ORIGINAL: ColinNC
Roughly how long do you think on average the Defiant can stay aloft, I recon that it takes much skill, but from anywhere between (0)sec to possibly (1)hour? And if anyone can tell me how far back from the spike in the ground I would have to walk back?
Thankyou for all of your responses thus far, it has helped
Stock answer of course is "That depends." From a decent high start lauch in dead air, I figure 3-5 minutes. In slope lift, it is possible to do >eight hours. I've pushed 45 minuyes from a high start. It's great that you can use a sod farm. Flat, lots of room. Your lift (rising warm air) that carries a sailplane up, come from discontinuities in terrain. Big buildings, parking lots, plowed fields, etc can be sources of lift. The idea is simple: find warm air that is rising faster than your sailplane is sinking, and you go up!
The lengths of high starts varies. They seem to come in light and heavy duty. Unless you need to fly from a very tight space, get the heavy duty. The elastic part is a piece of surgical tubing up to 100 feet long. Add 200 feet of cord and the parachute, you may need 600 feet or so or room.
There is a skill to getting the most stretch on a launch so you get the most altitude.