What is the best way to launch a glider?
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Rather than a strict Glider aircraft how about a "Powered- sailplane"?
I built at least 4 Goldberg "Gentle Lady" gliders and attempted to launch them using a hi-start, a simple hand launch, a power pod (using a Cox .049), and O.S. .10 mounted on the front after removing the usual nose cone. When a more experienced modeler used a hi-start it worked very well, when I tried it by myself it shot (dragged) the plane down the grass runway and returned the model to a bunch of sticks, broken sticks.
On the second Gentle lady I built I never got the power pod to run reliably but it did carry the plane up to about 15 feet before it turned around and came crashing down w/ the additional weight of the Pod, and reverted to kit form.
Gentle Lady number 3 never flew very high before I hand launched it into a light pole at a high school football stadium. Prior to this, when the model had both its wing and elevator halves, it would seldom rise to over 10 or 12 feet (making flights very short) in the calm air near the Missouri River basin. "Slope soaring" is not much of an option in the Midwest.
The fourth Gentle Lady was "kit bashed" and I mounted a O.S. .10 engine in front with a 2 oz. Johnson & Johnson trial size baby powder container modified for a fuel tank. This version flew very well. It was hand launched and the small motor took it to over 200 ft. The slow flying characteristics of the GL made for an excellent first trainer type plane especially since it landed on its belly making precision landings less important. Unfortunately, this plane was lost a couple years later when it had a violent meeting w/ our club’s shelter-house roof.
The Golberg model is a fine 2-meter kit, you just have to be a little more careful than I was about flying it!
Mark in Missouri