I have just aquired a Sagitta XC short kit. From what I have seen online, there a few things that need to be improved. Bob Sealy is making me a stretch glass fuse. So that will take care of the fuse lengthening and the elimination of the balanced rudder. As for the stab, has anyone tried using a build similar to Ken Bates Merlyn, which is essentially a giant Aquila stab? I know there is suggestions for the SD8020, but unfortunately I no longer have the equipment to cut foam cores. Any other suggestion for modifying the stab?

I opted Not to go with airfoil type stabs and built them stock balsa flat and they work great!!! Done in transparent red so the sun can shine through
...I did however lengthen the fuse by 6" and Not do the counter balance rudder. Jack

Beautiful plane Jack. Do you use this for XC work also or mostly slope

I've only flown the XC on the slope at Sunset Beach. I saw one here in the late 80's built and flown by Steve Hendricks the guy who invented the flying seagull... Steve came out and flew his Sagitta XC a couple of times at Sunset Beach. When I saw it, It was love at first sight....His was done in solid opaque yellow monokote. I knew I had to have one someday. A couple of months went by and I asked Steve; Wheres the Sagitta? He said; "I was flying it over in San Jose Ca. in the foothills there, when I caught a big thermal rising off of Silicon Valley. Within a few minutes it specked out. I deployed the spoilers and nothing seem to happen.....I then added a small amount of down elevator and thats when I saw little pieces coming off the sailplane, before I knew it the sky was raining yellow. I only found the left wing tip." Fast forward to 2006 I bought a Sagitta XC kit off of E-Bay and by 2011 I finally finished it and thats the one you see in the pictures today...Jack

They do have beautiful lines to them. You can still find short kits for them online and Bob Sealy is still making glass fuses. Hopefully, he should have mine ready within the next couple of days. Maybe my salvation will be I am getting older and my eyesight is not like it was when I was 20 so specking out for me may not be that high. That is one of the reasons I fly the larger gliders. So much easier to see in the sky. Those 2 meters have a habit of disappearing to fast.

When Jack Hiner of the SOAR club was campaigning an XC for the Great Race, he built-up stabs using the NACA0009 profile ... worked splendidly!

I have a spare old built up Sagitta XC stab looking for a home. If you pay for shipping from San Diego its yours.
Gary

Gary, is it stock or modified?

PM sent