Sagitta 900

[Superman]

I have the Sagitta 600 I bought uncovered from someone and only had to cover it. I love it so much that I am thinking of the 900. What do you guys think of this plane? I would get the glass fuse and I havent built one so whats that like? Oh ya, they call it a "short kit," what is that? Thanks for any advice possible,

-Superman

[Michael Heer]

If you like the Sagitta 600 you will love the 900 as I have had both. I went through 3 Sagitta 900s and 2 of the 600s and found the 900 to be a much better glider and much more responsive to thermal lift then the 600 was. A short kit has some of the parts you need but generally you have to buy more wood and possibly other parts to finish the kit. The plane was labor intensive but going with a fiberglass fuse you will skip all that sanding to shape the fuselage. My last one had a fiberglass fuselage and it was a huge time saver. I destroyed two Sagittas doing F3B zoom launches back in the 80s and the winch I was using was stronger then my wings. Mike Heer

[vario]

i fly a 900 sagitta and i love it!its a lot of work ,mainly sanding!,,very nice flying habits my only complain is the rear pin on the flying stab,it always get wobbly,,never seems to bother the flying but i just dont like the flimzy feel on the tail sections

,,,vario

[Ollie]

The stab pivot develops wobble because the surounding wood isn't strong enough to resist the bearing loads. There are at least three possible solutions.

One is to retrofit 3/32 birch ply cheek ribs to the sides of the fin.

Another is to remove the pivot wire and drill out the hole to about 1/4 inch diameter. Then fit 1/8, 5/32, 3/16, 7/32 and 1/4 inch diameter nesting KS brass tubing cut to lengths to match the thickness of the fin. The tubing can be CA'd together and CA'd into the fin.

The third way is to cut a shallow cone shaped depressions in the fin, around the pivot wire on each side of the fin. The depression should be about 3/8 inch in diameter and at least 1/16 inch deep. Hold the fuselage on its side and pour thick CA into the depression to fill it. Hold the pivot wire perpendicular to the fin while the CA hardens. Then turn the fuselage on its other side and do the same thing to the other side of the fin. You will end up with two hard CA washers on the sides of the fin to distribute the bearing loads from the pivot wire to the wood of the fin.

[Superman]

I was going to get the fiberglass fuse anyway.

[vario]

thanks for the tips ,ollie,i think i may resort to drilling out the 1/8 tube and stepping it up like you mentioned to the 1/4 inch but for now what i have done is pinch a few o-rings in between the stabs and fin,i can compress the rubber a bit to keep tension pushing out on the stabs to tighten or remove the wobble,works pretty good really!
i believe the wobble [if not to extreme] is only a problem during ground handling and the 0-rings sure are a quick fix,,thanks again

,,vario

[gouda]

watch the weight. It can get heavy in a hurry. But now with smaller sevos etc, you have a bit more control of that. My 900 was a REAS plane that was a blast to fly. Especially on the slopes. RCM had a construction article many years ago about converting the poly wing to a flat wing with ailerions. I followed that. I finally blew a wing off in a high G turn and it went in from about 600 feet. The wood fuse survived with hardly a dent.
I wish there was a full kit still available.
Does anyone know who is making the glass fuse?

[RRD]

Dream Catcher Hobbies has fiberglass fuses.

http://www.dchobby.com/fuselages/

Bob