seaplane

I just finished a Gentle Lady that I bought 3/4 done, but I don't have a print. Where is the CG???? Thanks in advance.

smoking joe

From the leading edge of wing the CG is centered at 3 5/8". The CG range is from 3 1/2" to
3 3/4". The plans DO NOT recommend flying "even slightly behind rear position". This is for
a built up fuselage not a ARF. Good luck with her it's a great flier. Smoking Joe

seaplane

Thanks for the quick response, sure do appreciate it.

seaplane

Smoking Joe, thanks again for the CG set up. Today I competed in a sail plane meet and out of 10 fliers I missed 3rd place by one point. The plane was perfectly balanced at 3 5/8" from the leading edge, and it flew like a dream.

smoking joe

Fantastic the GL is a dream to fly. Did contest have landing points? First outing not bad, work on those landing points. Maiden flight for my Sig Riser 100 this afternoon, about 8 flights 3 on a high start 5 on a winch. Flew off the line and only trim added was a touch of up in a thermal that lasted 14'59". Hope you enjoy flying the GL only good things to come for you and that lady. Smoking Joe

The R/C Man

Hey guys!

That was my first sailplane. Boy did I enjoy flying it. I even did some outside loops with it. Although I could hear the balsa creeking it stayed together. I would like to find someone who has one sitting in their garage. I think it would be great to build another with some modifactions. Good luck with her........ Oh, does anyone have the original full size plans they would like to share?

smoking joe

The kit is still produced in kit and ARF, the newer kits are supposedly laser cut. Ebay has the old kits go for around 30- 35 dollars. Smoking Joe

Al Stein

My first glider was a Gentle Lady, too. Fantastic little plane.

One thing I found was that that it was improved by adding a little ballast and by moving the CG back. At first the GL always seemed reluctant to go into a turn... it's highly acclaimed stability made it a little unresponsive. One day, I lost some balance weight in flight and flew again before I realized what happenned. What I got was the best glider flight I'd seen on a plane of my own... for the first time, the plane turned when told to turn and it made it pretty clear when it found lift. I highly recommend moving the CG back a bit if you're comfortable with flying the plane.

BTW, I have a GL kit from before the laser-cutting era that I was about to sell... if you'd like to bypass the auction route (I would like to) drop me a line ([email protected]).... Thanks

The R/C Man

That sounds like what I was looking for. I send you an e-mail a little later..... Thanks!


What do you all think the effects would be on the GL flight characteristics if the dihedral and polyhedral where reduced by half?
I was think less stablity, easier to tip stall but increased performance for the glide ratio. I was also going to increase the size of the
rudder. If I can remember corectly it didn't seem to be as responsive as I would have liked. Maybe the addition of some small alerons would help.....
Any thoughts?

Tall Paul

You'd be ungilding a lily to make those changes to the GL.
I haven't found the rudder to be lacking in authority... I cut down the deflection when thermalling.
I've flown mine as a TD, a sloper, and now electric with a camera onboard. It does all of those well.
It isn't a high performance plane, but what it does it's very good at.

The R/C Man

Wow! Palmdale hugh?
I was stuck at Edwards for four years... 97' to 01
Do you fly at the lake bed? Is Frank ( I think that's his name) still flying his MIG?

Tall Paul

I haven't been out to the lakebed in years. The Model Masters raised the dues to have a Christmas party, so I dropped out, probably in '96.