Cool New Stuff
We have something for every Christmas wish list — maybe even yours!
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Sugar Glider
A small, easy-to-carry 1m class thermal glider.
Although it employs classic construction primarily of balsa wood, the Sugar Glider is designed with a modern sensibility, and the concise manual allows you to maximise the fun of assembling it.
Efficiently designed wings will win your heart in one fell swoop. It has a streamlined sweep angle, streamlined edges, a low wing load of about 8g/dm². And also it can be attached and detached from the fuselage with just one screw.
It is designed for a folding spinner that includes a motor suited for its shorter nose and body. It has flight characteristics that reduce the moment of inertia during turning flight. Depending on the pilot’s preference, the stabiliser can selectively apply normal type and V-tail type. To achieve maximum stiffness while effectively minimizing the number of parts, the designers used blasa wood, carbon material and hardwoods to create an easy to assemble and robust structure.
The proportions and balance of all parts have been harmoniously arranged to achieve not only flight performance but also a visually beautiful form. The achievement of comfortable flight performance Sugar Glider was achieved with dozens of prototypes and over a thousand test flights during an 18 month development.
The Sugar Glider is small and light, so it immediately responds to small-scale heat in the atmosphere, has a small turning radius, and has a large glide ratio.
To sum up, you can feel the wind better and have more opportunities to ride the thermal. It certainly gives you the happy pleasure of flying a thermal glider closer to you. You can obtain more information on Instagram: @sugarglider_f5k.
‘Snowflake’ Christmas Card
When was the last time you received something nice in the mail?
No bills, no advertising, just a card with a few personal words? You probably remember how good it made you feel. Someone thought of you and went to the trouble of buying a suitable card and sitting down at the desk to send you a few words or a letter of good wishes. As a ‘thank you’ for the great time you spent together. Or to tell you what has happened in the last year. Maybe there was only a greeting on the paper and a photo was included.
The best way to show that you appreciate mail of this kind is to send some yourself. For example with the Christmas cards of our youth group. This beautiful tradition has existed in our club for five years: every year a new motif is added, the youth group of the Aeroclub Bonn-Hangelar e. V. takes care of the advertising and at Christmas the proceeds from the sale of cards go to the youth account. A small but fine campaign, with the proceeds of which the young people organise excursions, team building and barbecues at the fire pit.
With the purchase of a card you support not only the joy that you make yourself and the recipient of your Christmas mail, but also the promotion of young people.
As a thank you to the flight instructor, a nice greeting to dear grandma or as a chic cover for a gift card, this will make friends of aviation happy.
DIN long, four pages, with cover. 10.5cm x 21cm, colored, glossy on 350g cardboard, with envelope. You can find more information about this and the other cards on the Instagram profile of Sylvia Krahl, who designs the cards for the youth group: @sylvia.krahl
Ultra Compact Tow Release with Integrated Servo
Composite RC Gliders’ new solution for this tricky, time-consuming problem.
A very compact unit suitable for gliders up to 6m wingspan or it can be used overhead in the tow plane. It’s ready to mount and includes a KST A12-T Servo which is rated up to 8.4V. With the 7mm servo arm it produces amazing torque:
- 28kg force with 8.4V
- 25kg force with 7.4V
- 23kg force with 6.0V
An added benefit is that the external opening required is extremely small and perfectly flush with the surrounding surface.
For more information see complete product details on the Composite RC Gliders website. There is also a great installation video available.
Mini Olympic II
A convenient and cost-effective redux of this classic design.
The Mini Olympic II is the result of flyers contacting Sky Bench to ask for a half-scale version of the iconic Olympic II sailplane designed by Lee Renaud and kitted by Airtronics for many years. Starting around 2020, a new half-scale area of interest started in the RC sailplane hobby. Some of the interest was caused by the concern of new FAA regulations, but much of it was just the delight of making smaller, easier-to-fly, and transport versions of classic woody sailplanes.
Sky Bench were happy to oblige because they already have the copyright for the Olympic II. They credit Mike McCrabb and Tony Megowan who both spent time making this happen. Mike developed the original Mini Olympic II prototype and Tony used his CAD skills to create the kit drawing.
Inside the box, you will find everything you need to make the thermal version of the Mini Olympic II structure. Also included are the extra parts for an electric version and the parts needed for a bolt-on wing if desired. Making a 50% version is not as simple as just reducing the original plans. All stock wood sizes had to be adjusted and some areas strengthened to make for a long-lasting sailplane. Sky Bench prides itself on top-quality wood, laser cutting, written, photo-illustrated instructions, and a full-scale drawing. The specs are as follows:
- Wing span: 49.95 in
- Fuselage length: 24.5 in
- Wing Area: 203.5 in²
- Airfoil: flat-bottom, 10% thick
- Wing loading: 5.29 oz per ft²
- 2-channel radio required
More information on the Mini Olympic II can be obtained directly from the Sky Bench website.
Where in the World is the New RCSD?
We celebrate our readers and writers in 106 countries.
This brand new addition to our collection of quality logo merch features the flags of all 106 countries where the New RCSD is read and written — we think it looks just great, particularly when set against the light grey or white. But that’s just us — you may want something a bit jazzier. It’s a tribute to our readers all around the world and a thank you to them rolled into one. Check out the great new Where in the World is the New RCSD? t-shirt today.
Resources
- Aeroclub Bonn-Hangelar e. V. — “represents the interests of the air sports clubs based in North Rhine-Westphalia. It connects motor pilots, glider pilots, motor gliders, model pilots, balloonists, parachutists, ultralight pilots and hang gliders…”
The Fine Print All product descriptions in Cool New Stuff are prepared in collaboration with the product’s manufacturer and/or distributor which is/are entirely responsible for ensuring the accuracy of their product’s descriptive text and images contained herein.
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