The Sig Kricket!

Yes, I still have the plane. I can't say that it flies well. I truly feel the wing is far heavier than a balsa wing. The ABS or styrene plastic wingtips are also a heavy piece of the puzzle. The wingspan should be lengthened if your looking for performance. In addition the wing isn't symmetrical. The wing is flat on the bottom which creates some issues when inverted. The landing gear is another weak point which splays out on hard landings. The plane though is quite cool and I set mine up with a 35 mm film canister uniflow clunk tank. The plane was given to me in pieces which many were missing. I found the missing sheet I needed for the fuse formers at a swap meet and was able to complete it. I don't have templates for it. Many times I was going to cut the wing out and replace it with a longer wing. I would even have it cored so I don't suffer the weight penalty. I know I could get it flying real well. Ken

That looks really nice. I'll ask my friend, but I thought he said it flew nice. He has a golden bee on it. Thanks For the pictures.

Duke, I won't say it flies real bad. I just know what's not correct with it. Sig should've had the wings cored out. Sometimes we have a tendency to feel that foam is light when in reality, there's several different types. Nowadays, most of what you see is recycled material with all kinds of other fillers in it making it even heavier. I noticed one particular that I didn't care for. In level flight, the speed increases, but as soon as you do a tight maneuver like the hourglass, the plane quickly stalls. That in my opinion is the result of the narrow wingspan and the wing stalling and the plane pretty much drops. A underpowered engine can also create this situation but I strongly feel that isn't the case here. I can caress the maneuvers a bit but they tend to become very oversized and less recognizable. What intrigued me was the fact that Sig produced a full bodied 1/2A. This also allowed me to install a tank and for the most part it just may of been one of the easiest building 1/2A planes I ever built. The fuse is more or less a simple box with approx 4 formers. The finish is Brodak dope Miss Ashley Red and Insignia White with Sig Lite-Coat over top. This paint job was a bit tricky due to having the foam wing already installed and dope being sprayed on the balsa. It can weep under the tape and just melt the wing into goo. Ken

Nice job anyways. I like the plane and have wanted one for a while. Maybe l'll try to scratch build one.