Chevyowner

I'm 68, just finished building a 2-meter Spirit Spectra(electric powered). Flying experience is basically none. My wife gave me a Great Planes RealFlight Simulator for Christmas(in hopes that it will help prevent major disasters while learning-I will use an experienced trainer to teach me). In learning to use the simulator a couple of questions came up.

1. At what point do you set your trims while in flight? Straight and level into the wind or with the wind?

2. Assuming the plane is under control(and pilot hasn't panicked) how do you set up for your landing? The manual with the plane states to pass overhead into the wind at about 50 feet altitude, once upwind do a 180, go down wind until behind you, another 180 and approach for landing, flaring at about 1 foot off the ground. Sounds good in print but what's it like in real life?

Thanks for any advice and have a great day.

coro

1)I usually set my trims during a couple of hand launches into the wind. The simulator is quite difficult to practice landings with because it is hard to see the ground on most programs. The sim is great for getting your basic flying technique down though.

2) Setting up for landing is all a matter of foresight. Think ahead and try project the gliders sink rate as you make the downwind and final approach to landing. Remember you can always bleed off extra height by widening your turn to final, make a nice slow turn that eats up a lot of sky. Conversely if you are too low it is NOT always best to steepen your turn to final, because a stall at low speeds/altitude is generally detrimental. Just land with the wind, or cross wind if you find yourself low (it will be a bit faster, but the machine is under control).

Since you have an electric glider, it would be best to just practice landings, using the engine to get you out of a jam, till you get used to the downwind heights, and generally what it takes to get the glider to land at your feet (with time it's possible!).

One thing that always helps with gliding, is to figure out a nice slow speed at which the glider flies, and try keep the glider at that speed for the entire flight. Basic gliders get quite squirly at higher speeds. So get is to float down and keep it there!

Good luck.

BMatthews

In stronger winds I often do not DO a downwind leg unless I'm coming back from upwind (very rare on a windy day). I find that a downwind lege just looses too much ground that is difficult to make up in the wind.

What I do is S turn back and forth across the face of the wind. To "let" the model move downwind make the turns and crosswind legs longer and more crosswind. ALWAYS turn back INTO the wind or you'll loose your ground. The final approach to the landing is to come in crosswind at an angle to the wind that has the model moving neither up- nor downwind at all and on a line about 50 feet downwind of where I want to touch down and at about a 30 foot height. The previous S turns having been done to place it into that position. When the model is in line with the upwind approach I turn the model directly into the wind and ease it down. Sometimes it lands at my feet and others it's a little over or under. The final numbers for the distance back and up will depend on the wind and how your model flies but that's sort of the idea.

If the simulator has wind effects in it have a go at that otherwise it's not easy to do on a sim. You gotta have wind or wind effects to do this. Start with winds at about 1/2 the speed of the model and work up from there. If the simulator accuratley models speed increases due to trim and diving then you can work yourself up to where the wind speed is actually higher than the normal cruise of the model.

Good luck.

sawdust

My Feedback: (7)

I bought a 2 meter sailplane, a Aspire EP, last year and proceeded to teach myself to fly it.

I was learning to fly the regular power planes at the same time and did not solo on them until this year. The point is I knew very little about flying and no one in my club flew sailplanes.

Here is what I learned: (And it was very painful)

1. The standard setup with the 550 motor and a 6 cell battery was totally unacceptable. It would barely climb.
2. Installed a cheap gear drive and motor. And moved up to an 8 cell 3000 battery. You need the extra volts.
3. Now the plane will climb and flies great. 30 to 45 minute flights.
4. My biggest problem was over controlling the sailplane. Go easy on the controls. Do not try to climb at a steep angle. Do not make steep turns close to the ground.
5. Trimming the plane may take some time. I suggest setting up the center of gravity so the plane is a little nose heavy.
6. Permanentely trim the plane so the on launch with the trim centered the plane will just climb. Use the trim to make the plane fly straight. And when I gain some air speed I click in a little more up. But not too much. When I find a thermal I click in some additional up trim. I do not use the stick a lot. To move across the sky to look for another thermal I click in a little down trim.
7. Make your first flights when there is no wind. You do not need to fight cross winds on your first flights.

bob

wildblueyawner

Something else to know - The one thing to avoid during landing or any low-altitude flying (besides crashing into things) is a stall. Beginning glider pilots are constantly advised to maintain speed to avoid a stall, however, no pilot (beginner or otherwise) should judge speed of the plane relative to the ground, himself, or landmarks, because only the plane's airspeed matters. . . . . but the problem is that airspeed is only relevant at one wing loading, and nothing says that the speed or direction of the wind in the vicinity of the plane is anything like the wind near you.

To avoid a stall during landings, the worst time - In the beginning, don't try to float your plane on landings until you've gotten familiar with it, which basically means flying from a field big enough where landing far away from you won't be a big concern.

Getting to the point ==> One of the first things to observe about your plane, and to be conscious of while flying, is the angle of the fuselage relative to the ground. You can get a good idea by just getting up to a reasonable altitude (high enough to recover from a stall), then keep feeding in up trim until stall just occurs, all the while noting the fuse angle.

The fuse angle is the thing to heed, because it's fixed to the angle of attack (AOA) of the wing. For a given airfoil, separation, thus stall, occurs at the same AOA regardless of airspeed, wing loading or CG position (Reynolds number has effect, but considering it here is splitting hairs). So, with respect to avoiding stalls, ignore the plane's speed and instead pay attention to its pitch attitude - as long as the fuse angle is kept below the stall angle, the plane will be flying above its stall speed regardless of other variables.

Flaps complicate things slightly, since they alter the effective AOA, but not an issue on your model.

Tall Paul

A point almost never mentioned.... when you get into trouble, not if, when, cut the power! The plane is self-stabilizing and will get itself out of most
"unusual" attitudes, given 1/2 a chance!
It's a glider. The motor is used to get "3 mistakes high"... turn it off, and glide down. You'll learn how to fly the plane better.
Being comfortable with the motor off is more important than anything else.