Im just getting back into the hobby after 15 years of doing other stuff. I remember seeing an old timer refit or (bash) as we used to call it a Kadet Senior kit into a stand off scale Piper J3. Now that I have the time to build again Im thinking about trying my hand at this modification. It will be nitro as I am not famiiliar with electric at this time. I think he added stringers to the sides of the fuse and wing struts.
Any thoughts on this project, has anyone seen this done before.

Quick question: I havnt been to a hobby shop for years. Is $110 american really the going price for kadet Senior Kit??

Pretty much, you can get them directly from Sig, www.sigmfg.com I fly a Nitroplanes ARF version that has no dihedral, it's WAY nicer to fly that my dad's Sig Sr. which has the recommended dihedral. I can roll nicely with mine, but his rolls over and heads to the ground. I fly mine with a ASP 80, he has a Saito 80, the big 4 strokes are really nice on a Kadet Sr. If you want an ARF, Nitroplanes just re-introduced it again, Here is the blue one http://www.nitroplanes.com/90a270b-v...nior-blue.html They have a red one too. You need to know about building planes though, take the instructions and use them as a picture guide only. Also throw away the cheap landing gear and put something sturdier on, here's mine

Nitroplanes Kadet Senior ARF maiden! See review at the end. (2 min 55 sec)

I had a deadstick in the wind so that landing was a bit rough and tore the landing gear off which was my fault. Overall I think it will do what you are proposing to do, even though my video review is a bit harsh.

Great covering job. Nothing like being able to see the structure. Have you ever modified a Kadet Senior to a tail dragger?

Great covering job,nothing like being able to see the structure of a stick buit kit. Have you ever or know anyone that converted a Kadet Senior into a tail dragger?. I know a lot of these kits are modified as they are built with tons of sticks and fly forgivingly

Originally Posted by WMitchell52

Im just getting back into the hobby after 15 years of doing other stuff. I remember seeing an old timer refit or (bash) as we used to call it a Kadet Senior kit into a stand off scale Piper J3. Now that I have the time to build again Im thinking about trying my hand at this modification. It will be nitro as I am not famiiliar with electric at this time. I think he added stringers to the sides of the fuse and wing struts.
Any thoughts on this project, has anyone seen this done before.

Quick question: I havnt been to a hobby shop for years. Is $110 american really the going price for kadet Senior Kit??

its a bloody shame! that with all the bARF's out now, its cheaper ta buy an arf then build a plane! there's just not enough demand on actual kits ta keep the cost down!

the new def. of a kit is something you hafta glue the wings on and add servo's too!

I'mma builder from way back also, but I too have succumb ta the arf thing with my EDF's

depending on how extream ya wanna go! its pretty simple ta turn a kadet inta a tail dragger, and cover it yellow, but if ya wanna go and round off the wingtips and tail surfaces, its a lil more involved!

I think it would be a fun project! grab that kit and get building

I wish I could take credit but some little person in China did it, it's an ARF and came that way. I have seen them converted to tail dragger, check out some of the vids on Youtube, you'll see a couple.

Kadets are much better as taildraggers; they don't tip over as trikes do.

howell

..and a 4 star 40 or 4 star 60 landing gear fits perfectly.

howell

Originally Posted by gwinhh

..and a 4 star 40 or 4 star 60 landing gear fits perfectly.

howell

Actually the landing gear you see on my ARF is from a 4 Star 120, nice and wide. I added two ply sheets to the bottom, the first time it went off the runway and took the gear off and pulled the ply off. I added a second sheet and this time bolted the gear on with 4 short 1/4 20 nylon bolts, it worked as I was landing dead stick and hit a gopher hole, no damage other than the failsafe nylon bolts, yeah!

On second thought, it must have been a Big Stik 60 on my Kadet. I just looked at my 4*40, and that gear on a Kadet would have looked like the SUVs we see around here with low profile tires. Like a fat girl on skates. Oops. Like a FAT person on skates. Oops. like a hippotamus on skates (they don't have hippolawyers, do they?

howell

I am done with the Barfs. I have seen too many planes with wings fold, landing gear ripped out, fuel tanks come apart soaking the insides.You are playing Russian Roulet with the Barf scene. Why spend good money for Chinese garbage? My last plane, a Hangar Nine Toledo Special had major issues. Took several hours of work on the Cowl just to get it to align correctly. During taxi out on first flight the rear wheel assembly collapsed. Had to remove the covering to fix it correctly. Next flight the fuel tank leaked through out. Now I have a Balsa sponge. Model before that was a Great Planes UCAN Do. Main landing gear collapsed upon greasing it in on its first maiden. This was on a smooth asphalt runway. Gear and pants went right through the Monokoted wing. Speaking of Monokote. The covering that came on the UCAN Do was like a wrinkled old Prune. Took hours trying to get all of the wrinkles out. I eventually did but burned a half a dozen holes in the process. I am tired of having to spend more time on making an ARF flyable then it does for me to build a kit. I am now back to building where I started, and much happier

Originally Posted by whiskykid

its a bloody shame! that with all the bARF's out now, its cheaper ta buy an arf then build a plane! there's just not enough demand on actual kits ta keep the cost down!

the new def. of a kit is something you hafta glue the wings on and add servo's too!

I'mma builder from way back also, but I too have succumb ta the arf thing with my EDF's

depending on how extream ya wanna go! its pretty simple ta turn a kadet inta a tail dragger, and cover it yellow, but if ya wanna go and round off the wingtips and tail surfaces, its a lil more involved!

I think it would be a fun project! grab that kit and get building

That may not be true anymore. ARF prices are going up.

Originally Posted by celltech

I am done with the Barfs. I have seen too many planes with wings fold, landing gear ripped out, fuel tanks come apart soaking the insides.You are playing Russian Roulet with the Barf scene. Why spend good money for Chinese garbage? My last plane, a Hangar Nine Toledo Special had major issues. Took several hours of work on the Cowl just to get it to align correctly. During taxi out on first flight the rear wheel assembly collapsed. Had to remove the covering to fix it correctly. Next flight the fuel tank leaked through out. Now I have a Balsa sponge. Model before that was a Great Planes UCAN Do. Main landing gear collapsed upon greasing it in on its first maiden. This was on a smooth asphalt runway. Gear and pants went right through the Monokoted wing. Speaking of Monokote. The covering that came on the UCAN Do was like a wrinkled old Prune. Took hours trying to get all of the wrinkles out. I eventually did but burned a half a dozen holes in the process. I am tired of having to spend more time on making an ARF flyable then it does for me to build a kit. I am now back to building where I started, and much happier

I hear ya! I own two automotive shops, I keep saying that someday the Chinese crap isn't just going to annoy us, or cost us some grief - it's going to get us killed! Just this last week I had to warrenty a water pump that was a 4.5 hour job to replace, it had 400 stinking miles on it!!!! I told the rep at the parts house that if the company denied this labor claim I was going exec hunting!

Yes on arf's I always go over it glueing and modifing. The thing I like about arf's is mostly the covering job.
I've been building and flying for over 20 years and now with the ARF's I can show up at the field with just as nice of looking plane as everyone else.

I hear you on the nice plane thing, but I'll tell you I love showing up with my old trainers and flying them (rubbing their noses) in the faces of the people at the field flying their jets, you know the ones that have more money than brains? I think there is something to be said for flying a beater, or something that is old and you just plain enjoy flying no matter what rich snob says or what look they give you.