time bandit

Can't believe they have been discontinued. I had one a long time ago and would love to build another one.

carpetbagger

no kit, but you can make your own kit!

plans: http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=5649

fhhuber

Wing in those plans is the same as the Electra. Just some minor modification to Gentle Lady ribs to accommodate the extra sheeting. Or you could just go with the stock Gentle Lady wing since its lighter.

The differences from the Electra (or Gentle Lady) in fuselage and tail-planes would not waste any of the Electra kit parts as the fuselage is just slimmed down and with a GP Spirit style canopy and tail-planes are stick-built.

Sullivan sells the thin wire cable in nylon sheath for the elevator.

So you could just print those Sophisticated Lady plans and modify a Gentle Lady kit. (The origin of the Sophisticated Lady was someone modified a Gentle Lady)

time bandit

Thanks for the info guys.

Turbojoe

Thanks for posting up the plans link. I've always liked the Sophisticated Lady too. Outerzone has tons of plans but I never thought to check there for this one. I thought it was too new. Glad I'm wrong.

Joe

time bandit

Why is the Gentle Lady still in production but the SL isn't. I never cared to build the GL. I may have to buy one now. The SL plans do not show how to cut out the different wing ribs needed to build the wings. These plans are a starting spot but not complete to me.

fhhuber

Gentle Lady kits have always sold well. Sophisticated lady didn't. Its that simple.

Where other kits keep getting discontinued the Gentle Lady is still selling well enough to be worth producing.

The Gentle Lady kit will need just minor work plus locating a canopy in order to convert.

I built the Gentle Lady (about 6 of em) Sophisticated Lady, and the Electra.

No difference in horizontal stab at all for all 3.

The hard part of the Sophisticated Lady is running the flex cable.

Electra was just a beefed up wing due to added weight and slightly widened fuselage to accommodate the electric motor and 6 cell RC car NiCd.


I think the main reason the Electra and Sophisticated Lady didn't sell well was because the original Gentle Lady was so easy to convert into the other two. No reason to pay that much more for the kit when a couple of sheets of balsa and a bit of work would give the desired version.

time bandit

I see said the blind man.

time bandit

I have found the ARF fuse for the Sophisticated Lady on ebay but no canopy. I hate that I sold mine years ago. I loved flying it. I know there's lots of other sailplanes on the market but I simply loved the SL.