Soprano????

[amd123]

Is anyone flying the Soprano RES from Isthmus Models???? I really like the looks but would like a flight report before ordering one. If you have flown or have seen one of these RES ships could you please post your observations.

Thanks,

Alan Dolley

[Ib Jensen]

Mark Miller of Isthmus Models was flying his Soprano at our club contest last weekend. I did not see the model fly since the day was so good I didn't come down except to do spot landings. I did get a chance to look at the detail work of the wings and was impressed by the quality of construction. Like most open construction ships coming out of East Europe the ribs are all carbon capped and the spar is well wrapped with kevlar thread. The "D" tube is the Carbon/Kevlar weave that is all the rage but I have never had one constructed that way.

Not much help with how it flies but I hink it is of quality construction.

Ib

[evan]

Is anyone flying the Soprano RES from Isthmus Models???? I really like the looks but would like a flight report before ordering one. If you have flown or have seen one of these RES ships could you please post your observations.

Thanks,

Alan Dolley


I've seen Mark Miller fly it at a recent contest/LSF event and it seemed to be an excellent plane. It has the Mark Drela series of airfoils like the AVA and Thermal Monster. The quality of the plane seemed to be excellent and i'm sure you'll love flying it. I have only flown the Thermal Monster (might also be the same plane as the Soprano or Ukrainian Buzzard, as they look identical in my unsophisticated eyes) and could say that it is an incredible flying plane. PM me if you need more specific information.

Evan

[Mark Miller]

Currently there are only two Soprano's that have flown. I have flown mine a lot and Bob Johnson has flown his. Bob is widely known as the father od RES seeing as the rules adopted by AMA are basically what he came up with. His comment to me was that it will be the next RES contest ship to have.

It does not have Drela airfiols. It is a MH-32 which is commonly seen on most modern high performance sailplanes these days. It is not even close to an AVA or Ukranian Buzzard. Those two are more closely related to each other being pod and boom with Drela airfoils. The Soprano is the only RES design that uses the Ukranian constructed wing with a conventional fuselage. It is in my mind a more robust system than the pod and boom with V tail mount.

The Soprano has a Kevlar fuselage with carbon reinforcement with a Kevlar nosecone. The horizontal stabilizer is constructed in the same way as the wing. Carbon cap strip spar, balsa shear webs, wrapped with Kevlar thread using a carbon/Kevlar hybrid molded D-tube. The rudder is molded with the vertical stab and uses a skin hinging system for a perfect gap seal. It has a molded carbon center mount spoiler that makes it drop out of the sky under perfect control.

It comes in at 48 oz. ready to fly but has provision for about a pound and a half of ballast. I find it to be a RES plane you can launch like an Unlimited sailplane. With the MH-32 airfoil I find it to penetrate well and flies efficiently. I am impressed with what I see. I have an large order in for more. They are scheduled to arrive in 2 months. If you want to have your choice of colors contact me so I can order your color combination. If you are looking for a serious RES contest tool or a great flying sport sailplane, this is the model for you.

Mark Miller

[evan]

"It does not have Drela airfiols. It is a MH-32 which is commonly seen on most modern high performance sailplanes these days. It is not even close to an AVA or Ukranian Buzzard."

:o Shows you what I know :)

[ejett]

Ok den, what about the Hobby Club "Danny" 3.2m? Anybody flown one of those?

EJ

[nuevo]

From the specs seen here Danny RES (http://www.hobbyclub.com/Danny-RES.htm), it appears to be another Bubble Dancer/Ava knock off. Even the price ;)

I sure wish I had built a B.D. three years ago. :o

[Michael Heer]

A couple members of my club have recently obtained Sopranos and they appear to be great flyers. The one central spoiler seems to do a very nice job of slowing down the plane. They have only recently obtained these sailplanes and are practicing hard to take them to Arizona for the big contest in early February. I expect them to do well based on what I have seen in practice. Moderator Mike

[Mark Miller]

Just yesterday I got in another order of Sopranos. Get em while they last. They are going quick. I also have electric versions in stock.

Mark

[Mark Miller]

Some Soprano pictures....

Mark

[ejett]

Mark:

What is the typical AUW of the Soprano?

It appears to have significantly less dihedral than the Bubble Dancer/AVA/etc. I know you had a Ukrainian Buzzard. Have you had a chance to fly the Soprano and one of the others side by side in the same conditions. If so, what are the differences?

I have to admit, I like the full fuse configuration of the Soprano. They are nice looking ships. I am a little concerned that there might not be enough dihedral in the wing setup.

Your feedback is appreciated.

EJ

[Mark Miller]

Ed,

The pictures are of the first two prototypes. They did seem to the eye that they had lower dihedral that what we are normally seeing. They flew well as they were. I did make changes to the wing in the next run of ships where we left the dihedral where the tip plugs in the same but doubled it at the poly break. We also shortened the center panel by a bay and added it into the inner section of the tip. I have not had a chance to fly one yet but have sold quite a few in this configuration. That is one of the disadvantages of living int he north in winter. You loose testing time. AUW is about 48 oz. as mentioned above. Compared to the Ukranian Buzzard I find them to be a more agressive plane to fly and launch. They can launch hard and high and they will penetrate better being there is a higher wing loading. Most folks fly the Buzzard/AVA'a a bit to slow from what I see and don't find the sweet spot which is a bit faster. I have seen many of them mush out of the sky simply because folks are flying to slow.

I find this conventional fuselage to be more durable and more tolerant of mistakes. BTW...the fuselage is a Kevlar aft section with some carbon, while the front is glass and the nosecone is Kevlar. I think it is going to be a great contest ship in RES and a good all around sailplane to fly for fun.

Mark

[BrianSmith]

Hey is that you?? I saw you at the Nats..I was flying an Ava in RES..Brian Smith
Nice looking ships by the way...

[Mark Miller]

That's my ugly mug. The other fellow I am sure you know too, Bob Johnson.

Mark

[Soar_dude]

"It does not have Drela airfiols. It is a MH-32 which is commonly seen on most modern high performance sailplanes these days. It is not even close to an AVA or Ukranian Buzzard."

:o Shows you what I know :)

I thought the MH-32 was most efficient for flapped designs? Why use it on a RES?

Soar Dude

[Mark Miller]

Mike,

I hear Benard won the last club contest with his Soprano. It only had some hand toss test flights before that.

Mark

[Mark Miller]

The MH 32 was designd for F5D pylon racers. Folks have found it to be an excellent sailplane airfoil as well. Since you spend most of your time flying a flapped sailplane with the flaps in the neuteral position then it will in effect be the same as an unflapped version of the airfoil. The efficiency does not change depending on if it has flaps or not. I think you are thinking from the wrong side here. It is a good airfoil that happens to respond well to camber. I chose it because it works well on this sailplane.

Mark

[Soar_dude]

Ok I see now This was all the craze a few years back with new airfoils that came out that responded well to being reflexed or cambered. I thought MH-32 was one of those purpose designed airfoils for flaps. or is the HQ series I am thinking of....

Soar Dude

[Mark Miller]

It was designed for flaps but works well unflapped too. I wanted to up the agressiveness in RES with some of the ranging and launch properties of the full house ships. I feel the MH-32 gets me there. IMHO.

Mark :)

[terry.cx]

For those of you that have flown this, my question would be about the center spoiler. Back in the day when we all flew planes with spoilers, we moved them out toward the tips so they didn't cause turbulence for the rudder and elevator. Have you noticed any reduced handling with the spoiler wide open, especially when flying slowly?
Terry

[Soar_dude]

It was designed for flaps but works well unflapped too. I wanted to up the agressiveness in RES with some of the ranging and launch properties of the full house ships. I feel the MH-32 gets me there. IMHO.

Mark :)


Thanks for the info Mark

Soar Dude

[Mark Miller]

I have been flying center spoilers for years and have not seen any problem with them blanking out the tail.

Mark

[Mark Miller]

Photos of the business end.

Mark

[BrianSmith]

Looks great....Can you post a picture of the top of the fuse/wing mount/fuse opening where the wing mounts? Just wanted to see the opening, and how much room there is, and the bolt pattern Thanks..Brian Smith

[Mark Miller]

Here is a few more photos of the wing saddle area and the tail. Note that the stab has the same construction as the wing. That being a carbon capped spar with full width shear webbing wrapped with Kevlar. It is then topped with molded carbom Kevlar D-Tube. Note that every so often I get one or two in with full carbon D-Tube molding. I have not flown one yet but it sure looks cool. I doubt there is an advantage but just thay the fellow who makes them for me runs out of the carbon/Kevlar hybrid cloth.

There are plates where the wing screws get threaded in so I'm sure you can drill and tap new holes for the wing you want to use. You will have to cut an opening for the wiring harness to go through and I'd suggest you keep the hole as small as you can to keep structurally integrity.

Mark

[Mark Miller]

I wanted to show you the tow hook I am including with my planes. CNC machined aircraft grade aluminum and anodized. The plate that goes on the inside of the fuselage is curved on one side nd flat on the other to match either kind of fuselage. If you cut slots where the mounting screws are it can be adjusted and tightened into place. I am also including CNC cut control horns. I also have them for flaps. Both are available separately. $15.00 for the hook and $2.50 for the horns.

Mark

[rubberduck]

hello,
it looks like the hybrid from schmierer-modellbau :confused:
www.schmierer-modellbau.de

typical aramid/cfk-d-box design

Technical Data:
Spw Width:
3.150 mm
Length: 1.480 mm
Profil: MH 32
HLW-Fläche:: -- dm2
Weight: leer 1.158 gr.

may be, the most of them are produced in czechoslovakia cz and exported in a lot of countries (always the same model with another name...)

it is offered with V or T Tail ...

ca. 500 Euro (480 Dollars)

[Mark Miller]

The Hybrid is a flap and aileron sailplane and is a V-Tail. Soprano is RES and is exclusive to Isthmus Models. No one else in the world sells it.

Mark

[Mark Miller]

BTW...500 euros is currently $652 USD.

Mark

[rubberduck]

oohhhh,
sorry ... you may be right, there are some difficult details at the soprano between your models and others. It is a fine construction, and i think to build such a perfect glider its a lot of work. compliment ;-) ;)

I had a look on your homepage ... very interesting ... good products.

juergen, bonn

[SoarinJohn]

I recently purhased the electric version of the Soprano RES from Mark at Isthmus Models. I live near Mark so when I went over to pick up my glider I was met with the beautiful site of all the various gliders he just had received. What a lovely sight! I felt like I was a kid in a candy store. Wish I could have bought a few, not just one. The quality of the construction, fit, and finsish is simply amazing. Once I select a motor and get started on the assembling process I will post more details. I have a Himaxx 3630-1500 motor with a 3.3 gear box that I would like to use for the project. Need to first run some numbers and consult with the electric motor gurus to see if it would be sufficient combo, and what prop to use. I would suspect so, as the combo is designed for 3m sailplanes that weight a touch more. More later.

John

[vitas]

The Hybrid is a flap and aileron sailplane and is a V-Tail. Soprano is RES and is exclusive to Isthmus Models. No one else in the world sells it.

Mark

These models has the same fuselage and wings construction because they came from the same producer in Ukraine.