Neddy Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 I live walking distance from a popular glider flying area. I am thinking about building a 6ft foam glider using 5mm sheeting.. I will put a motor on it I am thinking about 1800 kv. My present plane is 5ft wingspan and has this sized motor. A glider probably doesn't need this sized motor but it will make the glider more usable in different areas. The video I am putting with this is flying gliders at my location my house is in the back ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 9 hours ago, Neddy said: I live walking distance from a popular glider flying area. I am thinking about building a 6ft foam glider using 5mm sheeting.. I will put a motor on it I am thinking about 1800 kv. My present plane is 5ft wingspan and has this sized motor. A glider probably doesn't need this sized motor but it will make the glider more usable in different areas. The video I am putting with this is flying gliders at my location my house is in the back ground. With a glider flying area close by that sounds like a good plan, but there are couple of points you might want to consider. Not all glider flying sites allow gliders with motors, particularly slope soaring sites (hills and cliffs), so do contact and ask the local flyers first. I am sure they will be only too happy to advise you of any restrictions - e.g. my nearest slope soaring site does not allow models with props so you have to remove the prop before flying. 1800kv is not a size it is a relationship between rpm and battery volts, so you can get 1800kv motors in different sizes and weights, and there is no point discussing kv with mentioning prop size and battery volts. However, if you just plan on getting the same motor as your existing plane and using the same battery and prop size then that would probably work OK. If you give us more detail of your existing motor/prop/battery then we might be able to make some more intelligent comments. Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Why would electrically assisted gliders be banned at slope soaring sites? Providing they were silent, I'm struggling to think of a problem. I used to do a lot of sloping years ago on the North and South Downs and although it didn't happen that often, having electric boost might have saved a long walk and climb back up with a model when conditions were very marginal and one pushed one's luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Cuban8 said: Why would electrically assisted gliders be banned at slope soaring sites? .................. Land owner's rules. Logic doesn't come into it! Dick Edited March 10 by Dickw 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 1 hour ago, Dickw said: Land owner's rules. Logic doesn't come into it! Dick Yes, makes no sense at all, particularly if preventing a model from winding up where it shouldn't could be prevented. I guess users simply go with the landowners say so for a quiet life rather than rocking the boat. Quite understandable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 You could argue that there is a tangible fire risk associated with electric powered gliders which could come down away from the landing area and, if the throttle is not closed immediately could burn out the motor and/or the flight battery. One of the very few model fires that I've witnessed was an electric glider and had we not been able to rapidly extinguish that fire, in the undergrown, it could have caused a serious grass fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 I think the Nation Trust believes non-powered flight has less impact on the environment - other land owners/managers may share that view...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 No problem flying here with powered gliders. There is an allocated landing area. The plane I have now weighs 600g. The propeller is a 6×5 inch the motor 1800kv. When I build the glider I am hoping it will weigh around 400g. See how we go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 10 hours ago, Neddy said: No problem flying here with powered gliders. There is an allocated landing area. The plane I have now weighs 600g. The propeller is a 6×5 inch the motor 1800kv. When I build the glider I am hoping it will weigh around 400g. See how we go? Great to hear that there is no problem with your flying site, so yes have a go. With gliders it is fairly common to use the motor just to climb to height and then you switch off to glide around. The reduced use of the motor and battery often means these can be smaller and lighter - one way to reduced weight and give you a better glide. Also, a bigger prop and lower kv motor might be better for a glider. On the other hand, if you have a power system that you are familiar with then OK to try it. Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Neddy Before you set a total weight target you need to consider what sort of gliding you have in mind. Weight does effect the sink rate of a glider but in the same airframe weight does not effect its glide ratio. It will go the same distance but gets there a bit faster. If its flat filed gliding looking for thermals then a low sink rate will allow you to make better use of weak thermals but lighter air frames are more effected by wind and turbulence. In addition unless care is taken during construction lighter can mean structurally weaker too. I am not decrying light powered gliders. Then can have an amazing performance but like any 'specialised' design they work best when used in conditions they were intended for. Own design, skinned with thin 2mm Depron sheet, 1m span, 850mAh 3s LiPo, 24g Blue Wonder out runner, 10A ESC and a 7x6 prop. It should really be a folder.😉 It weighs just 219g ready to go. Can climb near vertical or cruise about under low power for nearly an hour. However be warned the very low cross section of such a machine can make it hard to see at any distance when its "end on" to your line of sight. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted April 14 Author Share Posted April 14 I like the look of yours I thought about building something similar to yours. I have a few old graphite fishing rods which I could use for the shaft. They don't weigh much and have the ideal taper. I guess you could make the plane Alerons and elevator only to cut down on tail weight. How have you mounted the servos? .cheers ned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Running pull-pull cord to a rudder would all negligible tail weight so is probably worth doing if you can. I'm ready to be shot down, but I think rudder/elevator is more common than rudder/ailerons on gliders.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Burch 1 Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 1 hour ago, GrumpyGnome said: I'm ready to be shot down, but I think rudder/elevator is more common than rudder/ailerons on gliders.... Yes and no Grumpy. Certainly, on thermal gliders with polyhedral or curved wings, using rudder and elevator only (perhaps with spoilers too) can save weight and complexity, and their inbuilt stability can make them easier to fly. On a slope soarer though, ailerons can offer more positive control, and there are a number of aileron-elevator slope soarer models around (eg flying wings; Balsacraft/SLEC Coyote). It depends upon what you want out of your model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Neddy Being sub 250 g I used 3.7g micro servos. They are small enough to to be completely buried in the wing and the fin giving short control rods. The aileron servo . This picture was taken today. The elevator servo. This pictures is over a year old, note the substantial glue repair after the RH tail plane was "dislodged" after a crash. It still looks like that today. I really must get round to "making good" the fin skin around the servo arm! The "Light Tractor" has been well used. It will be 9 years old next month. The wing has little dihedral, which makes it remarkably "responsive" and being so light I considered ailerons a must over a rudder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8sYWG-agnU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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