Mr. Resin Head,
Not knowing exactly what type of environment you intend to fly these flying
wing HLGs in (Thermal for fun, Thermal for competition, slope for fun,
etc.), it is hard to make a good recommendation, however, I like everyone
else in this world, it seems, will freely give my advice. ;-)
The only flying wings I have ever owned and flown are the ones from Thermal
Gromit Works (www.tgworks.com). I believe Dick mentioned them in another
reply. I have found these hand launched flying wings great fun. The
reasons are as follows:
They are compact. I took one of them to Puerto Rico and on a day trip to
San Jose. It is simple to fit one or more in your carry on luggage, and
still have room for clothing and all of your radio gear. I live in
Indiana, so having a compact machine that I can take to enjoy
thermaling/sloping in far off lands is a cool thing. They are also so
small that you barley notice leaving them in your car for the summer, and
this is good for honing pilot skills. I built 3 Chinooks and practiced 4
days a week (sometimes at lunch and in the evenings) for most of the spring
and summer. When you own a Chinook or a Herring, there is never an excuse
for being caught with free time on a nice day and not having a glider
around. I flew a Chinook as recently as Friday, when there was a break in
the rainy nasty weather we have had in Indiana recently from my parents
back yard.
They are cheap. At like 70 bucks a pop (for complete hardware, the
covering material, and the coloring markers) and plenty of availability (no
need to place your order and then wait for a few months, like you might
have to do with the prefab composite ships that require so much manual
labor by their manufactures) I could build 3 ships quickly. With 3 of the
same ships, I quickly learned what differences in trim make (lateral
balance, CG, control throws, etc.) that might have caused me problems
before that I could never quite figure out. I learned that if you put the
gear as far forward as possible and use the lightest wood for the tail you
can fly a Chinook at 4.5 ounces. A 4.5 ounce Chinook really hangs. I
could pretty consistently get 45-50 second dead air times with the light
Chinook. Dead air times of 30-40 seconds with a 5.5 ounce Chinook is more
realistic. I also tried out that trimming article by Bryan somebody (it
has been posted several times) and found that once I knew where I wanted my
CG, I had all 3 Chinooks flying well.
They thermal well. It might be because of all the extra stick time, but I
was more successful at getting good flights with the Chinooks than I had
been with my previous hlgs (Wizard and Wizard Light, Monarch D, Chrysalis).
In my experience, the best conditions to thermal the Chinooks in is low
wind. They also do best in tight strong thermals. You can really crank
these little guys, and I have out climbed more conventional HLGs in tight
lift. In a given lunch practice session of 45 minutes, I generally would
have plenty of 2 and 3 minute flights and usually a 5+. This in a field
that was not the worlds best but was close to where I work.
They launch high. The tip launched sidearm (in this case more of an
underarm) launch is way cool. Launch consistency is high, and you don't
need to be crazy strong or coordinated to get good launches. I can easily
launch the Chinook to similar altitude as the better overarm launchers. I
was not able to do this when I flew the traditional javelin style launches
ships.
They are durable. They really take a beating. And after they get a bit
banged up, you can give them a "new coat of paint" by simply taking the
Monocote Iron to them to get rid of the wrinkles. You would be suprised
how much better they fly after you perform this routine maintenance
Good luck with your quest for a hand launch flying wing, and I hope this
helps.
Ryan
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