Super Sport V (oz14346)

About this Plan

Super Sport V. Radio control slope soarer model. Wingspan 60-3/8 in, wing area 309 sq in.

Quote: "Here's a Super Slope Soarer That's a Great Flier in Light or Heavy Lift! Super Sport, by Mike Ward.

In 1980, I began building and flying R/C model aircraft, I was living in Omaha, Nebraska at the time. I started flying with a Carl Goldberg Gentle Lady (oz2359) with a .049 engine mounted on a wing pylon. I did this because out there, in all the grain fields, there was always a place to fly.

Since this beginning, I have built many different types of R/C gliders. I'm now 38 years old, living in Southern California, and have settled into flying slope gliders, or flying gliders off the slope. I'm a desk jockey at an air conditioning company, supplying customers with replacement parts, and flying slope gets me off my rear and climbing. The exercise is great, and the views are fantastic! In my opinion, it's the best flying experience you can have.

I guess I became jaded and wanted my own creation, so I acquired the following books: Model Aircraft Design by Martin Simons, the 1938 Model Aeronautics Yearbook and The Model Glider Design by Frank Zaic.

Reading these books opened my eyes to slow-flying model aircraft. When I was reading the Zaic books people would often ask: Why read books published in 1938 and 1944 to design a new model glider? My answer to them was that if you know and understand where you have been, you will have a better idea of where you are going and, hopefully, you won't make the same mistakes that have occurred in the past. Also, by studying Model Aircraft Aeronautics, and by reading the articles published in RCM, I was kept up-to-date on current model aircraft flying philosophy.

So, with my 13 years of experience in building and flying, and the knowledge gained through whatever I had been able to read, I went to work.

I fly slope gliders all of the time now. Over the years, I've noticed that with slope flying you can use a floater (like a Gentle Lady) or you can fly the slope racers. You have two choices of flying: slow or fast. I felt the need for an 'in-between' glider, something faster than a floater, something a little slower than a slope racer.

The construction had to be as simple and straight-forward as possible, I hate over-built model aircraft and this model had to be built of balsa, spruce, and plywood, without any exotic building techniques.

After pages of calculations, many, many drawings, and four different variations, she is ready to share with all of my fellow RC'ers. She is called Super Sport Mark V and has a 60-1/2 in single taper wing. It is a low wing design and utilizes built-up balsa, spruce, and plywood construction.

Flying weight is 16 to 18 oz, plus up to 8 oz of ballast to aid in high wind conditions. You trim the bird to be nose heavy and add the ballast at the airplane's Center of Gravity, not the other way around.

Construction: Fuselage: (1) Cut fuselage sides from 3/32 balsa sheet. Cut 1/16 plywood doublers. Cut 3/8 triangle longerons with a razor saw, every 1/2, about 2/3 the way through, the first 7 in of each longeron. Remember that you are making a left and right side. (2) Glue and pin 3/8 triangle longerons into place, as noted on plan. (3) Epoxy 1/16 plywood fuselage doublers into place. (4) Glue 3/8 triangle balsa, and 1/8 sq balsa bulkhead supports, as noted on plans. (5) Cut and assemble bulkheads..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Scan by MarkD, cleanup by Circlip.

Supplementary file notes

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