Super Sportster 40 (oz2633)

About this Plan

Super Sportster 40. RC sport model. Discontinued kit from Great Planes.

Quote: "The Super Sportster was designed for the sport flier. The Sportster is fast, stable and aerobatic. It has good looks, good performance and stability at low speeds. For the creative builders it can be detailed to resemble a warbird, Formula 1 racer or a CAP 21 type aerobatic ship. Materials are included for both trike gear and conventional gear (taildragger) to help you create your own Sportster.

The parts are machine cut and sanded for accurate fit. Some parts are razor cut in the 20 size for accuracy. Should you notice a difference in size between plans and parts, it is usually because paper plans change size with moisture Most of the parts are self aligning and do not require building over the plans except where specified..."

Update 27/04/2016: Added Instruction Book/ Build Manual for the Super Sportster 20, 40 and 66, thanks to spitfireflyby.

Update 24/04/2018: Added kit review from Flying Models, December 1983, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "FM Product Review: Great Planes' Super Sportster 40. By Joel Rindler. A sleek, sporty, speedster for 40 size mills with conventional or trike gear option.

How do you spell excitement? I spell it S-u-p-e-r S-p-o-r-t-s-t-e-r 40, as in the Great Planes Super Sportster 40. I just got back from a test flying/picture taking session for my new Super Sportster and I still feel the excitement tingling in my bod. Give me a minute or two of your time and let me tell you about it.

To start out, we picked a test pilot's dream of a day. Sunny, clear blue sky, temperature in the low 80's, low humidity, light breeze out of the northwest, fantastic! Bert Dees, test pilot extrodinaire, and I went to our propeller eating field in the middle of this made-to-order afternoon for 3-1/2 hours of uninterrupted flying. Bert gave the Super Sportster a complete pre-flight check-up and pronounced it sound and ready to go. The Super Sportster was taxied out, tracked straight down the middle of our grass (ha!) runway and headed skyward. After Bert made some minor trim adjustments the Super Sportster 40 flew like it was on rails. Take-offs required no special attention, even though I built the conventional gear version and slow, steady landings were equally uneventful.

As for what happened in between those take-offs and landings, well, that's where the excitement came in. This baby does it all and does it with class. Inside and outside loops, rolls, Immelmann's, split S', Cuban Eights, inverted flight, knife-edge, you name it - Bert played it on the Super Sportster. And when my turn at the sticks came I took full advantage of the opportunity.

You get a solid, secure feeling when flying this plane, I actually did three successive rolls without the last one looking like a bagel. I am also very impressed by the brand new HB 40 PDP which I used in the Super Sportster. It is a beast for sheer power and it has an idle that would be the envy of a Swiss watchmaker. Its performance has been superb.

The Super Sportster 40 is an ideal sport flyer's model, offering pattern-like performance combined with rock steady flight, and, to top it off, looks like a million bucks. It requires a four channel radio and a .40 size engine. It has a 56 inch wingspan with 550 square inches of wing area. My Super Sportster weighed in at 82 ounces for a wing loading of 21.5 ounces per square foot. If you have a few more minutes, I'll tell you how it built.

Generally speaking this plane should be built by someone with some building experience, which is fine since it should be flown by someone with some flying experience as well. You could probably put this kit together 'quick and dirty', but don't, it's too good and deserves better treatment. If you're in a rush to get into the air pick up an ARP at your local dealer. However, if you build this one with care you'll be rewarded with one of the best looking, best flying planes at the field. The cyanoacrylates will help you to get the job done fast enough.

The tail section is sheet balsa and goes together in a routine manner. The only things worth commenting on here are, first the fact that the empennage is made up of full 1/4 inch stock which I find preferable to the 3/16 inch stock found in some kits of this size..."

Update 11/03/2019: Added PDFvector plan tracing, also dxf CAD file, thanks to AlanSinclair.

Update 27/04/2020: Added kit review from MAN December 1982, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Instruction Book/ Build Manual.
PDFvector plan tracing, 2 pages (inc parts).
Reviews.

CAD file

This plan is available for download in CAD format.

Corrections?

Did we get something wrong with these details about this plan (especially the datafile)? That happens sometimes. You can help us fix it.
Add a correction