. To make alignment, easier and because of a difference in material thickness I decided to do it a little differently. I started by gluing the doubler to the forward fuse side and then added the rear fuse side. I also used Titebond glue (alphatic resin or carpenters wood glue) because in my opinion CA doesn't bond very well to light ply.
11/03/06
The instructions tell you to dry assemble the entire fuse and glue it all together with thick CA but I thought that alignment of the fuse would be difficult at best so I decided to glue the firewall and main bulkheads to one side of the fuse keeping them nice and square. Then add the other side of the fuse.
11/15/06
The fuse is coming along nicely. All of the bulkheads have been glued in and the bottom piece glued in. I used epoxy where I wanted extra strength and alphatic resin on the rest. I've cut off the two cheek pieces located in front of the firewall because I'm going to build a custom cowl. For a little added security I pinned both the firewall and landing gear plate.
11/28/06
The engine has been mounted inverted for a cleaner look.
I'm installing a 14oz. tank that just barely fits through the first bulkhead rather than have to fight with it I built a hatch for the forward top section of the fuselage. It not only allows access to the tank but will hold it in place as well.
WingThe wing goes together very easy all the parts in the kit are laser cut which makes the parts fit very good. I don't care much for the squared off wing tips so I decided to change them. I moved the tip rib in an inch and will be adding a one inch wide, rounded off wing tip carved from balsa. this will maintain the original wingspan but will look better.
11/15/06
The wing is almost all framed up. I have added and shaped the wing tip blocks and mounted it to the fuse.
11/28/06
The wing fit to the fuselage is a little ruff so I decided to clean it up. I added some formers and sheeting to the bottom wing center and also a few small balsa pieces to the wing sadle.
Tail SectionI decided to change the elevator and rudder a little. I added 3/4" to the rudder and 1/2" to the elevators. I also added counter balances to both. Both the rudder and elevators were scratch built.
Turtle DeckThe turtle deck on the FourStar is built up from formers and stringers but it is not sheeted. This design makes it difficult to cover and fit the canopy so I decided to cut out some new formers and sheet it. I ran the stringers down onto the tail feathers I think it will give the airplane a more finished look much like the center section I added to the bottom of the wing.
CowlI've built up a balsa/plywood cowl.It wasn't too difficult but it was time consuming. I used a piece of ply at the firewall, glued a bunch of balsa to it, and removed what looked like it didn't belong. I think it turned out ok and it gives the airplane a more pleasing look and finish.
ServosI've finally started to work on the 4 Star 60 again. I insdtalled the servos in the fuse. I decided I wanted split elevators and pull pull on the rudder so I had to create servo mounts that would work for that. I'm using Hitech sport digital servos and composite nyrods. This is the first time I use Hitech digitals so the verdict is still out on that. I've used the nyrods before and I have found that these don't change with the temp. so your not constantly adjusting your trims.
