Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

I'm an experienced pilot. Been flying glow and gas for 8yrs. Competed in IMAC, and pylon.

Couple guys at the local field are very experienced glider pilots, and they have a nice winch setup. They got me interested in a glider. The oldest guy, at 71yrs young, told me to get a 100" or bigger glider with minumum 900sq in of wing. He's been competing in glider contests for 50yrs. Flew nothing BUT gliders for 13yrs in the 80's and late 70's.

I'm a competent builder, and I'd prefer to scratch my first glider. Not interested in an ARF. I've got a shop full of wood, tools, covering, and servos. My goal is to build it without spending any money. I should have everything I need in the shop already.

I've been looking at plans on the RCM site and have looked at the Olympic II, Snoopy, Viking, BOT, Keetah, Runaway, and the Paradox. All of these sialplanes are 100" or more, and they have 900+ sq.in.

Any suggestions? Can I build a full house glider for my first one? Too complicated? I've got the radio to do it, and I know how to use it. JR8103.

Thanks

BMatthews

I had the privelage of flying Fred China's Runaway that was the subject of the plan and article. It was a true delight in the handling department in that it was able to thermal turn with a minimum of corrective stick action. This sounds like a small point but in reality many aileron model gliders are rather nasty at holding moderate to steep turns for long periods of time. If it has a weak point in it's performance at all it's due to the relatively small flaps to slow it down for landing. Fred could just not quite come in as steeply with it as some of the others could. But that didn't stop him from nailing 95+ for more than 90% of the time. It also rides light lift admirably well if the pilot is able. Speed range is very good but not as good as some of the glass slippers out there today.

All in all for a high performance woody aileron model I truly think you'll be hard pressed to better it. I saw it perform against the then new Airtronics Legends and some flat winged Sagittas and the Runaway was a better airplane IMHO. It was obvious from seeing the Legends fly that the pilot's were subjected to more flying workload than Fred was. But being an aileron bird you'll want to sneak up on flying at a distance. It ain't no free flight related design like the polyhedral choices are. It'll also demand that you closely work the elevator to control the airspeed.

Olypic II is a nice poly floater if that's what you want. Flying it is like flying a super basic trainer. But thanks to that it leaves a lot more attention available for learning to thermal. Same with the Viking. I'm not that familiar with the others.

Simply flying a glider is probably the easiest form of model flying that you'll find. But learning to use your glider to transition to actually soaring is one of the more challenging skills you can learn in model flying. It's a lot like going fishing. You don't know what's out there until you toss in the baited hook.... and it's all about knowing how to set the hook and then hold on for the ride....

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

I'm going to scratch the Big Bird that is sold by www.skybench.com

The local guy who got me interested in this is letting me borrow his plans. I went to his house today and traced out all the rib patterns and a few of the specially shaped balsa and ply pieces. He had some left-over parts from a used kit he got and he gave me the ply belly piece on the front of the fuse, and a couple other pieces of balsa. I got everything else I need down in the shop.

It's 100" span and 820sq.in. Since it is called Big Bird, I'm gonna cover the nose orange. The fuse sides and top of the wings yellow. Black on the bottom. Put a couple big goofy eyes on the side of the fuse. Remember Sesame Street?

DeadAccount237939

if you want something less adventurous, the bird of time kit is still out there and it remains one of the top nostaligia RES ships. one thing that glider flying teaches power guys is what down elevator is for. have fun.

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

I looked at the Bird of Time, and almost bought the kit for $65. Local guys love it--just gotta be a bit conservative on the winch and not really zoom the heck out of it.

I'm scratching the ribs for the Big Bird. Got a set of plans to work off. Local guy gave me a couple items. The steel rod for the center brace, rudder and fin, nose block, and the bottom piece of the fuse in the front section. Thats a good start. I got wood coming out of my ears.

If I like this deadstick landing thing--I'm gonna build a Cloud Bound or a Viking next. Build it to zoom full speed off the winch. That will get me about 500'. These guys got a 1000' string on the winch. [:-] We'll see.............

slopeguy

Hi,
I am new to this site and this is actually my first reply. In regards to you question I would have to say that my choice and opinion would be the OLYMPIC II. This is a beautiful flying sailplane and not real hard to build. I have had 3 of them over the years and do to being in and out of R/C over the years I have sold them all. At one time all three were in the basement, I would love to have them back. If using a winch you would want to peddle the thing when launching to save the wings. If you decide to go with the Olympic II be sure to put washout in the wingtips. I used more than what they called for and it made an improvement. Also, add triangle stock on each side of the vertical tail to strengthen it up a little. You won't be disappointed with this plane. I have launched and flew it, laying on my back for 2 hours before touching her down. Good Luck and Happy Flying !

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

I just finished cutting out all the ribs for this Big Bird glider.

40 of them suckers. [:-]

I traced the ribs from a friends glider. Made 2 templates on paper from each rib. Spent 2.5 hours cutting out all the templates. Used some spray adhesive and put the templates on some 3/32 balsa. Let dry over night. Cut them out with a #11 exacto. Wasn't hard, just time consuming.

Now, I gotta cut the fuse formers from 1/8" lite ply. Good thing there is only 5 of them. Then there is a few shaped pieces of balsa on the wing. This wing looks a lot like the BOT wing, so there is a shaped TE on the poly tip.

Gettin' there..........

Hans Dahl Christensen

Hello rc-pilot.

Following Websites should be able to inspire you for a couple of years or 50.

www.gliders.dk www.f3j.dk www.iggnorge.com www.igg-sverige.se www.pjotr.de

Besides the contents of the websites there are a lot of links a.s.o.

And all are writte by aeromodellers.

Good luck and KR.

hld - OY-9901

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

I got a few questions about pushrods in gliders.

I need 40" pushrods to keep my servos as far forward as possible.

What are you guys using for pushrods in gliders? I found some Sullivan 2/56 pushrods. They are nylon with an outer sheath. But, the hole size that I'll have to drill in my formers will be quite large.

Do I need 2/56 or can I go lighter? What would you use?

Thanks

cheechukranch

[quote]ORIGINAL: Rcpilet

I just finished cutting out all the ribs for this Big Bird glider.

40 of them suckers. [:-]


Which is exactly half the number of ribs you'll cut if you choose to build the Cloud Bound 4. I have a CB4 framed up and sanded...just need to cover it. It's a beautiful ship, but a ton of work...makes your standard kit seem like an ARF!

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

The thing that made the ribs on the Big Bird so difficult was:
The wing is sheeted on the LE and TE. There were all kinds of notches on the ribs that had to be cut out, in addition to the spar notches.

I'm uploading a crude Paint image that I drew of my rib profile. Maybe all scratch builders are used to this kind of drudgery, but this is my first real scratch from plans, and it's a WHOLE bunch of work. Every piece must first be traced from the original plan onto a piece of lightweight tracing paper thats taped over the plan. Then cut out each template with scissors. Use a spray adhesive to stick the template down on the appropriate sized balsa or ply, and then cut it out. Try and get the template paper off the balsa before it completely cures--or end up with a bunch of sanding trying to get the paper off the balsa. Most of the ribs, I left the paper on them. There are 20 ribs on the wing, so I've got 2 of each rib. But, the 1/8" lite ply fuse formers, I removed the paper. Also had to remove the paper templates from the fuse sides, and the fuse doublers.

I probably have 20 hours into this kit, and I just finished cutting out all the pieces.

I need pushrods now. I don't know what to use. These local guys are telling me to keep the tail light. They said, I'll have a tail heavy glider if I'm not careful. There is 30" of pushrod behind the CG. And I've got to have 2 pushrods. That could add up to a significant amount of weight.

I'm actually lengthening my nose about 1", to try and keep it from being tailheavy. I'm cutting my nosecone from a pine 2x4 and replacing the balsa. It'll will be tougher, and heavier. I'll drill a 1/2" hole in the back of it for lead.

Can I use 2/56 pushrods? Sullivan graphite semi-flexible? Or is there some 1/2A size stuff I could use? I need 48" pushrods to get from the nose al the way back top the tail. It's actually about 35", but I'll have to buy 48" and cut them down.