Originally Posted by
cjtyped
I posted this about a week ago. Trying to prepare for next season. I am also fortunate to have several planes to choose from for competition. It sure is such an interesting hobby. I love it and always have. Will post more when I start my practice.
I've been exchanging e-mails with Mick Reeves over this thread (anyone else bother to do this?). They (Mick and his Son) do not recommend adding weight. simply for the sake of scale speed. More weight results in a need for more speed. And they suggest no more than a Kilo (2.2 pounds) for the 1/3 model.
If you decide to add weight, I'd suggest doing so in 1/4 pound increments.
Being a "Motor Glider" it will have the tendency to "show" the wind conditions a little more than a regular airplane. But that too is scale flight. Though a bit exaggerated. Been lots of discussion over the years as to whether or not that 10 mph breeze is seen by a 1/4 scale model as a 40 mph wind.
For info only, the real RF-5 (2 seat version) has a glide ratio of 20-1. About half of what the better sailplanes of the day could do. By comparison a Piper Cherokee 180 (4 seat, single engine, low wing) will do at its best, 12-1. So while the RF is not a true sailplane, it does have a leg up on the general aviation crowd when it comes to power off gliding. I have no idea what your model may do in a glide. But I suspect it does so quite nicely.
Just a side note, my Legionaire 140 (140 inch glider, 4.5 pounds empty or ballasted to 7.5) when coming at me on final. I can watch the wing flex as the fuselage bounces up and down from the varying wind currents close to the ground. And every time it's different. Does take some practice to get use to it and to deal with it. But I guess that's one difference between an average pilot and a good one.
On the flip side, my Citabria Pro (80 inch, 11 pounds) shows no flex of the wing on final. And it lands faster than the glider (as it should). Point is, two different aircraft react differently to the same conditions. Even if the difference is nothing but a few pounds weight. The real test is if the pilot can fly one as well as the other. Most I suspect can not which is why one becomes a favorite and the other doesn't. It's not the fault of the airplane but rather the pilots failure to make the transition between the two.