suggestions for good thermal plane around 3M

[ODB1200]

I am looking for a good plane around the 3 meter span for thermal soaring. I already own a spirit and spirit elite but now am looking for a larger plane with nice "floating" charicteristics. Any of your experiences with any planes of this size would really be appreciated.

[Stan Myers]

Bird of Time. Great ship

Stan

[hangerdude1]

May I suggest an AVA from KennedyComposites.com or Majestic from LaserArts.com. The only problem with the Majestic is you need to research the various modifications to build a strong enough to survive a winch launch - my 2 cents.

Ken

[ptglass]

3 meter Gnome

[RC_Soaring]

I'll have to go with hangerdude1 on the Majestic from LaserArts. I've built the Scepter and all the kits sold by Brian are top notch!! Waiting on a Majestic to come in as we speak :D

[Ryan Archer]

the victory C or the cyko 3 from www.nesail.com
ryan

[ODB1200]

Thanks for the all the replies, but I think the Majestic is the ship for me. Now for the guys that suggested the Majestic I have a couple questions...I plan to use this plane strictly on a high start. should I still think about strengthening the wings and putting a CF boom on it or would the stock kit be strong enough for my intended use? :cool:

[little flyer]

The boom isnt only for the launch. Lets say your coming in for landing a little fast. you open the spoilers and the nose pitches down. As you try to pull up the boom will flex and the plane with crash. I know all to well.

[ODB1200]

Little Flyer, were you able to fix the Majestic after that happened...if so what boom did you buy for it?

[RC_Soaring]

I dont know about others but I've talked to several others with the Majestic that uses the stock boom without any problems. If you want to replace the boom you can use either the Bubble Dancer boom or the Supra. Both can be had here Carbon Boom (http://www.tailboom.com/) I myself will probably use the stock boom. As for the wing mods, all I will be doing is adding the washout and dihedral. Like you I dont plan to use a winch only hi-start so I see no need in doing all the wing mods. The wing should be plenty strong enough to handle that. I have been told by others including Brian at LaserArts that NONE of the mods are required to have a nice flying plane but the washout mod was recommended if no other mods where to be done. As for the tail mods I will be adding the bigger v-tails that is if I dont decide to make a standard tail for it.

Blake

[little flyer]

Its my Dads plane and he is an amazing builder. The fuse was destroyed back to the leading edge. He put it together like a puzzle and then glassed it. unless you looked inside the canopy you would never be able to tell. He then put some carbon on the top and bottom of the fuse.

[thelocust]

Dr. Drela put together some "mods" for the Majestic that will help it considerably.

Specifically, he enlarges the V-tail considerably and adds an extra bay near the tips, as well as a small amount of wash-out in the tips to greatly decrease the possibility of a tip-stall.

I owned a Majestic (used) for about 2-months, and had it tip-stall into the ground on a down-wind turn. Repaired and added washout to a very beneficial effect. I did have the stock v-tail get "washed out" while attempting to get down from a booming thermal. Nearly didn't pull it out of a dive! Might not have happened with an more adequately sized tail.

My Majestic interred itself due to a bad battery connection on a winch launch. Yowza!

Attached is his "Majestic_mods.txt" which you can find in the Allegro-Lite Yahoo Group under "Files".

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Allegro-Lite/