Aquila1954

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I wanted to just say Hello to all of you. I have been out of the hobby for about 26 years, and I am going to get back into building and flying R/C Gliders and Sailplanes. 26 years ago I discovered computers and I put my hobby on the back burner. At the time I did this I was 3/4 done building my "Airtronics "Aquila Grande". Starting in November I am going to build a new set of wings for it. In January and then in February I am going to buy 2 kits to build also. January I will be getting the "Gentle Lady" and in February the The Bird of Time.

I like building the planes than go out and buy the "ARF" or RTF" ones instead. I mostly high start my planes. That way I can go almost anywhere with a big enough field to fly in and not bother anyone. I didn't belong to any club at the time. I will be getting a AMA license, but I don't know if I will join any club now either. I am more of a free spirit.

And thank you to having this forum, I like reading the posts.

Antares100

My Feedback: (12)

Welcome back, I returned to the hobby last year. Good luck with the Grande, I have a standard Aquila i need to put together. Also have a (flying) Bird of Time and a few other sailplane kits waiting to be built. Good luck and let us know how you are dong.

foodstick

That Bird O Time makes a SWEET electric glider

Aquila1954

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I am thinking to buy a set of plans from RCM Plans if the web site is still active to get another set of the Standard Aquila. I do love that plane.

Aquila1954

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I might consider that. Considering I am a pretty big guy, as in weight.

aeajr

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Welcome back to the hobby. Keep us informed of your activities and feel free to ask questions. We are all here to help one another.

Aquila1954

My Feedback: (1)

Thank you

BMatthews

DO NOT SEND THEM ANY MONEY! Read the sticky thread about RCM Plans at the top of the listings in "Scratch Building" for a little recent history of the RCM Plans service owner's failure to deliver product.

Aquila1954

My Feedback: (1)

Thank you for the info, I had wrote a email to them to see if they are active, did not get a reply. So, that pretty much told me not to do it also. Sure like a set of the plans for the standard class Aquila. Maybe that someone here can make a copy for me. But that is the is one of the reason that I am getting a Bird of Time. It's such a beautiful bird. And I do like "Woody's" over foam.
Thank you again

Aquila1954

My Feedback: (1)

I did find a set of Standard Class Aquila plans at this site in PDF Format. http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=5136
Now I have to learn to get them in scale.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Well I double posted so here is another great kit maker Skybench.com

OzMo

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Welcome Back!
Great to see another builder! These guys are loaded with helpful info. There are several "newer" woody kits that super. Some are classics so here is a link to check out. http://www.isthmusmodels.com/models/...sailplane.html

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

If you like to build from plans you might want to look at these designs from Dr. Mark Drela.
http://www.charlesriverrc.org/articles.htm


If RES is your love, the Bubble Dancer is an outstanding RES design and very competitive for RES contests. I have seen them flown in unlimited contests too. The Kennedy Composites Ava is basically the commercial version of the Bubble Dancer. I have a Bubble Dancer and an AVA and the Bubble Dancer is just fantastic! Mine is 35 ounces all up. Mark Drela's is 31 ounces.

You can get a Bubble Dancer short kit from www.mountainmodels.com .

You can find the pod and boom here:
http://www.clm-pro.com/


If you want a RES kit that will let you get into the air pretty quickly you might consider the Oculus. There is a version with a pure glider fuse and an electric glider fuse. One wing, two fuselages.
http://www.mmglidertech.com/oculus.php


If you are able to do bagged wings you might consider the Supra. This is a highly competitive full house glider that has been used at local, regional and world competition levels in a molded wing version. The bagged wing version is excellent.

I own the molded wing versions sold by www.kennedycomposites.com I see the bagged wing versions at the Eastern Soaring League contests all the time. I imagine you could redesign it to a built up wood design. One of our club members had one that was based on a built up wing. I don't know if he built it himself or if he bought it from someone.

There are lots of discussion threads on the Internet about building the Supra, the Oculus and the Bubble Dancer.

If you have a radio already that is great, but if you are going to get all new radio equipment you might find this article helpful. It will tell you want you need to know about current radios.

How to select your first radio
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_11303696/tm.htm

Aquila1954

My Feedback: (1)

I want to "Thank You" for all the information. I really like the site about radio's and I have booked mark a couple too. I did get the "Standard Class Aquila" plans printed out and together. I am on a fixed income so I can't do much. I can do a little here and there. I do have a radio setup. It is in the 72 mhz band and checked with AMA to see if it was still good. But I was thinking about getting a cheap 2.4 ghz one. I am looking at this one (FlySky FS-T6 2.4ghz Digital Proportional 6 Channel Transmitter and Receiver System). For my 72 mhz system I need to get batteries for it. It is an Airtronics RD6000 Sport. Last year, it was building a new computer, this year it was putting money into my 1990 Lincoln Town Car, and starting in January it will be R/C Sailplanes and Gliders. A friend of mine suggested model railroading. I found by doing the planes again would be cheaper and I could get some exercise doing it.
I have been reading about Lipo batteries, don't have a clue about those yet, are they better than Nicad and cheaper. I guess that is what I get when I didn't stay with the program (r/c'ing).
Thank you again.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

If you need a battery, you might want to look at www.cheapbatterypacks.com for options. They make EXCELLENT packs for planes and radios. I have their stuff in my high end gliders and my radios. They will custom build anything you want and for a very reasonable price, maybe $15 to $20.

If your 72 MHz system works and you know how to use it I would stay with that rather than buy a cheap 2.4 that is going to have to be replaced or which fails because it is cheap. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Put your dollars away till you can afford a better radio.

While that radio has some limited mixing features and might be adequate for a RES glider, if you ever plan to fly full aileron gliders or full house gliders you are going to want a better radio than that. You are going to want mixing features that that radio doesn't have. For example it does not have flap/spoiler to elevator mixing. You can create that with the user mixes but that really should be a standard feature.

It does not have flapperon mixing. I assume you could create that with the user mixes too but, again, that should be a standard mix.

With only 3 user mixes creating anything like camber and reflex of the trailing edge of a full house glider would be difficult if not impossible. And, as a glider pilot I would want to have that option.

And if you go to a full house electric glider and want to put each servo on a separate channel for full mixing, you need 7 channels.

But that is me and you may not feel that way. I am just sharing my thoughts. If your current radio and receivers work, get a battery and stay with them for now.

For receiver packs for gliders NiCds and NiMh are fine. You usually need the nose weight anyway. I use NiMh for receiver packs in all of my gliders but NiCds are fine too, they just don't have as much capacity.

For electric gliders you use LiPo packs. You can also use LiFePO4 which are also called A123 cells. We could go on about batteries for hours but the bottom line is, for e-glides as motor packs NiCd are a horrible, terrible mistake. This would be like building with oak and mahogany rather than balsa and light ply. It would work but it would be HEAVY!


NiMh are just a poor choice. Less wrong than NiCd but still not the best choice in most situations. I have retired all of my NiCd and NiMh motor packs.


LiPo packs, which is short for Lithium Polymer, are the right choice. Let's leave it at that. You will need a charger that can charge Lithium packs but that is for a later discussion. You don't need to worry about that till you are building an e-glider. Don't plan on using NiXX of any kind for motor packs .... ever! If you use NiCd motor packs children will point and laugh, your neighbors will talk about you and the Police will come and take you away. OK?

Keep the questions coming. I am sure the builders in this discussion can provide lots of tips on up to date methods. I would point you to the Supra and the Bubble Dancer plans for modern construction techniques.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

The FrSky Tyranus is not overly expensive and has been WELL ACCEPTED at our field. It washes dishes and does windows
http://www.alofthobbies.com/frsky-taranis.html 175.00+-

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

There is a review of the Taranis in this month's RC Soaring Digest, free for download.
http://www.rcsoaringdigest.com/highlights.html

Very powerful radio at an excellent price, but for some it is a steep learning curve.

ARUP

Welcome back to sailplaning! Consider scale aerotowing! No competitions... just plain old fun with like minded individuals! Unfortunately there isn't much info about it all on this fine site so I'll defer you to RCAerotowing.com

Aquila1954

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks

Geek1945

You might consider looking in the BUY & SELL column there's an ad for enlarging plans of any size to your specs. Personally I just stumbled upon it tonight and the printing charges seem fair to me so I bookmarked his ad. I'm an old timer too flying in the 50 & 60's then marriage,kids, and other distractions like earning a living. Good luck and happy building which seems to be going the way of the dinosaurs like me. One good thing is you have tons of new materials and products we never dreamed of in years past. Ed

Aquila1954

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks Geek1945 on that Plans Ad link. I got it bookmarked now also.

jcstalls

My Feedback: (7)

Hi,
If you are referring to Hemikiller, than yes as I have all wonderful experiences with him for reproduction.

Jared