Murdoc

I`m new to gliders and my daydream is now ready for its maiden, cant wait to fly her
Anyway how do I get it up to a good alltitude? I do not have a highstart and was wondering if there is other ways to get it up?

Thanks

scaflock

If you don't have a highstart or access to a winch then your only other options are to either launch it off a slope or stick to hand launching. Flying it off a slope would be the best until you can find a highstart to use.

Murdoc

there is a slope 5minutes from my house but it`s quite small. But maybe its good for the maiden flight.
And a little question at the end here: how much is the wing of a 2meter 2ch glider suppose to weigh?

scaflock

That is going to vary from plane to plane. Different planes have different widths on the cord, construction materials etc. As long as you followed the direction during the build the weight should not be a problem. The type of glue you use as well as which brand of covering you use is going to change how much it ends up weighing. Same wing built with CA glue is going to weigh more than one made with wood glue.

Don't discount a small slope! They're good places to learn the basics of RC flight and are usually more forgiving. If it was a big one and you went down, then you may have a problem getting your plane back. With smaller slopes this is usually not a problem. Remember that you have to learn walk before you run. Same with flying RC planes.

Murdoc

Thanks for a good reply Is ca really heavier than wood glue? If so, I learned something new today
Been flying for 7 years but never thermal and slopeflying, just f3a and 3d

av8djc

My Feedback: (4)

I tell her to just rub it a little bit
Sorry, couldn't resist.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

I was gonna say Viagra[>:]

Well the choices are narrow, Tow, Toss, highstart or piggy back. I would start in a big field with a bunch of hand tosses to set trim.

scaflock

CA is heavier than wood glue. Mainly because with wood glue the moisture evaporates out while with CA it just hardens without any evaporation. Using wood glue where ever you can get away with it can really lighten up a plane. Wood glue will also flex where CA won't.

TZflyer

Hi, hope I'm welcome to jump in here because I am in the same position as the OP.
Been flying glow planes for a while and want to get into gliding. I have a small, 1.5 m wingspan, glider that I am building from a kit and it states that this is a hand launch/slope model but what I really want to do is tow it behind another plane. It is 2 channel with a polyhedral wing built up of balsa.
Is this even possible with a glider like this?
Would something like an LT 40 with an OS .55 in the nose pull it up?
How difficult would towing be for intermediate glow pilots to accomplish?

If towing is out of the question can enough height be gained by hand launching a small glider like this? Excuse my ignorance but is seems that I wont be able to get more than a few seconds flight with a hand toss.

Ray

scaflock

While towing a plane that size with the LT-40 could be done, you really want a model that has ailerons when towing. You need to be able to keep the wings level on the plane being towed and not to use the rudder if at all possible. If the glider rolls or gets out of the "box" then you place both planes into a dangerous situation.

One way to get around that little problem is to do what's called a "piggy-back" launch. For that you need to make a cradle that will sit on top of the lifting planes wing. (high wing plane of course) The model should sit with just a touch of downward angle compared to the lifting planes wing. An extra servo is used to release the glider when you get high enough. They stopped making cradles but there is a thread on her that covers how to make them and shows several designs.

Both methods of launching are cool to watch as well as take part in but there is one drawback. You need to have another pilot to use these methods. For some people, an extra pilot is not always available. To get an idea on how these launching method look in application check out You-tube. There's a lot of videos on them there.

TZflyer

Thanks for the help. I will definitely hold off on towing until I get a glider with ailerons.
We are going to purchase a bungee launch to start and get the hang of things. I have already been browsing the web, looking at bigger sport gliders and drooling. Just have to get the idea past my bank manager/wife.

Murdoc

Viagra, LOL
I allways thought that ca was the lightest glue out there, and I used wood glue on my dynaflite daydream, thought it was way overweight but if wood glue is that light and I followed the instructions (which I did) then the weight shouldn`t be a problem.
It just feels very heavy, but I guess this glider needs some energy in the air

scaflock

I've never built a Daydream Murdoc but have seen many of them. It's a robust plane and really is built like a tank. That's a good thing for a plane that is considered to be a trainer since they go through a lot of hard knocks while a pilot is learning to handle a sailplane. The airfoil is a high lift one so it overcomes the hefty weight of the plane with no problem. It just won't penetrate the wind as well is all.

One thing you should consider adding to the Daydream is a ballasting system for flying on windy days. By adding more weight at the CG you cause the wing to have to work harder and that uses the energy of the higher winds in a positive way instead of allowing the wind to toss you around. A simple threaded post epoxied in at the CG with a wing nut on it to hold the weights in place works great. Drill a hole through a couple of flat fishing weights to go over the post and lock then down with the wing nut. On my Paragon I've added as much as an extra kilo of lead for ballast (RTF ballasted weight of 2-1/2k) and it can fly in winds up to 35 mpg or so. Weight without ballast is about 1-1/2 kilo.

Murdoc

Yeah, it looks really sturdy and the design looks really well. I used monokote for covering just as the manual recomended.
Unfortunately it is way tailheavy and I guess I`ll need to add about 150-200grams of lead in the nose.
Cant wait to fly this thing I`ll upload some pics tommorrow

scaflock

Having to add nose weight is something that is not unusual. A lot of the time a design has to have the tail back quite a ways to be able to fly well. The further you move away from the CG the more that the weight of the tail is going to effect the amount of lead you need to add to the nose. This is the reason that most designs require you to have the battery as far forward as possible to counteract the effect of the weight in the tail.

My current build is a modified Windfree and when I'm ready to install the electronics I'll have it placed on a balancing stand so I can get the battery and servos placed in such a way as to keep the amount of lead in the nose as small as possible.

Murdoc

I think that one of the reasons my daydream became so tailheavy is becouse I used hs55 servos instead of standard size servos.
Now it balances 3 cm behind the recomended spot, so I`ll star with 150 grams of lead.
Tommorrow is the maiden Will upload pics in a few minutes!

Murdoc

Here is how she looks what you think?

TZflyer

Beautiful looking glider Murdoc.
What battery pack do you have in the nose?

Murdoc

I just have 4 aa batteries. Going to change that and put in a larger one
So it looks nice? That means alot for me to hear!

Flyfalcons

Looks good! A bungee launch will do well on that glider once you get it trimmed from a few hand tosses. I launched my Gentle Lady with about 100 feet or surgical tubing with another length of string tied to it and it got some decent altitude out of that.

Murdoc

Thanks Were did you get surgical tubing? I was looking at the dynaflite highstart but it was king of expensive

Flyfalcons

I bought it at my local hardware store. I don't think it was very expensive.

Murdoc

I`ll try at my local hardware store then Thanks again!

TZflyer

Is this your first kit build Murdoc?
I started building a while back and I enjoy it as much as flying now. Most of my kits are glow powered though.

Murdoc

I have built from scratch a few times, but this was my first kit I love building as much as flying and arfs just doesent do it for me. I need lots of balsa and many hours of work to get satisfied