Any one know what this glider is.

[Dean Smith 2]

Hi every one, I bought this glider a couple of weeks ago.Its got a 3.5m span with rudder and all moving horizontal stab,At a guess i would say it was built in the 1990s.Was hoping some one might be able to ID it.

Thanks Dean

 

 

Edited By Dean Smith 2 on 27/01/2014 07:58:49

[Barrie Dav 2]

Dean, it looks like a St. Leonards 'Super Nova' . I've had one of these for about 25 years and it is a superb soarer.

St Leonards models are no longer in business unfortunately but this glider is a cracker.

[Dean Smith 2]

Thanks Barrie,

Ive just done a quick search but their does not seem to be much info or pics out there

Have you still got yours if so are you still flying it.

Dean

[Bob Cotsford]

it does look like a SuperNova with a modified rudder. I had one with a f/g fuselage and it was pretty good for it's day though the wing joiners did flex a fair bit on a bungee launch.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 27/01/2014 10:38:21

[Barrie Dav 2]

Yes, Dean I still have it but I've not used it for some time because my club is now mainly electric launch. At the weekends there are a lot of members flying and a bungee line would get in the way, One day I'll have a go with the bungee on a weekday.

I've had many very long flights with the 'Super' and have had to land sometimes because I was getting a sore neck and/or I was concerned about the battery. She is a superb soarer but I've not flown her strong breezes because of penetration in these conditions. However in a reasonable breeze all is ok. You will have to judge for yourself when you fly the model. Watch out in strong thermal conditions it can be difficult to coax the model down. There are no spoilers or airbrakes and I've had to enter spins to get a decent. I built mine with top and bottom main spars of half inch by one sixteenth inch spruce. This makes the wing strong and flexible.

When I bought the kit in the late 80's it cost £16.

Edited By Barrie Dav 2 on 27/01/2014 10:29:50

[Dean Smith 2]

Thanks for the reply Bob

The wing joiners are steel bars two per side, they seem a bit heavy so might not be original could be a repair.

Barrie

These wings have got spoilers on they are not connected but it should be an easy job to connect up. I might remove some of the wing covering to check what spars have been used.

Just been and had another look at the wing and they has a hole for a spar which has been removed, my radian cf spar fits and go's in about 12".

Dean

[Martyn K]

St Leonards was Jim Baguley's company. Sadly, he passed away over 20/25 years ago and I don't think the company continued without him.

Jim was a superb Free Flighter - he specialised in flying FAI glider although he may have flown Wakefield as well - I think this was the only R/C model he produced.

Martyn

[Barrie Dav 2]

Dean, do you mean spars or wing joiners?

[Dean Smith 2]

Wing joiners they look like 6mm steel

Edited By Dean Smith 2 on 27/01/2014 11:40:09

[Dean Smith 2]

Thats great info Martyn k, thanks

[Dean Smith 2]

This is the pic of the wing root. with the hole for the spar.The small hook on the left fits  through the fuse and i presume they both get connected together to secure the wings.

Edited By Dean Smith 2 on 27/01/2014 11:48:51

[Barrie Dav 2]

Yes, they're the standard 6mm joiners. I've never had wings or tailplane come apart and have not needed to use an elastic band to secure the wings. Just pinch the tail joiners together a little to induce some resistance against parting. Re the spoilers, someone has obviously made some good mods. They will be useful on a 'lifty' day.

Make a hand-launch and you will be amazed just how far the Super will glide. I've found that I can stretch the glide when landing by a gentle 'porpoising' action.

Let me know how you get on.

[Dean Smith 2]

Many thanks Barrie i will let you know how i get on .

[PatMc]

Dean, the large hole looks like it was used to carry ballast for windier conditions. This has an advantage over fuselage mounted ballast in that it doesn't impose any extra strain on the wing joiner, which is especialy important during the tow. Disadvantage is that the wings have to be removed to change amounts of ballast if it's to be inserted from the root.

The tailplane doesn't appear to be the original, it's the wrong shape. The original was unswept & a very light, strong & warp resistant construction using diagonal balsa strips over the spars instead of conventional ribs.
I think I have the plans somewhere in the house.

[Barrie Dav 2]

Yes PatMc I had the same thought about that tubing but Dean needs to be sure that there are main spars installed as normal and that the wing does not rely on a tube and c/f baton for strength. I agree with you about the tailplane. Mine has equal tapers l.e. and t.e. toward the tip.

One thing I forgot to mention Dean is that I have an incidence 'peg' of 10 swg (400mm long) about 350mm from the t.e of the wing

[Dean Smith 2]

PatMc Hi, the tailplane looks a bit odd , i will see how it performs when i fly it. These things must get altered over the years. I never thought about ballast i do the same thing with my radian by putting a steel rod inside the carbon spar.If the large hole was for a cf spar i thought it would insert more than 300mm seems a bit short on such a large wing;

Barrie I had to have a look up what an incidence peg was and it has not got any

[PatMc]

Barrie, I can't see why the tubing would be for a CF batons. What purpose could they serve ? They would be too short to replace the function of the spar & if that was there purpose why have they been made removeable ?

At a guess the holes will be the right inside dia to take standard 15mm water pipe. A 300mm length of this filled with lead weighs 550g, one in each wing will give a max increase in wing loading of around 5.5 - 6oz/sq ft. And of course if the weights are cut to 75 or 100mm lengths along with some similar size light wood dowels the ballast can be adjusted to suit a range of wind conditions.

[Barrie Dav 2]

Quite PatMc! Ballast tubes then. I've used 15mm studding from a d.i.y. store for ballast in the past. Yes it works fine. It's very cheap and takes little time to fettle.