I don't know about you guys raving about the Uber planes, but for me,
the best glider is one that's just barely good enough* to have good
flights on the particular day in question. While I think the spot
landing is a very good thing, not least for safety reasons**, I would
like the pilot's thermaling ability to enter into it also. On any kind
of decent day it takes very little skill to keep even today's 3 meter
planes up. (Difficult days are, of course, another matter.) So, while
you guys with thin wallets (I refer to current state of wallet, not cash
flow or pre purchase state) and long wingspans bore holes in the sky
like a powered plane***, I'm working on my skills by flying junk. Of
course, it's really easy to limit the performance of your Uber plane for
more challenging practice, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone add
drag intentionally.
To clarify for people who think more is always better, even in voltage
ratings, if you run a motor wound for 6V on 12V, it will suck down a LOT
more current and be far more powerful than one wound for 12V. At times,
that may be enough to let the smoke out of the motor, and then it won't
work anymore. Of course, you could put two 12V batteries in series and
run a 12V motor, but I won't be responsible for the results.
I think we reached the point of diminishing returns a long time ago, as
I'm pretty sure I have as much fun at the field as anyone, without using
a glider that costs more than my car. (Or at least not more than it cost
when I bought it. By now there are probably hamburgers that are worth more.)
*My DLG is often not in this category. With a lousy launch like mine, I
need the best, and I don't have it.
**I don't like getting beaned by a glider any more than anyone else. If
someone is good at spot landings, chances are they are good at placing
their glider away from people. Anyone who's seen a flier knocked down by
an errant glider knows what I'm talking about. So I don't want anyone to
make the landings easier, just figure out a way to make the thermalling
harder. Start a contest at 4PM?
***A .40 sized pattern style electric may be cheaper than an Uber plane
and will certainly bore a longer hole in less time.
RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and
"unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe
messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email
such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
