New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
02-11-2009, 05:16 PM
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New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
Greetings folks.. just a heads up. The new SGS 2-33A short kit in 1/4 scale has been released.
We kept this project 'under our hats' during the long development phase so as not to annoy folks with 'we're working on it' replies to inquiries. The assembled kit and an assembled fuselage in the bones will be on display at the WRAM show, and we have cut kits in stock, ready to go.
If any questions, please contact Gunny at [email protected]
The kit can be viewed at www.hangtimes.com
Cheers!
We kept this project 'under our hats' during the long development phase so as not to annoy folks with 'we're working on it' replies to inquiries. The assembled kit and an assembled fuselage in the bones will be on display at the WRAM show, and we have cut kits in stock, ready to go.
If any questions, please contact Gunny at [email protected]
The kit can be viewed at www.hangtimes.com
Cheers!
02-12-2009, 10:11 AM
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RE: New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
Looks really sweet! I've got too many things on the build list as it is and you guys have to go and release a plane like this! Have you no mercy?
02-12-2009, 02:24 PM
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RE: New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
LOL!
It started life as a scratch build project.. we have a ball aero-towing and Gunny's Dad and Sister are full scale soaring pilots, so there was plenty of documentation available. The real debate started around the wing; the 'traditionalists' in the group wanted a more sedate airfoil, I insisted that just because the full size was a slug is not a valid reason for the model to be one..
Most of the time here on Long Island, the wind is cranking up a bit... and energy is tuff to come by, so it had to be able to cover a lot of sky on the hunt. We needed an airfoil that would aid penetration without getting cranky when slowed down for thermal turns. I have had great success with the SD7032/37 at that wing load range so we set the prototype up with that and went to 'go seek'..
It surpassed my expectations.. smooth, fast when you need it, slow when you want it; outstanding control response for 'coring' the lift and a rock solid 'feel' even when dotted out. The handling behind the Tug is the best of all our big high performance sailplanes.. no bad habits, no bobbing or hunting. She came out of the grass within 5 feet and immediately parked herself above and behind the Tug all by herself before Gunny unknotted his brain from the surprise of getting airborne so fast. Approach and landing was also precise and without bad habit; the 4 scale spoilers didn't impact trim a bit and she rolled to a stop right at our feet and reluctantly, slowly dropped a wingtip in the grass.
Cheering and back slapping all around. I smiled at Gunny and said, "Now THAT'S a winner. Lets kit it."
So, we did.
He did a heck of a job with this project. The scale accuracy is outstanding and the obsessive attention to detail that is the hallmark of a Gunny Built Project abounds.. my hardest task here was keeping him on track and keeping the build simple. I think it was worth the effort, and frankly, I'm proud of what he's accomplished with this project. I'm also confident there will now be many more...
Cheers and thanks for the kind words!
It started life as a scratch build project.. we have a ball aero-towing and Gunny's Dad and Sister are full scale soaring pilots, so there was plenty of documentation available. The real debate started around the wing; the 'traditionalists' in the group wanted a more sedate airfoil, I insisted that just because the full size was a slug is not a valid reason for the model to be one..
Most of the time here on Long Island, the wind is cranking up a bit... and energy is tuff to come by, so it had to be able to cover a lot of sky on the hunt. We needed an airfoil that would aid penetration without getting cranky when slowed down for thermal turns. I have had great success with the SD7032/37 at that wing load range so we set the prototype up with that and went to 'go seek'..
It surpassed my expectations.. smooth, fast when you need it, slow when you want it; outstanding control response for 'coring' the lift and a rock solid 'feel' even when dotted out. The handling behind the Tug is the best of all our big high performance sailplanes.. no bad habits, no bobbing or hunting. She came out of the grass within 5 feet and immediately parked herself above and behind the Tug all by herself before Gunny unknotted his brain from the surprise of getting airborne so fast. Approach and landing was also precise and without bad habit; the 4 scale spoilers didn't impact trim a bit and she rolled to a stop right at our feet and reluctantly, slowly dropped a wingtip in the grass.
Cheering and back slapping all around. I smiled at Gunny and said, "Now THAT'S a winner. Lets kit it."
So, we did.
He did a heck of a job with this project. The scale accuracy is outstanding and the obsessive attention to detail that is the hallmark of a Gunny Built Project abounds.. my hardest task here was keeping him on track and keeping the build simple. I think it was worth the effort, and frankly, I'm proud of what he's accomplished with this project. I'm also confident there will now be many more...Cheers and thanks for the kind words!
02-13-2009, 04:01 AM
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RE: New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
Well, I'm so glad I listened to Steve about his airfoil selection. It's a perfect choice for this model.
I fly high performance sailplanes but there were a lot of times when I want to putter around the sky with a classic looking glider like the popular 1/4 scale 1-26 that Steve and my tug pilot Kevin flies. I wanted somthing different, a floater, a wind penetrator and not to be a pig.
Thank you Steve
Gunny
I fly high performance sailplanes but there were a lot of times when I want to putter around the sky with a classic looking glider like the popular 1/4 scale 1-26 that Steve and my tug pilot Kevin flies. I wanted somthing different, a floater, a wind penetrator and not to be a pig.
Thank you Steve
Gunny
02-15-2009, 02:54 PM
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RE: New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
Looks good, I am interested but a few questions,
Will a built up wing be an option? not that I mind the foam wing but it does seem a bit expensive just for the cores.
Is the picture of the short kit showing all thats included?
cooper998
Will a built up wing be an option? not that I mind the foam wing but it does seem a bit expensive just for the cores.
Is the picture of the short kit showing all thats included?
cooper998
02-15-2009, 04:04 PM
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RE: New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
Hi cooper998.
A built up wing at this present time is not an option, will have to consider incorporating a built up version on the wing drawing as an option. The reason being, is I found out that a foam core wing actually builds lighter and much faster than a conventional wing of this size model. I compared the weight of Steve's 1-26 120" built up (not fully sheeted) and cap strip wing against my 2-33 153" fully sheeted wing and wound up a tad lighter. But you can scratch build / design one of your own off of the full size wing drawing. ie. laying in a drag spar and setting the rib spacing. There is a root, mid and tip airfoil profiles on the plans. I don't know what the price difference would be in the laser cut sheets of all the ribs.
Yes, the picture shows the complete short kit which includes: 12 sheets of plans set with color instuction manual, formed canopy and top window, fiberglass nose cone, foam core wing set and the laser cut wood set which has 185 parts for the wing, fuselage and tail. The short kit does'nt include any lumber ie. sticks and sheet balsa. The manual has a bill of materials list for the lumber, hardware, parts and servo selection/guide.
Thanks,
Gunny
A built up wing at this present time is not an option, will have to consider incorporating a built up version on the wing drawing as an option. The reason being, is I found out that a foam core wing actually builds lighter and much faster than a conventional wing of this size model. I compared the weight of Steve's 1-26 120" built up (not fully sheeted) and cap strip wing against my 2-33 153" fully sheeted wing and wound up a tad lighter. But you can scratch build / design one of your own off of the full size wing drawing. ie. laying in a drag spar and setting the rib spacing. There is a root, mid and tip airfoil profiles on the plans. I don't know what the price difference would be in the laser cut sheets of all the ribs.
Yes, the picture shows the complete short kit which includes: 12 sheets of plans set with color instuction manual, formed canopy and top window, fiberglass nose cone, foam core wing set and the laser cut wood set which has 185 parts for the wing, fuselage and tail. The short kit does'nt include any lumber ie. sticks and sheet balsa. The manual has a bill of materials list for the lumber, hardware, parts and servo selection/guide.
Thanks,
Gunny
08-26-2010, 03:37 AM
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RE: New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
Just a heads up guys. The new balsa wing version is here.
Finally, by popular demand, we came up with a conventional built up wing.
We still have to add photo's to the web site but it is ready to purchase and ready to ship.
Oh yeah, The built up wing came out exactly at the same weight as of the foam wing version.
Gunny
Finally, by popular demand, we came up with a conventional built up wing.
We still have to add photo's to the web site but it is ready to purchase and ready to ship.
Oh yeah, The built up wing came out exactly at the same weight as of the foam wing version.
Gunny
08-26-2010, 01:08 PM
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RE: New Schweizer SGS 2-33A 1/4 scale kit
Flight Test Report on the Built-Up Version
We've been barraged with requests for a built-up wing version since the original release of the kit, in answer to those requests we decided to revisit the basic design and do just that as well as add a few more extras on this plane.. such as a fully removable Fin/Rudder and Stabilizer to accommodate transport in compact vehicles. One of my larger concerns initially was the very thin tip airfoil.. rendering this with built up techniques without sacrificing wing panel strength was paramount so we went with a 7032 airfoil for the full span, building in a bit of washout. One thing that surprised us a bit when we finished was the weight.. the built up version came out 2 pounds lighter than the foam version.. perhaps Gunny's pilots are overweight.
On the first flight we launched into 15 knot wind conditions.. the tug and tow were both airborne very quickly and this 2-33 was a s smooth and stable as the first one. Off the tow, Gunny hustled the tug down quickly and came rushing up, rather breathless, and asked "Where is it?".
"Right where you left me".
Indeed, in the higher velocity air up there, the 2-33 was 'parked'. I added 2 clicks of down trim and we started to move upwind, within a few moments we were over the front of a large tree line and I started working the 'wave', tacking back and forth across the 'bump' of air off the trees. Handling was superb, while this is indeed a very large sailplane, it handles crisply and offers no surprises. I spent about 20 minutes enjoying the wave lift and then pulled back over the field to play with the bird a bit.. some big loops, a spin, then into the pattern for a landing.. seems the plane needs to be shot out of the sky, the L/D is very, very good. I believe the technical term is 'It'll thermal in a gopher fart!' Stalls are slow.. recovery fast, handling is precise even at low speed, I did a 'dot' landing where I wanted it.. and never popped the spoilers. Next flights proved the spoilers.. it does a 'space shuttle' approach with the boards out and proved very capable for short field operation in both takeoff and landing routines.
The only change the test flights proved a need for was a ballasting option.. so Gunny worked up a very neat ballasting arrangement that allows adding a few more pounds for windy days without fussing about. Details will be in the manual.
In conclusion... it's a sweetheart. Strong, smooth, competent.. a delight to fly in every way.
Well done, Gunny!
Steve
We've been barraged with requests for a built-up wing version since the original release of the kit, in answer to those requests we decided to revisit the basic design and do just that as well as add a few more extras on this plane.. such as a fully removable Fin/Rudder and Stabilizer to accommodate transport in compact vehicles. One of my larger concerns initially was the very thin tip airfoil.. rendering this with built up techniques without sacrificing wing panel strength was paramount so we went with a 7032 airfoil for the full span, building in a bit of washout. One thing that surprised us a bit when we finished was the weight.. the built up version came out 2 pounds lighter than the foam version.. perhaps Gunny's pilots are overweight.
On the first flight we launched into 15 knot wind conditions.. the tug and tow were both airborne very quickly and this 2-33 was a s smooth and stable as the first one. Off the tow, Gunny hustled the tug down quickly and came rushing up, rather breathless, and asked "Where is it?".
"Right where you left me".
Indeed, in the higher velocity air up there, the 2-33 was 'parked'. I added 2 clicks of down trim and we started to move upwind, within a few moments we were over the front of a large tree line and I started working the 'wave', tacking back and forth across the 'bump' of air off the trees. Handling was superb, while this is indeed a very large sailplane, it handles crisply and offers no surprises. I spent about 20 minutes enjoying the wave lift and then pulled back over the field to play with the bird a bit.. some big loops, a spin, then into the pattern for a landing.. seems the plane needs to be shot out of the sky, the L/D is very, very good. I believe the technical term is 'It'll thermal in a gopher fart!' Stalls are slow.. recovery fast, handling is precise even at low speed, I did a 'dot' landing where I wanted it.. and never popped the spoilers. Next flights proved the spoilers.. it does a 'space shuttle' approach with the boards out and proved very capable for short field operation in both takeoff and landing routines.
The only change the test flights proved a need for was a ballasting option.. so Gunny worked up a very neat ballasting arrangement that allows adding a few more pounds for windy days without fussing about. Details will be in the manual.
In conclusion... it's a sweetheart. Strong, smooth, competent.. a delight to fly in every way.
Well done, Gunny!
Steve
