question?

[RobertTHaas]

has there been any new thermal glider kits to come onto the market in a long time? the north east sailplane website has what seems to be the same thermal gliders it had in the 90's. has anyone scene anything new or exotic?

[fly1milehi]

Kits as in sticks and sheets of balsa and little bits of plywood?
Those kinds of kits??
NOPE Nothing new at all.... save maybe the Oly III that is coming from Skybench

In general the skill to actually build a "kit" is gone except for the scratch builders in the Scale Model Sailplane genre. This whole idea of building a kit has been replaced by the cheap (slave?) labor in countries outside of the USA/UK/AU/EUR that makes it possible to sell balsa and ply gliders as ARF models for $150.00 US dollars.
At the other end of the spectrum is the molded sailplane industry that seems to be filled with excelence of workmanship and a price tag to go with it.
Check out Laser Arts for a couple of "short" kits that are available for the bubble Dancer, Houston hawk.

Personally im working on a simple (ie doesnt have carbon everything) to build 2 meter that might make an intersting kit for those of us who still like balsa shavings on the floor, balsa sanding dust in the air and that sweet smell of heated Monokote!!
Greg

[DT56]

text

[rdwoebke]

has there been any new thermal glider kits to come onto the market in a long time? the north east sailplane website has what seems to be the same thermal gliders it had in the 90's. has anyone scene anything new or exotic?

Yeah, there is a ton of new stuff. What kind of things are you interested in (aka 2 meter, 3 meter, full house, res), I'm sure we can make some suggestions.

Ryan

[Ollie]

"has anyone scene anything new or exotic?"

Sky Bird
http://www.skybench.com/
Mk II Chrysalis 2m
http://www.djaerotech.com/dj_product/chrysalis2m.html
Red Herring
http://www.liftworx.com/pages/redherring.html
Alula
http://www.dream-flight.com/alula.html
Yoda
http://www.aff-cnc.de/aff/eng/tailless.html
Marauder
http://www.mmglidertech.com/marauder.html
Noseeum
http://www.aerofoam.com/Noseeum.html

[Mark Miller]

Don't forget Denny at Polecat Aeroworks

Mark

[rud-elev]

Seems like there is a place called Isthmus Models also! :)

http://www.isthmusmodels.com/

R/E

[Freakflyin]

Here's a few more...


www.mandsmodels.com/

www.mountainmodels.com/

[Mark Miller]

Isthmus would have lots more kits if the owner would get off his lazy a$$. :)

Mark

[bobby legue]

Forget Denny! I tried for three months to get a kit by phone, by e-mail, and by web site and never got a single reply. Not even when I got his phone # and told him he could call me collect. All I wanted was a kit. I was going to give him my very hard earned cash! He was freaking rude to me by ignoring all of my request. Maybe all he sells to is his own people.
P1$$ed in AZ,
Bob
Watch he wont even respond to this post.

[bobby legue]

Ive just finished the Oly lll and all is very well. It launches with the high dollar composite ships, cruises at a great pace and cost less way less than 200 bucks. If I have a question, Ray will answer it. He goes a long way to keep the people happy. Try him and the plane, you will like it! No, you will LOVE it! :D
Bob

[Jurgen]

.... It launches with the high dollar composite ships....Does the new OlyIII carry carbon strengthenings in its wings construction?
Jurgen.

[Jurgen]

I love this design even it is an older one its still exotic lines allover, is it still available? How does it fly? Is it strong for winching?
http://www.skybench.com/woodcraft/2006/images/wc06_richard_sandford_sag_900.jpg
Photo from skybench.com woodcrafters2006 section

[bobby legue]

I carbon fiber taped both the top and bottom spars. It is very strong.
Bob

[georgeg]

I love this design even it is an older one its still exotic lines allover, is it still available? How does it fly? Is it strong for winching?
http://www.skybench.com/woodcraft/2006/images/wc06_richard_sandford_sag_900.jpg
Photo from skybench.com woodcrafters2006 section

That is an Airtronics Sagitta, the 900 if it spans 99" or the 600 if it is a 2m model. The kit shows up on eBay from time to time at prices ranging from $175.00 to $350.00, depending on who is bidding. I hear there is a company called Aerosphere who is planning to bring back the Sagitta 900 kit. The last I heard, it was to be available in November '07. Maybe someone from Aerosphere will chime in and give us all more info.

[Jurgen]

Just got back a message from Aerosphere:
........The Sagitta 900 will be available in about a month and a half or so, we're almost ready to re-release it. We're also upgrading our website now, so we're sorry for the product section being down.......
Ha, light in the end of the tunnel :D
Jurgen.

[fly1milehi]

Is there a link for Aerosphere?

Thanks
Greg

[rdwoebke]

http://www.aerosphereonline.com/index.htm