cularis and thermaling  
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Tower Hobbies
Enter up to 4 keywords or Tower stock numbers
Logged in as Guest



Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
       

All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring >> cularis and thermaling
Page: [1] 2   next >   >>  

Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
cularis and thermaling - 5/12/2008 10:40:09 PM   
hannie


 

Posts: 10
Joined: 5/6/2008
From: , MA, USA
Status: offline 		Hi, could someone tell me how the cularis is at thermaling or how it handles in light winds. I'm thinking about buying one, but still not sure if composite might be a better choice. I know the elapor is some tough but when you start getting into that type of money if you are better of with composite bird. Thanks hannie
       Post #: 1

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/13/2008 1:19:30 AM   
rocketman47



Posts: 89
Joined: 6/12/2002
From: Central Point, OR, USA
Status: offline 		I have no personal experience with the Cularis, but I have read plenty about it and friend has one in Utah. He claims that it thermals great! But, It's never going to out thermal a hollow molded TD ship..

Randy


_____________________________

"I didn't get to where I am today, by worrying about what I'm gonna feel like tomorrow"

(in reply to hannie)
       Post #: 2

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/13/2008 1:35:34 AM   
Alex.schweig


 

Posts: 253
Joined: 5/29/2006
From: LimaLima, PERU
Status: offline 		I guess any glider that has an efficient wing can thermal. I would dare predict that the Cularis would be a good thermal plane if it is taken up to sufficient altitude with the motor or a winch. You'll just need some real hot ground heating up the air. Try thermalling near roads on a really hot summer day. You'll get real good rise. The best kind of thermal radiator is a parking lot. Always try to thermal on a day with plenty of sun. I would also say that the Cularis would be an even better sloper than thermaller. Its sleek design and thin wings make it a perfect speed sloperget speed and make er' whistle! Of course, the Cularis would be even better with the optional brushless motor packageeasier to get altitude to find thermals or wind currents if you are sloping. I sure recommend you try sloping this glider if there are any slopes near you. The Cularis is better off with strong winds (9-20 mph) when sloping for optimum performance. Elapor is a wonderful material but I know of some guys who covered the wing and most of the fuse in resin and reinforced critical spots with carbon cloth. the plane ended up very ugly and heavy but with 19 mph winds and a lot of ballast it flew like a bat outta hell. We timed it at 97 mph! I wouldn't recommend you to fly the Cularis in light wind unless you have a motor. The light wing will let you thermal but not fly on a cold day with light wind. Composite planes are costly and repairs from crashes are hard. Plus, most composite birds are not great thermallers unless you have a motor to assist it to find speed and lift. What other alternatives are you considering apart from the Cularis?

Here are photos of the Cularis and of the brushless motor package, cockpit and elevator servo setup:



Attachments
Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize 		Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize 		Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize 		Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize
Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize


_____________________________

(Previously Zagiz) Lima, Peru... Great wind, great slopes! Proudly flying my brand new Ferox slope racer!
Parque Gandhi

(in reply to hannie)
       Post #: 3

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/13/2008 1:36:53 AM   
Alex.schweig


 

Posts: 253
Joined: 5/29/2006
From: LimaLima, PERU
Status: offline 		Unless you are thinking TD ships (thermal duration/unlimited), most composite planes are slopers or DSers. I got confused when you said "composite bird"....

_____________________________

(Previously Zagiz) Lima, Peru... Great wind, great slopes! Proudly flying my brand new Ferox slope racer!
Parque Gandhi

(in reply to Alex.schweig)
       Post #: 4

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/13/2008 3:32:12 AM   
evan-RCU



Posts: 2529
Joined: 2/4/2002
From: Charlotte, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Sometimes composite can mean simply a fiberglass fuselage. If you mean all composite as in the whole plane, wings stabs that's different and usually pretty costly. Also usually a better plane, the full composits have better airfoils retainted through the entire wing and sometimes have just as good a weight to sq/ft as anything else.

The deciding factor for me would be disposable income, a landing area that won't destroy it on landing, and a flying area that supports this type of plane.

I like high end stuff and don't mind throwing $$$ at a plane.

_____________________________

Revver #125, Pico Owners Club #3
R/C Anonymous. My name is Evan and I have not flown for 14 hours.

(in reply to Alex.schweig)
       Post #: 5

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/13/2008 3:37:12 AM   
Alex.schweig


 

Posts: 253
Joined: 5/29/2006
From: LimaLima, PERU
Status: offline 		Sorry for my ignorance...

When I hear the term composite construction or composite ship my mind usually jumps to kevlar and carbon fiber all-composite planes like F3Fs.

Get the Cularis. Its a great plane. If you want something more sophisticated try an unlimited/thermal duration ship. You can find those on SOARINGUSA.com

Great selection of planes.Only prob is not much technical info.

_____________________________

(Previously Zagiz) Lima, Peru... Great wind, great slopes! Proudly flying my brand new Ferox slope racer!
Parque Gandhi

(in reply to evan-RCU)
       Post #: 6

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/13/2008 5:03:50 PM   
evan-RCU



Posts: 2529
Joined: 2/4/2002
From: Charlotte, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Alex, absolutely no reason to apologize... Your recommendations a spot on.

_____________________________

Revver #125, Pico Owners Club #3
R/C Anonymous. My name is Evan and I have not flown for 14 hours.

(in reply to Alex.schweig)
       Post #: 7

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/13/2008 10:34:56 PM   
Alex.schweig


 

Posts: 253
Joined: 5/29/2006
From: LimaLima, PERU
Status: offline 		Always a pleasure to help or be helped...

_____________________________

(Previously Zagiz) Lima, Peru... Great wind, great slopes! Proudly flying my brand new Ferox slope racer!
Parque Gandhi

(in reply to evan-RCU)
       Post #: 8

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/16/2008 3:10:18 AM   
joedoe


 

Posts: 179
Joined: 9/10/2003
From: Mount Joy, PA, USA
Status: offline 		I have a Cularis and I love it. The elapor is definitely durable. I have flown it in 7mph and up slope lift and thermaled it on a plain area. I have programmed 2 camber settings, and the Cularis is very responsive. It will also fly in strong wind. For the price tag you get a big glider with very good performance

(in reply to Alex.schweig)
       Post #: 9

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/17/2008 4:43:26 PM   
wowie


 

Posts: 15
Joined: 11/19/2005
From: Newton, MA, USA
Status: offline 		Hay Zagiz,
I see that you installed your elevator servo in the tail of your Cularis and was wondering how you liked the modification. I was thinking of doing the same thing thereby elimination the use of the supplied ball bearings for counter weight. By installing the elevator servo in the tail like you did makes good sense because you'd get much better control authority and there's no slop. The supplied pushrod could have some slop and I think what you did will eliminate any potential for slop in the elevator control system. Let me know if you like the modification if you get this post.
Thanks,,,,Wowie

(in reply to joedoe)
       Post #: 10

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/20/2008 3:06:23 AM   
aeajr



Posts: 5456
Joined: 1/14/2003
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: hannie

Hi, could someone tell me how the cularis is at thermaling or how it handles in light winds. I'm thinking about buying one, but still not sure if composite might be a better choice. I know the elapor is some tough but when you start getting into that type of money if you are better of with composite bird. Thanks hannie


If the Cularis flies anything like the Easy Glider, it should do just fine in light winds for flat land thermal soaring. For thermal duration soaring, composite usually equals big bucks. My Supra costs over $1200 plus electroncis. So I don't know what you are comparing the Cularis to in price.

Are you thinking of electric launch, hi-start or winch launching?

_____________________________

Clear Skies and Safe Flying!
Ed Anderson
Moderator
Park Pilot Program Partner

(in reply to hannie)
       Post #: 11

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/20/2008 11:02:02 AM   
papermache



Posts: 672
Joined: 9/26/2002
From: Gary, IN, USA
Status: offline 		Hannie,
If you're building the motorized version it's no problem, but be advised that the Cularis does NOT come with a tow hook. They show you where to put one, but no parts are provided. Don't know why they left it out, but they did.

Just to wiegh in on the other discussion here, all "composite" means is a mix of materials. thus, a balsa fuse/foam wing glider is every bit as much a "composite" ship as a hollow-molded kevlar/epoxy/whatever concoction that costs thousands of dollars. I'll argue that my Gentle Lady or Spirit 100 are "composite" ships. After all, they're a mix of balsa AND plywood AND monokote. What happened here is that a bunch of marketing people thought that "composite" sounded cool so they used it to try to convince people to buy the high-end stuff.

Let's fly and forget the semantics.

papermache

_____________________________

Slope Gliding - A Northwest Indiana tradition since 1896

(in reply to aeajr)
       Post #: 12

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/21/2008 1:18:46 AM   
elmog


 

Posts: 59
Joined: 6/24/2007
From: , CT, USA
Status: offline 		Papermache is right. I learned in Airframe and Powerplant school years ago that a composite airplane is one that uses a variety of materials to construct the airframe. A Piper Cub is composite in that it uses a steel tube fuselage, wooden spars and fabric covering. What most people refer to as composite is really Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP). It's usually some type of cloth (glass, Kevlar, Carbon fiber etc..) that is wetted out with a polymer resin. When dry it becomes a rigid structure able to withstand the stresses of flight (hopefully!). If you tell the owner of an expensive Carbon Fiber airplane that your $59 Tower Hobbies sailplane is a composite, they will usually roll their eyes at you. Like Papermache said, the word has been abused by the marketing people to make it sound hi-tech.

< Message edited by elmog -- 5/23/2008 5:13:00 PM >

(in reply to papermache)
       Post #: 13

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/21/2008 2:54:10 AM   
Alex.schweig


 

Posts: 253
Joined: 5/29/2006
From: LimaLima, PERU
Status: offline 		The elevator setup is not mine, but my cousin's. It works quite well and there is absolutely no slop. But the standard setup works well anyways.



_____________________________

(Previously Zagiz) Lima, Peru... Great wind, great slopes! Proudly flying my brand new Ferox slope racer!
Parque Gandhi

(in reply to elmog)
       Post #: 14

RE: cularis and thermaling - 5/26/2008 7:13:23 AM   
astroboycp



Posts: 409
Joined: 8/13/2006
From: , SINGAPORE
Status: offline 		OT question, how long will the elapor last if say left in the box. Will it somehow deteriorate like normal foam?

_____________________________

F a i l u r e i s t h e M o t h e r o f a l l S u c c e s

(in reply to Alex.schweig)