Trickbrick

I have recieved hand-me-down plans for a Gentle Lady sailplane with no instructions. Do any of you "Lady" owners have recommendations on servo and LiPo sizes for a 2-meter?
Here's what I'm shooting for: I'de like both a sloper and a thermal... so I'm going to build interchangable wings.
On the sloper, I'de like roundhouse controls (spoiler-aileron-flaps), and just stick with the basic 2-channel on thermal.
I'de also like to save a little weight by building composite balsa-foam core unsheeted (Litecoat covered) much like Dick Sarpolus shows on his "Little Fast" in the June 2010 of MA magazine, installing the extra roundhouse controls into the sloper wing and reinforcing he spars with carbon-fiber tape.
I'de love to to here any input, especially from experience, on this idea. ...or if it's not worth the effort, suggestions on plans that are. Thanx

foodstick

I am not the glider expert, but I will chime in as I first arrived !

I taught myself to fly on a gentle lady..and thats what it is..in all its DIE CRUNCHED beauty !

I think you would be best served building it as a strictly light wind floater plane..Thats just my opinion..I am sure you could make it more dual purpose..but I think unless you are looking to do it the hard way (which I commend)

build a second plane for more aggressive sloping and such .

Trickbrick

Thanx for the fast reply, foodstick. You have a good point. Slopes and TD's are far too different animals to strike a compromise and get decent performance. Luckily I only have the plans, so any crunched parts I'll have to deal with will be post-construction.[]
Can you remember off the top of your head the RX battery size you used?

scaflock

The Gentle Lady is a good ship as is provided you use it in light winds.  It is designed as a thermal ship but will fly well on a slope.  I've flown them all across the country and in all conditions so I'm well versed on them.

Interchangeable wings are a good idea for what you want to do.  That will give you the best of both worlds.  However...  I'd forget putting the spoilers on the slope version, as it would be pretty much a waste of materials.  I'd also change the airfoil over to something like a S-3014.  This airfoil will give you both good lift in light lift as well as penetrate the wind better as it picks up. Flaps and ailerons also work well with it.  Build the wing close to flat instead of using the poly layout.

For the thermal version, you could use the poly configuration and add flaps only.  You'd have a stable plane with a ton of lift.

The Gentle Lady design has been around for years and for good reason.  Many people got their first taste of soaring with one and to this day they have a very loyal following.  They're great planes for those lazy days when the wind is calm and you just want to cruise around the sky and relax.  You can add provisions for ballast and extend the abilities of it in higher winds.  A couple of ounces of lead at the CG will allow you to fly in winds up to about 10 mph.  Unless you strengthen the wings with some carbon, I'd avoid adding any more weight than that to it.  Built stock it's meant to be a floater so it isn't designed to pull high Gs.

Lnewqban

You can download the instruction manual in pdf format and see recommended throws, incidences and CG location at:

http://www.carlgoldbergproducts.com/.../gpma0960.html

I have seen several Gentle Ladies flying at slopes and doing well.

Trickbrick

Thanks for all your input, guys, this is my first sailplane project and your advice has been invaluable to me.
I live in central Texas and significant hills are few and far between, so I worry about efficiency. I'll have to try the Texas coast for luck with soaring (my wife likes occasional getaways, anyway). Within the year we'll be moving back to Phoenix with in-laws in Tucson, then I'll have two excellent TD and slope sites available.
Excellent advice, scaflock. The sites I'll eventually fly in Arizona are litterally the sides of mountains with no close tops or backslopes, but if the Lady floats as you say, I'll skip the spoilers. Waste of material is also added weight away from CG: a waste of performance.
I didnt see the S-3014 on my Eppler list, but I'll look it up and try it. It sounds like you recommend it for boh wings? ...or stick to the plans on the TD wing?
Thanks also, LNEWQBAN. I guess I got so busy examining the forest, I missed the obvious tree (maybe you should have typed your link in crayon font?). Anyway, the manual is great; practically builds and flys it without my help (slightly wishful thinking?).
Happy flying guys, I'm going to the bench.

Tall Paul

Ailerons won't work satisfactorily on a GL.
It flies way too slowly.
It's quite good at everything anyone can do, with just RE.
Spoilers are a nice touch, but unneeded.
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/aeros...eLadyIdeas.htm
If you change the wing, you no longer have a GL.
The better airfoils such as the Seligs make it a Spirit or Spirit Elite, which fly faster.

scaflock

Trickbrick,

You're going to love flying in AZ! Boomer Thermal abound there!!! I'm moving there soon myself. I'll be a couple hours south of Phoenix in the area around Sierra Vista. Once I'm there and setup, I"ll be making kits for several different sailplanes. Everything from slope to TD to XC. We'll have to get together and do some flying. If I get the place I'm looking at, I'll have 10 acres of flat land with a slope on the other side of the road. (Guess that answers the question of why did the sailplane pilot cross the road?... )

Jeff

Trickbrick

Thanks Tall Paul for the great link. Looks like your right: It's the wing that makes it a GL. Hope I didnt step on any GL fans by wanting to alter it. My TD wing will be pretty much the same shape, and the TD will be RE, but after reading Andy Lennon's Aircraft Design book, I cant live with the drag coefficients of a square fuse and rubber hold-downs. My final ship will probably look more like a spirit, spirit elite, or sophisticated lady, but I think it will still have GL characteristics.

Trickbrick

scaflock
I lived in Tucson 8 years and Phoenix 2. I was a residental a/c technition so I got around to alot of the outlying areas. I know exactly where Sierra Vista is. I wasnt into r/c back then but loved to watch. "A"-mounain in Tucson would be right between you and me and is a hotspot for both TD and slope. I heard (but havent seen) that Mt Lemmon in Phoenix is great, and from what I've seen of Green Valley, they have to have something there. Once our last kid gets steady on her own, my wife and I cant get there fast enough! We have to stay in touch
-Bryan

Tall Paul

Trick, after playing with ailerons on a couple of GL wings, I took them off entirely and went back to rudder.
The Elite and Spirit Elite fly faster than the GL, and ailerons on these work, but having built both with ailerons, I still prefer rudder for TD, and even sloping, on these 2M planes.

Trickbrick

Paul
Thanks again. After visiting (and bookmarking) your site, I'd have to say you know your GL's. ...and your absolutely right: a plane should be built, and flown, before any alterations be considered. Just playing with ideas, i guess. Experienced advice was what I was looking for, and is greatly appreciated

Tall Paul

The best thing to do with a stock GL is make the nose at least 2 inches longer.
Otherwise ballast is needed to move the c.g. forward to the recommended position.
The longer nose lets you have the battery and a servo ahead of the wing.
Pull-pull rudder is lighter than a pushrod, also.

Trickbrick

Thanks paul, will do.
How does the GL handle a hi-start?

scaflock

Pauls' idea is a good one!  By extending the nose on the GL and moving the equipment forward, that would also open up the fuselage area at the CG for adding some ballast so you can fly in higher winds. 

I've heard of "A" mountain Bryan but have never flown there.  I'm going to have to check it out when I get out there!

Trickbrick

Pauls ideas are good, I've changed plans accordingly. If I try a LiPo RX pack, 2" may still be short. I'll have to balance all the fuse/tail components on the fuse-bottom sheet and confirm CG. I like the pull-pull idea, too.

Tall Paul

Goes up nice and straight... if launched nice and straight.
I just dusted off an old video of hi-starting a GL.. I'll put it on YouTube soonly.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KmZfD3YZSw
.
And one pull-pull installation..

Trickbrick

Is your fishing line running through fuel tubing? Clever, and just as important, affordable.
The servo sizes and mounting locations help alot also.
Thanks Paul

Tall Paul

There's only tubing needed at the fuselage exit points to keep the line from cutting into the wood.
It's a straight shot to the servos from the end of the tube front end.
Sullivan pushrod sleeving works well for this.
I tie one end of the line at one of the servo arms, feed it out the back to the horn, weave it thru the horn to the other side, then back to the other side of the servo arm.
With the servo trim at neutral and rudder neutral, tension the lines to just taut, then tie off the ends at the servo.
A little CA at each connection, as the line is slippery.

Michael44

[quote]ORIGINAL: foodstick

I am not the glider expert, but I will chime in as I first arrived !

I taught myself to fly on a gentle lady..and thats what it is..in all its DIE CRUNCHED beauty !


*****I have the latest GL kit, and it is not Die Crunched anymore. For $50.00, Tower, you will get a laser cut kit. In addition, the wood was good to very good. Leading and trailing edges straight. I was more than just a little surprised. I have built at least 6 of the GL over the years, and now another for my daughter.This was a nice suprise.