Ed,

I had a Rascal 40 a few years ago. I originally had an old OS 48 Surpass for power. That lil engine worked real well in the nose; it could take off at half throttle without a problem.

For some reason I decided to put a Magnum 52 4S up there. I think I had it swinging a 12X6, but I'm not positive about the prop. The 52 was a lot of power for that plane. I remember when they first came out guys were putting 100 4S on the nose, talk about over kill.

Personally I think the 53 will do great in the Rascal; but if you go with the 61 remember to use throttle control.

I use to love to do flat turns with this plane. Had to use a bit of aileron to keep it flat with that rudder. I also had to put a glow driver on to slow down the engine for landings. Without it the plane would chug on by at about three feet off the ground at idle. Looked really cool when it did, but was a pain to land with that floating.

I would like to get another one.

Happy flying.