JT Hammer

Anyone - I havn't ordered it yet. Would my Sport Jett .50 be suitable, and what size prop? I built a scat cat years ago but this kit isn't available now. Is the lanier dominator comparable?
JT

Barticusmax

Howdy JT,
I have been looking for info to answer your query. I have not found a manual for the Dominator 500, but the specs and description match the Scat Cat really close. I don't know the SJ50 well enough to answer, but I would think using a smaller pitchier prop would get the speed that the plane is meant for..
Barticusmax

Mike Connor

My Feedback: (5)

I had a Dominator with a Sport Jett 50 and it flew very good. I used it for sport flying and usually ended up with a APC 9x8 prop for good all around performance. I did not build the V-tail but it is an option.

daven

My Feedback: (1)

They are similar planes, the main differences are that the Dominator is a shoulder wing, the Skat is a low. Also, the Skat had the landing gear mounted in the wing, where as the Dominator has them on the fuse. Also, the dominator doesn't come with much hardware, much of that needs to be purchased separately. It may be easier to just buy either a Great Planes Viper Arf, or Lanier Predator 2 Arf. If your looking for a conventional tail, you may still be able to find a Sonic 500 ARF, they pop up occasional at the auction site, and may even be in stock somewhere. They had them for sale very cheap about a year or so ago, I can't remember where though.

JT Hammer

Thx for the info guys.

Daven, you referred to the Sonic 500. Do you mean the Pheonix Sonic ARF. Towers sells this little airplane for about $70.00 It is for a .25 to .32, and comes as a low wing or high wing. I flew this bird last summer with the O.S. .32 sx, and it performed quite well. I believe the wing area was somewhat over 400 sq. inches. I'm not sure if folks are stuffing Jett .50's in it. though! It would be interesting to hear if anyone has done this. This Sonic seems to be quite tough (well built), but a bit heavy for it's size. The covering is quite crappy, as well, but still - a good value for what you pay.

Crazy4Flight

My Feedback: (540)

Scat Cat kits can be found on Ebarf...

Hobby Shack sells a Sonic 500 ARF (49.95 + ship on last spring)

My jett SS40 blew the wing off the Sonic 500 I had fuse plyowood delaminated ate rear wing mount.

All the 100 +/- quickie 500 ARF will fly well ona Jett 50.

Bob 27 recomends you fibreglass the firewall in...most if not ALL arfs need added glue and strenght.

turn and burn!

sharker

I've been looking for Scat Cat kits but keep coming up empty. Ebay isn't showing any. Plans would be good too.

Barticusmax

Sharker,
As soon as my build is done, you are welcome to my plans. They are kinda yellow, but good shape otherwise. May have shrunk in the last 10 years or so...
Barticusmax

sharker

That's great, If a pdf, dxf or dwg file is around that would also work. Thanks for the reply.

s-10promod

The Dominator is the kit version of the Predator, these are an older design so it would be a good idea to spar the wing for any of the more powerful engines in use today. These were around when Quickie racing used K&B .40's so some beefing up is a must! One of the Doddger kits is still a better plane than most for a really quick one.

JT Hammer

Good point re the Dominator. I seem to remember that this kit used a really light soft core foam wing, and likely wouldn't be all that strong if not reinforced somehow. By the way, I am not familiar with the Doddger kit you mentioned. Is it a Quickee design; who makes it and where available?

JT

bob27s

My Feedback: (19)

That is not entirely true..... the Dominator kits did not hit the market until the 1990s. Few organizations flew Q-500 with K&B power at that time except NEPRO. Quite a few of the Dominator airframes were built and raced with SEMPRA with Webra .40 and Jett 40SS power back in the day. Nothing extraordinary needed beyond the kit for that application. A few were raced in early-on 428 competition too.

Building it stock per the instructions is a safe bet with 90% of the 40-46 size engines out there. Instructions are good, and it is a solid airframe.

If you want to build for higher power, such as an actual 428 racing engine, a 60LX, or something along those lines... a strip of carbon along the wing high point is worth while addition while sheeting the cores. And you would be impressed to see how much a simple strip of fiberglass laid in between the core and the skins works to stiffen a wing.

Worth noting ..... the "soft foam core" is normal, and it pretty much only provides shape for the wing. Your wing skins are the structure. Good skin installation is key, as is the fiberglass layup on the center section after sheeting. For skins, Vacuum bagging is great, but the old-fashon way using lots of weights works just as well in most cases too. Some of the wing cores I cut were made of .75 lb/cufoot foam - very, very light materials... I used 3/32 balsa top skins and 1/16" bottom skins.

The Doddger kit was made at one time by Capstone models (aka direct connection) here in Ohio. Was designed by Joe Dodd, and won the Nats for Craig Grunkemeyer back in the early/mid 1990s. Nice plane. Kits were well manufactured. Definately something to keep an eye out for at swap meets and such. But they are not easy to find.

The 424 version wood/foam Hurrikane or the Seeker Q-500 kits are evolutions beyond the Doddger ---- and those are currently available. Easy to build, good flying airframes. Look here [link=http://www.supertrc.com/results.asp?category=10]SuperT[/link]. And the wing is sheeted already.

daven

My Feedback: (1)

I built one dominator in the late 90's (conventional tail). Very good flying plane in its time. The kits today (laser cut, with tab and slot construction) are much easier to build, and almost dummy proof to get straight. I flew the Dominator at the 2000 Nats in 428, and there may have been 2 or 3 conventional tailed planes there.

bob27s

My Feedback: (19)

We changed over the original PaceMaker design to tab-slot construction about 1996, but it was a bit of a hassle to machine cut. And we didn't have the volume to go for hard tooling. The laser cutting sure made that construction much more practicle, and more flexible design wise. I think the current version of the PM is about the same as the Seeker and Hurrican with the way it builds. You really have to work hard not to assemble it straight.

daven

My Feedback: (1)

I saw Lewis' CAD plans for the pacemaker, and it was of similar construction, looked nice. At one point he was looking to sell them, but I never heard if that went anywhere?

diggs_74

You can build them crooked if you use enough beer.. Don't ask me how I know.

bob27s

My Feedback: (19)

It is also possible to install the aileron torque rods point out of the top of the wing, and eventually install the wing upside down with the proper qty of brew

mmattockx

How did that one fly, Bob?

Mark

daven

My Feedback: (1)

Lots of drag with the servo hanging out in the breeze

I don't even want to start a list of drinking building errors.

The worst was probably super glue in my hair and ear.

bob27s

My Feedback: (19)

Actually, it was not too bad. The wing was only slightly semi-symetrical. A little wing saddle potting, and it flew fine. Even won a few heats with it My main concern was the skin compression - the top skins were thicker for a reason. The wing skin fails in compression - so the 3/32 top skin was design to take the turning loads. Fortunatle no problems arose Died glorously in a midair after only 12 heats.

garys

Bob, the mistake you made was that you should've just flown it upside down! About 12 or 13 years ago, one of the guys that used to race with us used to always have a problem mixing epoxy correctly, and it would never set....until he had been drinking on Saturday night of a race while he was doing some repairs. Unfortunately that epoxy wasn't on the airplane, it was on the bed he was sleeping on...he found out in the morning when he was glued to the sheets