Herr/SIG Piper cherokee 0.049-0.061 kit. Yay or Nay?

KariFS wrote:I have no experience on the Cherokee kit, so consider the following accordingly

A low-wing layout generally is considered more demanding to the pilot. So the suitability depends on how experienced you are

By the time I have it done I'll have gotten enough practice in on high-wing stuff(My FT Commuter and my NexSTAR 46 are both the same type of bird and are the ones I'm flying currently) that a low-wing commuter plane would be a logical next step. I don't forsee it being flyable until late fall at the earliest; most of the learning curve will be at the workbench. Never built a balsa plane(Only ARFs and FT foamies), never worked with covering, need to acquire relavent tools and supplies as I go, etc etc.

Also the closed cowling is a bit tricky with a glow motor, again not a problem for an experienced operator, but does not make life easier.

Pictures show the engine poking up out the top of the cowl where the cowl's not really enclosing much of anything. That being said, the engine installation in my 0.049 powered FT Commuter is pretty heavily cowled and I don't have any trouble with the engine I put in that thing.  Been running glow power since '03, I know these engines well enough that a little cowling isn't going to get in my way.

Think about it a bit, getting one to not overheat in a cowl and getting one to not overheat in a car with the body on are pretty much the same thing.

Adding ailerons for the fourth channel should not be hard, you can look for tips from designs that already have ailerons built in. It is easier if you make them full wing length, as there is not much mechanisms to add, but it would sacrifice some of the scale appearance. It would look just as good in the air though. Or with very light servos you could use one servo per aileron, if your radio gear has that possibility.

Either option is on the table. I'm quite fond of Flite Test's 4.5g servos and could easily use two of those in the wings here for scale width ailerons. And I could just as easily control them with a mix as I could a y-harness; I fly with a Futaba 6J. My Commuter is set up like this, with a Y-harness in the wing. Strip ailerons and a single 9g servo, also doable; My NexSTAR is set up this way with a single standard size servo in the center of the wing running both.

Hell, I could even give it flaps if I wanted. Won't need them, but hey, scale detail is scale detail! Wouldn't object to retracts either, but I have my doubts I could find suitably small/light/reliable units.

If it were me, I would consider a ”floater” kind of a plane for a first one. Slower, easier to repair, usually not so easy to destroy (slow speed helps surviving). Then again I am a novice both as a pilot and a handler of engines. But even if I had a lot of prior experience with electric / foam planes I would still consider something like this for the first ICE / balsa plane:

https://sigmfg.com/collections/herr-kits/products/herr-cloud-ranger

Easier ”box” construction fuselage => easy to build and repair. High wing => stability. Simple construction, no scale appearance => light weight. And seems it already has the option for ailerons built in.

I'm already ahead of ya on that one. I have a 40 size high-wing trainer and I built a Flite Test Commuter into which I shoehorned an RC Ranger 0.049, which is more or less the same thing. And I can confirm that they're a bit more durable; I've already lawndarted the Commuter and the sum total of damage was a collapsed nose gear which I had fixed that evening. Well, that, and I had to re-attach the throttle servo, as it coming detached is what caused the crash in the first place by shutting the engine off mid-flight as it dangled off the linkage rod.

And I'm not a novice of the engines. Of flying; yes, but not of the engines. Been running glow cars since 2003 and the engines in my planes are one of the aspects I don't have any problems with. My 46AX runs like a sewing machine and my Cox mills spool right up every time.

Piper, it recommends a Norvel .049 or .061 for the engine, so even a well-sorted-out Bee would probably be low in power

Odd, I poked the Glow Nation facebook page with the same question and a guy there said he actually had one and that he reckoned even a Babe Bee would fly it with ease. He did use a Norvel 061 in his; said he found it more finicky than the Cox reedies were. It's also worth noting that I was told my FT Commuter was too heavy and too draggy for a Cox reedie to fly, yet it flew like a dream on a 6x4 Top Flite prop and 24%N Glow Plug Boy 1/2a fuel.

I made the Cherokee about 15 years ago with a Norvel .061 Big Mig . It was a good flyer for any one with a bit of R/C flying behind them . Ended up selling it . The Big Mig was a good choice for this plane and I still have it . The Norvel takes a bit of breaking in and a bit of heat to the cylinder before starting really helps the first few start ups . After a few runs the engine would start by hand easier .

Mike1484

JennyC6 wrote:https://sigmfg.com/collections/herr-kits/products/herr-eng-piper-cherokee

Anyone else build one of these? I'm thinking of picking one up as my first full balsa kit, fairly affordable, I have a spare throttled Cox 0.049 lying about that'd fly it reasonably well. Is it 3 channel or 4? If 3, how hard is it to make it 4 channel? Decently easy build?

I had one with a norvel .061 it flew pretty good.. i also flew it with a norvel .074 it flew with authority . A cox babe bee might be pushing it though .

I have seen these models by HERR CO. at a good price but , don't know of anyone building one so i will bee watching for a review if possible ?

getback wrote:I have seen these models by HERR CO. at a good price but , don't know of anyone building one so i will bee watching for a review if possible ?

I stumbled across it when I went to SIG's own website for some 1/2a fuel since Fitz Fuels is currently OOS on the 24% I've been using. They're selling them for 59 bucks each; hell of a deal considering the other potential first balsa kit I was looking at(The Rascal, also sized for the same engines) is nearly twice that at Tower.

If I do buy it I'll be sure to document my progress as I go. Won't be a one-night-build like my Flite Test planes, though.


Annoyingly, SIG is also OOS on 25% 1/2a fuel, so I ended up biting the bullet and grabbing a quart of Fitz' 35% and backordering the SIG 25%. I do have those adapter glow-heads for standard plugs which drop compression, bettin' that'll be just the ticket to compensate for the 11% increase in nitro over what I've been running with standard 3-fin glow heads and one head shim. Already have an adapter prepped with a brand new OS 8 to swap over at the field when I burn off the last of my 24% next week flying my FT Commuter. I literally only have one full tank of the 24% left haha.

Prolly also get better idle quality, startup, and throttling on the adapter+OS8 anyway. Half the reason I bought the two adapter heads when I bought my first two 0.049s. I'd prefer not to run 35% since I'm not racing and don't really need to stress the engine that much, but oh well. These little guys like nitro and I have plenty of head shims and glow plug shims to adjust CR if need be. One quart won't kill the engine.