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Funny you bring that up Vipe.... Today I had the RXL up in a pretty good thermal so it was up there pretty high. Meanwhile my friend Chris was flying his UMX Radian with FPV using a monitor. He decided to switch to using goggles so he handed the transmitter to our friend Tom who looked skyward, saw MY Radian XL which because it was high was small looking and lawn darted the UMX when he moved the sticks a bunch cuz he thought the UMX wasn't responding. LOL! It was pretty funny! BTW, the XL thermals very well. It was not the best day for lift as it was a mostly cloudy day but we got a few peeks of sun which heated up a nearby parking lot. Went right to the top floor with that one. :)Leave a comment:
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I see that aircraft-world has these rear bearing plates on sale (close out) for $ 1.50 USD. I got a dozen!
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Sorry for the misunderstanding. When I said "bigger", I was comparing to the regular Radian and the XL being "bigger" is one of the good points. I know the Cularis and the XL are the same wingspan and both look nice in the air.
Most of us sailplane guys at our field are the lawn chair types. We toss them, sit back and relax and chase each other in formation. We climb and descend and land together. It's just a nice group activity. We don't really compete to see who can stay up the best or the longest and we don't always fly the same sailplane but it is very neat to watch when there are 7 or more sailplanes of the same size in the air at once. Most of us have stabilizers, Return to Home and telemetry on our gliders so we know when we're all at the same altitude. Flying so many at once, it can be easy to forget which plane is yours. RTH is a great feature to "find" your plane again.
If HH decides to bring out a V.2, I hope they address some of the deficiencies that have come to surface on the first one - more power, easier assembly, make it lighter if possible. I think they could have simply made a larger version of the old Radian - forget the 3 piece wing. The "KISS" principle never fails.Leave a comment:
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You bring up a good point. I agree that most foam models are too weak when it comes to mounting the motor. This really shows up when one lands using crow and you just misses the flair. Or with RES ships and they ground loop after the wing tip touches. The Radian is notorious for this.
I try to support all my glider motors at both ends. I've incorporated the Hyperion rear support bearing and plate (PN HP-GS30-BRPLT) in all my OEM front mounted foamy electric gliders. The idea of a cantilevered design (front or rear mount) is inimical to the concept of durability.Leave a comment:
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Ok, bigger both are 2.6M ships? Presence? The Cularis is very solid can even appear to be heavy in reflex. Do you mean lighter wing loading? Agree that the Radian Pro lacked "something". I also will say that most 2M leave me cold. (The small 4 servo winged Calypso works well when highly modified) The original Radian does make a nice entry level ship. And in "good " air can be very competitive in the hands of a skilled pilot.
What separates the good from the great gliders is how they travel looking for lift. Or more to the point how they fly in less than ideal conditions. I too have many glass slippers some in the $2K to $3K range and no matter how light the wing loading (hang to you, I think?) it doesn't help if the ship is in sink. Being able to move and find that lift is what makes or breaks a soarer. Most RES just can't move.
I think I just bought my last Cularis NIB yesterday (old new stock), this makes #3 for me. True it can't compete with my FVK ships but for a foam glider nothing has shown anything that comes close to the Cularis in foamy gliders. I have a Heron but as of yet it is unassembled. Like I said I have flow against a Radian XL and easily smoked it. True it wasn't a fair test of the Radian XL, as it is a new ship and the pilot was still getting use to her. I've been flying the Cularis for about 5 years, off and on, so I'm very comfortable reading her movements, making her the perfect XL killer.
I more than understand the desire for simplicity. I still sweat when I have to program a 6 servo glider. But the flexibility on the field more than makes up for the programing effort on the bench.
Note I do replace the Parkflier Plastic's canopy on the XL Killer for the original to move the CofG aft to help signal thermal activity.
So I gather the XL really is for the chaise longue crowd sipping a Mai Tai. To quote Seinfeld "not that there is anything wrong with that!"
I do hope to fly a RXL (maybe an upgraded one) to see how she really performs.Leave a comment:
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It's funny that you say you've never liked RES gliders. For me, I've had many full house gliders and I will never again own one. I fly sailplanes for relaxation and just for the awe of watching it soar. I don't want to mess with ailerons and flaps and fiddling with "crow", reflex and all the rest. Of all the Radian Pros at my flying field, most have either dumped them or shelved them and gone with the regular Radian, purely for the simplicity and ease of flight. None of us compete so all that fiddly stuff is pointless for us. We just like to sit in our lawn chairs and have a nice relaxing time. Today, we had 5 sailplanes in the air. Our little group just bought 4 Radian XLs. Feelings are mixed but 2 of us admit that the XL needs more power. (There are 2 other threads here about the XL and I've outline what I've just done to mine to give it more "poop".)
Once at altitude (which can take a long time) and once it's trimmed out correctly, it can hang as well if not better than the smaller Radian. I also have the Mystique RES, regular Radian, UMX Radian and Bird of Time. I've gone through several full house sailers (at least 1/2 dozen) but it's been so long that I've had one, I can't remember exactly what they were called. I gave my last one away over 2 years ago. Admittedly, they were all of the "cheaper" varieties, some foam, some glass. I've never had any of the ultra-expensive ones like what Esprit Model sells. If I had, I may have a different opinion.
A flying buddy just bought one of the last remaining Cularis. He's more of a slope soarer and today, he was up with his plane with our XL, Radian, Mystique and Radian Pro. All he did was fly it like an airplane and soared with us from time to time. And no, he couldn't hang with the RES planes. He and the Pro were about in the same gliding ability. In fact, the Pro may have hung better as it had a stabilizer and it was much less twitchy and could do a steady soar within constant input.
Will the XL replace the Radian? Horizon hopes so, but I doubt it. The XL is just too fiddly to assemble and disassemble for flying and transport. It needs more power and flying it at the max capacity of the motor/ESC to get up there, can be taxing on the system. The Radian can be put together in a minute. Even the latest gen with the screw on wings can be up and ready to fly in short time. It's got more than adequate power, although power hungry guys like me, will "soup" them up. Mine had so much pull, it yanked the whole motor cowl off the plane when I suddenly powered up. I don't do that anymore.
Oh sorry, strong points of the XL? It's bigger so has more presence in the air. It glides just as well as the old Radian. It lands beautifully with those spoilers (even better than the Radian). I'm not going to try to convince anyone to get the XL. It's not the "end all, be all" in its current form. In fact, I just recommended to a friend of mine who was dead set on getting the XL, to get the Radian instead. He's a beginner and the original is likely to be more satisfying for him.Leave a comment:
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2.6 meter class foamy gliders
Guys & Gals, How does this "latest and greatest" foamy glider the Radian XL (RXL) compare with the last 2.6 meter foamy, a 9 plus year old design, the Multiplex Cularis. The Cularis is the same size and made from the same type of material. And after having to change out most of the Horizon supplied equipment they are both in the same price class. True the Cularis is an advanced 6 servo glider and the RXL is a simple RES ship. RES compitisions were aimed at trying to get the cost of soaring down (this didn't work). But as both the Cularis (A 6 servo ship) and RXL (RES) are at close to the same price point these look to be comparable to compare their flying abilities. Comparing the RXL to the much higher priced Mystique seems a bit disingenuous.
What I'm asking for is how well does the RXL as a glider cover ground looking for lift? Most RES ships can't move out without pointing the nose way down and loosing altitude. The camber changing ships like the Cularis have the ability to change the shape of the wing and cover a lot of ground with a lot less loss of altitude.
I haven't had the chance to fly an RXL, but I have flow man on man against one with my 7 year old Cularis. I will say I don't understand the hype for the RXL. The 2 meter Radian was a great entry level glider that could perform in the hands of most novice fliers. I'm looking forward to flying (borrowing one) an RXL to feel how they actually fly. But looking and fly against one I think Horizon missed something. The RXL is looking to be a lead sled with none of the benefit of being a lead sled. That is it has the limited controls of a RES ship but doesn't fly like one (a gas bag. it is heavy).
I know this has a lot to do with style but I've never liked RES ships as they are usually light gas bags that can't cover ground trying to get out of sink. The advent of the electric motor might address this, but most electric comps don't allow the restarting of the motor.
The Cularis has just gone out of production (it had a good product life of 9 plus years) you can still find some new old stock. It looks to be replaced with the Heron. Even at 2.4 meters it should still out soar the RXL. Could someone please show me what are the strong points of the RXL.Last edited by KJD; Jul 5, 2016, 05:02 PM. Reason: Show that the design is 9 plus years old, this is great for any product in today's market place.
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