Sagitta 600 Tailplane Construction

[Allan Glover]

Hi Guys,

Last Saturday at the ( excellent) Calgary swap meet I aquired a pair of Sagitta 600 wings & also a set of plans. I now want to start building this model. I believe it is a classic & still will be a great flyer.

I am seeking advice & assistance is over the stabilizer design & construction.

From the plans it seems to be free floating or some sort of pivot mechanism. I just can not see how to build this without the stab flopping from side to side.

I can not understand what gives the stab side ways support as I have never seen one built.

CAN ANYONE GUIDE ME ?

Can anyone explain how this is intendeed to work or even send me photos or a copy of the building instructions.

Regards

Allan Glover

[Ollie]

There are two brass tubes sandwched between the top and bottom sheeting of each stab half. The rear most tubes are 3/32 ID. The foremost tubes are 1/16 ID. The stab halves are joined by two pieces of music wire which extend throught the fin. The stabs pivot on the rearmost 3/32 inch diameter music wire joiner. The foremost music wire joiner extends through a short arc shaped slot in the fin that allows the stab to pivot. The rearmost MW joiner is supported by a brass pivot tube bearing in the fin. The fin is equipped with two cheek ribs that also support the brass beraing tube on either side of the fin. These cheek ribs are an essential part of the support for the bearing tube in the fin and keep it from wobbling. these cheek ribs should be made from very hard balsa or 1/8 lite ply to adequately support the pivot tube.The alignment of the bearing tube in the fin is critical to the alignment of the stab to the rest of the model. The foremost MW joiner engages a solder lug with a 1/16 inch diameter hole in it. The solder lug is soldered to the end of the elevator drive cable.

The stab halves should be built simultaneously over the plans. The brass tubes should be crimped at one end and assembled to their MW joiners before the brass tubes are glued into the stab assemblies. this ensures that the tubes will be aligned so that the stab halves will be aligned well enough with their joiners. Wax the music wire joiners to prevent any stray glue from gluing the joiners to the tubes. Do not use CA which might glue the joiners in any way. Use only epoxy in the vicinity of the joiner tubes.

[Allan Glover]

Thanks Ollie,

That was very helpful. I will be building it next after I have built a GP Spirit for our club contest in the spring.

I must say it all sounds a little fragile. Did you find it damaged easilly when landing hard ?

Also, how was the Sagitta to fly ? I am still learning & have much to learn.

Regards

Allan

[Ollie]

About 15 years ago, or so,Brian Agnew won first place in both 2-meter class and unlimited class at the Nationals, flying a Saggita 600.

The question isn't so much how the plane flies but how the pilot flies the plane. Every plane looks good going up in a thermal. Brian usually knew where the thermals were before he launched and when he got in one he used it efficiently. His planes were always carefully adjusted to be sensitive to thermal indications. He adjusted his planes so close to the edge of instability that other lesser pilots hat trouble flying them but Brian flew them like they were on rails. He made any plane that he flew look good. He practised with his planes more than other pilots so that he knew each plane's characteristics better than anyone else.

My conclusion is that the pilot is far more important than the plane.

How accurately you build the Saggita 600, particularly the wing leading edge contour, will have a lot to do with how well it performs. How well the plane is adjusted to your flying skills will have a lot to do with how well you fly it.

[aeajr]

I have a Spirit 2M and a Sagitta 600.

The Sagitta really flies well, but flies much faster than the Spirit.

The flying stab is a friction fit on the rods. On a hard landing, I find I have to tighten 'em up a little but have never had a problem in the air.

[paulcarnes]

My LHS has a Sagitta 600 kit on the shelf marked down to $99.95. That seems very steep for a 2m kit.

[aeajr]

Here is my Sagitta 600

[aeajr]

Here you can see the electronics layout. These are GWS mini servos for R/E and an HS-81 for the spoilers

[Allan Glover]

Hey Great,

Thanks for the detail

I hope to see you guys in Calgary soon ?

Big Skys & no replies...... You will enjoy it. Try Stampede time !!!!

Cheers, Yeh Haaaaaa

Allan

[aeajr]

BTW, those are GWS mini servos and the spoilers have an HS-81. I happen t have hte GWS minis, or I would have done HS-81s all around.

[Allan Glover]

Great Photos.

Do you have any close ups of the tail plane set up ?

Regards

Allan

[Leif]

Hey all, I am currently building a Sagitta 600 with Ailerons. I am a little confused by the building instructions..... When building the model with ailerons am I meant to have the angle between the centre panel and the wing tip or not? It looks like the instructions state for the wing to be flat in the event of wanting to build with the ailerons and to have the angle if building without... Am I right in assuming this? Will it make a massive difference to the flight characteristics of the model if the wing is straight????
Look forward to hearing from you all soon,

Leif

[Ercoupe Ed]

Hi Lief,
If you put ailerons on it, you can actaully have no angle between the center panel and end panels,( but should have some dihhedral i n the wing, but if you lower the angle between the end panels and the center panel by about half of what the plans call for , it should fly fine.
The Sprit 100 had an option for ailerons or just polyhedral panels and it still uses some polyhedral with ailereons.
Without ailerons, the greater polyhedral angle gives a bit more stability in the turns.
I just watched a Sagitta 600 sell for 155 dollras on Ebay.
I have the plans to one, and also have two unfinished Sagitta 900 kits I am building soon.
It is a good flying airplane but quick, so you have to always stay just a bit ahead of it mentally.
Happy flying!

Ed

[fly1milehi]

Allen and Leif,

Heres a good thread on Sagitta building in general. Many photos, discussion pro and con on ailerons etc..

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3291115#post3291115

Greg

[Leif]

thanks for the tips, I am building the origional Airtronics kit and have decided to go with no angle between the centre and tip panels... This will be my first RC sail plane (picked up the kit for abut 20 dollars). I am going to try to build the kit with the inncluded hardware and see how it goes. will let you all know how I get on.....

[aeajr]

I am "tuning up my 600". Anyone know what the CG is supposed to be?

[Leif]

mine is at 38% of the root chord and flies great...

[Bax]

My LHS has a Sagitta 600 kit on the shelf marked down to $99.95. That seems very steep for a 2m kit.


If it's the Airtronics kit, BUY IT! That's not steep for a vintage kit of excellent quality, both as a kit and as a glider. They're going for more than that on the online auction sites.