aeajr

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Sal,

If you don't mind, I want to stretch the electic airplane a bit to include hotliner gliders.

I fly small electic planes, have one electic glider, an EG Electric, and a dozen thermal duration sailplanes up to 3.4M

But I don't have a hotliner. They look like fun but I don't know what to look for. I am in research mode so maybe you can help get me on the right path.

Figure airframe under $250 if possible. Wing span of 2M or less. I will leave the big wings for my winch work.

Speed and aerobatics on flat land and probably on the slope too. If it would thermal too, that would be a plus.

What should I look for and perhaps you can offer some examples.

salnsp

For an under $250.00 price for airframe you will be looking at Obeechi sheeted wings and fiberglass fuselage. While not as fast or strong as the true F3B all molded airframes, this type of Hotliner can be a good introduction to high speed sailplane flight. There are several good ones on the market. I would look at the Nike 2, Scorpion, Filip 400RG, Siren as good first examples. In this catagory, try to stick with Czech made airframes as these will do the best. The motor system is very important for climb performance but the airframe is the most important as speed runs and almost all aerobatics,are made with the prop folded.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

That is really informative. You have given me some really good insight.

Suppose I could toss the budget aside and go for it! What would I look for? Would I want to go carbon or Kevlar? Could a plane like this also be suitable for Dynamic Soaring? Bagged wings or are we talking hollow molded?

I would imaging high wing loadings would be an asset here for energy retention and high acceloration. Would that be so?

Hope you don't mind my quesitons. This is an area I really know very little about.

As far as motors go, I presume climb speed is not all that important since, as you said, the real action is with the motor off. But I would think 100 watts/pound would be sort of a minimum for this kind of plane. Do you favor outrunners or gearboxes?

salnsp

Molded is always better than bagged or sheeted. The airfoils and surfaces will be more exact and therefor much better performance especially in speed and glide. Molded wings are typically stronger and will take more flight abuse than any other type of wing.

To do dynamic soaring you will need an airframe designed for this mode of flying and although you could get an F5B airframe made with extra carbon for DS flying, It would not really be designed to maximize DS sloping. I would separate the two tasks and get a DS sailplane and an F5B sailplane.