Test005

This Saturday I took a friend to the flying field and he brought an old glider (Blue Phoenix??) from the late 80:s that has spent the last 15+ years in the attic.
We started it by running with a long line kite-style and then floated it down...We both felt that this was fun and would like to experiment more with unpowered gliders.

I realise that it would be convinient to have an electric glider but I'm already in glow powered planes, and don't want to mix with electrics and get all those mottors, battery packs, ESC:s etc....
The idea was to get a glider and a hi-start to fly off our flying field... I don't want electric power since I want it as easy and trouble free as possible.

This one looks very good and is available from my hobbystore
[link=http://www.hobby-lobby.com/condor-magic.htm]Scorpio Condor Magic 2.9[/link]

I've never been around gliders and I have no idea on how this works
What do you think, is this a good glider? What flight times can I expect from launching with a high-start?

Landi

My Feedback: (1)

Hi

If u want trouble free then electric is the way to go. Much easier to set up, no dead stick and no clean up aftehr a full day of flying.

The condor looks very cool and I myself are tempted to get one for me as a electric for the days when my tow pilot is to lasy to come to the field.

A 3 m glider for a hi-start well u can try but I dont think u will get enough high during launch for a very good flight unless you hit a thermo right away.

Regarding the flight times from 1 minute to 8 hours all is possible depending in how much thermal activity you have and how good you are in finding it.

Since you never have been arroung gliders I would not start with the Condor I would try something easy to fly and to catch thermos such as a floater like the Gentle Lady or Aspire anything in this category will give you enough experience to go to something with higher performance ather a while. Tose mentioned planes are easy to handle and also very easy to catch thermos and since u are high stating those will work just fine.

Saludos Landi

mr_frogdude

I agree with him! I have a Gentle Lady, and it is a 'breeze' to fly!!

Mark

Test005

Thanks for the input guys.
I don't mean that electrics aren't simple & troublefree, My point is that I'm already into glowplanes and I don't want to mix too much.
I'd rather have a simple unpowered glider as a complement to my glow planes than having an electric glider that need esc, battery, special charger, maintenance etc... You understand?

So, a 3M glider is hard to Hi-Start?
That's a shame because I'd like to have a bigger glider than the standard 2M... It looks cool and a big lane would be totally exciting to fly!

rcsoar4fun

My Feedback: (12)

Bigger planes will be a little more difficult to high start, simply because the high start is so much stronger. Buy a *good* highstart, the best quality I have seen comes from www.aerofoam.com . I used to launch my 4 meter bird with no problems using their 3m Standard Start. However, do NOT use this start on a light two meter, it simply wont last.

Kristopher

rudolf35

I am looking to get either the Condor Magic or the Bird 3000 (Bird of time with ailerons ARC/ARC). I am flying big birds (100' PA18's and 80 Tiger Moth) and I am getting back into the glider flying (having a blast with a Zaggi X-400) and I would like some imput as to which of these gliders would be a better ship. The BOT is a slow floater and the Condor seems to be more of a zoomer (at least looking at the video of it). Also would the Condor benefit from flaps? I know there is a new one out there but I do not seem able to find it.

Test005

I'm playing with the idea of getting the Condor Magic and power it with a O.S .30 four stroke.

FlyingPig-inactive

Or BOT ARF from Dynaflite. It's around $130, (almost) 3m and easy to fly. Search for more info though cause it used to have a weak spar and tend to break the wing on winch.

rscarawa

The Condor is advertised as a thermal glider, but are you not worried about the wing loading being so high?

Landi

My Feedback: (1)

Hi rscarawa

I re-run the numbers from the Condor and put them in metric.

Here are the numbers: Wing area 806 sq in, 98 oz flying weight, 17.5 oz/sq ft wing loading.

Now in metric: Wing area 806 sq in * 0.06452sq dm = 52 sq dm, Flying weight 98 oz * 28.35 g = 2778 g,
wing loading 2778 g / 52 sq dm = 53.4 g/sq dm this is a good wing loading.

For a semi scale glider wingloadings up to 85 g /sq dm (27.86 oz/sq ft) are acceptable. Several of my scale gliders run wingloadings all the way up to this ammount and they fly great.

I agree with you that it is not a wing loading of a ultra light thermal glider but it will do alright with that wing load.

Saludos Landi
(http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=299913)

GYANNI

Hi Landi,
how about fitting the Condor Magic with LIPOs batteries to reduce the weight?
[sm=confused.gif]

Landi

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Gyani

Lipos will work just fine it will reduce the weight but it wll increase the cost considerably.

You should download motocalc and run the numbers using lipos. you may be able to reduce the loading a few grams.

Saludos Landi
(http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=299913)

WPXUSA

hi this is wpx.
i just bought a hobby lobby condor magic & i was thinking of returning it & get a siren from great planes.

any idea which is better & why?

thanks

Landi

My Feedback: (1)

Hi WPX

Sorry but u are not comparing apples with apples.

The Siren is a hotliner, designed for high speed, which due to the low winf loading (unfortunattley you will have to add the weight of your bat pack to have a accurate wing loading) will eventually thermal well but with the high speed airfoil it may not thermal so well. They do not comment on the airfoil but it will definetlly be a fast one so it will zip trough the sky and you will have to be goo to be able to get a thermo.

The Condor is a Scale like sailplane and will themo well it has a considerablly low wingloading and it has a 3 m wing span. The siren just 2m.

So it is raelly hard to say which one to choose since the planes are designed for diefferent purposes.

The question is what do you want to do???

Saludos,

Landi
(http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=299913)

WPXUSA

hey landi;

thank you for the information.

I allready had 3 flights with the condor magic & it flies great.
it just wants to fly, the least wind or thermal will take it up.

with the lipo 11.1v pack & the AXI 4 series motor in it, I was able to reach incredible hights in no time.

amazing altitude is reached in 25 seconds of launch. it climbs great flies great & verry stable.

with only 45 seconds of climb I was able to fly for like 35 minutes with almost no wind & no thermals.
on landing i had to use the air brakes in order to land in our small local club here. this glider just wants to stay in the air.

anyway, thanks a lot for the information.

sawdust

My Feedback: (7)

What is your exact motor, battery, and prop setup? I was to by a Condor and want to use LiPo batteries. Thank you. bob

WPXUSA

motor is the axi 4120/14 & lipos are kokam 3 cells 11.1v 2500mah & the prop is 14x7 Classic Carbon folding Prop, 45mm Spinner, 47mm Middlepart Yoke, 6mm Prop Shaft Adapter & speed controler is the Jeti Advance PLUS 70 Amp Brushless Controller.

the motor can take a 4 cell lipo pack but trust me with the 3 cells the results are spectacular easy 35 degrees climb.

later on I may get a 4 cells 5000 mah lipo pack to soar for hours.

go for it, because the condor is a pleasure to fly.

sawdust

My Feedback: (7)

Just one more question. You reference a 2500 11.1 volt pack. Is that 2 1250 11.1 packs tied together?

Thank you. bob

WPXUSA

sorry bob it's a 2000 mah & it's a 1 pack of 3cells. it's giving me almost 10 minutes of motor running time, & the rest of the flying time for the servos & receiver.
its the only pack i use for the motor & the control surfaces. after like full use of the motor time & 35 minutes of soaring I always have like 8.56 v still in the battery on landing, which is perfect for the condition of the battery pack.
now if i use the motor for like 7 minutes only, I will be able to fly with the help of thermals for more than 80 minutes & still have over 8.5 volts on landing& maybe more.
enjoy the condor & keep me posted about the flights & new information.

regards.

mbacon

I have a basic question, but one that's got me stumped. I finally went full bore and bought the Condor Magic 2.9 Glider. I've always wanted a 3 meter sailplane with a folding prop to avoid the hassles I used to encounter in my earlier days of high starts and messy glo-power pods. I'm almost done assembling this beautiful power glider and am using an AXI 4120/18 from model motors, a Graupner 16 x 10 Cam Prop 6mm, a Jeti Models Advance Plus 77A Opto, and a THP604S3P 6000 Mh, 14.8V Li-Poly pack with 10 cells. Boy, was that a mouthful! In no part of the assembly manual is there any information about proper cooling of the batteries and motor. Has anyone built this glider and done a similar install without providing some type of venting? If someone has cut vents, where and how many did they provide, and what did they look like? I've finally got a nice model, and a hefty investment. The last thing I want to do is burn it all up from a nuclear meltdown. Should I be concerned, or am I worrying for nothing? I'd appreciate any help anyone can lend. Thanks!

Sincerely,
Mike Bacon