It is a Sapphire from Whyte Wings. 3m wingspan. Obechi covered foam wings with C/F reinforcement a F/G fuse and built up tail feathers. AUW is 68.75 oz. Covered with Hangar 9 Ultracote and painted with Polyurethane. Flies well and can do a modest zoom in comparison to the moulded F3J type planes. Despite the "low tech" approach it launches tall enough to be more than respectable. Thermals extremely well and it is fast enough to find the elusive thermal at the other end of the field. I think it would be a good choice for a second full house sailplane or even a 1st if you are competent on the sticks. I find it easy to control and much easier to fly than a Spirit 100. It can win a TD contest against all comers if then pilot is up to it but I wouldn't advise trying to enter an F3J event, it is not strong enough nor was it designed to enter that type of contest. I have flown mouldies but I find them fragile for my ham-fisted flying style. For about US$430 you can't go wrong, the Sapphire has been around for about 10 years and is still in demand despite not being moulded and not using a currently popular airfoil, It is the ubiquitious 7037. The colour scheme is based on the Maple Leafs practice jerseys. Go Leafs Go.
I have two LSF level V wins with other sailplanes and I intend to keep this plane as my primary contest weapon for a long time to come.
NSP sells them or you can contact Whyte Wings thru HILAUNCH.COM. I beleive that there will be a new production run sometime in August and I may just order another for myself.
Howzat
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