Glider to Haul & Fly?

[starcop]

Howdy Pilots, It's been many years sense I've flown gliders. My last was a wood built up model, we used to fly off a place called Rattle Snake Mountain. Never saw a snake there, but I'm sure the names for a reason. I'm riding my dirt-bike up a lot of old fire roads and ending up over looking all kinds of canyons. The first thing I think of is Gliders; what a cool place that would be to fly! Just curious if anyone has any suggestions for a good Medium size model that is good for souring? I can address the hauling part with packs and foam scraps I have. I'll make a pack to put wings in one side and the fuselage in the other. Thanks for any insight you might have!

Matt

[PappaBear]

RE: Glider to Haul & Fly?

Hi Matt,

If you've flown slope soarers in the past you will know all you need is a breeze blowing on to the face of the hill and you have a flying site. Any of the gliders on the Motion RC website would make excellent slope soarers. If you intend to fly a light weight foam model, you will only require a gentle breeze not a howling gale !

If you intend to use a powered glider, simply use the motor to gain some height from the slope and then cut the power and glide all day in the lift from the hill.

Add a camera and take some pictures of the surrounding area.

I love slope soaring although its been a long time since I did any.

Martin.

[Alpha]

RE: Glider to Haul & Fly?

The Eflite Radian and the RocHobby V-Tail are my favorite gliders. For something you're going to be hauling on your back while riding a mountain bike though, I'd look for something a little smaller. The FMS Moa, for example, is cheap ($109), easy to breakdown, and more easily transportable on a bicycle than other larger gliders. The Moa glides and thermals well. It doesn't have flaps, though, but that can be worked around.

[starcop]

RE: Glider to Haul & Fly?

Very cool, & yes Martin I did fly gliders back in the day. We had a place called Rattle snake mountain, gee wonder what was up there? Ha ,ha, we used to tape Lizards, tarantella spiders; what-ever we could catch! We'd tape them to the fuselage and fly loops. until they flew off, maybe it was mean, a little? As kids, we didn't really care much about that, at the time. It was fun to fly and the times were great. I saw a few flying Lizards in my youth... I'm sure they were fine. I do miss the quiet enjoyment from those hills. The breeze and serenity of Gliders is pretty darn cool. I hope soon to fly again in my new found hills. Thanks for the information guys!


Matt

[doctormike]

RE: Glider to Haul & Fly?

The radian is really a nice glider and easy to transport. My Bird of Time, that I powered, has a 10 ft. wing span but I can carry it in the back seat of my Subaru. Doc

[starcop]

RE: Glider to Haul & Fly?

The radian is really a nice glider and easy to transport. My Bird of Time, that I powered, has a 10 ft. wing span but I can carry it in the back seat of my Subaru. Doc

Hello Doctormike, Sounds very cool. I like that airplane in the back ground of your picture! I'd love to have my own aircraft one day; even if it's an ultra-lite. That's something I've always wanted to do, I've had friends through the years who flew those. Maybe one day when I hit the lottery or I sell a home! Thanks, for the reply! Cheers.

Matt

[martmichals]

The Flyzone Calypso is a great glider, it should soar just fine!

[Papo_60]

I just bought my first glider, the Parkzone Radian Pro (PNP) that has ailerons and flaps. This one will obviously give you the opportunity to do all sorts of mixing functions and test your sailplane flying skills and imagination. At the same time I bought the wings for the E-Flite Radian glider, that do not have ailerons or flaps. These wings fit perfectly onto the fuselage of the Radian Pro (obviously, both planes must use the same fuselage). Using these wings you now have a 3 channel glider that you can use for more relaxed soaring and enjoyment. I bought an extra set of Radian Pro decals and put them onto the E-Flite wings, they fit perfectly and make this 3 channel glider look great with one common decal and color theme....

[xviper]

Just a little clarification please. The "old" Parkzone Radian has now become the "new" Eflite Radian. The Parkzone Radian Pro has remained unchanged. The new Eflite Radian uses screw on wings and will accept the Radian Pro's wings. Is this correct?
It used to be that the "old" Radian and the Radian Pro did not have interchangeable wings.

[Bellke]

If you're considering something as big as a Radian, then I would recommend the Calypso. It glides great and you can add flaps to it. I've had one for over 2 yrs and while the foam wings are all scratched up and the tail a little bent out of shape from the trunk of my car, it still flys pretty good. I can regularly get a 20-30 minute flight and only land to get another plane to fly.

[xviper]

And now we have the brand new Radian XL. No official information as it was introduced at Joe Nall. Rumor has it that release will be sometime this summer. It will be a 2.6M foam version of the slightly bigger balsa, filberglass 2.9M Mystique RES (Rudder, Elevator, Spoiler). However, the XL will have small pop-up spoilers (or airbrakes) as opposed to the RES hinged spoilers. IMO, a simple RES sailplane is much more relaxing to fly and the Mystique RES is one of the best sailplanes I've owned (and I've flown many, including "full house" models). Virtually everybody at my flying field who has a Radian Pro has eventually gone to the Radian. There are almost a dozen such sailplanes in this group. Only a couple of holdouts have continued to fly the Pro. (Even the guy with the Calypso has abandoned it and will be getting into a Radian after flying with us.)
My favourite sailplane is the Mystique RES but the one I fly the most is the Radian simply because it's so much fun to have multiple ones in the sky at the same time.

[Flygirl]

So true!!! My best flying mate has a Radian also and we always fly them together and of course make the friendly wagers on who can stay up the longest. ;) I did the last time. I hit this boomer thermal that almost took me up too far. It was awful hard to see and hard to get out of it too!

[xviper]

Once we all get up there, we try to "form up" and fly around together and see how close we can come without touching. A few of us have telemetry so we know our altitude. We've touched a few times but so long as the props aren't running, no harm done. Our contest is to see who can land as close as possible to flight line fence without incident. It's a masterpiece when 5 of them land in a close cluster.

[Flygirl]

Once we all get up there, we try to "form up" and fly around together and see how close we can come without touching. A few of us have telemetry so we know our altitude. We've touched a few times but so long as the props aren't running, no harm done. Our contest is to see who can land as close as possible to flight line fence without incident. It's a masterpiece when 5 of them land in a close cluster.

Ha!! We do the same thing! GMTA!! We only have two though.... Bet 5 at once is way cool! Do a vid Vipe! I'd love to see it!

[xviper]

Ha!! We do the same thing! GMTA!! We only have two though.... Bet 5 at once is way cool! Do a vid Vipe! I'd love to see it!

Funny that you asked. As a matter of fact, I did do one quite some time ago. We hadn't gotten our "cluster landing" perfected just yet but you get the idea. Also, because they are sailplanes, they are very high, making them hard to capture on video with a non-zoom camera. You'll need to go "full screen" to have half a chance of actually seeing any in the air. The beginning and the end are the most visual.

[doctormike]

I installed spoilers on my Radian. Easy, and works great. Doc

[xviper]

I installed spoilers on my Radian. Easy, and works great. Doc

Please "show and tell".

[doctormike]

I'm not good at posting photos. I cut a 9"x 2"x 1/16" slot in each wing. Dropped in a servo at the appropriate depth (avoid the spar) with a servo arm so that it rotates from the T.E. foreward. I then, painted, white, a piece of 1/16"( unwarped) bass wood. Sand and paint again to make it smooth. Use spray paint. Water base acrylic will warp the wood. I taped the L.E. of the spoiler down. No fancy gadgets needed. The servo arm simply pushes the spoiler up. The packing tape and wind will push the spoiler down. Adjustments may be needed on the servo arm by grinding or sanding. Good luck!!! Doc

[xviper]

Doc, you are a true "DIY" kinda guy. I thought about doing spoilers (or airbrakes) on my Radian a while back but never got around to it. Since then, I've just gotten better at slowing it down before touch down. With the new Radian XL coming into existence, I'll just see how those spoilers work. Anyone who wishes to add spoilers to their standard Radian could likely just buy the ones off the XL and implant them. I added HobbyKing pop-up airbrakes on my old X8 wing and it worked amazingly well. Did the same thing to my Bird of Time and it's been a great addition. Of course, the stock spoilers on my Mystique RES works as they were intended.

[doctormike]

I added spoilers to my BOT, also. They are really needed to get the thing back to earth. Doc