Andres

hi GAng,

Any advice on what to model to get? Radio? Thought about the Aspire, Spirit, Spirit 2M, Highlander, And DAW 1-26!! Any advice?
Thanks in advance!!!

Andres

MrGoodwreck

Well you open up a BIG question here, that has many different options..

1. Do you want to go ARF, or build?

2. Is this going to be your main hobby, or are you into Mugging people for fun? (you are from the city of "Brotherly love")

3. how much do you have to spend?

4. Do you want to go with a simple Glider, or are you looking for the "Electric" type to keep things easy?

ricfly52

If you want to build one from a kit, would reccommend the Carl Goldberg Gentle Lady. This is a very easy kit to assemble, and finish. It can be launched by a high start, or several other means. I hand launch mine, and I get long gentle flights. Very easy to learn to fly.

Just my two pennys worth. Good luck.

Andres

Looking to make it one of my main hobbies. Interested in simple gliders to begin and ARF!!!

Andres

KevinSheen

I bought a Spirit 2M ARF last year. It was a decent plane, but didn't like my abuse (I'm a leadfoot with our winch). It flew pretty well and didn't weigh a ton.

We also had several Apire ARFs compete in our contest circuit. They perfomed well for 2 meters.

A foamie should build fast and they are tough! I taught my kids to fly with an electric foamie (a Push-E-Cat) and they couldn't end its life no matter how hard they tried.

Radio brands can verge on religious wars. I fly with JR equipment but I know people who use Airtronics, Hitec and Futaba with just as much success. In all of the above, they all have lower end radios for a reasonable amount of money.

Be patient if you struggle thermalling for the first little bit. When you do catch that first thermal, it is a complete rush.

good luck,

Kevin

R. Carver

The Aspire and Spirit are both fine choices. I kinda like the Aspire a bit better because the wing joiner is a tad stronger and the one that I flew just grooved a bit better in the turns..but that was probably due to the way it was set up. If you change your mind about building the Gentle Lady gets my vote. Built my 3rd one not too long ago..re-engineered with a carbon and kevlar spar, of course Comes in at 26 oz., handles a strong winch and regularly specks out from a handlaunch.

R. Carver

And I couldn't resist posting this one. This is what I fly when the GL is resting!

Andres

Carver,

What's that other plane? What radio do you use? Back in '88, I tried to get into RC soaring and purchased a Sophisticated Lady, thinking that I was going to have the time to build it. I joined the Navy and flew the real deal!! Is the Gentle Lady a good choice for a beginner, assuming that you have a good instructor or should I go for the foamie ones(DAW 1-26, Highlander etc)? Thanks for the pics.

Andres

R. Carver

Andres,
The other plane is an NSP Edge Lite...122 inches of thermal grabbin' machine I use a JR 8103 because of the good amount of mixing and presets used on the Edge. Tell ya what..I'll give you both planes if you can get me a ride on an F-14!!
The GL is a great beginners plane if you don't mind a little building. It's an easy plane to build, easy to fly and you don't need an expensive radio. I learned on my own with a GL a while back. Crashed it, fixed it, flew it, crashed, fixed etc.. There are a lot nicer kits out there, but not for the price of a GL. At about 35.00, they're almost disposable.
A foamie is not a bad idea if you plan to learn solo. Hard to break one of those, but built-up planes fly better IMHO...
The best advice I can give anyone is to seek out the local soaring club for help. They'll be able to help you set up and trim your plane (whichever you choose) and show you how the plane reacts to lift. You'll get help flying and you'll be able to SEE how things are done.
BTW, do you still have the Sophisticated Lady???

MrGoodwreck

No kidding.....the Sophisticated Lady would be just fine for starting out!.......

GrnBrt

My Feedback: (5)

Might want to look at the DynaFlite butterfly also. Put a .15 to .25 plain Jane engine in the front, get some altitude and then throttle back and try and catch a thermal

Andres

Carver,

Unfortunately, I'm not in the Navy anymore, or should I say. I would have given you a ride on the CH-47, instead. No, I got rid of the Sophisticated Lady at the time. What would be a good beginner radio or should I say a first radio with Sailplane features? I noticed that one of the Hitec Flash radios has sailplane, is this a good radio? Any advice?

Andres

Cadet

If you want to waltz on over to the sailplane forum there are many people there that would be more than willing to help you. Also if you give us what setting (club, by yourself, etc.) we could probably recommend something a little easier. Personally I see nothing wrong with the Hitec Flash 5XG and a MAD Highlander.
Cheers,
Grant

rcav8or

My Feedback: (5)

I think the Gentle Lady is an excellent choice! I have had 4 or 5 of them, various power set ups, from a pod, to OS .10, which was my favorite. Climb eagle-high, idle down, fly for 45 minutes. Had to do some modifications to the fuse, and experiment to get the down thrust right, (read that two new wings!!), but well worth the effort! Flew it for 8 years, before it met it's demise due to battery failure. It was an excellent trainer, as well, and ended up having the wings replaced at LEAST 6 or 7 times...

Here's a picture of it...

RodP

The Gentle Lady is generally OK as a beginner sailplane. The design has certainly been around for quite a while, which speaks to its popularity. However, it does have a relatively weak wing structure if 'built stock' - so stick to hi-starts sized for 2-Meters if you aren't using a powerpod. You may find this weakness somewhat limiting as you progress and start to feel your oats!

scalebuilder

My Feedback: (1)

I would have to give the GL a big thumbs up. That is one of the best floaters in the 2m class for beginners I have ever seen. The Aspire is almost as good but heavier. I put together an Aspire ARF for a friend of mine and he keeps it in my model trailer. Consequently, I fly it alot. Some days the wet models never come out of the trailer. I fly at a field in Bertie County at a location called Buzzard's Crossroads. If the Buzzards are out soarin' I usually take the hint and send a themaler up the line. I learned to R/C on gliders and have progressed on to large more messy models but I always keep a glider on hand. If you want to build, take the G/L. You won't be sorry.

Al Stein

To follow up on the last couple of posts, yes the GL wing is built to flex, so it doesn't have any excessive strength built in, but if you've built some planes, you can probably guide yourself easily through making it a much stronger wing without much trouble.

I build the GL with full depth shear webs, a little basswood laminated to the main spars, 1/16 balsa sheet added to the leaeding edge uppers full length and same added to the leading edge lowers for 2/3 of the inner panels. After snading and finishing, they've come out at 24-26 oz, and almost always fly balasted. (I also build the fuse with thicker sheet, balsa longerons, better doublers at and just ahead of the tail, and a lot of rounding and shaping).

The Gentle Lady has a nice thin airfoil and if you streamline the fuselage a bit, it is actually a pretty slippery plane. I've flown them in winds over 20kts (with about 8 oz of balast for a 32 oz total weight), I've flown them on the slope (a great place to gain knowledge of failure modes at the tip joints)... it's really a darned good plane.

Wyohi

My Feedback: (1)

Gentle Lady is good & will do the job. Soph.lady is better but harder to biuld {more carving}. If you really want to get into soaring go unlimited. A paragon or a tyro are not much harder to build than a GL. There are others big floaters Both are 118 inch wing span can be lanched with a high start & will the soar way up there.

Al Stein

I don't know the Tyro personally, but I'll definitely add my vote for the paragon... It's a great way to get the Gentle Lady's good qualities plus the advantages of the bigger plane.

Plus, for a building addict like me, both the Paragon and Gentle Lady are published plans that you can get cheap from RCM... And bvy the way, if you want a set of Paragon ribs, I'd be willing to part with my spare set for what may be a reasonable price.

Wyohi

My Feedback: (1)

Tyro is designed by Ollie Wilson in florida he will sell a set of lazer cut ribs & plans builds real good. He is on this group usually on gliders & sailplanes Another one is the bird of time fancy a little harded to build but it is a beauty in the air Pix of Tyro below (I hope)