IL2windhawk

I've never flown a true glider on a slope, but last week in RealFlight 3.5 I was having
a blast flying some of the gliders on the slopes. I was amazed by how much power
could be grabbed out of a mere updraft. But then I found out that I could also fly a
Spacewalker with the engine turned off, and I began to doubt the accuracy of the
simulation. How close is it to the real thing?

Thanks.

simmo8

i have flown on it and think that it is not very realistick but i think that the main intention of it is th get new pilots used to reverse cordination and orientation of flying the plans it also givs you some simple skils flying but nothing like the real thing.

BMatthews

I've found the simulators to be sort of OK for stalls and basic flight aerodynamics but that the real thing is much more involving. If you had a good time on the simulator then you'd LOVE the real thing and the speeds, and the flying through the dragon's grasp as the wind currents try to drag your model away if you venture into the spots you know you were told to stay away from.

I've only had the opportunity to slope fly one time where the conditions were awsome but that one time hooked me and that day will live with me for years to come.

If you're lucky enough to have a spot close by they DO IT! ! ! ! ! It's like power flying but in a much more magical way.

Tall Paul

.
I go to the Sierra Nevada Cliff site..
With the AT-6, get it going down the slope, retract the gear before it moves too far. This stops the motor, the plane continues to slide down the slope, and can be taken off and flown. It handles realistically.
The Bird of Time is good there also.

Jart

Try this one...

Scroll down to the JART - http://www.rfmodels.com/

Let me know what you think.

Reed
www.jartworld.com

IL2windhawk

No offense guys, but I think you're missing the point of my question:

The flight model seems a bit suspicious to me if you can slope-soar an 8-lb Sig
SpaceWalker (or a 6lb AT-6, according to Paul) without the engine on. I know
how to do it in the sim, but my question is whether that represents true life.

Is Real Flight giving the updraft more power than it really has, or could I indeed
take an 8-lb powered model to a slope and fly it around with the engine off like
a glider? LOL, I'm guessing the latter is not the case. Thanks.

Thanks for the models, Jart. I did not know you could install 3rd party planes.

evan-RCU

Yes you can do it. I sloped a 8 foot span Nosen trainer with a video camera in it, the old and heavy VHS video camera. I did take off the prop to reduce drag but it was a draggy airplane anyway. I have the video of it somewhere... This was on Guam too many years ago where the lift was soso. The point is that with the right lift you can slope a rock...

This is the airplane, the glass port hole for the camera is just barely visable under the wing.

IL2windhawk

WOW [sm=shades_smile.gif]
I'm shocked.

Do you know how fast was the wind was that day, Evan?

evan-RCU

This was many years ago, not too strong, 10-15 and the wind was coming up a valley and the slope was not very steep. At a better site it would have flown much better, but you take what you get.

Tall Paul

SIG Seniorita sloping...

Tall Paul

Trying the SpaceWalker... engine at idle, wind speed 22.
It handled about the way I would expect.
Sloping teaches you a greater ease with the plane flying towards you.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Looks like a ton of fun. I'm not surprise that a lightly loader Sig plane would slope as they have been known to occasionally catch a thermal. I tried the simulator at a friend's last week with the ballasted slope plane (can't remember its name) could just barely hang on to it but had a ball reset to the unballasted version. I did however become proficient at using the reset button[:@]
The hunt for local slopes is on and I have found around 6 flyable spots but some are "mini slopes" suitable for smaller slower birds such as a small DLG type. Some would be ok for 2m and up. I'm still looking for a BIG UN! to practice ONE DESIGN on.

BMatthews

Power Scale Slope Soaring or PSS (don't know where the third S went to but you get the idea) uses scale models of jets and prop planes and they slope them. The weights are on par with glow powered models and they slope soar just fine.

Although there IS every reason to suspect that RealFlight may be lying a little it likely isn't as bad as you may think.

evan-RCU

PSS like any ship is ballasted to match the winds of the day. They are typically not as heavy (wing loading) as a fueled nitro bird. Plus most use streched and thinned wings and other features to make them better gliders. My 48" P-38 is about a pound. A similar glow powered P-38 would probably be three.

Tall Paul

Two slope sites within view of each other..
The P-51 is the 1/12th HOB guy.
And a CR Renegade
The slope in the third photo sometimes has winds up to 50 mph, with the wind from the southwest.
The slope area just behind the P-51 on the mountain is the Vincent site where the dynamic soarers get past 300 mph.

IL2windhawk

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm truly amazed. Slope soaring in Real Flight
really makes me excited to try the real thing, especially now that I realize
how powerful a mild breeze can be against a hill.

Hey Paul, you know you can kill the engine with the "k" button, right?
You don't have to drag the prop on the ground (like u did with the Texan)

Tall Paul

I was amused that raising the gear wouldn't stop the T-6. It would just keep on sliding to takeoff speed.
ISTR the F-86 will do the same thing.

IL2windhawk

Yeah, based on my experience with powered real-life models, I think the
aerodynamics in the sim are modelled quite well. But once your plane is
on teh ground, things get a bit weird

Tall Paul

One of my SIG Ninjas sloping.
http://www.rcuvideos.com/item/X0S3D69JXJ4163TG
RealFlight lets you record a flight, but the format is proprietary, and can't be displayed in any of the usual viewers.
And one from an on-board camcorder...
http://www.rcuvideos.com/item/VJY4RV7V91H279ZK

IL2windhawk

sweet videos. Thanks for posting

glenglider

Hi Tall Paul
I didn't realise the Sig Ninja came with a v tail, or was that a modification you tried? If so, curious to know why?
Chat later
Glen

Tall Paul

The kit NINJA is normal, but after some flying, I went vee-tail, to get the horizontal off the ground when landing. Too many things sticking up around here to catch it.
The boom has to be VERY stiff!

ifixjets

Given enough wind and with proper slope conditions, you can almost fly anything. I have slope soared some power models (with the prop still on) and they fly ok. Landing can be fun! I started flying slope gliders in 1989 in the SF bay area in Pacifica. A combat models F-16 was my first Slope Glider. I wish I still had it, sold it when I moved to the Midwest in 1995.
If you are new to Slope Soaring, here are a few links.....

http://www.inlandsloperebels.com

http://www.slopeflyer.com/

There are links to other sites on these and you will find sites from coast to coast.

Have fun. Fly safe.

iflytailies

My Feedback: (82)

I prefer the Aerofly Professional Deluxe. It comes with lots of gliders, you can download lots of gliders and sceneries online for free. You can play with a second pilot on the same simulator WITHOUT having to buy another software. You can buy the version where you hook up your own Tx or the version that comes with the game commander.

Mode One

You want fun?!? Try the Mistral or the Shuriken Slopper on your G-3! When questioning whether slope lift is really adequate to fly the heavies, consider that the wind hitting the Sierra Nevada and Buena Vista cliffs (which are the same cliffs, just different simulated airports) is between 30 45 miles per hour. Want to explore? Go to the cockpit view, climb to 9-10,000 feet, turn down wind and slope soar on the mountain ridges down wind to the east. Or, climb to 10,000 feet, vier the wind around 180 degrees by hitting the home or end key and slope soar on the ridges directly west of the Sierra or Buena Vista cliffs. To get anywhere fast when going down wind increase wind speed by paging up or slow it down by paging down. Fly with cockpit instruments on (in gadgets). You can easily have a speed over the ground of 100+ miles per hour by having a strong tail wind. All this playing around with the wind to complicated? Just head south and fly as far as you can.

I have an Olympic 2 sailplane which is 30 years old and gets very little flying anymore. I've almost exclusivly flown power R/C for many years, however I haven't touched a power plane on G-3.5 in a couple weeks I'm having so much fun slope soaring and exploring the simulated world there!