RC Floater G-110 (oz12121)

About this Plan

Jasco RC Floater G-110. Radio control glider model. Wingspan 110 in.

Quote: "Designed to be your first large R/C soaring glider. Aerodynamically forgiving free flight characteristics. Simply release controls in case of confusion, and the Floater will resume stable flight.

Fuselage: All plywood. Easily built. Will serve you through spot-landing practice with no lost time for repairs.

Wing: Two-section, with 3/16 wire joiners. All spars are spruce, designed for cantilever stress. Will flex but not break under high loads.

Notes: Room for largest 'unitized' R/C. Performs smartly with .09 power pod. 2 oz balance weight and adjustable tow hook included.

Flat Bottom 6409 airfoil. Wing loading 7.3 oz/sq ft. Weight less R/C 38 oz."

Note photo of completed RC Floater G-100 by John Cole was found online at https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2522259-Jasco-Floater-g-110-rehab/page3 - which is a good build/refurb thread with lots more pics and useful.

Note this is a big plan, spread over 5 sheets and includes lots of instructions and options. Optional power pod is shown. Two different tailplane designs, also three different wingspan versions are shown, at 88, 99 and 110 inches.

Note this plan includes the 3 RC wings: G-110F, G-99F, G-88F (the F designates flat-bottom). For RC wings G-88, G-99, see G-88 G-99 Wing (oz12965)

Update 3/8/2022: Added 3x supplement files: Cost Flyer, Ballast Box Addendum, Modifications Sheet, thanks to Mike McIntyre.

Quote: "Hello Steve, I was able to get the prototype kit from Frank Zaic years ago when he was taking orders at the Detroit soaring contest back in 1973(?). At the time it was Chicago SOAR club and The Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking club's contest call the dual meets. They would fly at our field in Chicago and we (SOAR) would fly at their field. SOAR's contest was in the spring (June), GDSH held theirs in the fall (Aug.) There at the GDSH I saw almost all of the Detroit members with the Zaic floater planes. At that contest I was able to order a pre-production Floater kit from Frank Zaic and paid my $30.00.

Anyway, attached are 3 supplement scans:
(1) The original flyer that was in the box, of Frank apologizing that the kits will be more money than originally he thought it was going to be.
(2) is an addendum about a miscommunication to the company that was die-pressing the kit, showing the wrong placement of the cut-outs through the plywood for the ballast box.
(3) is a modification sheet that Frank Zaic mailed out to people who purchased kits from him, about changes people made to improve the floater plane.Thanks, Mike McIntyre"

Update 3/6/2024: Added kit review from Model Builder, December 1973, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Products In Use: Jasco Floater RC Sailplane, by Jimmy Lee Jones.

The fact that my fourteen year old son, Mark, and I are avid R/C Sailplane enthusiasts is well known to anyone visiting the Dallas-Fort Worth area. My love for this phase of modeling dates back to 1951 when I lost a jasco Thermic C towline glider in a thermal. This was my first rising air experience, and the little Thermic C disappearing directly overhead after a 21 minute flight was a thrill I shall never forget.

This was not the first Frank Zaic kit I constructed, nor the last, but the thing I have never forgotten is that Frank's ships always flew and were second to none in engineering. Frank's latest R/C Sailplane kit the Floater 110 is no exception.

Frank mailed the prototype kit to me this summer and, due to pressing business obligations, I asked Mark to build the kit. He had absolutely no difficulty building the ship and it flew right off the board.

The fuselage is constructed almost entirely of 1/16 inch plywood and is of the pod and boom design. This may turn some of the scale sailplane buffs off, but the design is clean and quite pretty in the air. It is very light, immensely strong, and easy to build due to Frank's engineering and well-detailed plans.

The fuselage is intended to be used with wings from 88 through 130 inch span without any change in rudder or elevator area. Mark constructed the 110 inch wing in this instance and it turned out to be a perfect combination for thermal or light slope lift flying.

The boom is constructed of 1/4 inch square spruce and 1/16 inch plywood with Golden Rods or Nyrods run through the boom to operate the control surfaces, which are of conventional construction. Any of the small servo or brick radio systems will fit in the pod with room to spare.

The wing airfoil is a flat bottomed 6409 and penetrates well, with almost the same lift as the undercambered version. The spars are solid spruce and exhibit amazing flexibility. The general construction is identical to Frank's earlier G-99 and Thermic 100 wing kits, but is faster in that the main spars are not constructed of balsa and spruce laminations.

Don't worry about high wing flex on strong launches - these wings will take it! Also, they are not short on performance as they enabled me to complete my LSF level IV requirements with a 71 minute thermal flight on a less than ideal day. PS: Mark won first place today in a local fifteen minute precision-duration event (Task IIA) with a perfect score of 1200 points, so we can also recommend the Floater 110 as a good competition sailplane."

Supplementary file notes

Ballast Box Addendum.
Cost Flyer.
Modifications Sheet.
Review.

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