[boris]

hi - what should i be buying please

although currently an ic man of many years,  i've every intention of trying my hand at ARTF gliding (sorry not a building man)

i won't be flying my glider from the club field but from an area nearer to my home - it's not that big so i don't want a glider requiring a long approach because of a high landing speed

i want it to be powered and i hope to eventually 'see' my glider thermal soaring

landing with planes relys upon your use of the ailerons to keep the wings level but what happens with a glider without them - can the rudder keep the wings level on approach ?

looking forward to your advice

bi
boris   

i've just been told that a graupner pink lady would be good AND - so would an easy pigeon

[tadleysoarer]

depends are you going to flat field or slope fly? r/e gliders the rudder will keep the wings level but they are slower to respond. my suggestion for a firat glider would be 2nd hand with a model taht is know to be good.

Tad

[Cactus]

the bigger gliders ( ie the easy pigeon ) tend to need more space to land coz the glide is so shallow.

my topic is fun and can catch thermals, the coyote is smaller but can still catch thermals only not as well.
both are 400 size.

[boris]

i'm definately flat fielding it - so rudder will do it but slowly and your suggestion would be a 2nd hand 'Taht' - have i got that one right ?

boris

[boris]

being a new boy i hadn't realised that the easy pigeon was a large model - larger needs more space because of shallow glide on landing

so as far as coping with limited landing space goes should i be looking size alone ?
does the wing shape have any bearing on the glide slope ?

the topic and coyote - who's the manufacturer ?

thanks guys
boris

 

[Cactus]

both can be brought via ripmax, but the topic is a much nicer artf.

the topic is rudder elevator.
the rudder works ok, you can stall turn and throw it about a fair bit really.
glide path is pretty long ( not as long as a 600 class without brakes ), as you can't pull it up with elevator, with no ailerons you can't cope with a wing drop.

the coyote is a naffish build and it's pretty unstable at high alpha ( rudder blanked i guess, ailerons become useless ), but once up there power off it's not bad. floats about ok.
it has ailerons but will only roll given a few postcodes to play with.
( see my build in construction central )

both have can 400 motors
the topic has a 7 cell 1100mAh pack and give about 11 mins run time, best flight is 45 mins.
the ridge runt has a 3 cell li-po, gives good climbout and long run time.
best flight i was getting cliff lift and ran out of sunlight.

the topic on a li-po would be pretty good.

wing shape isn't the most important factor, aileron and rudder gliders will have different dihedral at different points.
you can go big, but crow brakes or airbrakes will be needed to get in smaller places.

[jim]

just how small is your field? If you are an experienced ic flyer then go for a model with spoilers especially if you have a computer transmitter.I fly from a 1 acre field with a RCM Elegant from Puffin models.It has spoilerons and flaps.It is great for thermalling and will descend fast at slow flying speed with flaps and/ or spoilers.If you are not so experienced a small model is the answer with a 400 motor.Puffin models will put you right over all of this.You can post them on this web site

[flymike]

i have an easy pidgeon electric glider, it will catch thermals all day long in the right conditions...I've recently fitted a 3:1 gear box and a 9x4 folding prop, using a 7.2v 600 size motor and a 6 cell 3300 NiMh C Cell pack I'm getting flight times of around 40 to 60 Min's....!

landing is no problem as we have a fairly long strip, but i have flown it elsewhere and
just put it down in the long grass.

i have flown both 400 and 600 size gliders and 600 size give's you that extra power in windy conditions....it's also bigger so you can see it higher.

the Multiplex EasyGlider electric version is a very good glider to start with and i would recommend this to anyone, i've seen one of these up for a hour and a half..!

here's the link   http://www.modelspot.com/mpx/easyglider.htm

great model for £57.00 

good luck

[nick j]

You might find that something like an Easy Pigeon just feels a bit naff for an experienced modeller. Jim's suggestion of looking at RCM on the Puffin site would point you at some much nicer planes. If you do go for his Elegant you should definitely get the version with flaps for a small field (or even a large one - they glide for miles). But RCM Swift might be a better bet for a smaller and simpler model which is still high-performance and has a spoiler.

[Cactus]

Andy Ellison reviewed the easy glider a while back.
he said it was a fantastic glider to the point it's so stable and good at it's job experianced flyers will find it a bit dull.

but people really are singing it's praises

[Alan]

You might find that something like an Easy Pigeon just feels a bit naff for an experienced modeller. Jim's suggestion of looking at RCM on the Puffin site would point you at some much nicer planes. If you do go for his Elegant you should definitely get the version with flaps for a small field (or even a large one - they glide for miles). But RCM Swift might be a better bet for a smaller and simpler model which is still high-performance and has a spoiler.

Provided you get an Easy Pidgeon that doesn't like clapping (wings). Mine did it twice in shallow thermal turns.
Now have an RCM 'Grace' from Puffin which is on the bench. Slightly bigger ailerons/flaps than Elegant, and will touchdown on a sixpence with full CROW brakes deployed.

[Dave_S]

TWICE?? You mean it survived the first time? Must be a strong model (in some respects, anyway).

Dave S

[boris]

You guys are brilliant - really appreciate the advice   

I will respond where somebody has asked me a question

Thanks again

bi
boris   (nothing purchased yet !)

[boris]

well i've purchased one 

called a bmi valbella 2mtr wspan - it's fitted with a graupner speed 600 motor and all i have to buy is a 7 cell Sanyo 2400ma. battery pack as advised by the previous owner

i also have to buy a receiver, i'm looking at the futaba R156F although comments like its for park flyers, gliders, foam models etc. makes me nervous 

bi
boris 

[Cactus]

if it's 600 size you can fit something a bit bigger.
go for that little blue Hi-tec job.

[boris]

is there a good 'download' read regarding a start with powered gliding / thermal soaring (from the flat ?)

as an ic man of many years  , i don't really want to read about rudders / elevators etc....if you know what i mean

thanks
boris 

[Cactus]

what do you need to know?

[boris]

general topics such as:-

how to find a thermal - must be more to it than to wait until the glider goes up !
if the glider does go up, are there maneuvers you should attempt in order to remain in the thermal

do you only lose gliders by simply flying them too high and losing eye contact
should i look at my local weather forecast and recognise 'good' flying conditions (other than + winds) and equally 'bad' conditions

these are topics off the top of my head, by the time i switch this thing off i'm bound to have thought of more !

nite
boris

[Cactus]

how to find a thermal - must be more to it than to wait until the glider goes up !
if the glider does go up, are there maneuvers you should attempt in order to remain in the thermal

first pick what looks like a good thermal spot ( large area that will be warmer than anything else )
i found my best on a not so hot day with big cloulds off to one side.
every 10-15 mins little fluffy clouds would appear to the south of us.
i took my Cougar there deadstick and caught a boomer.

get to a good height but still with an easy view of the model, esp the wings.

now fly around up and down over what you think may be the good area.
if you see your wing tip lift turn into the lifted tip ( you've just hit the edge of a thermal ).
circle around and see if the gliders being thrown about.
if you hit the edge you'll see one wing tip drop, try and turn back in.
the thermal will climb and be blown back.
when the thermal starts it will be a bubble. my Cougar hit this first, traversing up and down i lost no height until the bubble took off taking me with it!.

on calm days you may feel the breeze change direction.

if it stops the thermals infront of you, it's sucking the wind towards it.
if the breeze picks up it's behind you. same goes for the sides.

do you only lose gliders by simply flying them too high and losing eye contact

Boomers can take gliders from you completely, no no amount of spinning will bring it back. keep the aerial pointing at the last known spot, look back t the tip for a rough direction.
try not to scan the sky for a lost glider.
look up but not at anything.
your eyes are tuned to spot moving things.

I've only ever caught about 3, but i don't thermal much.

[Dave_S]

I reckon to find lift on every flight when I fly my electric glider - sometimes lift so strong you can see the model climbing fast, other times just enough to reduce its rate of descent. The trick is to fly as smoothly as possible and watch the model carefully - any sudden movement of the model is then due to the air, not you. Wings rocking or lifting often indicate lift, so circle and try to find where it is strongest. Other models and birds can often show you where the lift is - even small birds such as swallows as they feed on swarms of insects rising in lift. So long as it isn't too windy, the afternoon is the best time of the day for lift, it gets much weaker in the evening, but even then I have had plenty of flights extended by patches of weak lift.

Just practice, and watch the model, let it tell you what the air is doing.

Dave S

[allanart]

The alternative is to install a vario, it provides a radio link back to the pilot indicating Lift, Sink, Altitude, and Battery Voltage. I can personally reccomend the Picolario.

Lots of excellent info on all aspects of model soaring, and the use of a vario on www.scalesoaring.co.uk

Regards
Allan

[Cactus]

or cheating as it's known :ww