A friend of mine in our club talked to Scott several times over the last couple of years regarding the rascal. That is where the idea of the flaps came from. Scott encouraged us to add flaps. As far as the landing gear goes. After the 3rd or fourth landing I noticed a crack forming along the outside of the fuselage along where the landing gear is mounted. On inspection the large block that the gear screws to was breaking loose. Yes I has 1 hard landing but not horribly hard just harder than it should have been. The gear mount block is significant but the way it is installed gives little support. So I sandwiched some plywood around it and added some triangle balsa and epoxied it up. No further problems. I then added the B&B 3/16 landing gear standoffs and 3/16 music wire and no more bent gear struts. In my opinion the wing strut reinforcement is very important. I have never had one let loose but many including 1 guy in our club has.

You know I am sitting looking at my wing uncovered ready to start covering it and thinking, "I really should replace those wing strut nuts in the wing while it is uncovered". Yes I know it will delay the covering another day. Oh what the heck. Go for it. I will post pics when it is complete.

I didn't get a chance to fly my Rascal 110 all that much last year before the weather got bad. I did add some epoxy fillets on the landing gear blocks and the wing strut hold downs in the fuse but did nothing to the wing strut bolt area on the wing. I did add a 1/4" piece of balsa accross the fuse where the wing bolts on. Seemed a little weak there when I would tighten the wing down. I'll be keeping an eye on the wing struts this coming spring for any signs of weakness.

I coated the flaps and wings with a coat of Coverite Baslarite film this morning and just finished sanding it with 320 grit sandpaper. Man what a difference that stuff makes. The balsa now has a hard surface and is smooth as silk. I am going to do 1 more coat in the morning before church and sand everything in the afternoon then I will start on replacing the wing strut blind nuts on the wing with 3/8 inch hardwood dowels with Stainless steel keenserts installed in them. That should take care of them ever stripping or pulling out. Man is my Rascal De-ARFed or what? Some times it's just hard for me to leave things alone.

I have the wing strut connection points on the wing complete. There is about 1/2 inch of material that consist of the blind nut sandwiched between balsa and plywood. I used a 3/4 inch hardwood dowel to start. I mounted a 8-32 Stainless Steel Keensert in the center line of the dowel. I drilled clearance for the bolt 1 1/2 inches deep in the dowel. I marked center lines on the existing hole and centered the dowel over the marks and marked the outline of the dowel with a pencil. I then used a Dremel tool and opened up the wing inside the mark I made around the dowel. I finished off the hole with the drum sander attachment on the Dremel. I then stuck the dowel, insert end first, into the hole all the way down until it made contact with the top of the wing and marked the dowel. I then cut the dowel off about 1/16" short and sanded the edges on both ends. I screwed a 8-35 x 1" bolt in the insert a few threads. I then mixed up a bit of 15 minute epoxy, Coated the inside of the hole liberally and also put a good dollop on the bottom of the dowel and inserted the dowel into the hole holding the bolt until it bottomed out making sure the dowel was recessed a little. I added a small amount of epoxy to the top of the dowel to fill the small gaps between the dowel and the hole I opened up. About an hour later I filled the recess with faring filler leaving the bolt in place. After an hour or so I will remove the bolt after the filler has set some. Tomorrow I will sand the excess away and add a couple of coats of Balsarite. All done!!!!

So King Arthur, What is that adress I need to ship my wings too for remodeling?

If I were to start doing that then you might have to send it to the nearest cemetary.

Ron,
The wings look great! I did follow your suggestion on adding the hatch below the tank. I don't know how else it could of been done otherwise. And Zippy I think I will follow you r suggestion on adding a spacer under the wing mount also. I can't wait till spring a give the girl a try!

elit95,

I'm with ya on wanting Spring to get here quick. It was pretty warm the other day and I pulled the cover off my Rascal and looked things over and cleaned it up. Kinda felt like I was ready to load it up and head for the flield .

I mounted the wings and checked everything out including the new strut mount points in the wing. All is well. Wings are now in the van along with the flaps ready to go the get covered. I still have much work to do. I am replacing the stock ignition with a CH ignition and upgrading all the electrics to 6.6vdc A123 batteries and dual switches.

You should have came out Sunday Zippi. It was a great day to fly dude.

I just read that Scott Christianson, the designer of the Rascal passed away

To much clean up after the ice storm and I had my grandsons first wrestling match to go to as well.

Ummmmmmm .....Grandson?..... My how the years pass by.

They do go quick don't they Ron .

I had 4 flights on my Rascal Sunday and 4 yesterday. 61 and 5 - 10 winds tomorrow, so I hope to go again. Great fun Ship!! Brian

Ron,
Hows the covering job going? Is it any warmer in AK.? We reciever the muffer today from B&B guess we have to make room to start on the Rascal again!

I have been waiting for 3 weeks for white covering from Sig. The transparent red is done and she sits on the shelf waiting. It was 70+ degrees yesterday. In the 50's today. I am working on my AMR Trainer50 while I wait for the covering. I am quite excited.

FWIW
I had the white and blue covering like on my Rascal on back order with Tower, and I got a note just today saying it is no longer being produced.. Hmmm My back order was canceled.
On another note I did get the floats from Sig for my rascal. Wow!! You talk about huge. All the hardware and twin rudders are included with a book for mounting them on the Rascal. Brian

New cowl.. Just got a new cowl from Fiberglass Specialties. Nice.. A little heavier/stronger than the original. All I need now is some ambition. . Brian

Great looking Rascals Guys / Gals..

I'm hoping one of you can help me out. I been looking for the Amount of Dihedral in degree on the Rascal 110. I found nothing on any page that sales them. Is there any way some one can measure one and post it. In case your wondering, it is for my Vertical Rascal for Real Flight. I can also use a picture of one from dead straight on to set the Dihedral, but it needs to be a level picture in line with the wings indigence.


Here is a icture of one wing with a half rack of ribs in side. Once finished I'll mirror the wings and then rotate them for the dihedral ( it is easier to make the ribs while the wing is flat )


Thanks every one.


Terry
Junkboy999

Hey Everyone,
We just about got ours finished!! My son and I put it on the balancer yesterday and I couldn't believe it. It was almost perfectly balanced..... I've never started that close before. Our major setup is G26E up front with servo's in the tail. Those boy's putting small er 4-stroke must have to really work to get theirs balanced.

Junkboy
I been waiting for someone smarter than me to make a real flight 110 Rascal. What motor are you setting it up with? I will post soon with you answer.......

elit95,

You and your son are going to love the Rascal 110. The G26/EI is the setup I have and I couldn't see this plane with any other engine on the business end for myself. There are many other options out there but I think the G26/EI is a very nice match up. The Rascal 110 has been out for some time now and seems to be gaining popularity so I think Sig needs to re-introduce a new Rascal 110 Version II. What do you guys think ???

Junkboy999,

I only see one thing wrong with the Rascal 110 your setting up. It's the wrong color .

junkboy999,
With my wing on the bench and not on the plane. We drew a string from tip to tip and measure the rise at the exact center of the top. We measured 1.750", now if we would install it on the plane w/ struts because they tend to flex it into more dihedril I would then guess a full 2" then.

let us know if this is not what you want.

OK here is my list for the Rascal 110 vs2.

1. Improve the wing strut mounts IE tapped hardwood blocks in the wing and tubing strut securing the blind nuts in the fuselage.
2. Strengthen the landing gear mount block.
3. Fabricate the landing gear from a high strength material such as T6 or carbon fiber.
4. Add a hatch behind the firewall on the bottom of the fuselage to access ignition systems on gassers.
5. Run the spar webs with the grain running vertical between the spars rather than horizontal. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!
5. Add flaps. Simple flaps would be a big improvement. Fowler flaps would be awesome.

I must say however that I am becoming concerned with the viability of Sig Manufacturing. One of the 1st signs that a company is in trouble, is that products that were at one time easy to get - always in stock - are back ordered for weeks even months.

I have been waiting for white film for over a month and a cowl for 6 months. Both were ordered directly from Sig. It seems unlikely that a company that can't supply basic parts and supplies will go to the trouble of redesigning a already successful plane. I think the improvements will continue to be something the buyers will have to do themselves. I could be wrong but it just seems that way to me. The other option is since we have to deconstruct the plane and rework it including the covering due to the spar web grain issue and modifying the wing structure for the flaps, might as well build a kit. There are some great kit trainers on the market for planes like the [link=http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmart.exe/MainMenuFV4.html?E+Sig]LT-40[/link] from Sig to the [link=http://www.amr-rc.com/index.php?path=content&section=kits&subsection=amr _trainer50&page=amr_trainer50_info]Trainer50[/link] from AMR.