......"Mud Dabber".,,.... The Sig Kadet That Wouldn't Die

Covering hides everything. A worthy project Kim.

It's all a COVER-UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like it with its battle scars…. Says its got lots of air time… Please keep posting its rehabilitation!…. For STOL, Would look good with a pair of oversized Trexler’s

andrew wrote:Hey, I don't see anything wrong with the "Dabber".  It looks pretty much like most of my builds when they come off the bench the first time.  

Interesting choice of the words "Crispy" and "Brittle".  Years back, we had a club trainer that had taken several dirt naps and gained considerable weight with progressive rebuilds.  During one training session at a decent altitude, it finally gave up the ghost, folded the wing at the center section (brittle) and lawn darted.  Since we determined it was more epoxy than balsa, it was finally retired to the trash can.

I just watched an episode of Air Classics on the Smithsonian channel.  Fourteen passenger commuter model. Five minutes out from the airport they lost all hydraulics, turned back then a passenger noticed smoke coming from the left engine.  Shut down the engine.  Then the same passenger said that the engine was on fire.  

Arriving back at the airport they manually dropped the gear, but the left side gear did not drop.  Seconds from touchdown the left wing folded and they cartwheeled into the ground.  All passengers and crew lost.  

Turns out nothing was wrong with the engine.  Take-off brake drag on the wheel when retracted melted a hydraulic line dripping fluid on the rotor igniting the fire which burned through the wing only seconds from touchdown.  

Be careful out there.

Look foreard to seeing the Dabber in the air again ! If it flys let her rip

Looking like it is coming along good. Who does not like a good rebuild story. Seeing more life brought back to these planes is very enjoyable. On another note. I really think that the pushrod exit farings look great. Never seen them like that before.

NEW222 wrote:Looking like it is coming along good. Who does not like a good rebuild story. Seeing more life brought back to these planes is very enjoyable. On another note. I really think that the pushrod exit farings look great. Never seen them like that before.

Well, thanks for being kind about that! The giant block of balsa was (I think) the result of a long-ago late-night repair, and it has bugged me for years...but apparently not to the point that I'd hack it off, and install a more streamlined replacement! A simple plank of 1/8-1/4 balsa would do the job just fine, but well, this is what happened!

I knew I wanted Mud Dabber's tail feathers to be fairly easy to remove back then as, being married, my cargo space could be very restricted if we took the car to visit the inlaw's.