da Rock

Why so many with just rudder/elevator?

History... early on, that's what started the popularity of RC gliders.

Price... model sailplane price ranges into the thousands. An excellent starter ARF RE one with motor/esc/prop that needs only RX and 3S LiPo is over at Tower for $115. It's such an excellent deal, a number of guys at one of my club got together and bought them together at one time. And none of those guys flew gliders.

They're probably the most successful starter models in RC.

Cycotravlr

YellowBlueBird, FYI Skybench Aerotech is very much still in business. They have more kits available than ever before. Anything from beginners to major competition. I purchased a132" Olympic III just 3 weeks ago. Ray Hayes, (owner) is a busy guy and isn't always available to get to the phone. email him and he will get back to you soon. Checkout their website. It is up to date and prices are current.

ejett

My Feedback: (4)

The Spectra and Spirit don't have sheeting on the outer panels and this makes them more prone to tip stall. However, judicious use of washout will pretty much eliminate that issue. The other thing that exacerbates the tendency is that the stock setup has excess decalage built in. Taking some of that out will make the plane fly a lot better. I have a Spectra that I built many years ago and I had to add weight behind the wing to get it to balance like I wanted. With washout added into the outer panels, it lost the tip stall tendency and was a great flyer. Later I pulled the anemic power system out of it and converted it to a sailplane and it flew even better. When you get the plane properly balanced, you'll know it as it will turn better and signal lift much better. It's definitely worth the effort.

EJ

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I have a Spirit. It was my first sailplane. ejett, I have to agree with your assessment.