gliders

[snakeyme 0]

whats the best way to get a glider in the air without a towing system, and what type is my glider:

 

 

needs alittle work with the hinges but otherwise its a good looking thing.

 

the picture is of it in the shop that i bought it from and came with everything except RX

[Trevor 25]

1. Throw it off a hillside aka slope soaring

2. Fit an electric motor

3. Tow it with a tug e.g. large (min. 26cc) Cub

 

 

 

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk 2

Edited November 17, 2012 by Guest

[snakeyme 0]

its fibreglass and weighs alot but can my hi-boy precedant trainer tow it with a 40 engine or will i need a larger plane and bigger engine.

 

or is there a way to attach a towing system to my kabriolin that has a 61 engine.

 

1 last thing, the glider has 3 channels (aerilons, elevator and rudder) so would it be idea for use as a trainer as i have a friend with a 6 year old boy who i would like to let him have a go of a plane but dont want him to try my nitro planes so thought this would be more ideal and tbh the only reason why i bought a glider

[arun 0]

Hi Daniel,

 

Most glider tugs are 30cc+, what you have is underpowered. Keep in mind, you will need two experienced pilots to tow into the air, the 6 yr old would not be able to control the glider during take off.

 

Also, it raises the question of buddy boxes. If you are flying a tug and must concentrate 100% on it, who is buddying with the 6yr old? You need at least three competent pilots to pull this off...

 

Anecdotally, 6 is too young to RC fly - most of the experiences I have read about this (and I have a heavy interest with two kids who will fly one day ) suggest that before age 8 kids suffer too much stress, even though they can prove to be very competent on a sim before this. Of course YMMV...

Edited November 17, 2012 by Guest

[snakeyme 0]

ah ok thanx arun, as an fyi though i was thinking of letter the 6 year old fly once the glider was in the air but gunna let him play with the sim instead for now on lol.

 

sanwa sm-631 servo`s, are they any good as the glider has 2 of them installed for the rudder and elevators.

[arun 0]

The SM-631 was Sanwa's standard servo in the mid-80s (no I didn't know that without checking!). So I think it's fair to say that this is not a modern servo and therefore not "any good" by current standards. But that doesn't mean it's not fit for purpose in your glider assuming they are in good working order, maybe someone else with knowledge of them will chime in...

[Trevor 25]

If you fancy trying slope soaring have a look at this site.

 

As Arun says, launching a glider using a tug is not for the inexperienced and in the scenario you describe would require at least three people including two experienced flyers.

 

Imho, an electric conversion with a folding prop might be the better option as it could be flown like any other plane up to height then turned off to glide. Otherwise, one of the slope sites where you might find a helpful pilot who will test fly it for you. Make sure you have insurance though.

 

Gliders are a different flying style than I/C planes but are not really any easier to fly, just different.

[snakeyme 0]

how do you do an electric conversion on a glider that weighs 3-5 kg`s and is fibreglass

[snakeyme 0]

sorry, i mean 1.5kg

[Spiffy 1]

1. Throw it off a hillside aka slope soaring

2. Fit an electric motor

3. Tow it with a tug e.g. large (min. 26cc) Cub

 

In addition to slope soaring I used to use a bungee launch, even for fairly large gliders, better still an electric winch system, home made using a car starter as the motor. Does require fitting a tow hook under the fuz, and with room hook released by a servo.

[Trevor 25]

how do you do an electric conversion on a glider that weighs 3-5 kg`s and is fibreglass

 

Basically fit an electric brushless motor to the front with a folding propeller and an ESC and LiPo battery in the fuselage. Might have to move servos etc around to fit it all in and watch the C of G but it shouldn't be too difficult. Items can be purchased from e.g. GiantShark.co.uk fairly cheaply. The biggest problem is deciding the motor size; this doesn't have to be too big as a glider is not meant to do 3D just enough to make it climb.

 

An alternative could be a pod mounted motor

[Peter Royall 47]

The glider in the picture, looks to me like a slope soarer, and would perform best, as it was designed. Gliders that work best on a bungee or tow, are generally much lighter designs. Slope soarers are normally built a bit more rugged, and naturally a bit heavier, which is best for penetration on the slopes.

An excellent opportunity for you to give it a try, its a most exhilerating thing to do!

Perhaps next year we can set up a trip, to a suitable slope, and you can have a try? Grandad or Mum will have to come, though.

OIly

[Trevor 25]

Perhaps next year we can set up a trip, to a suitable slope, and you can have a try?

 

I am all for that, I would love to dust off my old CF Middle Phase and get it airborne again.

[arun 0]

Perhaps next year we can set up a trip, to a suitable slope, and you can have a try?

 

I am all for that, I would love to dust off my old CF Middle Phase and get it airborne again.

 

I'm half way through helping my Dad build a Middle Phase. Would be fun to bring it along!

[Gerard 10]

Sounds good to me.

 

I'd fancy going to have a look see how the non powered flyers conduct their flights.

 

If such a day out could be on a gun club Sunday, then even better!

 

[snakeyme 0]

im all up for that oily, also that way if anyone wanted to try it, they can use my glider if they would like, all i have to do is sort out the hinges before a flight which is gunna be done very shortly (it only has hinge tape atm so im planning on getting the drill and glue type of hinges).

 

Just as an fyi, 1 of the top 10 slopes are in the isle of white (i think) and my glider has a 2.3m wing span although i dont really know what it actually is lol and itll probably be on the 35mhz gear but im hoping to transfer to 2.4ghz soon

[alan 0]

Bravedan on this forum goes slope soaring and probably knows of slopes in your area.

I've done several glider-to-electric conversions, the best was the simprop se200, pictures in buy and sell on this forum. Also did an older wood fuselage model which crashed due to interference (my fault). Another one was an MFA sierra modified to twin motors fitted to the wings on removable mounts so it could still be flown as a glider. As Trevor says, finding space in the fuselage and getting the c.g. correct are the biggest problems; the twin motor setup solves the space problem and minimises the c.g. problem (and sounds great) but needs a bit more work,

Alan

[Martin 0]

Doesn't having two external motor pods add quite a lot of drag when the motor is shut off?

 

Martin

[alan 0]

They add some drag but not as much as you might expect because they are fitted with folding propellers. I have one of the wing mounts in front of me right now, it is a balsa stick with a couple of pegs which locate into holes under the wing. An aluminium bracket at the back transfers thrust to the trailing edge and elastic bands loop over the wing to dowels front and back.