ORIGINAL: Samson4721
well i just finished building my first glider (gentle lady) and have flown all weekend. i had a hand launch close to 10 mins.! cant wait to put it on a high start. im now ready to maybe look into another glider to begin building. im just really looking for suggestions. i dont really want anything to fast just maybe something that will thermal and handle a good amount of wind. the lady seems to get pushed by gusts easily. thanks
The GL can handle more wind if you add some ballast over the CG. Try in the range of 3-9 ounces going up in 1-2 oz increments. That will give you ballist in the 10% to 30% range, depending on the weight of your plane. You will see a significant improvement in the handling of wind.
Give us some more info for your next plane. What is the goal/objective of the new plane? What is the budget
Bigger? More controls? More of the same?
Just some ideas -
A 2M RES plane - Great Planes Spirit, Sig Riser
A 3M R/E plane - Bird of Time
A 3M RES plane - M/M Glidertech Marauder
2M Full house - Spirit Elite
100" RES or Full House - Spirit 100, Sig 100
The list can get very long and very high priced. I would say fly the GL for at least a few months before you start building something else so you can get a better feel for what you really want from the second plane. The GL is a great floater thermal plane. Some people also fly them on the slope. Sounds like you are also hand throwing it.
Maybe your next plane should be a discus launched glider. Have you thought of that?