Jetco Sabre Stunt

[Dennis Leonhardi]

The Jetco Sabre Stunt has fascinated me since the kit came out.  Designer Jose Sadurni flew it to 2nd place in Open Stunt at the Nats in 1955, about the time I might have first entered a contest.  OK, it dates me.

Randy Ryan did a beautiful job on his; has anyone else here built one?  Construction looks pretty straight-forward, but the (round) fuselage top is covered with balsa strips, similar to many of the Berkeley kits.  Seems to me that's not a great way to cover that area ...

Dennis

[Dan McEntee]

  My flying buddy Mark Hughes built one years ago for the first VSC that he attended. His was from a kit and every attempt was made to keep the model light. His flew fairly well and he did OK with it, as he was more or less an intermediate to Advanced class flyer at that time, just getting started with the full pattern. It's got a pretty thing airfoil and needs to be light and flown fast. There was another model, maybe two others, done at that time and that were similar, one was the Wicked Witch or something like that, and it has a better wing, and I always wondered if the Jetco kit was the same airplane but reworked to fit in a tight box as was the custom back than?? I'll have to get the Pampa Tom Morris book of Classic designs out and research that.

   An addendum to the Mark Hughes story, he went back to VSC a couple of times with me, and eventually finished third in Classic with a model of a derivative of the Shark 45 that Jerry McMillin flew back in 1968 against some really heavy hitters in their prime!! This was early 1990's I think. At the time of the Sabre Stunt, Mark had called me on the phone after getting my phone number from the hobby shop I worked part time at, and asked me how to set the needle of his Fox.35. I filled him in, he asked me to hold on for a second, and then I heard the engine running!! It was used on a profile Tutor to learn the basics, plus one other Shoestring Stunter that he bought from someone, and the Sabre Stunt was only his 3rd or 4th model by that time!! The great finish at VSC was only a couple of years after that!! It was like three years and 6 models from the time that he called me about setting the needle to the 3rd place at VSC!!  The guy is a natural!!

  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Steve Helmick]

Burnaby, British Columbia speed flier Chris Sackett ("Partner") built one and flew it at an early NW CL Regionals at Sand Point NAS in the early to middle 1960's. I remember it as being gold painted. Not sure if that was because of the CAF Snowbirds show team or what. I don't recall if it had maple leaves on the wing or not, but it was 2 line and not monoline.    Steve

[fred cesquim]

The Jetco Sabre Stunt has fascinated me since the kit came out.  Designer Jose Sadurni flew it to 2nd place in Open Stunt at the Nats in 1955, about the time I might have first entered a contest.  OK, it dates me.

Randy Ryan did a beautiful job on his; has anyone else here built one?  Construction looks pretty straight-forward, but the (round) fuselage top is covered with balsa strips, similar to many of the Berkeley kits.  Seems to me that's not a great way to cover that area ...

Dennis

just got this kit, i donīt expect much on the flying department but the plane looks different for sure
with panel lines and a striking scale paint (plenty of Sabres to choose) will do the trick
as for the top covering, itīs called planking and itīs very strong and light, and makes wonders on well rounded surfaces
once you try you want to use it on every opportunity

[wwwarbird]

just got this kit, i donīt expect much on the flying department but the plane looks different for sure
with panel lines and a striking scale paint (plenty of Sabres to choose) will do the trick
as for the top covering, itīs called planking and itīs very strong and light, and makes wonders on well rounded surfaces
once you try you want to use it on every opportunity

 Keep us posted on your build Fred, can't wait to see it! I've got a NIB one on my shelf. 

[Robert Whitley]

For Steve:
If it was painted gold it was for the Royal Canadian Golden Hawks team who flew Canadair Sabres predating the Snowbirds by a decade.
They were an incredible team!

[Dave Hull]

I built one from a beat up kit when I was in Jr. High School. The usual things about a Jetco kit applied. A dozen diecut pieces instead of a single block, fuse sides joined with finger joints, iron wire instead of music wire, luan 3-ply instead of birch, etc. Today, I would mold the top and bottom instead of using the strip planking. The planking on mine came as rectangular strips, not the radius-and-cove strip that Berkeley used. That means you have to individually taper each strip or else you have an endless task of filling v-grooves---kind of like caulking a wooden boat.

I always wanted to build--and finish--a modern version of the SabreStunt. Maybe that'll happen some day. Maybe.

[Paul Smith]

I built a Jetco kit as a teenager with no problem.  Assembly was not too hard.

The downside was that the small wing area and thin airfoil made for wide turning and landings too fast for the grass field.

[doug coursey]

THERES ONE FOR SALE ON RC GROUPS CLASSIFIEDS...A JETCO KIT    https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?4595065-Control-Line-Kits   AND AN RSM TBIRD 2

[wwwarbird]

 If I ever get around to building mine it'll get some mods, primarily a bit thicker airfoil and a couple inch or so tail moment stretch. It'll fly better and look more like a Sabre. 

[fred cesquim]

I built a Jetco kit as a teenager with no problem.  Assembly was not too hard.

The downside was that the small wing area and thin airfoil made for wide turning and landings too fast for the grass field.

looks like iīll be selling my kit...too much effort for a bad flyer...
i got to focus on less models with better flight capability

[Scott Richlen]

I've got a like new in box but it will probably build up too heavy.