......of my parents house and guess what it was a glider kit. A Filou from Graupner still sealed! I have no idea what year it is and from my quick review of the plans it appears to have a fixed stab with no elevator control. One servo for the rudder, a servo and a pylon for a engine.

Is this possible?

Yes, it is !
I remember that one, it must be from the 70's, or earlier. At the time, Graupner's HS-84 Clou, 2.4 m rudder-elevator glider was their biggest&best sailplane. A few years later came the 3m Graupner Cirrus, which at that time, was THE sailplane to have.
Also at the time, Graupner's top-of-the-line radio control was a 4-channel, non-proportional unit !
And don't even think about travel adjustment, servo reversing, etc......
The controls were either centered or fully deflected, if you wanted something in between, you had to hit the control intermittently !

My dad and I learned to fly R/C sailplanes one on of those controls.

Michael

MTT, That's GOT to be earlier than the 70's for the radio. What you're describing sounds a lot like a reed set. These went away in the early 60's when the first analog proportional sets came out followed in the second half of the 60's by the first digital sets.

Do I want to go back? Not on your life....

BMatthews, now that I get to think about it, you're right.
My Dad & me started out in the hobby when I was 10 or 11, which was 65/66. I remember when Graupner a little later brought out their first proportional set, the "VarioProp", the TX was big & clunky by today's standards, and weighed a ton !
And all on 27 MHz, which could be entertaining, when a CB radio operator was in the vicinity....

Michael

We have much in common Micheal. My first bits of balsa that I glued together glided across my father's shop in Dec 1965.

Should I build this glider? Is it worth anything if left unbuilt? Can modifications be made to have elevator or full stab control? It also appears to have provisions to be launched by a rocket engine.

Depends...
If you already have the building and flying of a couple or more models under your belt, you'll probably bored with this one, it was a beginner's model.

No idea. You could try putting it up for sale on Ebay.

Probably. With enough work and material anything can be modified . The radio gear and servos of that era were bigger, heavier, and less powerful than what we are used to today. So probably you would have no problems fitting 2 Hitec HS-81's or something similiar in the fuselage. Elevator : Just make a strip of balsa the length of the horizontal stabilizer, width : approx 25% of the stabilizer chord, hinge it, and presto ! You have an elevator !

Michael

Thanks MTT

I think I will try the modification you suggested. A couple of questions if you don't mind?[list=1][*]What is with the rocket engine?[*]Would you use an engine?[*]If so electric or glow?[/list=1]

Again thanks for your time and knowledge.

I don't really remember, it was some time ago, but I seem to recall that Graupner had these samll, throwaway rocket engines, which were used to get the glider to altitude.

With the electric drives available nowadays, I would probably go with an electric.
But that's just me, all my time in this hobby was strictly sailplanes, I have never owned a glow engine.

Michael