Square Soar 72

[Elmog]

I have some plans and a set of ribs for a Square Soar 72 by Airtronics that must be at least 20 years old and was wondering if anyone has ever built one of these gliders. Is this one of the old Lee Renaud designs? The wing seems rather thin and frail with that small plank spar. I would imagine it's a high start only affair. Is it a good thermal ship?

[Frunobulax]

Actually, the design is about 30 years old. It was my 2nd r/c glider (an HOB 2x4 was my first). Some very nice folks at 60 Acres, circa 1985, had pity on my hilarious display of self-taught flight skills and helped me by gently winch launching it for me. The increased flight time proved invaluable. And, yes, the wing IS a tad fragile as I later witnessed wing tip meeting wing tip shortly after a hi-start launch. 1/2 a wing fluttered north, the other south and the fuselage impaled itself about 5 inches deep in the muddy turf.

[Elmog]

My suspicions confirmed. That spar on the Square Soar looks pretty weak. I too have a House of Balsa glider but it's the 2x6. It's a very stout design that takes a lot of abuse. The only part that ever gets damaged is the empennage and I think I have an idea to cure that. BTW, what kind of a flyer was that Square Soar?

[Phoebusflyer]

I taught myself to fly with a Square Soar. First ship I ever thermaled, thanks to a group of buzzards. The SS isn't meant to be launched on a winch, but on a hi-start. I'm not saying you CAN'T winch it, it's just safer off a hi start. Yes, it will thermal very well. As far as the wing, the monokote is meant to add quite a degree of stiffness to the wing. My first thermal was almost out of sight.
Yeah, it's UGLY too! But once it's at 400 feet, it looks a lot nicer.
It's a quick, easy build. Have fun.

I bought mine to learn to fly with. My first build was an Aquila, and I didn't want to wreck it before I had at least figured out how to fly and what to look for.

[Tim Jonas]

my first sailplane was a Square Soar. The center box was fairly weak, and I recall the directions telling me to cut soda can aluminum to reinforce the rubber bands. It flew just fine. It wasn't a gas bag, but it did a good job at teaching you how to fly. Release the sticks in a bad attitude, and it self-corrected. Great flyer. I also built an Aquila after that. Airtronics had great kits, and I don't think that another manufacturer has equalled them. I built many Airtronics kits. In fact, I'm working on a glass-fused Aquila right now.

Long live Airtronics!

[Phoebusflyer]

AMEN to that. I MISS Airtronics and their great kits. I loved the Aquila, the A Grande and all their fine planes. I hope Aerospere is watching and listening. Their Airtronics line should be put up for sale soonest if they want to make some money!!!!!

[rud-elev]

The Square Soar was also my first sailplane in about 1978(?). I remember it as being quite heavy for its size (72") due to much plywood in the fuse.

I enjoyed my Drifter II much more... it was my second sailplane, so maybe I had learned something by then. :)

R/E

[grfcon]

I also had one of these as my first plane. I thought it was really fun to fly and the fuse is quite tough as it it mostly plywood. I would definitely beef up the spar ( or use sparcaps..can you even use sparcaps on a single spar wing) as mine cracked right down the middle while trying to "snap roll" it way back when.. also double glass the center section..that should help... I always liked this plane... good luck with it if you plan to build it

Gary

[Phoebusflyer]

If your going to build the Square Soar, don't!! Get a Wanderer, a Gentle Lady or an Olympic II and put the SS short kit up for sale on e-bay. You will be far better off with one of the other planes. They are tougher, fly well and will teach you just as much about flying as will the SS. Plus, they look 100% better, up close and far away. The Oly II is just as easy to build and with the 99" wing, flys so much better.
Thanks for listening, just my 2 cents worth.

[Elmog]

Anyone have a pic of what a completed Square Soar looks like?

[tinkrerpilot]

Elmog,
Here is a picture for you. Available through Aerosphere
http://www.aerosphereonline.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=A&Product_Code=101&Category_Code=2M

But then again I would have to agree with Phoebusflyer and get the ones he has mention. Unless you really want to build one. Then build the wing a lot beefier then it was made for from the 70's. It will not take the abuse of todays launchers. Slope flying in light winds would be a real treat. Read some where that it as adaptation from the Q-Tee with an extended wing into glider format. Could be wrong though.

[grfcon]

can't believe you found a pic of this plane..awesome.. I agree with the above..really fragile plane... learn on something else

GC

[tinkrerpilot]

Heres another from the Lift Zone

[Phoebusflyer]

When I built my SS, I built it with a V tail and an Airtronics Vector Director. I flew it off a standard hi-start and it flew well enough to teach me what I needed, and the buzzards didn't seem to mind flying with it. Were I doing it again, I would build a 99 or 100" wing glider like the OlyII. They fly so much better, and the construction is simple.
Have fun, whatever you decide to build!!

[tinkrerpilot]

Wow, That is the second time I have come across the old Airtronics Vector Director. Seems somebody in one of the other forums was asking about it. Great device forthe time. But with the advent of computer radios nowadays, seems like ancient equipment.
The SS will fly fine with a standard Hi-Start if you go that route. The older planes would not handle well on todays super launchers unless you have the skill to really pulse the pedal. Decide which way you are going to go and keep us posted. Have fun first and fourmost.

[drsmooth]

I built one of these back in the late 70's. I still have the wing to it hanging out in my building. I think it's one I rebuilt with some strenghtening mods to it. I always thought it was kinda funny that they designed this plane with a very delicate wing, and matched it with a fuse that you could clear a forrest with. :D

[ronrange]

A local flyer with the initials JC, placed in a LSF contest way back when with one of these biirds. A lot of the credit goes to the pilot.

[CSI]

Wow, I hadn't thought about one of these in ages. It was my first RC plane too! It flew ok for me, I learned a bit, but the wings folded on me during a KITE launch! I had a friend running hard with a length of kite string hooked to the bottom and the wings folded about 100 feet up. The fuselage survived fine but the wings went spinning away.
What a trip in nostalgia for me...built it around 1975.
Ken

[skranish]

The photo of a Sq Soar that someone took from the Lift Zone is.. MINE! Built back in about'78, I still have it. I did not log flights back then, so I have no idea how many flights it has on it. A bazillion, I am sure. I flew off a high start and slopes - it makes a VERY nice light air sloper. I must have had it half a mile off the coast of Cape Cod.

I don't remember if the plans show a 2 piece wing, but mine is built that way. It survived a mid air collision off a slope - and landings on Cadillac Mountain in Maine.

The airfoil looks like it was designed with a cereal bowl. The structure is simple but S-T-U-R-D-Y. It flies well, and I don't remember any bad habits. It is just sitting here, but it WILL fly again.

I picked up a kit on ebay.

Certainly not the ultimate of anything, but a simple, sturdy, good flyer!

Steve

[Elmog]

I could always use another light lift sloper, so I might build mine just for that reason. The fuse is rather bulky, but the Square Soar's thin wing might penetrate better, than, say my HOB 2x6. It will be # 3 in the build Q. Jim

[skranish]

I have long wondered if the SS would do better with a different - or just known - airfoil. Maybe it would just kill it? I have also wondered about adding a few 1/8" spars on the top, forward of the main spar.

The fuselage was designed to fit two standard servos of the day, side by side. You could just make a few new bulkheads, cut down that huge noseblock, and narrow down the fuselage. I don't think it will make any difference.

I think I built mine with an oversize stab - I was given a recommendation to just build the V tail as a flat stab. I think I remember that right.. it has been at least 30 years!

Steve

[TLyttle]

Ah, most of the sailplanes designed back then had a 9 1/2E airfoil; by the time one dealt with the sag in between the ribs, airfoil didn't matter much anyway. A modern airfoil wouldn't change much for just that reason.

However, just installing modern equipment would make a big difference, simply in the weight savings. One of those old standard servos weighs nearly as much as a modern flight pack! NOW you have a light-air model that will thermal over an outhouse...

[aeronca11AC]

I had a Square Soar in 1979... one of my thrills was to fly it off of Big Hill at Kitty Hawk, the very same hill the Wright Brothers used for their glider experiments 1900 to 1903.