What 3 meter to buy?

[schweb]

Hello I'm interested in thermal flying and a club near my home suggested a 3 meter plane. I alredy know how to fly. I have a lot of time on my Spectra with great success. This club uses a wench to launch their planes. It's a tough choice with all the diffrent airfoils and just glider designs. I was looking at the Bird of time. Also I don't have enough time to build so an arf would be first choice. Any help would be great

[erich]

To heck with the airfoils I wanna meet the clubs, female, plane launcher. She's gotta have one hell of an arm......

erich

[dhauch]

there's a thread going here that might help;
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440898

www.git-r-built.com
dave hauch
mich.

[shakysticks]

I would like to have a wench launch my plane, but my wife just isn't interested.

[schweb]

Ok Ok very funny I had not had my coffee yet this morning. Thanks for the spell check

[mlee8249]

Hi Schweb,

A lot depends on the level of sophistication you want to put up with. A BoT is not a bad plane, three channel with spoilers. Beware of the ARF version as early models had a manufacturing error that is fatal when using a winch launch. (The wing is not assembled correctly from the factory). There is now the Spirit 100 ARF and it seems to handle well. It's not quite 3-meter, but bigger that the Spectra. I would imagine that they are recommending a large bird because they tend to be easier to thermal in most cases and handle better. On the other hand, I have seen where guys fly 2-meter birds quite effectively and end up out-flying most everyone else. More than once has a pilot gone to the AMA Nats and won 2-meter, Standard Class and Open class with a 2-meter plane. John Brown comes to mind in the mid-'80's. So, don't be socked in by the peer pressure. If you want to move up to a 3-meter bird, there is a world of choice out there, depending on what you want to do and what kind of money you have. And one more thing...if you're thinking of competition work, you cannot buy your way into the winners' circle. You have to earn it.

Mike Lee

[schweb]

Mike thanks for the reply. Boy this is a tough one. It's amazing how much you can spend on these ships. Over two grand on some. so I guess I'll just have to make a dicision on which one to get. In the 500. to 700 range should get me something that I won't grow out of to fast.

[pipedope]

I would suggest asking around the local club for anyone who has a plane sitting unused that they would sell you for a good price.

This does a number of things.

The plane is pre-scratched so you will not be worried about that first scratch. :D
The person you get it from can help with setup and first flights for trim.
Price is often good.

Frequently you can find a glider that is a few years old that will do everything you need for a few years of practice and training including competition.

The performance/price ratio is good and the actual money out of pocket is less so you will be more inclined to push the plane and yourself harder and will advance your skills faster.

I love little planes for flying close in and at small fields but it is much easier to thermal a big (>110") than a 2m or smaller.

OTOH, If you really want to get good and fast then spend $400-500 on a big sailplane and $100-200 on a hand launch glider. Fly one or both of them every chance you get.
Run a stopwatch on every flight and try to land on a specific spot on the ground on every landing.

Have FUN!

[mlee8249]

Hi Schweb,

One more thing....the level of sophistication applies to the complexity of the model as well as the requirements of the radio. A modern full-house plane will require a lot more than just 6-channels of control to get the most of the plane. Here is the common set-up for one of my competition ships, the Lazurite:

Aileron, 2 servos, 2 channels mixed.
Elevator, 1 servo
Rudder, 1 servo,
Flaps, 2 servos mixed
Aileron to Rudder mixing, required.
CROW or Butterfly mode, uses flaps, elevator and ailerons all mixed together.
Launch mode: flaps and ailerons mixed and sometimes elevator
Camber mode: flaps and ailerons mixed
Reflex mode: flaps and ailerons mixed
flaperons: flaps and ailerons mixed.

You've been flying a Spectra, and it does not approach the level of sophistication and equipment requirements of the Lazurite, nor the piloting skills to take advantage of all these options. I'm not saying that you may not be able to handle it, but it is a lot to learn and remember. It's a big jump. More than one pilot making that jump has been overwhelmed by the things to remember. You don't have to build in all that stuff if you don't want. It's just that the plane's capabilities will not be exploited to its' full potential.

Now, there is an alternative. You could very well have a 3-meter bird without all that stuff in something like the AVA, Danny, Ukranian Buzzard and similar big beautiful birds.
They are three channel birds that are very strong, very light, and perform really great. Check out Hobby Club at www.hobbyclub.com for a look at the Danny and a couple of others, and how about Kennedy Composites at www.kennedycomposites.com. They sell the AVA. Let us know if you find a plane that you like.

Thanks!
Mike Lee