Radio Control Slope Soaring-2010/08

August 2010 105
warbirds or other PSS (Power Slope Scale) gliders, or many toughguy,
hard-body, lead-sled composite sailplanes, which fly fast in
heavy lift and can withstand a cartwheel landing.
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Slope Soaring Dave Garwood
Dynamic Soaring breaks all speed records
The author’s Multiplex Cularis was built
for Slope Soaring from an RR version.
The Elapor foam it’s molded in is smooth,
CA-proof, and very strong.
Andreas Mergner hand-launched the Multiplex Cularis RR on a test
flight in a local schoolyard. The model took only 60 minutes on the
workbench and 45 minutes in the paint shop to be ready to fly.
Also included in this column:
• Survey of ARF, RTF, and RR
slope sailplanes
Wayne Rigby prepares for a winch launch for flatland (thermal
flight) testing and flying for the camera with the Multiplex Cularis
RR. Tests were positive in all aspects.
The GWS Zero Slope Glider ARF had too high of a parts count to
be considered a real ARF, and Dave thinks that its nose structure
was too weak to be flown on the slope.
A DYNAMIC SOARING pilot has broken the latest speed barrier.
Man oh man, what a time to live, when a glider flies at more than
half the speed of sound and far faster than any other type of model
airplane.
On April 5, 2010, Spencer Lisenby flew his production sailplane
416 mph at Weldon Hill in Lake Isabella, California. The model is a
Czech-made, 100-inch-span Kinetic DP.
Congratulations to Spencer.
Are you curious about what is available in ARF, RTF, and RR
(Receiver Ready) slope sailplanes? To gain some knowledge in this
area, I inquired at the local hobby shop and then online on the
RCGroups Slope Soaring message board.
I purchased an ARF and an RR glider, and I found the former to
be unsuitable for our purposes. The latter exceeded my expectations
in two important ways.
Although the ARF, RTF, and RR slope market is not densely
packed, interesting offerings are available—especially at the lightlift
end of the scale. What do not seem to be available are RTF
08sig4x.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 6/24/10 1:42 PM Page 105
106 MODEL AVIATION
The 10 parts from the Multiplex Cularis RR box will be reduced to
five when storing and transporting the sailplane. Six servos and
wiring are hiding in the molded foam.
Dave painted the wingtips a highly visible color for high-altitude
reckoning. The snap-tight canopy also needs a dressing—black in
this case. Elapor foam is compatible with most spray paints.
ready to fly, including cutting and hinging control surfaces,
installing control horns and control cables, gluing the fuselage
halves together, engineering a way to strengthen the nose (spray-on
foam, perhaps?), and applying stickers to the airframe.
It is my conclusion, from examining the GWS Zero, that any
glider that ships with fuselage halves you must join to assemble the
airframe and includes landing gear is not a top candidate to be an
ARF slope sailplane. By today’s standards, GWS models are more
similar to kits, but their parts count is lower since they are made
from foam.
The top four recommendations from RCGroups contributors
were the Elapor-foam Multiplex Easy Glider, the compositeconstruction
R2hobbies Speedo, the new injection-molded EPPfoam
Dream-Flight Weasel Pro, and the Elapor-foam Multiplex
Blizzard.
Chip Greely at CR Aircraft mentioned that his company has
begun producing bagged-wing, heavily prefabricated slope
sailplanes from the legendary lineup. Another contributor
recommended Ward Hagaman’s Volara wingeron as a sloper fitting
my specifications for high performance and heavy prefabrication.
The Multiplex Xeno (a flying wing that folds for storage and
transport) was also mentioned.
At the height of this information gathering, I ordered an RR
(servos installed) Multiplex Cularis. I was smitten with its lines and
its 100-inch span, and I had already formed a high opinion of
Multiplex engineering. I was down one thermal sailplane because of
a crash, and I thought that this full-house model could work on the
flatland field as well.
The Tower Hobbies Web site describes the RR version as the radiocontrolled
2.6-meter glider, which includes four Nano-S servos
installed in the wings and two Tiny-S servos installed in the fuselage.
This Cularis requires a transmitter, receiver, battery, and charger.
If you want a fiberglass warbird for your next Slope Scale
Party, it looks like you have to construct it, order it from a custom
builder, or purchase a used RR model. We have ARF, RTF, and
RR choices for lighter and more delicate Slope Soarers.
It’s important to sort out some marketing claims. One kit
marketed as an “ARF glider” had a parts counts approaching 100,
instructions that added up to eight to 10 hours on the workbench,
and no servos included.
Even those advertised as being RR might need as much as a
half-hour of assembly work before you install the receiver, set up
control surface movements, or balance the aircraft. But the RR
types typically have servos and control linkages installed. To find
out more details, download and read the assembly instructions.
On a local hobby dealer’s recommendation I ordered a GWS
Zero Slope Glider ARF. I was looking forward to quickly getting
into the air a warbird that had an accurate outline, prepainted
airframe, and known good flight characteristics—at least for an
electric-powered park flyer.
The accurate color of the fuselage and large sheet of press-on
markings gave me confidence that building the model could result
in a good-looking slope sailplane, but I had reservations about
airframe strength. First, the wing-spar length was far short of the
wingspan dimension, leaving outer wing panels of unsupported
foam to absorb the punishment of cartwheel landings.
Second, the cowling was vacuum-formed from 0.008-inch
styrene. The material and construction method were far too weak
for a Slope Soarer that would often land on its nose. Then I
understood why landing gear was provided: to keep the nose off of
the ground.
Third, a large amount of work was needed to get the airplane
Landing Products
1222 Harter Ave., Woodland, CA 95776
(530) 661-0399
Overnight delivery is available
and all props are in stock
APC Competition propellers for the intermediate and advanced sport
fl yer as well as the competition community. Advanced designs
using modern computational methods and materials. Over 300
pitch / diameters available ranging from slow-fl yer electric to
High per formance Giant Scale Unlimited Racers.
Visit the APC Prop Website for product availability and
detailed information on product design and features.
08sig4x.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 6/24/10 1:42 PM Page 106
106 MODEL AVIATION
The 10 parts from the Multiplex Cularis RR box will be reduced to
five when storing and transporting the sailplane. Six servos and
wiring are hiding in the molded foam.
Dave painted the wingtips a highly visible color for high-altitude
reckoning. The snap-tight canopy also needs a dressing—black in
this case. Elapor foam is compatible with most spray paints.
ready to fly, including cutting and hinging control surfaces,
installing control horns and control cables, gluing the fuselage
halves together, engineering a way to strengthen the nose (spray-on
foam, perhaps?), and applying stickers to the airframe.
It is my conclusion, from examining the GWS Zero, that any
glider that ships with fuselage halves you must join to assemble the
airframe and includes landing gear is not a top candidate to be an
ARF slope sailplane. By today’s standards, GWS models are more
similar to kits, but their parts count is lower since they are made
from foam.
The top four recommendations from RCGroups contributors
were the Elapor-foam Multiplex Easy Glider, the compositeconstruction
R2hobbies Speedo, the new injection-molded EPPfoam
Dream-Flight Weasel Pro, and the Elapor-foam Multiplex
Blizzard.
Chip Greely at CR Aircraft mentioned that his company has
begun producing bagged-wing, heavily prefabricated slope
sailplanes from the legendary lineup. Another contributor
recommended Ward Hagaman’s Volara wingeron as a sloper fitting
my specifications for high performance and heavy prefabrication.
The Multiplex Xeno (a flying wing that folds for storage and
transport) was also mentioned.
At the height of this information gathering, I ordered an RR
(servos installed) Multiplex Cularis. I was smitten with its lines and
its 100-inch span, and I had already formed a high opinion of
Multiplex engineering. I was down one thermal sailplane because of
a crash, and I thought that this full-house model could work on the
flatland field as well.
The Tower Hobbies Web site describes the RR version as the radiocontrolled
2.6-meter glider, which includes four Nano-S servos
installed in the wings and two Tiny-S servos installed in the fuselage.
This Cularis requires a transmitter, receiver, battery, and charger.
If you want a fiberglass warbird for your next Slope Scale
Party, it looks like you have to construct it, order it from a custom
builder, or purchase a used RR model. We have ARF, RTF, and
RR choices for lighter and more delicate Slope Soarers.
It’s important to sort out some marketing claims. One kit
marketed as an “ARF glider” had a parts counts approaching 100,
instructions that added up to eight to 10 hours on the workbench,
and no servos included.
Even those advertised as being RR might need as much as a
half-hour of assembly work before you install the receiver, set up
control surface movements, or balance the aircraft. But the RR
types typically have servos and control linkages installed. To find
out more details, download and read the assembly instructions.
On a local hobby dealer’s recommendation I ordered a GWS
Zero Slope Glider ARF. I was looking forward to quickly getting
into the air a warbird that had an accurate outline, prepainted
airframe, and known good flight characteristics—at least for an
electric-powered park flyer.
The accurate color of the fuselage and large sheet of press-on
markings gave me confidence that building the model could result
in a good-looking slope sailplane, but I had reservations about
airframe strength. First, the wing-spar length was far short of the
wingspan dimension, leaving outer wing panels of unsupported
foam to absorb the punishment of cartwheel landings.
Second, the cowling was vacuum-formed from 0.008-inch
styrene. The material and construction method were far too weak
for a Slope Soarer that would often land on its nose. Then I
understood why landing gear was provided: to keep the nose off of
the ground.
Third, a large amount of work was needed to get the airplane
Landing Products
1222 Harter Ave., Woodland, CA 95776
(530) 661-0399
Overnight delivery is available
and all props are in stock
APC Competition propellers for the intermediate and advanced sport
fl yer as well as the competition community. Advanced designs
using modern computational methods and materials. Over 300
pitch / diameters available ranging from slow-fl yer electric to
High per formance Giant Scale Unlimited Racers.
Visit the APC Prop Website for product availability and
detailed information on product design and features.
08sig4x.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 6/24/10 1:42 PM Page 106
August 2010 107
The RR version’s cost over the regular
kit’s was less than half that of the six
Multiplex servos and required servo
extension cables. When I ordered it, I did
not know how much, if any, construction
work the manufacturer had done.
When the box arrived, I was stunned
and amazed by how much building work
had been done at the factory. Essentially the
29 construction steps in the big manual had
been reduced to nine. I received my Cularis
Wednesday afternoon and flew it on
Saturday.
Following is my construction log.
1. First night (35 minutes): Read
instruction sheet and glue on wingtips,
fin/rudder assembly, and nose cone. Let
cure overnight.
2. Second night (45 minutes): Paint
wingtips, rudder, and canopy. Let dry
overnight.
3. Third night (25 minutes): Install
receiver and battery pack, and balance.
Ready to fly!
Basically, the Cularis became receiverready
after 25 minutes on the workbench
and ready to fly with less than an hour of
workbench time (paint time not included)—
and this is a full-house, six-servo machine.
It flew fine with hand tosses at the local
schoolyard and did okay, not great, on the
flatland field. In my hands it needs some
attention to keeping the speed up, to avoid
stalls. This is a graceful soarer, and I can’t
wait to get it on the slope.
This model exceeded my expectations
with its lower cost and more prefabrication
than I had anticipated. We can get a 98%-
built sailplane with servos installed and
control linkages set up, that we can easily
and quickly decorate with stickers, for a
reasonable price.
While preparing this column, Tower
Hobbies sent an e-mail notice of two new
RR gliders: the ST Model DG-1000 EPO
Brushless and the ST Model Fox EPO
Brushless. The DG-1000 has a tough
EPO-foam fuselage that allows for
precisely aligned construction and
simplified assembly. It should be flown
only when the wind speed is 16 mph or
less.
The Fox is made from durable, reparable
molded EPO foam. It should be flown only
when the wind speed is 6 mph or less.
The maximum wind-speed
recommendations were in the instruction
manuals, which are downloadable from the
Tower Hobbies Web site. I’m thinking that
the “6 mph or less” specification for the Fox
is a typo; it should be 16 mph, as in the DG-
1000 instructions.
I take this information to indicate that
these are lightly loaded models, unsuitable
for high winds and strong lift conditions.
Both come with motor and propeller. That is
an advantage for some fliers and a
disadvantage for others.
Many of the models I’ve mentioned here
have construction manuals that are available
for download. So with some research, you
can quickly and accurately find out how
many steps and roughly how much time is
needed to get these gliders ready to fly and
what components are not included with them.
Remember that many high-end sailplanes
are heavily prefabricated and that many scale
sailplanes are delivered ready for servo
installation and setup, and then they become
RR. You can find both high-quality and scale
sailplanes at suppliers such as Art Hobby,