Sport Air 40 (oz13147)

About this Plan

Sport Air 40. Radio control sport model. Wingspan 58 in, wing area 625 sq in, for 40 power and 4 channels.

As requested on the Wanted page.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "Hello. I'm sending you the plans for the Northeast Aerodynamics Sport Aire. I built two of them and it was a plane that I loved to fly. The first one I powered with a K&B.40 8011 and the second one with an OS .45 FRS both of them flew very well and I enjoyed flying them. Landings were real nice if properly balanced. Is too bad that kits are not available anymore. I even built a 1/2a version powered with a Cox TeeDee with a Tarno carb it had 4 channels and it also was a nice flier. I'm sending some pics with the plan [main pic, 003-005]. I had it scanned and I'm sending you a PDF of the fuse and wing. I modified mine enclosing the engine area and faired to a Goldberg spinner and using 1/4 inch balsa for the fuse top. Radio was a Kraft 7 ch. I painted it with K&B superpoxy. Yours, Juan Valentin."

Update 08/07/2021: Added kit review from RCM, January 1982, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "RCM Product Review: Northeast Aerodynamics Sport-Air 40.

With its clean lines and close resemblance to several of the light aircraft, such as the Piper Cherokee, the Sport-Air .40 by Northeast Aerodynamics of 568 Main St., Haverhill, MA 01830, is one of the better looking entries into the .40 size market.

According to the product releases it is a guick building, rugged airplane with full aerobatic capabilities while still being easy to handle. When you add to this the fact that it is designed to perform with a non-schnuerle engine it makes quite a package in one airplane. At 625 square inches of wing area it is also one of the largest in its class.

The Sport-Air is of all balsa construction with just a few plywood parts and has such niceties as fuselage sides that are notched for the bulkheads, 3/16 main gear, and machine cut parts. It all comes packaged in a 44 x 9 x 3-1/2 in box.

Opening the kit is somewhat of a surprise, there is a lot of extra space filled with crumpled paper. There is a reason for the empty space, all of the parts are pre-cut and shaped. The small wood parts are neatly bagged to keep them from getting lost. A hardware package is also included and contains the control horns, hinges, nose gear block, gear legs, and just about everything else that is needed.

Construction: A very complete 25 page instruction book provides step-by-step information on building the Sport-Air and the numerous pictures cover any part that is even faintly tricky. The actual building is done on the two plan sheets, each 24 x 48 in. This is a convenient size to work with and will fit virtually any building board. Overall, the wood quality is very good, one piece of aileron stock had a couple of soft spots but even this was of above average quality. We checked a couple of Sport-Air kits in a local hobby shop and all were at least as good if not better than the one we received. It is nice to know that the kit we are testing is typical and not specially selected.

The wing is designed for strength and has sheer web between the spars and also between the trailing edge sheeting. The result is a very strong structure but without any major weight increase. There is a choice when it comes to building the wing, the ribs are drilled for use with a wing jig if desired but the semi-symmetrical airfoil is flat on the bottom from the spar to the trailing edge for ease in building on the plans. We elected to build on the plans, and pinned all the sheeting and cap strips in place. Just be sure to mark the rib locations since the center section sheet will cover the plans.

Once the lower sheeting is in place the ribs, spars and other parts are glued down. The parts fit is excellent and it all goes together beautifully. We've gotten used to the instant gratification of the cyanoacrylate glues and used Satellite City's Hot Stuff and Hot Stuff Super T for almost everything..."

Supplementary file notes

Review.

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