Peewhit

Well done for the simulator Marc. The hard part about flying is the orientation when the machine is coming towards you, and a simulator will teach you this nicely. With a bit of experience in slope soaring you will want to do more than fly back and forth, and this is when the aerobatic bit kicks in. I have an Easy Glider electric which I use for flat field when there is little wind. On the slope the Easy Glider will fly in very light winds, it loops nicely yet struggles to do a decent roll. It is also made of Elapor which can break quite easily. The SAS models are foam, held together with tape (easily repaired) and will literally bounce with no damage on a bad landing. To the Cobra rolls, loops and inverted flying seem second nature, and it will even do an outside loop (bunt). At the end of the day, the choice is yours.

I have an SAS Fusion (Wild Thing equivalent) which I used to use for combat and to test slope conditions before throwing something a little more breakable into the air. It does fly very well. I few months ago, I saw a beginner on the slope with an SAS Cobra which is a recent addition (or more correctly revamp) to the SAS range. I was so impressed that I just had to get one. It is of similar construction to the Wild Thing and it is just as unbreakable. The aspect of it that really appealed to me is that it has a tail and elevator and looks like a proper plane. On low rates of elevator and aileron throw it is an excellent and docile beginners model. Dial up the rates and it is very aerobatic. Cobras fly superbly, in fact far too well for what they are and what they cost. The Cobra always gets flown on my slope sessions and I have not flown the Fusion since getting it. The 46" wing is easily adapted to bolt on for storage and transportation. If I were a beginner looking for a first slope model, the Cobra would be my choice.

As one of the three mentioned by Royski, the cobra is an excellent choice as it is easy to fly for a beginner, yet great fun in more experienced hands. The ailerons and elevator are very effective and the recommended throws seem somewhat excessive. If you have not slope soared before Phil then I would recommend that you set up initially with half of the throws suggested and used plenty of exponential - say 60% Set the C of G to the most forward recommendation and you should have a nice smooth maiden. On a good slope, the Cobra will fly happily in 10mph yet will also penetrate well in 30mph. Good luck and have fun with what is a great little model.

Hi David, I have done this with both a Middlephase and a Phase 6. Servo positioning is not that critical. The further inboard the less inertia and therefore faster roll rate, yet the closer to the centre of the aileron length, the better control. I opted for the pushrods at the centre of the ailerons. Install the servos in the thickest part of the wing and build a box with ply (3/32" or so). Wrap the servos in insulating tape, sand down lightly and wipe with white spirit, meths or isopropyl alcohol. Glue in place using epoxy thickened with microbaloons. If the servo needs to be replaced simply cut the tape, take out the servo and peel the tape from the epoxy. You are left with a lovely servo shaped hole.

Hi Mark, CW tape has a release agent on the back of it to prevent it sticking to itself on the roll. Lightly sand the lower layer of tape and wipe with isopropylalcohol or methylated spirits to remove the release agent. The CW tape should then stick to itself. On difficult areas like wing tips a warm iron will also help with adhesion.

It will fly fine at 85mm and be nicely stable. Move it back when you get a bit of confidence and it becomes a very different plane - much more agile. 97mm is about spot on for me.

Yes the Typhoon has been around for a few years. Mine is now three years old and although I have some bigger and faster mouldies, I nearly always fly the Typhoon beacause it is so agile and just great fun. Hydeflyer, for a first mouldie build, you seem to have done a cracking job. What have you set the C of G at?

The plastic clevices will provide a weak point which will break in the event of any mishap, thus saving the servos from damage. Or, if you want to go the whole hog Edited By Peewhit on 05/02/2013 22:45:37

That is looking very good and thanks for all the pics. Have you put and reinforcement under the deck?

Hi Mark. I would use the DX6 for the WT and a cheaper 5 channel receiver. Set the throws to get the elevons correct and then reduce them for the lesser elevator movement. A simple way of doing this is to use the elevator dual rate function, and set both dual rates the same so that the dual rate switch has no effect.

The Wild Thing is a great first model and will take virtually any abuse that you can throw at it. One little tip. The instructions say to cover each wing with CW tape before you join them. If you join the wing halves first and them cover the whole wing with CW tape, the joint is much much stronger. Beware that tthis slope soaring thing is highly addictive, and can be expensive! After four years of it, I only have nine gliders including four mouldies.

I live near York and fly at the Hole of Horcum or Levisham on the North York Moors. It is not very often that there is no wind up there - can be lots of fog though. Do you have those wing servos potted in yet? Edited By Peewhit on 04/01/2013 19:17:33

Managed to get out today and fly the Typhoon. It was warm dry sunny and more like spring than winter - didn't even need gloves. Wind was straight on to the slope and 30mph on the edge - ideal stuff. With 20oz of ballast on board the Typhoon flew superbly, as always. Three good flights and three gentle "hover down" landings using crow braking. Also flew the Stinger F3B thing, but that's another story.

I am sure your niece's bithday balloons will be fine. Just fill them with helium, tie then to the Typhoon and let go. Then you won't need to bother about installing all the electrical gear, linkages, or programming.

Hi Slopeflyer, In some ways you are lucky that the control horns are not pre-fitted as you can be sure of getting them in the right place. The larger horns are for the flaps and the smaller ones for the ailerons. They need to point up from the control surface and should be trimmed down a bit so that when the clevice is attached they just clear the "hump" fairing, and when the control surface is in neutral position they are bang in line vertically with the hinge. They will then give the neccesary control surface movements. See page 2 of this thread for when I replaced my control horns with brass ones. Glue them in place with epoxy/ micro balloon mixture and if you trim them to be too small you can always support them using a drill. ps drill the horns to take the clevice before you glue them in place. If you are using M2 clevice then a 1/16" drill is just right but do test the hole size on a bit of scrap plastic or something first. The important thing is that you get both aileron horns in the same position and both flap horns in the same position.