keary

My Feedback: (10)

Hi,
I would like to find out some information about getting started with soaring- .What are some of the better gliders or sail planes to get started with.
I am a beginner(to soaring anyway) and my goal is to be able to tow the glider with a Dave Patrick Cub (105")( I live in the flatlands of wKY) and have a buddy fly the sail plane ,and would like to know what size glider would be best, not only for flying but in keeping in scale with the Cub. Also the best method of release,ect.
Also I didn't know if a large glider is available with a pylon mount electric motor.
I would like the inital investment to be as unpainful as possible, of course.
I would greatly appreciate any help any of you all can give.

Thanks,
Keary

wallyb70

My Feedback: (8)

hi keary, your best bet for a glider to tow is a scale glider 3 or 4 meters. the dihedral gliders dont tow real well. i had a 1/4 scale cub with a G45 zenoah that did a real good job. and a ASK 21 4.2 meter that is a great sailplane. you should attend the aero-tow in monticello, illinois this summer. wally

BMatthews

Keary, you're request to find a scale glider to go with the Cub and yet keep the costs down and to learn soaring are all in conflict with each other. Start with one of the 2 meter to 100 inch span non scale gliders and a basic High Start to launch it with or go with the electric motor in the nose option. Or even a glow engine in the nose if you fly at an engines OK field.

Learn to fly smoothly and find thermals first. Then move on to a scale model and aero towing. You don't mention what your previous flying experience is but learning to fly smoothly and with no extra altitude loss in the turns is not a skill that comes automatically. It takes quite a bit of practice. Things you get away with when there's a prop on the nose will put a glider on the ground in no time at all and this can be quite frustrating for a new glider pilot. Toss a scale glider into the mix and you have a recipe for frustration at the lack of thermal finding.

And Aerotowing is a whole other step up the flying skills ladder. It takes a lot of careful flying, trust and a firm understanding between the pilots of how the tow plane will be flown and how the glider will act on the line. This is not just a "Hey, let's do this aerotowing thing" with the second pilot that shows up on any given day.

For options on first time glider choices try the Search Function with the keywords "first time" or "beginner". It'll turn up a lot of options and links to kits and ARF choices.

PS: After re-reading your post I now see that this is far more about flying some scale models and having fun with Aerotowing. That changes things. Most of my answer above is based on avoiding frustration at learning to find thermals. If your goal is not to actually learn to soar then there's no reason why two competent pilots can't do aerotowing with some planning. Just don't be surprised when the scale glider is on the ground in only 2 to 3 minutes even from serious heights. Without some soaring skills practice airtime many scale gliders will fly about as well as a lighter power plane in a deadstick mode. I've left my first suggestion intact in case you or your flying buddy wants to learn more and learn to soar rather than just glide. Soaring being to use the air currents to extend your flying time and gliding being an unpowered return to earth.

If you're looking for a period pairing then a built up TG-2 or similar time period scale bird would look great together. Check out a few options at http://www.tmrcsailplanes.com/laser-...lane-kits.html .

Best of luck with an interesting area of model flying regardless of how you attempt it.

cheechukranch

I am trying to get into towing as well. I'm building a Bridi Big Bee for a tow plane and picked up one of the DAW Ka6 kits from Skyking:

http://www.skykingrcproducts.com/rcp...t/DAW_Ka6.html

Unfortunately, you just missed Ed's sale; I got mine for $169 rather than $229. Nonetheless these scale sailplanes are made for (EPP) aerotow training as they will take some abuse. The kit is impressive...excellent quality.

Good luck!

Ben Diss

My Feedback: (23)

Maybe it's time for a scale gliders forum?

frodoga-RCU

I am building a Wind Drifter Kit from the 70's. I would like to tow this plane and need some ideas about a tow hook set up. Also if anyone has plans or drawings for a power pod for a .15-...........25 size engine I would appreciate some input. One last question. I am getting mixed opinions about towing a glider with polyhedral wings. Any comments? Thanks, [email protected]

BMatthews

The Wind Drifter was a smaller model as far as gliders go. A Norvel 061 or Cox 049 in a power pod would be far more in keeping with the size and weight. A .15 to .25 would not only be highly overpowered but the high thrust line coupled with the high power would cause some very serious problems unless the thrust line is radically offset.

Aero towing is possible but it's not as easy as with a flat winged aileron model. The key would be very large circles and very little input on the controls by the pilots. Sort of set the trims for free flight with a circle of about 200 feet and leave it alone until it's high enough. Just use enough correction back to straight flight for the upwind side of the circle to offset the downwind drift. If it's going to work that would be the trick.

The tow hook for this needs to be in the nose of the model. Typically the ones I've seen are a simple long U shaped staple of wire with the turn in the U bent at 70 to 80 degrees down. A straight wire goes forward through the bent down U to trap a tow ring between the release wire and the U. This straight wire is connected to the release servo. You need a separate channel and servo for this to work.