elmog

Does anyone make an all-wood DLG kit that is a really decent performer? I believe that an all wood DLG can be made light, strong and perform well. True, it may not be able to compete toe-toe with the C/F planes but I'll bet it can come close. How about it? Does anyone have any suggestions? I know that in the full-scale Experimental aircraft world there is a plane called the GP-4 that is constructed of spruce/ply and uses a very thin wing section and cruises over 230 mph on 200 HP and carries 2 full-sized abdults, so my idea isn't too far fetched. Wood is good! BTW, spruce has a tensile strength around 10,000 psi and about 5,500 psi in compression. Seems to me that a well designed structure could perform fairly close to a composite one. It's true that you can make a thinner wing section with composites, but a really thin wing becomes inefficient on a sailplane at some point. Anyone have an idea about how much altitude gain on a launch a balsa/spruce/ply DLG would give up to a composite one?
P.S. Believe it or not, Balsa is still the lightest material to use for the empennage. Check it out.

merlinmurph

How's this?
http://www.wrightbrothersrc.com/
http://www.flyecm.com/inventory/Apogee_Sport.asp
http://www.mountainmodels.com/produc...59bfb5fa8e9d1d
http://www.mountainmodels.com/produc...59bfb5fa8e9d1d

I just finished a Gambler and have an Apogee kit in the build queue. All are excellent first DLGs.

Murph

elmog

Thanks for the great websites on DLG's. It seems that there really are a lot of great kits that are built mostly of wood with just a little c/f used in critical high-stress areas. Would you care to elaborate on the flight characteristics of the Gambler AG? Did it get enough height on launches? I'm trying to decide what would be the best DLG for a novice and will probably pick the Gambler. It's sold out right now and that might be a good sign. Also, your next build, the Apogee, seems to be a real light-weight design with a great airfoil. I'll bet it's going to be a lot of fun--keep me informed!