BillS

Thanks Vicman, I can try moving the CG back.

Bill

hogflyer

Bill,

A good way to check CG is to climb, at full throttle, at a 45 deg. nose up angle, roll the plane on its back and neutralize the controls. It it heads for the deck it's nose heavy. You should see a slow gentle ark when you release the controls. I have a King Kobra that was built with a K&B .61 (by someone other than me). When I set it up with a TT .61 Pro it required almost 3 ounces of lead on the tail to over come the heavy engine. My CG is towards the aft CG limit. My King Kobra doesn't like to slow down either, so I have to turn final at idle pulling a high-g steep bank and hold the nose on the horizon until I get a good sink out of it, then add just a touch of throttle to keep it flying shooting the approach in a nose high attitude. When done right it produces the same nose high almost 3-point landing Kougar's can get (3-point as in tail and mains).

I've had several Kougar's in the past and they seem to exhibit different flight characteristics unique to each one. One slowed down great for landing while another didn't want to slow down no matter what I did. One would fly great inverted while another required a lot of down elevator. One would spin upright and inverted while another dropped like a rock in an inverted spin and never developed a good rotation, and yet another didn't like to spin well at all. Never did figure out what was going on with them. All where built the same using an incidence meter and on the same building board.

Be careful with the flapperons since there may be an increased chance of tip stall at low speed, but all that washout may negate that issue too.

Hogflyer

BillS

Hogflier,

Thanks for the technique for checking CG.

Used the CG checking technique you suggested. Rolled inverted on a 45-degree upline and the airplane headed seriously for the ground. Will probably try tail weight increments of 1/4 oz at a time until the stall becomes unacceptable.

Bill

hogflyer

Bill,

Don't rely on just the stall as you could get too tail heavy, and with a Kougar (or King Kobra) this is a disaster looking for a place to happen. Kougar's and King Kobra's don't take kindly to being tail heavy and will snap out at the most inappropriate time (like turning to final and approach when low and slow). I start weighting with 1/4 ounce at a time until its close, then 1/8 ounce until I have it trimmed in where I like it. When you get it so you have a very shallow pull to the ground (over something like 500' of ground distance to go from 45 deg nose above the horizon to level flight then you are close) you can leave it like that. I've flown some planes that held the 45 deg. angle but showed some signs of being tail heavy, so I prefer to have that slight arc and keep it at that - still have good stall characteristics and good control on landing.

Hogflyer

joeman784

tell me if this is a kougar

jrcaster

No, the nose is wrong, the canopy and turtledeck are too far back, the tail feathers are wrong. Looks like a mixture of kits. The nose looks like a SuperSportster, and the wing looks more like an UltraSport.

You may want to start a new thread asking what that model is.

HeliTB

Double that, it doesn't like a Kougar to me. Could have been modified though.

kestrel0222

My Feedback: (1)

I just found this thread, and it sure brings back memories!! I flew one of these back in the early '80s and just loved this plane. I am interested in building another one of these nice flying planes. Have any of you built one of these with retracts? I am seriously considering building one with retracts. Any thoughts?

I built one of the original kits, not the MKII. What is the difference between the original and the MKII version?

Thanks,

kestrel0222

My Feedback: (1)

As I mentioned in the above reply, this plane brings back many great memories of building and flying the Kougar. I just received an email from Tower Hobbies (3 day ago) stating that they have not received an order from me in some time. So, they sent me a promotion code that I will get $20 off my next order of $50 or more!!! The timing could not have been better!!! I ordered a Sig Kougar (out of stock until early July), the final cost is $59.99 (plus shipping) instead of $79.99 for the kit. I placed the order over the phone to make sure that this promotional code will apply to a back ordered item, she ran the order and found that in fact it will.

racingjeff1

The more I fly it the more I like it. Its been my go to plane for quite a while now. Does great knife edges, inverted flight, just a great pattern plane.

HeliTB

Believe me it's my favorite plane, especially since I kit built it. I recently added a UltraThrust Tuned Pipe. Boy does this thing move out now. One of hte fasted nitro planes at the field if not the fastest.

Black9label13

i recieved an incomplete kit, with more than enough balsa sheeting and ply sheeting to finish. i received the wings built but not joined and i have a few ideas on how im going to join those. my question is when constructing the fuselage and bending the sides to close around the last former, how can i strengthen this area? because it is under a lot of tension. im going to try to help strengthen it with some nice strong wood glue and the top and bottom sheeting. is there anything im missing?

racingjeff1

The foam wing cores do not come joined, so its not an incomplete kit. Use proper adhesive when joining the wing halves and sheeting you won't have a problem. Use 20 minute epoxy for the fuselage, and it does not need anything extra.

Black9label13

alright, thanks a ton. ill try to get some pics up soon to see how im doing.

Black9label13

pardon my pathetic work environment, and crude methods but im a college student and have no budget, meaning ive got to make do. im in the process of joining the wings with a scab patch type deal. gluing the horisontal stab, and ive begun to rough sand the fuse. Im currently a student to be an aircraft mechanic so lets see how some real world practices transfer over




the paint cans are to weigh downt he patch joining the wings for proper bonding of the wood glue. i will be reinforcing the wing joint more as well once i can handle the wing as a whole. tell me what you think! also any flaws you see that i may have missed. ommitting anything that needs wood filler.

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

The Sig "Cougar" was an excellent flying plane for me in the late 1970s ,having purcashed it used from a friend whom had it custom built so as to speak by an old club member. Regarding your build just keep it straight ...[8D]

JWQ500RC

My Feedback: (2)

I've biult and flown 8 Kougars, and they are great flyers. As stated above make sure to keep it straight. Now I'll have to go build another one.

HeliTB

You could have done the servo modification for the ailerons. The single is fine, but a servo for each aileron really makes this a great flyer and easy to trim. This one of favorite planes. I just added a Ultrathrust pipe. My OS .46AX really screams now.

Black9label13

as of right now i dont have a planned setup going into this plane, so if i decide to go the dual servo route, it shouldnt be a hard modification to do. as i wont be covering the plane until i have a setup in it

richardgerardi

Here pics of mine

cloudancer03

My Feedback: (22)

ahhhhh the kougar.I had several and except my first one many years back was a joy to build and fly.some guys snubbed their noses at it but it was easy to build and could fly fassst!I am always amazed as to how many color schemes there are.seeing this makes me think I should go to ebay and pick up yet another one.

I was always going to try retracts with it but why bother.yeahhhhh time for another sunday beater lol.

Black9label13

every kougar in here looks amazing. it always amazes me how flawless every rc i see looks. props to everyone, i can only hope that mine will look half as professional as many in this forum

tassiemark

The Kougar is a great build,thats for sure. Yours looks exactly the same as mine did at the same stages of the build so I am sure it will turn out as a credit to you.At the very least it will be a model you created! as opposed to someone in China or Vietnam doing it for money not love. My tips are to spend lots of time on the final preparation before covering,fill every ding and scratch and pin hole and when you think you got them all go over it again and I bet you will find others you missed! Make sure your wing sheeting is sanded as smooth as you can get it,if you have ridges in the glued pieces of sheeting they will stick out like lights on a xmas tree under plastic coverings.Also when trimming the canopy to fit do it gradually as if you take too much off it wont mate neatly with the plastic turtle deck.
Good luck, here is a pic of mine,just covering its bigger brother the King Kobra at the moment

Mark

HeliTB

Now that's one nice Kougar.

Black9label13

still working on getting the wing attachment system together so i can blend the leading edge of the wing with the curve of the fuse and the vertical stab is curing now. my curiosity is, are there any kits still continued by sig that are this easy and much fun to build, while yielding good flying characteristics?