Good point, Lincoln. It depends on how nice your slopes (and especially your landing zones) are. I've seen some slopes in pastures that look like gold fairways; my usual slopes are rocky, brushy and brambly, and landings can be thought of as "arrival events". To this end, Zagis and wings are "less destructable" than a fuselage'd plane. My usual sloper is a Zagi THL, weighing in a 12 oz, with a 5/32 CF spar to give spanwise rigidity for those signature cartwheel landings <G>. Works well in 5-10mph lift, and can be ballasted for higher winds.
--Bill >From: Lincoln Ross <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [RCSE] Re: Built-up Balsa slope kits? >Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 14:05:30 -0500 > >While you are building your other airplane, you might want to get a Zagi >or Boomerang or something to learn how to deal with the slope without >destroying your plane. These foamy wings just bounce where another plane >would smash, and they can handle a fair amount of wind, particularly if >you tape on some lead roof flashing. > >If a plane is heavy enough, it doesn't have to be big to handle a lot of >wind. I flew my Tercel (a simple, small, wood polyhedral glider) in 20 >mph or more with lots of extra ballast and it was a blast. Little planes >don't break as easily and they are easier to land on the slope. I can't >recommend an aileron plane because I haven't had a suitable one. THe >only plane with ailerons, other than the Zagi, that I've flown on the >slope is a Mariah, and the roll rate was slow. That's another issue you >can expect with 2 meter and larger planes on the slope. > >If you have good landing areas and have learned to fly slope well, you >can have a lot of fun with the thermal planes you have on hand already, >at least when the wind is moderate. I've enjoyed flying an Olympic Two >and a couple of different hlg on the slope when the wind was reasonably >light. The Olympic would stay up when nothing else would. The only >problem is that on the slope you are much more prone to damage your >plane. > >Jeff wrote: > > > > Hi all. I'm in need of a slope plane and have never owned one before. >snip I was wondering > > if anyone could recommend a good balsa slope kit. I can put together >about > > anything and my only criteria is that it have ailerons, and I'd like it >to > > be reasonably sized (maybe around 2 meters or larger). Part of the >reason > > for the size is that around here, slope lift is pretty strong so it >needs to > > have some weight to it. >snip > >-- >Lincoln Ross _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
