There is one and only one "official" Supra plan, and those plans and
info can be found here:
http://charlesriverrc.org/articles/supra/supra.htm
And you can get even more info here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Allegro-Lite/ <- the messageboard
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Allegro-Lite/files/Supra/ <-the files section
And there are a number of Supra RCGroups threads:
"CNC Supra Build"
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364296&highlight=supra
"another supra build - the slow way"
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=437733
"Drela Supra"
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=320761&highlight=supra
Here is my "unofficial" take on "what is a Supra", gleaned from my hours
of "research":
There were a handful of people building there own Supra before Kennedy
got his into production, and there are many ways to "skin a Drela
sailplane" to mix metaphors...
The Supras that were at the NATS this year (Kiesling, Lachowski and
Barnes) were most-likely modified slightly from the Drela design for any
number of reasons. Mark likes tiny fuselages and some of his
construction techniques are a bit too time consuming for mere mortals.
The basic parameters of the plane stay the same, the construction
techniques often differ due to time/material/builder peculariaties.
AFAIK, the wing airfoils stay the same - AG40->AG41->AG42, and most of
the Supras out there are bagged wings. Mark's original Supra was 48oz
and Kiesling said he has three: two 58oz models and one 64oz model, all
of them bagged wings.
As far as wingspans and such go, there might be some confusing the Aegea
130" wing with the Supra wing. The Supra wing is the evolution of the
Aegea 130" wing (which Phil makes for the Mantis). Mark explains the
differences between those two wings on this page:
http://charlesriverrc.org/articles/supra/supra.htm
I've never heard any discussion on changing length of the tailboom, but
the fuselages are often resized as Mark's fuses are tidy affairs with
little wiggle room. Also, I don't think I've ever seen or heard of a
Supra that doesn't use that sweet little V-mount horizontal stab.
I have read quite a bit about spar and wing construction alternatives,
though that could easily take days to sift through.
And finally...
There are a few folks producing individual pieces and parts for the
Supra... Les Horvath of CompuFoamCore.com had a fuse/wing/tail core set
for sale and Bud Elder makes those v-mounts (in varying sizes!). From
time to time you'll see folks offering up Supra fuselages, but they come
and go. The bottom line is that if you really want to *know* about the
Supra, go and read through the links I've posted, specifically the Yahoo
group.
End of last fall, I put together an Aegea Mantis w/ a Luckenbach
fuselage and Phil's Aegea 130" wing. It's like a poor-boy Supra. A lot
of the same ideas, but different, and cheaper (and heavier). One day I
might get my homebrew Supra together.
James V. Bacus wrote:
I have read about the Kennedy molded Supra on the web page, but isn't
that a Drela Design as well?
It seems when people talk about a Supra (glider) it could mean a lot of
different things. Different fuses and lengths, different airfoils,
different wingspans, different wing construction (bagged or molded), etc...
--
Ben Wilson
Web Developer/Consultant
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
cell: 502.836.8551
home: 502.290.0624
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