New with a GL

[shzaz28]

I have a gentle lady that I picked up local. Went thru he plane and all seems well. any good tips for set up? I still have not taken the bird to air but want the first flight to be great. Any tips? CG, throw, power, etc.?

[Keith Johnson]

If it is a 'stock' Gentle Lady, make sure the center panels have ZERO washout and the outer panels can have a about 1/8'' washout. The primary concern is to make sure that the wings have the same washouton both the left and right sides. You can do a quick check by holding the wing in front of you. Keep one eye open and place it directly behind the wing about an arm's length back. Then rotate the wing trailing edge up and down while looking at the bottom surface of the wing. You should see the same amount of wing surface bottom at any given trailing edge setting.

Then make sure the wings are balanced. Support the wing at the center with a piece of thread, one end at the leading edge and the other end at the trailing edge. Support the wing on a table so that both wings are at the same height off the table at the poly break. Lift the wing up carefully. If one side always drops to the table first, this might be an indication that the wing is heavier because of glue or repairs. Add weight to the other wingtip so that the wing lifts off the table with very little dropping of a wing (just come close to perfect balance).

Make sure there is the same angle at the poly joint for both wings. If they are different the plane will show this in flight. If the difference is major, then you might consider making a repair.

Check the wing every time before heading for the flying field. Make sure that no twist is present in the wing.

Seal the hinge lines with Monokote or whatever, if the hinge lines have any air gaps. But the surfaces should be able to move freely.

Check that the wing sits on the fuselage properly. With both poly joints the same distance from the table. Then check that the stab is level to the table.

Check the balance point (CG). Then make sure the tow hook is properly placed for that balance point. Generally, the towhook should be just a little ahead of the CG point, when the CG point is projected down from the wing bottom surface 90 degrees (use a 90 degree triangle to project the CG point down to the bottom of the fuselage). The towhook should be about 1/8'' or so ahead of that projected line.

Make sure the wing is adequately secured to the fuselage. Hand toss the sailplane to set trims for the proper elevator and rudder. If the 'straight ahead' setting of the trims yield the elevator and rudder surface being non-aligned with the stab and fin then this will introduce some drag and you might consider making changes to the stab and fin to cure these non-aligned surfaces.

Check to see if there are any warps in the fuselage. Probably you will not want to change them but at least you will be aware that they are present.

[Hutch]

CG @ 3 5/8" Behind the Leading edge of the wing. Be careful with what you use to stand it on while you are checking the CG. That covering is not supported under there and you could end up with some little pucker marks if you use something too sharp. And if you do stretch it out a bit, don't worry it will still fly great. Its a very forgiving ship to pilot error...as well as builder error.

Set up your rudder throw to get as much as you can in either direction, and 1/4" to 3/8" up and down for the elevator should do you right. Increase is as much as you feel comfortable as you get a handle on your PIO's :)

Have fun!

-hutch

[shzaz28]

That was informative! I'll give it a toss in the evening on Fri. after verification of my wing. I did notice that a foam strip was placed across the area of where the wing touches the fuse on both sides. The dowels on the TE seemed too low but I assume that The force put on the wing should not cause issues. How far above the TE should they be? Also should the washout be 0? I was told 1/4" but don't remember if they were supposed to be up or down (assumed is up). "0"sounds safe, a nice flat table should aid in this.

Any other tips? Crashing sucks and I am used to powered planes.

[Hutch]

If you have some power plane experience under your belt, I think you will transition well. With the Gentle Lady everything will happen much slower than you are used to. If you are used to ailerons, be prepared for a more sluggish response to the rudder inputs. Bank and yank isn't the GL's style.

As far as the dowels, the stock GL runs the rubber bands along the centerline of the wing. 6 #64 rubber bands should hold the wing on just fine for hi-start or slope. Mine broke eventually, and I drilled two dowels perpendicular to the fuse. That worked until I decided to bolt the wing on...

The washout will help a beginner from tip stalling if it slows up too much. I just built one for my sweetheart (wishful thinking, but at least I have a good old fashioned ship to play with) and I left the washout out. I fly with her using a trainer cord. Those things are really swell. I've had to fix my dad's plane many times because I didn't have that cord yet. It sure is amazing the grip people can get when the plane starts agreeing with gravity.

But I digress....

It is really hard to make that bird fly poorly. If you are comfortable leaving the washout out, then leave it out, and don't forget that you did.

Just out of curiosity, are you looking to get into thermal flying or pointing more in the slope direction?

-mike

[Keith Johnson]

Try at least 1/8'' washout (the back edge at the wingtip should twist up). This will guarantee that you will have a more gentle stall when it happens. You will then be able to take more risks when landing as you will reduce the chance of a tip stall near the ground and you can make some very tight thermal circles.

Also, start getting use to smiling more. I would suggest you start smiling once every five minutes for at least two days before you begin flying sailplanes. Sailplane flying, if done properly, is very addictive. Working the first thermal is a real thrill.

[shzaz28]

both in the end, right now thermal. would I set it up differently for slope? That's something I would like to try as well.

[shzaz28]

.................
Also, start getting use to smiling more. I would suggest you start smiling once every five minutes for at least two days before you begin flying sailplanes. Sailplane flying, if done properly, is very addictive. Working the first thermal is a real thrill.


That's a great tip! :D