update: 4/6/2007

THIS IS NOT THE BUILDING MANUAL, THIS FORUM SHOWS THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF THE APOGEE SPORT - FOR THE BUILDING MANUAL PLEASE VISIT http://www.flyecm.com/Documentation/AS/default.asp

USE THIS FORUM TO SHARE YOU BUILDING EXPERIENCE, SHARE IDEAS AND CLARIFY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BUILD...
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Enduro Composite Models (ECM) is exited to announce a new kit that is in final development, the Apogee Sport. The Apogee Sport is a 40” span micro-DLG with balsa pod and built-up D-Box wing. This will be a complete kit, and although we have not finalized a kit cost yet, it is already apparent that it will be quite affordable.

Scheduled for release in mid to late December, this fully laser cut balsa model is a unique adaptation from the original Mark Drela Apogee design. Much like the Apogee 400, it has been adapted for full DLG or SAL with a slightly longer pod to accommodate gear, carbon reinforcement for added strength, a wide D-Box for increased torsional strength, and a higher rib count to maintain airfoil integrity. The original deign has also been re-engineered for laser cutting and rapid building. The structural design is based on in-house expertise, standard practices, and collaboration between the original designer, test builders, and business partners.

A good friend and accomplished hobbyist, Jack Stephens, will be building the prototypes in this forum. Jack and ECM have been collaborating on this model for the past five months. To help make the Apogee Sport a better product, I really hope that you will participate in this thread.

Included are a few diagrams of the new Apogee Sport. With that, I’ll let Jack get started on the build.

Thank you,

Jose E. Bruzual
ECM
www.flyecm.com


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Disclaimer: The fallowing files and content are property of Enduro Composite Models (ECM), they may be use for personal use, if you decide to use these for personal use, credit ECM. None of the material published here by ECM or in any other thread may be used commercially

ECM is a division of Dagen Technologies, LLC
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It looks very cool Jose.

Have you gotten a ballpark price worked out yet?

Judging from the photo views lots of folks are intrigued by the side opening hatch.

Good luck and we'll be following along!

oops-double post

Many thanks to Jose Bruzual for giving me this unique opportunity. What follows will be a build thread for the initial hand-cut prototype of the Apogee Sport, followed by a build of the laser cut kit version. There could be a third prototype, but that will depend on how well things go on these first two versions. Frankly, it is because things have gone so well to date that Jose decided to go public early with the Apogee Sport.

Also, we are sharing this information in the hope that some of you will find the prototype process interesting. There is more and more interest being shown in micro-DLG’s, and we feel that many of you will be interested in a high-performance DLG that does not require advanced composite techniques to build. The Apogee Sport is a very traditional build with a balsa pod and a built-up D-Box wing. The finished model is also much sleeker than the drawings that Jose posted, since those CAD drawings are "before sanding".

I not only volunteered to do the prototype builds, I am also writing the assembly manual for the Apogee Sport. Much of the draft work I have done on the assembly manual will in fact appear in this thread. In this regard, I am most interested in suggestions for better ways to do things. We really want the Apogee Sport to be an easy build.

Let me say up front, some of the early posts in this thread will be historical. At this point, the pod and tail surfaces are essentially finished on my first prototype, and I just started cutting out the wing parts today. I am a relatively slow builder, so I really need to stay a bit ahead of my posts anyway, but I expect to be posting real time within a week or so. Please don’t let that dissuade any of you from posting comments and suggestions now. This is a prototype build, and your suggestions on the assembly process will be folded into the next build.

Just for the record, I am not a paid employee of ECM. Everything I am doing here is on a volunteer basis, just for the personal satisfaction. I am told that there are similar positions available throughout this industry.

The first build post will follow shortly.

Jack Stephens

Nicely said Jack and I appreciate the help.

Will, I don’t have a price, I am still working out the details. I should have something in a few weeks.

Jose

I would have normally built the wing first, since it is needed at a couple of points to finalize the pod and install the tail surfaces. However, since the wing plan was not finished at the time, I began construction on the pod and tail surfaces. For the second prototype, the laser cut version, I will start with the wing.

My first step was to build a pod “kit”, as you see in the first photograph. Thanks to the wonders of laser cutting, none of you will have to cut out any of those pieces.

The pod sides and nose block laminations are all 1/8” balsa, and the pod bottom pieces are two laminations of 3/32” balsa. The wing saddle reinforcement pieces are cut from 1/64” plywood. The carbon boom is the same unit that Jose offers on his Apogee 400 and is well suited for the Apogee Sport.

The second photo shows the bulkheads, cut from 1/16" plywood. That will certainly make you appreciate laser cut parts.

Jack Stephens

As I said, Jose’s drawings above are necessarily “rectangular” at this point, so let me jump ahead for just a second to show you where we are going with this pod. The first photo below is of the pod as it is today, finish sanding completed, and waiting for the wing. We will catch up to that point pretty quickly in this thread.

In the second and third photographs, I glued the five nose block laminations together. The nose block is then cut diagonally to form the the hatch, which will be detailed later. The final photograph is simply showing lamination of the bottom pod pieces, to be installed later. Like I said, the easy stuff.

Jack Stephens

Great stuff, you guys, looks very interesting, do have a soft spot for built up models. What kind of weight are you shooting for?
Tom

Tom,

Good question. I must defer to Jose for the design target on the Apogee Sport.

I think that the Apogee 400 typically came in just under 4 ounces. For this particular built-up prototype on the Apogee Sport, I would be happy with 4.5 ounces. This is a high priority issue for changes we will make between now and the final kit.

Building light is a state of mind, as I have learned from Pat Tritle on the Electric Scale forum. I still have much to learn.

Jack Stephens

i support the idea of a small dlg like this

i love wood kits and the gambler/qf two simply dont quite do it for me in terms of appearance

i hate to say it but ,,i just cant get as passinate about a build unless i like its appearance ,,this model is eye candy,,im excited

xtc

This looks very sweet. I want one already.

NEW YORK state ,,is that were these kits will be sold?

im also curious if the stab will be removable like in the diagram? i would love the idea of having a glider that would break down very small because not only do i enjoy flying in parks ,but i would also like to leave the car at home

i realize every option adds weight but if the wing was two pc i could see i lot of guys travelling with them on bikes/planes/buses etc

just a thought,, i pedal my way to the park

xtc

Wow!!!
Very exciting news.
I think this kit will really move 1M along as a viable class.
The design looks nothing short of great!
Jack's writing and his photography are clear as the per verbal "bell."
Perfect choice.
One-meter has so much too offer.
Making it available to the sport crowd is right on!!!
I've placed my order by email. Hope that works.
Congradulations Jose!
John255

xtc,

Jose's company, ECM, is located in New York, so I feel sure that is where the kits will be shipped from.

Although this first prototype will have a fixed stab, a removable horizontal stab will be shown on the plans as an option, and it will be described in the assembly instructions. The removable stab design is identical to that used on the Apogee 400.

Since the wingspan is relatively small (40"), we have not discussed the possibility of a two-piece wing. Light weight and high performance are top priorities for the Apogee Sport.

Jack Stephens

John255,

That was a very nice complement. Thank you.

I am excited about this project too. I think that Jose has come up with a great little plane at exactly the right time.

Jack Stephens