MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I just have to say that so many people here recommend Sig planes from the LT-40 to the Extra Special. And these are both fine planes. But to those of you who have not built many kits (or haven't built ANY yet), I would like you to take a look at Great Planes kits.

Disclaimer: I don't work for GP, nor do I know anyone who does. I am in no way afilliated with them.

But with all of the posts I read, I keep hearing comments like: "The [----} was good, but the [----] could have been better." or "The instructions weren't very clear"

I have built kits by all of the major companies, and GP is by FAR my favorite. The parts fit, the instructions are completely understandable, and they turn out some really terrific airplanes.

Another nice thing about them is that ALL of their kits are well engineered. Many of the other companies have a few newer kits with good engineering, but they still sell their older kits which may consist of a set of plans and a box of sticks (I know, I'm building one now! [Sig 1/4 scale Cub]).

Ask anyone who has built a GP kit, and I'm sure they will recommend it!

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

GP kits are very good. I have many of them. I also like goldberg kits. The Eagle 63 or Falcon III are great trainers. I like the falcon better because it teaches basics, as well as advanced. Great planes kits have always gone together good.

ramcharger

From Sig I built the Wonder, 4*40 & 60, Kougar, King Cobra and they were very good. I substituted wood for the plastic on the King Cobra & Kougar. I also built the Sig Kiwi and Mustang 450 and they are out of production but not so good. I have built the GP Sportster 40, Ultra Sport 40 & 60, and started a Ultimate bipe 40. They are also very good. All fly well. I guess it depends on the type of plane you want. I will always fly a Kougar and a Wonder and perhaps a 4*40 since our club races them I enjoy that a lot.

wfortney99

My Feedback: (310)

While we could argue for days and days how well they fly, in my humble opinion and generally speaking the Great Planes balsa and plywood were of significantly better quality than Sig's. I always felt the Sig people just reached into the wood box for the "next piece" to cut or die cut. Often the two elevator pieces were of different weight balsa as were the ailerone stock ! Plus a lot of "twisted/warped" lite ply. I always wondered how they got it so bowed !

Bill

IronCross

Now this is interesting. I have built a Sig Something Extra and thought kit, wood etc was all very good. I have recently purchased a GP Ultra Sport + (new kit just released) and it appears to be the perverbial piece of &^%&. The wood is horriable in the kit. Green colored and heavy. Plans/instructions look good and I am sure it will fly well like most GP planes do. It will just be more expensive and heavier then Sig kits. Already the dreaded "Tech Notices" are poping up on the kit. Problems with the stock landing gear I guess. I just wish GP would figure out how to get it right the first time.
My delema now is I want to build a Cub. GP has there 40 size and Sig has there 1/5 scale. The sig is a little bigger (still in the .40 range) lighter, a whole lot more features, and costs less then the GP. My question is how do each handle in the air.

wfortney99

My Feedback: (310)

I would agree that "New Release GP" item are problematic. They appear to want to be first and prematurely start production before all the kinks are sufficiently worked out letting let the consumers do THEIR testing.

If interested I have a NIB SIG Something Extra with junk wood sitting in my work shop for sale. The wood was so bad and too much to replace that I bought another kit, which is on the way, hoping for better luck this time. I have heard they are great flyers though.

Bill

IronCross

Strange, the SE is an excellent flyer. Must be a dozen at our club and never one with wood like you speak of. I built the GP Extra 300 which is one of my alltime favorite planes both looks and flying. Good kit but still the wood was not the quality one would hope for. Usable but very heavy.. Maybe just the luck of the draw huh

mvasapoli

Sorry but I'm going to have to give the nod to Sig. This mostly due to the newer laser cut kits. These things could almost be assembled and held together with just the covering, due to the accurate fits of all the jig tabs. No I'm not suggesting that, just stating the quality of the parts.
I have built many kits from both Mfgr's and agreed you get some bad parts from both. But in these cases both companies were given a call, apologized for the poor condition and directly sent out replacements no questions asked.
Just recently I have built 2 GP Cap 232's and the quality of the wood on some components were questionable (but happily replaced) and the die cutting of the fuse components were ragged and the fit of the jig tabs in their respectivel slots were pittiful, with the slot 2-3 wider than the tab fitting in it. Here too the LG was very fragile. I was warned by reading some reviews but did not take head, my bad.
The second Cap did go together better, but this was due to previous experience. The quality was the same as the first though.
As for expecting both Mfgrs supply every kit with top quality wood with every kit, if this was done then most of these kits would cost far more than the under $100 price tag.
When everything is said and done both kits come out to be very capable aircraft. So what would I recommend? For beginner builder the Sig laser cut kits will work very well. If you don't mind taking extra time to fuss over poorly fitted parts, then GP planes will do well also.
If GP ever decided to change there kits to laser cut components, then they will most likely have top notch kits, at that time I will have to rethink my comments

David_Moen

After reading a couple of posts about suspect wood quality in GP kits, I was a bit worriedwhile waiting for my US40+ kit to arrive. When it did, I went through the box examining each piece closley with the intention of asking GP to replace anything that was not perfect. I also asked an experienced modeler to have a look as this is my first build. All wood is excellent in quality no replacements required. Can't say the same for my canopy though - It was cracked, replacement already on the way!

As a newbie builder, I find the instuctions clear and the photos helpful. Reading the manual through a couple times before starting was a good tip that I picked up here.

Even thought the wing on this plane is fairly complex, it looks like it would take a significant effort to build it anything but straight.

So far I've only built the tailfeathers, but I'm having fun! Got to vut hinge slots today though...a bit nervous abot that!

Live Wire

Purchased a SIG 1/5 cub good wood , plans.builds fast. Was winter poject to late mounting gear know. New owner have changed a lot of things . Laser cutting has mad all kits easyer to build and lighter.

LoboFlyer

As soon as I am done with my Final in Microwave Engineering on Monday, and my Computational Electromagnetics project that is due on Tuesday (whew), I will begin building my 4*40 that I bought myself as a semester reward :-). This is my first kit, but it looks to be not too difficult, and I have some help.

I am thinking that for my next project I will build the GP F-15 kit. I'd like to put retracts in it if possible.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

Wow!!! I'll bet you can cook anything!!

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

Exactly! Also another related tip......reading the construction manual in the bathroom makes the information stay in your brain much better!

Spicoli

I find that Sig seems to have better wood.They both have good plans and manuals.Great Planes has an excellent selection of kits.
I found Sig had better fitting parts.
That said,I like them both.
Everyone talks about Sig's laser cut kits,but the only one I have come across is the Something Extra,what other laser cut kits do they have?

Flyfalcons

4*40 is now laser cut, I'm sure there are others.

Dsegal

> what other laser cut kits do they have? <

Rascal RC, Midstar 40, Four Star 40, 60 and 120, Ultimate and the LT25 and LT40 trainers.

The members of my club have nothing but praise for the quality of these Sig kits.

Dave Segal

JetAwithPrist

I have to vote for SIG for sure. The last airplane i built was a GP tracer and the wood selection, parts fit, etc were atrocious. the fuse sides were all wavy and the cuts were not clean. One aileron was feathery light while the other could have been mistaken for oak. The engineering was good, it was the execution that was lacking.

jettstarblue

Just had to jump on this one!

Sig- Good wood, good kits, less flashy, sweet laser cut stuff, sometimes more to build.

GP- Flashy, colorful boxes of expensive stuff. Sometimes quicker building. Lots of choices, lots of money.

Jetts

Iflyglow

My Feedback: (79)

The new 1:5 scale Cub is also laser cut.

Kitbasher

I like the Sig kits best . I like to just get the plans from somebody when they finish there kit cut my own wood and throw the directions away. You know just build it like you want it . Make it look like it was your design. Kit bash it. This is one of my 4* bashings. Get creative have the only one of its kind.

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

Nice looking 4* and much better than the looks of the stock version!

Nuker

hmm I've built Sig, GP and Top Flite. Haven't had an issue with any of them and all three have given exemplary customer service when I've contacted them with questions or concerns.

The only thing I noticed was perhaps the advertising wasn't always accurate with words like "minimal carving". Imagine that, advertising not giving exact details, but other than that ......

My first Goldberg kit is on order (when they finally come out with the Sukhoi). From what I've heard I'll enjoy building from that company too... hopefully

Bob aka Nuker

Sands

I have not built a Sig kit but the GP kit was excellent from the clear and easy to understand plans (my 1st kit) to the quality of the wood. The kit gave me great confidence in building many more kits and I am currently 1/2 way through the TF P-51D which is an excellent kit that makes me look like I have been building for years. I like the variety of warbirds available from TF & GP. I have just finished converting my garage to a shop (walls lined with 3' Melamine lined benches). The woman and 2 children in the other part of my house say I have acquired and addiction. I guess I'll have to be nice to them so they will give me another TF kit for Christmas.

phayd

I would reccommend letting the companies know if you are having problems with their wood selection. I know that sig has someone look over every kit before shipping, and I would assume that this is the same for every company. There is something wrong if a fuse is wavy, and this needs to be corrected by the company.

I realize that this sucks, as you want to build, but your plane will thank you when it is in the air, and hopefully the company will thank you for improving their QA.

442dave

I haven' built any great plane kits. But have built a Sig kougar, I'm a new builder and have only built one kit. I loved building the kougar and the directions were well done. The great planes ultra sport 60 looks awesome! Also I wonder how many less kits are made now then when this thread was last active (2002)