see below: Drew wrote: > > Hello, > I'm looking for my first sailplane kit.snip current picks..snip > DAW 1-26 2meter Dunno
> Sig Riser 100 Dunno, but looks like a nice plane > Whyte Wings Olymnpic II Can you get this? I think it's been discontinued. If so, it's a wonderful training airplane. Excellent handling, decent hang time, acceptably robust. I'm not commenting on the kit, just the design, as I have only been exposed to the old Airtronics version. I have persuaded several flyers to build one, and they've all been pleased with the results. Rumor has it that someone else will kit this design. On the slope, the Oly 2 can stay up when almost nothing else will, though if it gets windy you will have a problem. Once you know how to fly the Oly can handle considerably more than 5mph wind, but certainly at some point it's slow speed, an asset in most situations, becomes a liablility. I usually tell people to build spoilers, but in the case of the Oly I'm not sure that this is necessary. If you put the nose down maybe 20 or more degrees it will come down fast without overspeeding. SOme people say the Olympic II is not strong enough, but that is only because they arre comparing it to the pedal to the metal carbon sparred planes. If you learn to hold the plane and the radio while doing very short, frequent (not less than 2 per second) little taps with your foot then you'll be ok. Note that this is something you can practice while hiding in your basement instead of while breaking your plane! Also note that the wing rod bends, giving you a warning. Just have an extra and a pair of pliers on hand. At least this is true for the Airtronics version. I understand the Whyte Wings is beefed up a little. If you want an example of a plane that has a weak wing (or at least wing rod), try an Aquila or even a Gentle Lady (tho the Gentle Lady is still reasonable and I recommend it as a trainer). THe Paragon has an excellent reputation as a similar type of plane, only larger, and I think someone or other is still kitting it.Large planes (i.e. more than 2meter for starters) are easier to see, perform better, and everything happens more slowly. > Great Planes Spirit Definitely second rate, at least in 2 meter version. Yes, it can work as a beginner's plane, but it gets squirelly when circling. Was chosen for a proposed club one design, but I abandoned mine partway thru after I got to try other peoples. Also is a touch heavier and faster than other beginner designs. THis can be nice on windy days AFTER you learn. If you sheet the tips and lengthen the tail, you would probably have a great second airplane. BTW, none of these planes really needs micro radio gear. snip Tony wrote: snip > > Only buy or build a Poly ship with no ailerons! = Probably good advice. > > snip > > > > We used an older (Airtronics) Olympic II last year which was great, but y= > > ou > > have to be careful on winches as it's wings are not that strong! The wing is strong, the wing rod is merely sufficient, if you can chew gum and rub your stomach at the same time, and if you don't succumb to Walter Mitty urges. >>snipIt also doesn't penetrate the > > wind well, so any wind above about 5mph is "tricky" = > > Only when you're a beginner. Maybe 10mph or 12? 14? when experienced > > Also. would not use this on a slope where you usually need at least 8 mph= > > > > and have no "soft" landing areas! Oly needs about 2 or 3 mph at a good site and will land very slowly, but it probably is not good to land on bushes or rough rocks. > > snip > > I built and we flew a MAD Highlander (2m EPP foamie), which is VERY > > robust-have crashed it a number of times, and it's great for slope flying= > > ! > > Unfortunately, I built it with ailerons, which makes it much trickier for= > > > > me to fly! Poly Highlander seems like good plane, but does fly faster than most wood beginner planes and needs a face lift. After a tough crash it does tend to look better than a crashed wood plane. I knocked on out of a tall tree a couple of weeks ago and it was still flyable. In our club we have two schools of thought on trainers: Oly 2 vs. Highlander. Either can work well. snip > > > > If your goal is to fly in TD competition soon, then there are other RES > > (Rudder, elevator, and spoilers) poly ships that can take a stronger winc= > > h > > launch and penetrate better! I mention this as most crashes (I've at leas= > > t > > had and observed!) are in competition when you can't "control your launch= > > > > time" hence you "get caught" in wind conditions that are too tricky to > > handle! It's still in the pulsing. If you can tap lightly but frequently, you can safely launch in a stronger breeze than you'd want to fly in. THat's for upwind. I've won our club RES contest with an Oly 2 in moderate winds, against some considerably more sophisticated planes. Might be a little harder to do this now as people are flying more RES with higher performance. > > > > As an example of that! Just 2 weeks ago at our club's great "pro/am > > competition", I was winch launching a Spirit for a fellow novice! > > Unfortunately, I didn't fully appreciate that we were launching with a > > 6-8mph TAIL wind, which meant I should have initially launched more > > aggressively than normal, to ensure a reasonable starting air speed. The > > result was that the ship never really "got flying" and it stalled off to > > the left and crashed, causing severe damage! Preventable by a strong throw at first and by not pulling up too much, and of course by a bit speedier use of winch. I've observed that most beginners (including me, way back when) don't throw hard enough. A Spirit with the correct joiner fixes should take a hard launch, but crashing and replacing with a good plane improves it a great deal. I think the moral here is to try to work up to this slowly with someone to advise. Also previous to that, on > > launching my own 2m ploy Gently Lady, it popped off the hook early, fly > > right into the sun; but I somehow managed to get it upright but when tryi= > > ng > > to quickly land a gust caught it, and it flipped over causing the fin to > > break! > > Usually this means you were flying too slow. When landing in wind with a floater, keep a small amount of extra speed. Of course I'm sure any leftover disorientation from the sun didn't help. Helps to set hook so you don't need to pull up elevator when launching, but move toward this a little bit at a time (3/16"?). -- Lincoln Ross RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
