snickers_cat

I had a windstar glider, currently am flying a gentle lady. I'm thinking about getting an electric glider. Maybe the Carl Goldberg Electra, or the Great Planes Spectra. Are these good flying sailplanes? I hear that the stock motor on the Spectra does not have a large amount of power, if so, what motor do you recomend replacing it with? I'm not on a very tight budget and should be able to afford a different motor.

Thanks for the input,
Jordan

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

They are about the same plane. I know the motor that comes with the electra deluxe is good. Won't pull it vertical but I have had lots of great flights with it. I like the Electra myself.

scout1205

I flew a goldberg electra, good plane but you make want to reinforce the nose section around the motor. As for power it was fine for a glider especially with a 7-cell pack. but flys fine with the 6 as well. I usually get about 3 climbs per charge.

Mike P

My Feedback: (2)

I've flown my Spectra a little over a year now and am very pleased with it. True, the motor leaves a little to be desired, but two and sometimes three flights with the factory unit makes a fun time before quick charging. Two batteries make a world of difference. One flying and one charging.
Mike.

Don T. - NN4S

My Feedback: (1)

I think that you missed the best electric sailplane for the $$$ when you left out the Skimmer that's offered by Hobby Lobby. I built one back in the mid `90s & it's still with me today as one of the few planes that flies too good to let go of! It has a simple dihedral style wing that allows it to groove in the turns instead of wallowing and always provides a good 40 minutes of air time on a charge with the recommended Speed 600 & folding prop (direct drive). I've allowed friends that only like full-house ships to fly it and it amazed them with it's controlability. It also finishes out very light since it only uses a minimum of ply in the most necessary places. At $30 for the kit (when my wife bought it for me as a Christmas present) it is a GREAT flyer; I looked in a catalog the other day & it only costs $33 now! Talk about holding the line against inflation! I have built other electrics (including the Spectra, Electra and an Eclipse) but none of them flew as well as the Skimmer does. They flew like any polyhedral two meter sailplane carrying a load of ballast, not like a nimble swallow chasing bigs in a thermal. Sometimes you come across a plane that gets it right & this one does the job for me!

All of the usual disclaimers, satisfied customer & sated flyer; just a shame they don't offer the RTC model anymore since I took seven months to build it (not the plane's fault, I just tend to savor the building experience a bit too much!)

bighawg

My son just got through building the Eclipse. We tried to put an .049 in the nose instead of the electric motor...had to add 2 inches more to the front of the fuse to balance it! Won't fly...too heavy! So after 15+ yrs of successful model building and flying powered models I am stuck....the Skimmer sounds like the one for me..or maybe one called the Aerofly....anyone have any experience with the Aerofly? Hobby Lobby had it listed I think..I have no experience with electric powered flight..how do you keep down the weight and still keep down the price?

Don T. - NN4S

My Feedback: (1)

It's pretty easy to keep the weight & price down with the Skimmer since the initial cost is pretty low and the design uses only minimal ply. I only added triangle stock reinforcements at the tail, added cooling scoops to the nose (hard to keep on, prop likes to knock them off when it folds) and modified the front hatch to use a plastic catch instead of the screw (wasn't really needed since you're not in there often). Balance was achieved simply by shifting the battery pack around. I've flown it with electronic on/off switches with prop brake (recommended), proportional ESC with BEC and anothe ESC without prop brake or BEC (added a 270MAh pack in the nose & shifted main batt accordingly). Use the 8-4.5 Graupner folder with the BB Speed 600 and a 30A or better switch w/brake and you'll probably be into it for between $100 -125 by the time it's built. Put the servos (minis or micros) right where the plans call for & use strips of covering to seal the hatch once the radio gear is trimmed out (tape holds it well while trimming) because you'll never need in there again until you want to remove the gear for something else! I also made mine a bolt-on wing instead of rubber bands simply because I don't like the wing being able to shift around, but that's up to you. The only mod that was really needed was the tail reinforcements (just covered triangle stock glued in place under & on top of the stab at the fin/fuse intersections).

Have fun!

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Have you considered adding a power pod to your sailplane? This way you can fly it powered or unpowered.

I have a GP Spirit and am building the powerpod now. Comes with a speed 600 motor.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJ769&P=7