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Setting up a high start.

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  • Setting up a high start.

    Been watching on some different ways to do this. Should I buy the bungee from Banggood or Hobby King? Does it matter? The planes under 2kg. What they specify. 10 meters should work? Or should I get 20 meters. How long can you stretch it? Thanks Nick.

  • #2
    I don't know much about these set ups, only from watching one of the guys at my field use one for about a month. They scare the living crap out of me. Bungees tend to deteriorate with exposure to UV. The anchor is very important as you don't want it to come loose and fire itself right at you. Also, the length of bungee isn't all there is to it. I see it also involves some length of non-stretchy line to make up a lot of the distance. I saw them stretch it out to about twice the bungee length. Keep in mind that when it gets up there and the plane lets go, it's not going to be anywhere as high as the line if stretched out on the ground. So, if you have 50 feet of bungee and 50 feet of cord after that, you'll stretch it to about 150 feet and get the plane up less than 150 feet when it lets go.
    Personally, I've always converted any non-powered planes to electric powered and forget the bungee. Or are you trying to launch a powered plane that needs that extra speed to take off. You won't need much bungee length for that. In those cases, I put on a stabilizer and throw it from the top of a hill.

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    • #3
      Surgical tubing plus STRONG string. A strong split ring from a key chain, a drag streamer for aiding release and helping the line wind drift back and secure staking.

      I've done home made high starts and you want it to break in the line before there is any risk of pulling the stake(s) If it pulls the stake it can launch the stake back at you at LETHAL force.

      50 ft of surgical tube can be stretched to 150 ft. and with that much tube you want 300 to 450 ft of string.

      It was common to get launch heights exceeding unstretched length and needing to dive to get the line off the hook.

      Bungee cord does not work anywhere near as well it does not stretch as far, thus giving higher pull over shorter distance. I did better cutting up bicycle tubes into huge rubber bands.

      I recommend buying a kit. You don't save much by making your own. Even then, you may be wanting to add back-up and/or upgraded stakes and setting them in a series to get more hold in some types of soil.
      FF gliders and rubber power since 1966, CL 1970-1990, RC since 1975.

      current planes from 1/2 oz to 22 lbs

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      • #4
        I know this is an older thread, but I thought I would add my $0.02. The easiest way to get a high start going is to simply buy the high start kit from some vendor like Tower Hobbies. They will give you everything you need, a spool, stake, good string, good (and appropriate) rubber tubing. Easy to assemble everything.

        High starts can be a lot of fun. The first few seconds are thrilling, and then you release at the top! Hopefully you find some lift to keep you going up!

        I had two exciting events with a high start. First one, a guy was launching at our field. He was at the top of the climb. At that point the Northwestern University Medivac chopper flew overhead. Hard to tell exactly how high he was, looked kinda low. All of a sudden the guy's glider disintegrated as it went through the chopper's rotors! Yep, he was that low, but he should not have been! He thought he hit a bird. No other damage to him, but absolutely nothing of the glider came down anywhere we could see it.

        The second fun thing was a flight on a particularly windy day. My brother had a Top Flight Antares, kinda high performance glider. We got it to the top of the launch and then found we could stay on the high start and continue flying. The plane would fly/blow downwind, stretching the rubber tubing. Then you could turn it back into the wind and get another launch. We kept it on the high start for about 45 minutes and just kept going back up. Fun stuff.

        Now the bad news about high starts. They simply do not match up with an electric powered glider. Fire up the motor, toss the plane, climb out for 30 seconds, get lift, fly around, come back down, then fire up the motor again and do it all over again. Easy to get hour long flights! I would never go back!

        Hope the comments help anyone looking for information like this!

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