Well, I now have three outings with the Sig Rascal 40 under my belt and I can confidently say it's a BIG winner!!!

First off, I have the Blue and White version and I think it's one of the prettiest planes I've ever owned. It has beautiful lines that tend to remind me of an old timmer model and a full scale plane from the golden era all at the same time. It also has an exceptionally nice covering job. When I got it assembled and stood back for a look I thought to myself "if it flies half as good as it looks it's going to be a winner". It did not dissapoint. In fact, it surprised me at the field, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

The quality of this ARF is top notch. Everything from the covering job to the level of prefabrication, parts fit and hardware quality were outstanding! Well... I'm not completely happy with the spinner provided, but it's certainly adequate.

I love all the little details, like the pre drilled and assembled wheel pants.... just bolt em up....no fuss. The kit included a wonderful little Hague style tail wheel assembly and some very nice light weight wheels. I think the 2 piece wing is also very well done and convenient for transportation, even though I transport it fully assembled in the back of my pick-up.

I the engine installation was a little fussy. You need to replace the provided philips head screws with socket head screws and use some long ball drivers. But in return for that little fussing you get a front end that looks far better than any 2 shades off color plastic cowl out there. Let’s just say the nice apperence far out weighs the minor hassle of the engine installation.

I have an O.S. .52 Surpass stuck in the nose and it has all the power I could ever want and more for a plane of this type. Believe it or not, this combo can hover very well. I didn't expect the .52 to give this much vertical performance, nor did I expect the tail surfaces to be effective enough for this maneuver, but surprise, surprise. It hovers very well.

I have to mention the easy handling of the O.S. . .52. It's a real gem. I mounted it without breaking it in on the bench at all and went out and flew the plane. The power and easy handling make the O.S. .52 one of my favorite engines of all time.

Yesterday while I was flying I was pleasantly surprised again by this little plane. I cranked it over on knife edge and it flew pretty well. But actually that wasn't much of a surprise, since the plane has a lot of side area I figured it might knife edge pretty well. What was a surprise is that I can fly a knife edge loop with it! Who'd have thought a little high wing floater plane like this could pull a knife edge loop or hover like an aerobatic machine?

Loops and hammer heads are a breeze with the Rascal. It flies inverted wonderfully! Rolls are a little slow, but pretty axial for a plane of this design. I will say that it wants the pilot to coordinate turns. That is to say you can't ignore the rudder in a turn or it will drag its tail pretty good. With a little practice on how much rudder to feed in I was making nice pretty turns at both ends of the field.

While all that aerobatic flying is fun I would be remiss if I didn't mention what a nice docile flyer it can be. With nary a touch over idle I can make nice smooth circuits of the field.....talk about floater! I haven't tried it yet, but I bet I could thermal this plane. It only weighs 5 lbs 4 oz.

We had a club fun fly last Saturday and I brought my old reliable Somethin' Extra to fly and the Rascal just to show people. In the third event, the limbo, I hit a pole and busted up the SE pretty bad. I only had one flight under my belt on the Rascal, but I decided to fly it anyway. After all, the next event is spot touch touch-n-goes. Well would believe I won the event on only my second time flying the plane. Yep, 3 consecutive first touch landings on the 10' X. Nobody could believe it! I'm still not sure how I did it. I think it was the plane. You just throttle back to a crawl, point it down the runway and it finds the X every time. I wonder how those guys at Sig designed that into the Rascal.

Anyway, suffice it to say that I'm very happy with my new Rascal. It was a little more expensive than most other similar size ARFs, but the build quality, flight performance and over all charm make it well worth the couple extra bucks. In my opinion Sig has hit a home run with the Rascal.

Wiz

Almost done with mine. I second the thoughts of the build quality and engine mounting. I bought the Magnum .52 and her through Chief Aircraft (good deal!). Can't wait to get her airborne!

I've got one of these too and it is all Mike Wiz says. A YS 63 powers mine (at about 1/2 throttle most of the time). The rudder authority on this plane is unbelievable! I was also surprised when I easily did my first knife edge loop with this plane. Try doing flat turns with full rudder input, it does it in about 30' diameter circles! You wouldn't expect this plane to fly inverted very well either, but it will do it easily all day long.

I can't wait to get the floats for it!

Jim

Mike, I brought mine out to the field last Saturday for the first time and everyone stopped to take a look. I dropped a Saito 56 into mine and it takes off in about 20' at half throttle. One thing I'm not to crazy about is how it rolls, its real slow and lazy, rolls like my Cub. I was able to do a nice knife egde but had to use the ailerons to hold it vertical. The plane flies great and lands like a kitten, makes me look like I know what i'm doing. I have the OS 52 in my Cub and its a real sweet engine, it ticks like a clock. My mentor at the field was looking for a plane to install a Aveox electric motor in and he thinks he found it with the Rascal. I'll let you know how that turns out.

I agree about the slowness of the rolls, but once you get use to it it's not bad. They are pretty axial even though they are somewhat slow. The overall pace and handling of this plane makes for some pretty graceful looking aerobatics. Still, I'm going to try dialing in some more throw on the ailerons and maybe a little differential.... if it were to roll just a bit faster it would be perfect.

BTW, did you seal the aileron gaps? I sealed mine with some clear Ultracote and it helped.

I thought about buying a MaxCim brushless system for mine, but I'm glad I didn't. I can't imagine it being as much fun with 20 cells cramed into it as it is now.

Say, when the fella at your club gets his Aveox powered one in the air see if it will still hover and fly knife edge.

Wiz

No I didn't seal the gaps but I will now. My rolls are big a loopy like I'm using a bit of elevator, maybe I am. Haven't tried to hover mine yet.

I have been trying to decide between the GP Space Walker or Rascal 40.

Looking for a easy to fly with mild aerobatics. They both seem to have those qualities.

LM, I just started flying mine last week and would recommend it over the Spacewalker. I've flown the Spacewalker and itjust sorta flies around slow and easy nothing to exciting. The Rascal on the other hand can fly around slow and easy but when your ready it can be alot of fun too. I installed a Saito 56 in mine and I managed to get the the plane to hover, I couldn't believe. This is the first plane I own that can hover. Hovering on the simulator has finally paid off.

I also love my Rascal with a OS .52. I emailed Sig about a larger version and this is What I got from them. I can't wait.....Johnny

Dear Mr. Stancil,
Thank you very much for taking the time to write us regarding your
satisfaction with the new Rascal Forty. This design has been one of my
favorites for a long time and I'm pleased that it's giving you as much
pleasure as it's given to me!

Regarding a larger version. Actually we are considering such a model
for the future. In fact within the next few weeks we will be
test-flying a Rascal that has a wingspan of 110" (great guess on your
part). At this early date I can't tell you when or how much but I can
tell you that we are indeed going to evaluate the design. One of the
major problems with such a model is not the airplane itself but the
packaging that must hold it. We really have to try to keep the kit
package within the UPS maximum dimensions for shipping purposes and I'm
not sure right now if this is going to be possible. Also, because of
the size of the wing panels (huge) on such a model, we will be going to
load-bearing single struts for each panel.

For what its worth, larger versions of the Rascal design have already
been done privately by individual modelers and in fact two 100" versions
are currently flying up in the Chicago area. Both of these airplanes
are powered by O.S. .70 four-strokes and apparently fly very, very
nicely, according to the reports that we've received.

Again, thanks for your message and also for being a SIG customer. It's
great to hear from you! Keep having fun because that's the whole idea.
Kind Regards,
Scott Christensen
SIG Mfg. Co., Inc.

I don't know....100in Rascal? Doesn't sound appealling. If its an ARF its gonna be real expensive, and how responsive is it gonna be? A 100in Cub is one thing but thats a plane you can have fun scaling out. I think they should stop while they're ahead.

I agree. A 100" Raqscal sounds foolish, but that's just me. Look at all the people flying the Senior Telemaster......Hey, I don't know anybody flying one of those things!

Wiz

Well I guess flying a large graceful bird slow and low doing maneuvers that represent a more realistic plane trips my trigger. I love the gracefulness of the J3 and I think that was SIGs intention when they designed the Rascal 40. If I want to hover something I?ll fly my 231 with a OS 160 or my Something Extra with a Raptor 46. A Rascal with a 110 inch span with a OS 120 4 cycle up front IMO would be a real winner. Later Johnny

I see by a search on Tower and my a memo from Sig at my local Hobby shop the 110 inch Rascal is on. I can't wait....Johnny

I saw it fly, the prototype was flown at a Fly in in St Charles, IL. It will have a $349.00 price tag, or so.

Tower is taking pre orders 399. Scheduled delivery in October.

Here it is Guys,

Delivery in October!!

What a beautiful airplane. I have both the electric and 40 version. I love them both. I will also be buying the 110 version when it arrives. I have been looking for a large CUB but I believe this Rascal will fit the bill.
Johnny

Mike,

Did you have to seal the gap on an electric or 40 Rascal? I just picked up a Blue/White 40 and was looking for what mods may be needed before I began building.

Loyd

I have a Sig Rascal 110 and I'm getting ready to mount a Saito 1.80 four stroke . . . has anybody out there in rc universe had success with this combination? Any comments would be greatly appreciated

I Have a new rascel 40 with a avistar 46 engine that came from sig as a combo.
Took to the feild today and there was no way we could get the engine to run properly in the inverted position .
No matter how we adjusted the lean and rich controls.
However when we held the plane upsidedown with motor in the upright position it just run great. Any one have any suggestions

Never had an Avistar engine. But when I had my Rascal, and other planes with an inverted engine, you have to get the low end setup for it to run right. After you get the low end then you redo the high speed needle. I also used a glow plug with a idle bar.

When I got the inverted engines running I didn't have any more trouble out of them then any of my engines.

Hope you get it going.

Salty
Thank you for your suggestion i will try the glow with the idel bar.
Thanks again for the quick respons

Bob

One of the guys at Esprit model flies one
of these with the AXI 4120/14 and you wouldn't
believe how swift this model flies!!!![X(]

Knife edge is like a non-issue with this plane
and virtually unlimited vertical is effortless.
An elliptical wing not only looks good but
is one of the most efficient and best
flying wing types as already proven by the Supermarine Spitfire.

This exact model is featured on their site. (no I am not affiliated with them but highly recommend them )


[link=http://www.espritmodel.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5477]Axified Sig Rascal .40[/link]