Sapphire 2m

The Sapphire is a lightweight electric thermal soarer designed for the Czech/Slovak Small Outrunner electric glider class. It borrows many design and technology refinements from discus launched gliders, and the aerodynamic design is well thought out and fault-free.

The nicely finished smooth glass skinned foam core wing has a substantial carbon spar. Each wing half is molded with the polyhedral in place, ensuring a very smooth and low drag surface, and good stability. The small lightweight fuselage pod is of glass/epoxy construction, so is 2.4GHz friendly, and can accommodate folding props up to 14″ diameter, allowing good climb rates. The convenient canopy hatch allows access to the electric motor and battery. The rear fuselage is made of a lightweight but long carbon boom, giving excellent flight stability.

The tail feathers have a similar construction to the wings and are in a conventional cross tail configuration, with a fin and tailplane. The tailplane is removable for easy transport. The control surfaces are actuated by servos in the pod using the supplied pushrods. This helps the CG to be correctly positioned even when using a lightweight powertrain. Please ignore all references to the older V tail version.

The light weight, high aspect ratio, generous dihedral and tail moments, make the Sapphire a high performance and easy to fly thermal soarer that will stay aloft with the best of them. The modern thin airfoil and four servo wing gives the model a wide speed range. The quality construction and excellent price point make it a very good first competition model for the 2m eSoaring class. The kit includes minimal English instructions. See this excellent German build log for lots of useful info.

The new Ultralight pod option has a lighter carbon/Kevlar fuselage pod. This is very slim and requires a 28mm or 30mm (max) spinner. Apart from being slimmer the pod is also longer, so a lighter powertrain can be used. Access to the pod is a little restricted so the only motors that we recommend are the Hacker B20-18L or the Hacker A10-7L motors, both geared 4:1. This pod saves about 28g (1 oz), from the flying weight shown below.

Sapphire Specification
Wing span	2.0 m	79 in
Wing area	30.4 dm2	471 sq in
Length	1.12 m	44 in
Flying weight from	525 g	18.5 oz
Wing loading	17.3 g/dm2	5.7 oz/sq ft
Aspect ratio	13.2
Wing airfoil	AG40, AG41, AG42, AG43
EDA (dihedral)	8 degrees
Spinner diameter	32 mm (28 mm for Ultralight Pod version)
Centre of Gravity	60-65 mm from wing leading edge
Controls	Ailerons, flaps, rudder, elevator

Sapphire Typical Weights
Fuselage	62 g	2.2 oz
Wing	190 g	6.7 oz
Tailplane & fin	19 g	0.6 oz
Accessories	30 g	1.1 oz
Total structure	300 g	10.6 oz
RC	72 g	2.5 oz
Motor	48 g	1.7 oz
Prop	29 g	1.1 oz
Battery	75 g	2.6 oz
Total	525 g	18.5 oz

Recommended RC
Rudder & elevator servos	Hitec HS-40, Blue Bird BMS-101DMG, Blue Bird BMS-101HV, Blue Bird BMS-A10H, MKS DS65K, KST X06, KST X08
Aileron servos (2)	Hitec HS-40, Blue Bird BMS-101DMG, Blue Bird BMS-101HV, MKS HV70, MKS DS65K, KST X06N, KST X06H, KST X08N, KST X08H
Flap servos (2)	Blue Bird BMS-101DMG, Blue Bird BMS-101HV, KST X06N, KST X06H, KST X08N, KST X08H, MKS DS75K, MKS HV75K
Receiver	7+ channel receiver to match your transmitter
Speed control	15A – 30A ESC, HyperFlight 28A BLHELI-32, HyperFlight 30A BLHELI-32, E-Power Plus 25A High RPM ESC

Standard Pod Powertrain Recommendations
ADH300L / MM1914-1100	3S 500mAh LiPo, 8×5 prop
ADH300L / MM1914-1100	2S 600mAh LiPo, 10×6 prop
Axi 2208/34 V2 Long	3S 500mah LiPo, 8×5 prop
Axi 2212/26 V2 Long	3S 500mah LiPo, 9×6 prop
Mega 16/15/4	2S 600mAh LiPo, 10×5 prop
Mega 16/15/5	3S 600mAh LiPo, 7×5 prop (29A, 8.2 m/s, 1640 fpm)
Powerline Micro 1010/19	3S 600mAh LiPo, 12×7
Hacker A20-20L	3S 500mah LiPo, 10×7 prop (21A, 1950 fpm)
Hacker A20-20L	2S 600mah LiPo, 13×9 prop (23A, 1750 fpm)
Hacker A20-26M	3S 500mah LiPo, 9×6 prop (16A, 1530 fpm)
Dualsky XM2826-10	2S 600mAh LiPo, 10×7 prop

Ultralight Pod Powertrain Recommendations
Hacker A10-7L geared 4.4:1	3S 900mAh LiPo, 12×10 folding prop, 12A, 7.5m/s
Hacker A10-7L geared 4.4:1	3S 900mAh LiPo, 13×8 folding prop, 13A, 8.5 m/s
Hacker B20-18L geared 4:1	2S 900mAh LiPo, 12×7 folding prop, 12A, 5.0 m/s
Hacker B20-18L geared 4:1	3S 900mAh LiPo, 10×5 folding prop, 11A, 5.4 m/s>

Recommended Control Throws & Mixes
See the Sapphire Assembly Instructions (link below).