Ted:

Some polys are offered with a multiple plan ideas for 'full house' use also. The Sagitta Brothers (600 and 900) or even the newer Spriit 100 can be built with either poly wings or full house ones with ailerons and/or flaps. The one set of Sagitta plans I have shows the wing as a poly with ailerons, so that has been done too. As far as the other parts go, the design of the plane still has to follow certain 'requirements' and follow the same general rules of design in order to be a 'good' flyer etc.

There has been recent articles during the last two months in the Sailplane sections of Model Aviation (AMA magazine) that discussed increased dihedral and the increased stability of an aileron equipped ship. Seems to me like this would work ok from what I have read.

As far as adding flaps go, I have a Gemini that was modified to have flaps almost the entire length of the wings and it did not impede it's flight any. Launching has been another problem but the flaps have no impact on the particular problems I am experiencing.

Also, the spoilers can be of assistance in getting out of a strong thermal (we need to be so lucky all the time) if you need them, especially a stock poly design. They work pretty good during the spot landing phase too. Ollie suggests that if you use the 'barn door' type spoilers they should be mounted approximately 60% back on the chord though, as they would not be as likely to cause aerodynamic problems with the wing when set back this far and yet would be effective for landing. With the small sized servos available today, it would be easiest to have a servo sitting right near each spoiler without a large weight penalty. This also makes it much easier to connect an electronic connection vice the strings or cables usually associated with spoiler operations.

Good Luck,

Gene