Author: Mike Garton
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/12
Page Numbers: 88,90,91
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RADIO CONTROL SOARING

Author

Mike Garton 2733 NE 95th Ave., Ankeny IA 50021 E-mail: [email protected]

Introduction

What glider would be good as a first airplane? This month I'll give my recommendations. All of the gliders I'll list have excellent instructions. I will examine trade-offs between durability and performance.

Trainer gliders need instructions that are complete enough to allow an inexperienced builder to complete the model successfully in isolation. Really good beginner-oriented instructions assume that you know nothing about building or flying. The Aspire has 36 pages of photo illustrations and text.

Of course, a new pilot's chances are much better if he or she locates some local fliers to help the first few times out. But how many new people contact the local club for help before buying a kit and trying to build it? Did you ever wonder how many kits are purchased by new pilots and not finished? How many more are test-flown without help and crashed?

Many new people build in isolation, fail, and subsequently quit this sport. The number of "isolation failures" is probably more than 50%. This is why instructions are especially critical in the first glider kit. When the glider is complete, it is critical that the new person find an experienced RC pilot. The hobby shop, Internet searches, and contacting the AMA are possible ways to find such a person in your proximity. The experienced pilot can verify that the new glider is really ready for flight. Most crashes can be avoided with a thorough preflight inspection. Do the surfaces move the right direction in response to transmitter inputs? Does the glider balance in the right spot? The experienced pilot should test-fly the model and assist with flight training.

A first glider does not need to be high performance; it just needs to be strong enough (and repairable enough) to make it through what I call "leftsie-rightsie training." When an airplane flies toward the pilot, controls are reversed compared to visual cues. If the first glider lasts long enough for the pilot to get past control-reversal mistakes, it has served its purpose. With the help of a more experienced pilot, a new pilot is likely to progress on to thermaling. A high glide ratio and responsive handling do not make the "high-performance" gliders hard to fly. Greater speed, lack of spiral stability, higher cost, and more complex linkages make the advanced gliders unsuitable for training. Trainer gliders can have reasonable performance. The only performance penalties that should be built into a trainer glider are a slightly heavier structure for crash resistance and a forward CG for additional stability.

Personal history and general recommendations

My first glider was a Sig Riser. These seemed to be in every hobby shop during the 1980s and still are. The instructions are excellent. The strength-to-weight ratio, handling, and airfoil performance do not compare favorably with other gliders, but my Riser served its purpose. I repaired it again and again until I got past the left-right mistakes. Persistence was key in my success.

Carl Goldberg Models introduced the Gentle Lady (GL) in the early 1980s. It also has instructions that are detailed enough for it to be built in isolation. The late Carl Goldberg was a genius designer. The GL has a well-designed structure and great handling characteristics for a polyhedral glider. Many people find their first thermals with this model.

The GL's spar is a solid rectangle of basswood to simplify construction. Although it is extremely light—23 ounces ready to fly—the rubber-band-on wing prevents serious damage in most frontal ground impacts. However, collisions with posts or trees are likely to warrant serious repair. If you like to build and only want to spend about $50 on an initial kit, I recommend the GL.

DJ Aerotech Chrysalis (Two‑Meter)

The DJ Aerotech Chrysalis Two‑Meter is a much more recent design. Don Stackhouse spent a great deal of time engineering the kit to ensure the first-time builder's success. Although it's more expensive than a GL at about $85, there is much more in the box. After buying MonoKote, glue, and a two‑channel radio, the difference in kit prices is less significant.

  • The Chrysalis parts are mostly laser-cut for accuracy.
  • A dowel makes a simple and durable wing leading edge (LE).
  • This model is more durable, more fun to build, and has higher performance than the GL.
  • The sink rate is similar to a GL's, but the glide ratio and speed range are better.
  • The Chrysalis has always come with the materials needed for the builder's choice of a V-tail or a conventional tail. The conventional tail has the option of a normal-sized horizontal tail or an oversize tail for beginners who would like extra pitch stability.

The Two‑Meter Chrysalis was designed from the outset with the intent of offering wing kits and fuselage-plus-tail kits separately as an option. That's why the wing plans and instructions are totally separate from the fuselage-plus-tail instructions. This helps in repair situations and allows people to build one wing and two fuselages so they can have the electric and sailplane versions available for a minimum investment in time and money.

As of September 2004, Don Stackhouse completed an overhaul of the Chrysalis kit. Changes include:

  1. An optional kit for a three-piece wing.
  2. Miscellaneous clarifications and updates in the plans and instructions.
  3. Some diagonal stiffeners to give the wing more torsional rigidity.
  4. Spoilers are now shown driven by two servos—one at each tip.
  5. More detailed instructions for how to (optionally) add carbon fiber to the inboard spar caps and across the center-section joint for winch launching.
  6. New electric options, for which a direct-drive Speed 600 and brushless outrunner motor are shown.

Other kits and designs

The Great Planes Spirit may be the best-selling trainer glider because of its availability. It has online instructions for those who want to see a well-written manual. The Aspire and GL instructions are even better. One downside to the Spirit is its higher weight. Do not expect it to float or thermal as well as the Chrysalis and GL designs.

The Defiant from Northeast Sailplane Products (NSP) was the only EPP-foam thermal glider on the market when I wrote this column. EPP foam is the springy kind that flexes and bounces back without breaking. This has an obvious advantage for beginners who don't have access to buddy-box training.

Dave's Aircraft Works (DAW) stopped producing EPP gliders. The DAW designs are now owned by SkyKing RC Products. Check http://skykingrcproducts.com for more details.

Another place to look for new, durable trainer sailplanes that come with good instructions is http://upslopeallplanes.com.

Ed Berg has been working on an EPP thermal trainer. A prototype is shown in the pictures. By the time you read this, he should have one on the market. Ed uses Drela airfoils for good performance.

ARF options

There are several options in the ARF category of beginner gliders. The Great Planes Spirit ARF, the Hangar 9 Aspire ARF, and the Goldberg GL ARF are good choices. The Aspire is slightly lighter than a Spirit but otherwise similar. The GL is much lighter than both.

These ARF sailplanes can be purchased for less than $100, already built and covered. The buyer typically needs to join the wings, glue on the tail, install the radio, and hook up the pushrods. These tasks take approximately two evenings. Each model comes in electric (self-launch with a folding prop) versions as well.

Opinionated ratings

The accompanying ratings show my opinionated assessment of beginner-oriented gliders in the order that I recommend them. Each numeric category is rated on a scale of 1 to 10.

  • Categories: Hang Time — Glide Performance — Handling — Durability — Mfr Support — ARF Available?
  • Chrysalis: 8 — 8 — 10 — 8 — 10 — No
  • Gentle Lady: 8 — 6 — 10 — 6 — 5 — Yes
  • Defiant: 6 — 7 — 7 — 10 — 8 — No
  • Aspire: 7 — 7 — 7 — 7 — 6 — Yes
  • Spirit: 6 — 7 — 6 — 7 — 6 — Yes
  • Sig Riser 78": 6 — 5 — 5 — 6 — 5 — No

The "Mfr Support" column indicates how actively the manufacturer supports the product. Does it have much beginning-soaring-oriented information on its Web site? Does it list a telephone number? Do the people who designed the product answer the phone? Are the phone-support people expert glider fliers? Are you likely to see the designers at major glider events?

I contacted many more manufacturers than I listed here. Most of them had no gliders with instructions that were complete enough to meet my definition of a good first model. There are many polyhedral glider designs on the market with more-complex structures and/or less-detailed instructions. Because of the more difficult build, those designs would make fine second gliders.

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.