SMITH MINI SIG - Kit

SPECS:

40 size, ST-51 as flown

Kit not easy to build; intermediate to difficult.

HITS:

-Flys great; my favorite

-Goes were you put it

-Fast

-Sturdy

-Looks Great in the air

MISSES:

-Not easy to build

-Wheels too small for grass

-Tricky to land without tipping over.

-Rolls require rudder to look clean

EXPERIENCES:

Flys like a biplane, drops like a rock without power.  On a dead stick you must go to steep nose down and pull out as low as possible.  It flys best with 1 1/2 deg. neg incidence on the top wing with respect to the lower wing.  For grass, remove the pants and go up 1 or two wheel sizes.  Learn to feed rudder on rolls, good practice; otherwise rolls tend to be kind of sloppy.  My son has an OS 40 on the same plane and it has plenty of power; but, I like the ST51 because it has a little more power for the same weight as the ST-40.  When building, move the wheels at least 1/4 in forward of the recommended position to avoid tipping over frontwards on landings.  Bal point on plans seems to be a good starting point.  Cowl is ABS so put fuel tubbing in the holes for the screws that mount it on the fuselage to keep it from fatigue cracking.

Update on this one:  I sold it...