Can the Slo-V from Hobbyzone thermal?

[Jonger1150]

I have heard this plane can thermal, is this true?

[little flyer]

Anything can thermal....

[flystoolow]

I saw a mouse thermal once...I think it was saying, "Where are you taking me?"

[artmonster]

a friend of mine converted his SloV to a thermal/ handlaunce plane.

He didnt use the sloV wing though. He replaced it with one of those Aerobird or something wings that was 60".

It worked pretty good......not the greatest, but it flew easy

[fprintf]

Yes. I have a slowstick (similar wingloading) that I thermal all the time with the motor off. I fly at 1/3 throttle with the plane not gaining or losing altitude. When I see the plane respond to the air currents, I then circle it to where I think the lift is. I can often extend flights to 25 minutes or more on a typical 10 minute 1/2 throttle charge.

These things are awesome for flying out of the front yard... neighbors houses/roofs do a great job of sending warm bubbles up. :)

[Leif]

I agree, My slow Vee has had its motor removed and replaced with a 500 Mah battery and a small hook mounted. I launch it from a HLG hi start and I really like it... Lots of fun and Easy to repair. My flying buddy has done the same with a Slow Stick and the fly very similar..... Also it thermal fine......

[Mchone, Jake]

I never had good luck with my SS as a thermal glider. With the motor and battery removed, it was just WAY too floaty and I could get more than 20ft launches out of it which was enough to cover a small circle area, which unless the thermal was on top of me, I could never catch one.

But it does glider very nicly and thermal great in its powered mode.

That aerobird wing sounds like a good idea, artmonster! I've got an old one siting around, maybe i'll try that on my SS! :D


Yes, ANYTHING can thermal, as long as the air is rising faster than the object is falling, weather it be a leaf, all the way to a Cessna, or a full scale glider!
Rising and falling are currents that create turbulance ARE thermals! :cool:

[aeajr]

I have heard this plane can thermal, is this true?

I belong to a sailplane club where we also fly small electrics and parkflyer type planes. Naturally when you are around thermal duration sailplanes, you tend to learn about thermaling.

Virtually everyone thermals their small electrics at some time or another. When I am not flying one of my sailplanes I thremal my Aerobird. Would work better if the prop would fold, or at least lock, but .... it thermals. I also slope soar it.

Most of these small electrics have wing loading under 8 ounce so most will thermal quite well. On occasion we have had people loose their plane because they let them get too high and can't tell how fast they are rising, then ... poof ..... gone. So be careful!

The former club president usedto sky out a Firebird XL on a regular basis. He got real good at coming down in a death spiral with it as well.

The Slo-V should be a great thermal plane. fly it up high and cut the motor and just hunt.

[JimL]

I've tried thermalling with my Slo-V. I've found thermals and it gets up pretty high but so far I haven't had it stay up over about 13 minutes.
Have only done this early morning when not much wind and thermals not as strong.
I have had my Aerobird up for 20 - 30 minutes and almost out of sight a few times but this was during mid day strong thermals. Maybe with the wind not too strong during midday the Slo-V would stay up longer also.

[NanoSio2]

Usually with my Slo-V I am doing the opposite of thermaling - I am practicing the limbo! But I would like to try thermaling with it too. Here's my question - which would work better thermaling, the wing forward (rearward COG) or the wing rearward (forward COG)? Most of the time, since I am flying it outdoors in light to medium winds (6mph or less) I fly it with the COG forward.

[SupaMan]

ive thermaled a bit with my v tail SS i flew 35 minutes one day at our local field with little to no throttle when i brought the plane down i still had about 40% of a battery left.....i just got bored! :P but it wont do it all the time it takes a REALLY good day for my SS to thermal i dunno if its just me or what but i cant always do it.

[lincoln]

If this is one of those planes with a single surface wing, putting plastic across the bottom will give it a little bit more speed range. Saran wrap or grocery vegetable bags or something.

[aeajr]

ive thermaled a bit with my v tail SS i flew 35 minutes one day at our local field with little to no throttle when i brought the plane down i still had about 40% of a battery left.....i just got bored! :P but it wont do it all the time it takes a REALLY good day for my SS to thermal i dunno if its just me or what but i cant always do it.

Ahhh, you have discovered the challenge of thermal soaring. While there are thermals out there every day, you do have to find them. And finding them is what thermal soaring is all about. This is one of the key skills that you need to develop.

Get the plane high, at least 200 feet ( about 4X tree height where I live), then get that motor back as far as you can so that you are just barely able to maintain altitude. Now watch the plane as you float along.

If the plane appears to rise a bit, turn the motor off. And go into a circle of, perhaps 50 feet. At that point you are testing the air to see if you are in lift. If you are, the plane will start to rise.

Now you have to test the air to see exactly where the thermal, the lift really is. Maybe it is a little more left or a little furthe out.

Also note that thermals move. They are typically not stable so don't feel you need to stay above one spot on the ground. You can hook a thermal, then as you work it you might drift 1/4 mile as you rise in the lift.

It is a wonderful mysterious process.

One major factor is stopping the blade of your motor. If you turn the motor off but the prop keeps spinning, this will KILL the glide, making it hard to thermal. See if your ESC has a brake. This is a setting that will hold the prop stationary and dramatically reduce the drag, allowing it to glide SO MUCH BETTER.

Themal soaring is a wonderful experience. And, like all skills, it takes time to develop.