desert flier
Glad you were lucky. If I hadn't been so far downwind; just very high, my vertical dive, with full flaps would have brought my Pulsar back into sight. I had done this before! Problem was, when I got lower, after the dive, it still wasn't visible enough for me to fly it back. Just flashing wings, and now it was low, just over some trees. I had only had this Pulsar, my first high performance sailplane for 4 months.

Next e-sailplane, I will practice and set up a dual rate, to fly it back, in trim/level flight with a low/moderate power setting. And practice. I had only been doing full power climbs, overhead before this loss, and at low level, far away, they (full power climbs ) kept looping the bird, which I could barely see. Another bit of advice I got was fly it back laterally, don't try to fly it back pointed straight at you.

A pair of handy binoculars might have saved the day, too. I was flying on my own, with the binocs at home. Something else I will practice. I have a very good pair of 7X50 Military Steiner binocs, that could have saved the day.

Even better, DON'T LET THE BIRD GET TOO FAR DOWNWIND! Just because you are high, if the winds are strong, you may have trouble flying it back as I did.

I like the idea of the Eagle Tree, but don't you need a full FPV setup?