Sig Mustang Stunter with foam wings???

[frank mccune]

       Hello All:

       Is this kit worth building?  Will they stunt well?  I have never seen one, but they interest me.

                                                                                                                       Tia ,

                                                                                                                       Frank McCune

[peabody]

Hi Frank
The plastic is HUGE heavy...toss it. The cores are a little heavy.
That said, even stock they flew pretty well.Chop as much weight as possible and they fly really well!
Have fun!

[Dan McEntee]

    I had one years ago and plan on doing another. It is a smallish airplane so keep a target weight below 40 to 45 ounces. I have never done it, but weigh the plastic parts against a balsa part and see what you get. You can even try to use the plastic parts as a mold buck for molded sheet balsa. At the time I did mine, Chris McMillin and I sent the stock core along with a set of plans to Scott Smith at Aerosmith models and he tripple cored them, plus cut us some "optimized" cores as well. I used the best balsa I could find for the wing sheeting, and made the flaps and tail feather built up balsa. With a bone stock FP.40 in the nose ready to fly, it came in at 39 ounces and flew better that I could at that time. Won a few trophies with it. I also modified mine to look like a A or B model with the razor back fuselage. I lost it when it didn't want to pull out inverted inn a reverse wing over. Never did find the exact cause but the controls obviously hung up some how. If you can find a kit, and you like the looks and size, go for it. It's not a lot of work to get it light enough to fly really well and even in the 40 to 45 ounce range I think it would carry that weight OK, judging from my experiences and from what I saw of some heavier ones fly. It would not be too difficult to scratch build one if you can't find a kit but can at least scrounge up a set of plans. I think it was published in Model Airplane News just as the kit came out, and is one of Mike Gretz's designs.
   Type at you later,
     Dan McEntee

[Crist Rigotti]

I think Jim Lee has done extensive mods to his.  Maybe he'll chime in.

[Tony Drago]

Give Johnny Duncan a call. He has the wing temples to core out the wings. He has done a couple of those wings for me. They were then sheeted with 1/32 light balsa. As mentioned above. Keep the plane light.

[GERALD WIMMER]

Hello
I built one back in the 1980's and it flew well with a STG21/35 and it was a reasonable weight when new. After many flights it crashed due to the nylon flap horn connector  flexing . There was a lot of slop in the controls were the wire for the flap connectors was moving in the stock nylon 'T' connector . I rebuilt it with a better control system but the extra weight killed it as a crisp performer. Added a ST S45 engine and flew it faster and rounder but eventually the balsa de-laminated from the foam cores (not sure what I glued them on with but it was not epoxy). Still hangs, less motor on the modelling room wall as it has a lot of good memories flying it. Did buy another (old) kit recently thinking a modern 32 (in 25 case) size engine would make a good match if I could build it light enough.

Regards Gerald

[Sean McEntee]

I think Jim Lee has done extensive mods to his.  Maybe he'll chime in.

Couldn’t have been too extensive. Jim flew it in SIG Classic since as far back as I can remember, and it had to be a (mostly) stock SIG airplane.

[Lyle Spiegel]

John Duncan cut a set of wings with cores out center , takes out a great deal of weight. Install bellcrank with modern suspended bearing. Can use the heavy plastic turtle deck as plug to mold balsa top, save more weight. Suggest mod to nose, using an engine crutch with provision for removeable tank. Also setup wing tip for adjustable leadouts.
As alternate to fully sheeting wing, make a molded sheet LE (use wing as the form per Bob Hunt video). Add sheet on TE, and capstrips where you want ribs. Then follow Tom Dixon method of building "lost foam""to remove foam between rib bays.

[Crist Rigotti]

Couldn’t have been too extensive. Jim flew it in SIG Classic since as far back as I can remember, and it had to be a (mostly) stock SIG airplane.

We'll let Jim give the details of his mods.

[Lyle Spiegel]

please excuse my error in previous post, I mis- stated Tom Dixon method. I meant to say "kept foam". It was late night when i  posted. My apologies for any confusion.

While on topic of Mustang, I  think i the design by Claire Sieverling is a great model.  from 2/65 MAN. 56" span, .35 to .40
John Duncan has cut me a set of cored out  foam wings.

[Chuck_Smith]

I have one I built when they were new. It's still in great shape.

As stated, it's a small airplane. It flies on the fast side - at least to my tastes.  It has a somewhat "ballistic" feel to it.
A few things, like the built-in tank need to be re-thought. The elevator linkage is not-so-good. I'd categorize it as flying "OK" but certainly not great.
Good things are it's about as easy a build as you'll ever find and looks really nice. I did the Celastic bound gear doors on mine per the plan and 30  or so years later they're still rock solid.

Chuck

[john e. holliday]

I've had two of the SIG kits.   First was built box stock with Fox .35 Stunt no muffler.   It flew great foe me until the bell crank plat form pulled loose.    Second one was box stock except another ply plate added on the b=other end of the bell crank bolt.   Also added glass and epoxy for the landing gear in the foam pockets.   Same old Fox .35 Stunt engine.
By the way when I saw the ad I ordered the first kit.   Had to wait for production to get in gear and get it boxed up.

[James Lee]

I love the little Sig Mustang!!   Todd and I absolutely wore out my first one.....   It was based on the mods that Arlie Preszler had in Stunt News in the mid ?70's .    Throw out all the plastic except the canopy and cowl..   Triple core the wing, suspended bellcrank and good controls.    molded top and hollowed bottom.  Keep the weight to max of about 38 oz with a good Fox.   Yes, the Fox does not have the power of a ST 60....    But, in a 38 oz plane it is quite adequate....    Think about 'flying' a plane instead of just steering it....
After that one, Todd did his for Jr Stunt at the Nats in 1987.   We stretched the tail a bit and made the stab/elev a bit bigger.   In the wind in Lincoln he did complete patterns, even when the old man set the Fox a 'bit' ( 5.7 laps ) too rich!
Based on that plane I did another one for Sig Classic.   The tail is a bit longer and the stab/elev are a bit bigger....   Over the years did very well with it at the Sig contests..   Built in 1988, it is still going strong!!
Light and straight with good power is an excellent combination.
Jim

[Bob Hunt]

In case anyone is interested, I have the templates for the Sig Mustang and can produce a triple-cored wing with the landing gear mounts installed prior to sheeting. I can make either foam cores, or fully sheeted wings.

Later - Bob Hunt

[BYU]

    I had one years ago and plan on doing another. It is a smallish airplane so keep a target weight below 40 to 45 ounces. I have never done it, but weigh the plastic parts against a balsa part and see what you get. You can even try to use the plastic parts as a mold buck for molded sheet balsa. At the time I did mine, Chris McMillin and I sent the stock core along with a set of plans to Scott Smith at Aerosmith models and he tripple cored them, plus cut us some "optimized" cores as well. I used the best balsa I could find for the wing sheeting, and made the flaps and tail feather built up balsa. With a bone stock FP.40 in the nose ready to fly, it came in at 39 ounces and flew better that I could at that time. Won a few trophies with it. I also modified mine to look like a A or B model with the razor back fuselage. I lost it when it didn't want to pull out inverted inn a reverse wing over. Never did find the exact cause but the controls obviously hung up some how. If you can find a kit, and you like the looks and size, go for it. It's not a lot of work to get it light enough to fly really well and even in the 40 to 45 ounce range I think it would carry that weight OK, judging from my experiences and from what I saw of some heavier ones fly. It would not be too difficult to scratch build one if you can't find a kit but can at least scrounge up a set of plans. I think it was published in Model Airplane News just as the kit came out, and is one of Mike Gretz's designs.
   Type at you later,
     Dan McEntee

Dan would you be willing to loan (or sell) the SIG Mustang Kit plastic parts,  so I can mold up some parts?

https://stunthanger.com/smf/classifieds-92/wanted-sig-mustang-kit-plastic-parts/

[Dan McEntee]

  Hi Eliott;
    Will send you a PM
  Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee