Want to get into Gliding but need help. Would I be better off buying Great Planes 49" Fling complete with Mini Hi-Start for $60 or an EPP 60" electric 400 brushed motor supplied for $80 plus the cost of an ESC and LiPo pack. I have RC for either one so no extra cost there. Need the input of you Glider guys out there.
Thanks in advance. slowgo

Your best bet would be the EasyGlider from Multiplex. They sell for about $80US and come with a Speed 400 motor, gearbox and folding prop assembly. It's made of Elapor foam (similar to EPP) and is very forgiving of most hard landings. The glider has a 72 inch wingspan with rudder, ailerons and elevator for control. I personally believe this is the best way to get into the sport of electric gliders as the wooden (balsa and lite-ply) gliders will need a lot more repair when you do screw up. Thousands of people have successfully flown these and can attest to their durability in these hands of a new flyer. I use mine mainly for slope flying nowadays and have many flights where the only limiting factor is how long my Rx batts will last. Can't go wrong with an EasyGlider! Jim

elmog is right! Easyglider by MPX are a great glider! I fly 3.7m span gliders, but always love to ride a Easyglider on the ridge! Good l/d, nice sink ratio, and no bat atitude = easyglider. More than this this is cheap and easy to fix it after not fortunate landings (CA make all this job). If wind is to strong, put some extra weight - no problem at all!

ovidiu

Slowgo -

I don't know how much flying experience you have, but don't let the fact that the EasyGlider has ailerons put you off. A lot of people told me that it's easier to fly a glider with rudder/elevator only, but with the EasyGlider this is not quite true. You can fly this ship all day long without even touching the rudder. In fact, once after one of my botched landings ended upside down, the control horn separated from the rudder. I continued to fly all day without the rudder even being hooked up. If you have a computer radio, you can mix a small amount of rudder with your ailerons and this makes it bank even nicer. Whatever you choose, have fun. Jim

I too am looking for a first glider, although I had built and flew gliders 20 years ago. Based on that experience I was thinking a gentle lady like I built before, then I saw this thread. I like the gentle lady because I like the building process and I have seen where a different wing plan is available to upgrade when you want ailerons and more performance.

Another I considered is a Zagi, prebuilt cheap and easy to put together.

Is the easy glider a better flyer than these two and worth the extra servos? One thing I am intimidated by the amount of servos required for the easy glider. What are nano servos? and why do the ailerons require two?

Thanks for any input.

PP

Photopilot:

Nano servos are just small servos. Most of the nano size are smaller than a quarter. The ailerons require two servos because of the aileron location on the wing such that the two servos are an easier installation than one servo and the required linkage and less prone to damage. The servos are not very expensive so don't worry about the cost. You can run them both with a "y" harness, or if you have a computer radio from separate channels. That would make adjusting throws and and centering easier.
'
EJ

The Gentle Lady has been and will continue to be an outstanding choice as a first glider. The Easy Glider has also shown itself to be an excellent first glider.

Either is a good choice.

Slowgo;
I started out with a Fling 2 and a Futaba single stick transmitter. Actually I was very pleased with both but I was sorry I didn’t spend a little more on the radio. The plane got me through both the flying and repairing curves but not the landings, as my Fling 2 solid block of 5 min epoxy will attest to. I have moved up to a Futaba 4 ch. computer radio and a Zagi 5C. I plan on flying strictly un-powered slope and adding a v-tail to my stable. The most important thing I have learned is the importance of balancing. Good luck, flying is right up there with fishing.

Hard to beat a Gentle Lady for first glider and a high start or a power pod. The pod fastens on by putting the wing bands on over its base, that way the glider itself is unchanged. I have flown a gentle lady nearly out of site in a thermal. and sloped it once even.
They fly VERY well and are an easy build / repair.

GL is great. I am not a big fan of power pods. If you are going to fly electric, then get an electric sailplane, not one that has an adapter on it. Just a personal opinion.

It looks like the gentle lady is out of the running, because they are backordered everywhere, and someone told me it would be March before it was available.

So my sites are on the Spirit 2M or Easy glider. My only experience with a pre-built plane was a cheap ebay purchase that did not fly well or was easy to repair. I enjoy building the planes and being able to repair them, but realize an ARF would not be much cheaper than building one once I had it covered. Would a ARF like the EasyGlider or Spirit be more durable or easier to repair than a kit built airplane?

A Spirit built from a kit and a Spirit ARF are essentially the same plane. Your understanding of how to repair it after building the kit would be better.

Same for the Easy Glider.

I don't consider that a major reason to build, but that is me. I have had several ARFS and never had a problem fixing them. But I would have known more if I had built them. I would also have spent more time and money building the kits as ARFs are often cheaper now.

Hello all.

I'm totally new to this, so please be gentle!

I'm just looking for general thoughts on the best way to get into flying. I feel the draw of a glider more than I do for a 'regular' park flyer, but I'm not sure if it's the best way to go. Been doing the research and was at one point looking at a shelling out for Super Cub - because, it seems, this is what is always recommended as a first plane. But as I say, it's all that 'at one with the environment' stuff that is more alluring for me. An electric-powered glider seems to provide the advantages of both worlds - I get to learn about thermals etc, get longer flight times, and also I can power myself out of problems when absolutely necessary. I can also take off from a flat field if there are no slopes around.

I've been looking at the Easy Glider as a good place to begin, but keep coming back to this idea that flying with ailerons is not the best way to get started. Is it generally agreed that this is the case, even with something as apparently forgiving as the Easy Glider? I like to think that I'm reasonably dexterous and sensitive and could handle them. Perhaps I'm kidding myself - it's not as if I'm talking about hurtling about at 80 mph in gale force winds, sleet and fog here - but it looks so graceful when done properly. I'll even practice with a flight sim before thinking about leaving the house!

Although not (in strictly purist) terms a 'glider', would the Multiplex Easy Star would be a better place to start? It's cheap, can glide a bit, and has only three channels. Or should I trust myself and go for the full-on aileron experience? I've read that others have, dealt with it with few problems, and have not looked back. I'm very tempted, but...

Thoughts on this would be very welcome!

Cheers,
FC

For learning to fly, I believe I would recommend the Easy Star. It is made of pretty durable Elapor foam that takes the inevitable abuse of a beginning pilot better than a wood plane. The Easy Glider has ailerons and while not much more difficult to fly than the Easy Star, it is a little more expensive and a little more complicated. The Easy Star is one of my top choices to recommend for new pilots. And it will thermal in decent conditions.

In the beginning you will be learning to fly the plane and keep it airborne without banging it into the ground, so thermalling ability is not paramount at this stage. Once you are comfortable with guiding and flying the plane, you can begin the quest for the elusive thermal. At that point you will want a plane more appropriate for that task.

Your choice will also depend on how much assistance and help you will have while you are learning to fly. With an experienced instructor and a radio with trainer capability, a different choice could be fine. If you have that instructor, go with what you both are comfortable with. I can tell you that both you and your instructor will feel more comfortable with an inexpensive plane and simple controls.

It comes pretty quickly, but it is not necessarily "natural". Give it a try, millions of modelers have gone through the same beginner state.

EJ

I am going to agree with ejett - Easy Star.

The Easy Glider is a very gentle flyer and most new pilots could handle it .... with a little coaching. Do you have help?

Here are the advantages of the Easy Star for a self trainer:

1 - rear facing motor. You are less likely to damage the motor or break props. Also less likely to damage something with the motor when you run into it, like the side of your car, or some kid.

2 - Elapor foam; hard to break, easy to fix. Same material as the Easy Glider

3 - 3 channel - can be flown on very simple radio.

4 - available RTF - all included - nothing to figure out - nothing to screw up!

5 - In addition to being a fun parkflyer it is a great e-glider. You won't win any contests with it but it soars very well and will thermal well, easpecially if you have a brake on the ESC that will stop the prop. Many experienced glider pilots have Easy Stars as their "keep in the car" e-glider.

Sooooo, I recommend the Easy Star as your first self trainer. It will do what you need it to do and survive your early mistakes.

One tip. Get two extra SEVEN cell packs. It will fly on six but does much better on seven. Or fly it on two cell Lipos.

Enjoy!

I can not stress enough, DO NOT SKIMP ON THE RADIO!!!!

Thanks for all your inputs, I just ordered an easy glider complete with all the servos installed. I really like building things, (even built my own house, and someday I may finish it) and was trying to rationalize the cost of the radio i am looking at buying after the effort I put into building a glider. However the cost of kit, accesories to build it, and the servos way exceeded the Pre-built plane I bought, $128 out the door.

Now I got to find another way to rationalize the radio purchase. Maybe with all the money I saved on the glider will allow me to buy a better radio......

PP

Radio - A few thoughts:

2.4 GHz is the way of the future and they seem to be selling like hotcakes. If you are going to buy a new radio, I would strongly suggest one of these.

The Spektrum DX6i, $180 comes with 6 channel transmitter with a nice mix of features that will give you plenty of room to grow. And it can be set up to handle 10 different models by saving their settings. It comes with a receiver that has all the range you could possibly need in this or future planes.

Spektrum also has a nice spread of receivers for your next planes so you can go very small or very large, electric, gas, glow or gliders and they have what you need.

This would be an excellent choice for you.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=SPM6600

Do not buy the older DX6 - outdated and limited

No worrying about frequency control, as you would have on 27 mhz or 72 mhz.

Thanks again for all your inputs including those on radios. I have a different thread over on the beginners forum about radios. I have been flip flopping about which to get. The one thing that turned me off from the 2.4 was the lack and cost of receivers, so I was leaning towards the Hitech 7 channel w/ the spectrum module. But I just found out the 2.4ghz has more range, so i am looking at them again. The radio you pointed out seems like a good choice and priced right. However it is backordered. My glider will be in my hands early next week, not sure how long I can hold out.

PP

Thanks for the advice guys - all taken on board.

I have decided the Easy Star is the plane for me. I've found some pretty good prices (why do they always seem to cost more in the UK than in the US.. grrr) and am now trying to decide whether to get myself a RTF package deal - some have 3, some have 4 channel radios (e.g. [link=http://www.modelmaniacsonline.co.uk/products.php?ProductID=1828&CatID=7]<click>[/link]) - or to get the parts separately. I'm a bit of a tight budget so an RTF package is tempting. But how worth it would it be to splash out a bit extra and think a bit more about the future? Then again, I can't be sure how far I'll be taking this. And then there's the fact that I'm eager to get out there and actually fly the thing!

If I did get separate parts and put it together myself, as I said, I'm new to this and am on a bit of a learning curve when it comes to knowing what bits I need to get and how to set it all up. Would something like the GWS Dream Starter kit do a job for me ([link=http://www.kitsandbitsmodels.co.uk/product_info.php/name/Dream%20Starter/products_id/140]<like this one here>[/link]).

I was asked if I would be getting any help. Well, the short and easy answer is 'no'. I'm going to be relying on careful practice, first on a flight sim, and then in a big wide open grassy field. Is this a stupid plan? I know a teacher would be best but in all honesty I don't have the structured time to go along to a club - at least, at the moment I don't. It's going to have to be a bit more off-the-cuff than that.

Hope there aren't too many questions there - if you have any advice at all (I know you do!) I'd be very, very grateful.

Cheers
FC

The Dream starter package is not a good choice. Those servos are WAY too big. They weigh about 1.6 ounces each and you want servos that weigh about .3 to .6 ounces each.

The receiver is pretty big too, but tollerable. It weighs about 1.2 ounces where I would use a receiver of less than .5 ozs.

I would recommend the RTF. It will have the right stuff and will get you into the air fast. If you find you like the hobby, then you will want a computer radio which is not what the dream starter offers.

Besides, the radio that comes with he Easy Star can fly any 3 channel glider or any other 3 channel small electric plane.

Thanks for the quick reply aeajr.

RTF it is then. Just one quick last question then I'll get off your case..

Which do you think is the best package out of these two? One is shipped from the States with a Hitec Neon SS FM 35MHz 3Ch Radio ([link=http://www.rctoys.com/rc-toys-and-parts/MPX-EASYSTAR-RTF/RC-AIRPLANES-EASYSTAR.html]<link>[/link]), while the other is from just up the road in the UK, costs more and comes with a Hitec Zebra 4Ch Radio ([link=http://www.modelmaniacsonline.co.uk/products.php?ProductID=1828&CatID=7]<link>[/link]). I have a sneaky feeling the Neon is a better quality radio, although I'm not sure if the single stick is the best way to go?

Cheers
FC

I never heard of a Hitec Zebra radio so I can't say. I know Neon is no frills but works well.

Is flying with a single stick more difficult?

No, it is pretty much the same as flying with two sticks if you are flying a 3 channel plane and are flying mode 2. That is the standard layout for transmitters in North America.

One stick

Left hand controls a slide for throttle. Right hand controls stick for rudder/elevator control

Two stick

Left hand controls left stick for throttle. Right hand controls stick for rudder/elevator control.

Easy!

No big deal