Uh oh. Thermaled until it disappeared!!!

[Rhathid]

Okay,

So flying my Carl Goldberg Electra last month I hit a thermal on a farm field and stayed at like 300 feet for 20-30 minutes? Something like that.

Well today I go out and take my girlfriend with me. Right after I made it to altitude and started to glide my girlfriend who was laying in the field on a blanket started talking about all the seagulls over us flying in a circle.

I look up and sure enough, roughly 8-10 seagulls in a circle. I told her birds flying in a circle is a sign of a thermal so I brought the Electra over to them and started circling just above them.

I decided to lay down on the blanket to and just enjoy it, not knowing if I would catch it or not. After a few minutes I did realize I was gaining altitude. Sweet! It the first time I have actually GAINED altitude. Well, it's only the second time I've hit a thermal.

I think I have less than 25 flights on her, maybe even less than 20. I'll have to do some math sometime since most the time I fly I log it under the sailplane topic forum.

Anyway, I kept going around and around. I was watching it the whole time non-stop. Both it and the seagulls kept getting higher and higher.

After 30 minutes I could no longer see the seagulls because they were to high. Keep in mind I was ABOVE them.

After about an hour the only thing I could see was the smallest little line of the wing, nothing else. However I still kept it under control. I could tell when my turns executed as planned with the little sparkle I would see as the angle reflected the sun. Then the little wing line would head east, then I'd turn her around.

My girlfriend kept accidentally blocking my vision with the sun umbrella. I started to get pretty upset and we went back and forth. I kept telling her she has to make sure as to not block my view.

Then all of the sudden I couldn't see the plane anymore. I don't know what happened, perfectly in my view the entire time then BAM. Gone COMPLETELY.

I was so focused on finding it in the sky I was finding all sorts of airliners I'd never have noticed before. They looked almost the same color as the sky and actually, they looked bigger than my Electra did because a couple flew right in line with my view of it.

3 or 4 minutes pass and I still can't find it. At this point all I can focus on is dandelion seeds floating through the air. I wasn't able to focus at all.

I was no longer looking in the center of the circle I was flying in. I figured at that altitude and after 4 minutes it could be ANYWAY.

I looked around the perimeter of the thermal circle I was in. I thought MAYBE it got caught in a super thermal or something and was just taken way to high.

Is that possible because it disappeared WAY to fast and I didn't have a problem finding it at all any time I looked away for a second before losing it.

I wasn't even looking away when it disappeared, it was just instantly gone.

So now we're at about the 5 minute mark. I was thinking about my loss. The money, etc. For a little bit I was concerned it would come down and do some kind of damage, but it floats so well that's a long shot.

I decided to do full left rudder and down elevator. I would do this 5 seconds then switch to right rudder. I did this back and forth for a while. Then I would just let go and scan the sky.

Nothing.

So I started talking to my girlfriend telling her it was gone. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw her not to far from where I lost her, but definitely not over the flying field. Thing is the Electra wasn't much lower than when I lost it. So I really think it must have hit a good updraft.

I took some video of it when it was really high. I have a 33x optical zoom digital camcorder with 1200x digital zoom. With manual focus turned on and set to infinity I found her and zoomed all the way in. She looked SO small.

My girlfriend had been trying to find it with the camera and couldn't so I had her set the camera on my chest since I was laying down. Then I just pointed it and looked for it with my left eye while keeping my right eye on the plane.

It took 15 minutes to get it back down the ground. I flew for well over an hour.

So the question is, when you find a thermal do you ride it high or do you just use it for lift and come back to it each time you lose altitude?

I could have stayed up for HOURS. I'm not joking at all, 100% without a doubt with how high it was if the thermal was gone it would have taken a LONG time to get back to the ground. Using the thermal I'd still be flying.

I've seen a couple older guys fly bright orange sailplanes pretty high.

This was WAY higher. I probably should never do that again.

Thoughts and opinions??? ...and be easy.

I'm going to try to figure out how high it was by putting it at the end of the flying field and looking at it. I'll try to calculate distance based on size. If at the end of the field it's X in size I think I can use that it gauge size reduction by X feet.

[Audax]

Rhathid,

Everyone will have an opinion on how high is too high. Since I got my Zlog last year the highest I've recorded is 1300+ on a two meter span like your Electra. This pales in comparison to some logger data I've seen with two meter ships skying to over 2500 ft.

A lot depends on the sky conditions (color) and your plane's color scheme. I have difficulty with my Andromeda against blue sky. So much so that I've repainted the bottom at least three times to try and improve the blue sky contrast.

I start getting nervous around the 1100 ft mark but I'll admit I'm conservative. If you have someone with you, ask them to spot with you when you go for those high marks. Two sets of eyes are always better than one, especially if a bug decides to fly in your eye, or you get stung by a bee etc... At least make sure your spotter doesn't block your view ;-).

Lastly, make sure you have a comfortable exit strategy for those boomer thermals. Not all planes will necessarily decend in a gentle spiral, and some cannot handle a high speed dive.

Thermals are a blast... but make sure you get your plane back.

My two cents,
-Greg

[CloudyIFR]

- Normally when you can't see the fuselage you're about 1,300' high.
- If you lose your model again, try looking at a hill, house etc the distance you think your glider is high, then look back in the same part of the sky. What happens by looking up in a blue sky is the eyes will not focus well at 1,300' but something just feet in front of you.
- If you lose your glider again, do a stall/spin. Full up elevator and full right/left rudder. The glider will descend much slower and fairly straight down from where you lost it.

Glad you had fun and got it back.

Curtis
Montana

[Rhathid]

I think I'm going to need a data logger.

Is the FAA recommendations of 400 feet apply to all RC planes or just powered flight RC planes?

I've read that with weather balloons there's not heavy restrictions on their use and they just keep going up.

I'm going to guess based on other flights I've done that it was pushing 2,000 feet.

Here is a picture from a 1 time only flight. I have never went this high again until today. This was taken off a Hobbico SuperStar. My flight today was a lot higher than this, not double but probably close.

The wingspan on the Electra is a lot more than the SuperStar. Considering the higher speed it flies at it's much more critical to keep it within visual control/recognition range.

Except today, I do stick to the 400 feet rule. I tend to like to fly right around 400 feet and swoop down as I come across the field in my gas planes.

This thermally today has me hooked. Now that I can see the plane go up without power I think I might go for a regular thermal glider and use my Kadet Senior as a tow plane. (Won't be a big glider, not until I get around to building that Maurer Lunar Rocket)

[Rhathid]

- Normally when you can't see the fuselage you're about 1,300' high.
- If you lose your model again, try looking at a hill, house etc the distance you think your glider is high, then look back in the same part of the sky. What happens by looking up in a blue sky is the eyes will not focus well at 1,300' but something just feet in front of you.
- If you lose your glider again, do a stall/spin. Full up elevator and full right/left rudder. The glider will descend much slower and fairly straight down from where you lost it.

Glad you had fun and got it back.

Curtis
Montana

Thanks for those tips! Yeah, I could not see the fuselage at all.

I didn't mention it, but I put it into a few power dives when I couldn't see it. I know about where to hold the stick to get it into a power dive. The problem is it gets going so fast it just pulls out of it on it's own. I don't like to over-do it, so I let it come out so the airframe doesn't come apart.

I lost the fuselage about 45 minutes in and kept climbing. I bet I was pushing 2k. It was probably right in front of my eyes but I just couldn't see it.

[kablair]

For reference - but remember my eyes are getting older.... All altitudes given based on a Zlog.

My Houston Hawk (126" wingspan) loses ability to distinguish colors (yellow & blue) at about 1200'. I've had it at 1836' and could still see it's outline because it was under a cloud, but was as high as I care to have it.

I keep trying to find a lower wind day to fly my Super AVA to it's max altitude. Several times it's been to 1600'+ with no visibility problems - of course with a 12' wingspan, it shouldn't be hard to see.

A 100" electric with a :eek: white :eek: wing is very hard to see at 1300'. I've lost this one in the sun before when it was nearly that high and didn't find it again until it was 100' off the deck coming in so fast that it was fluttering. Needless to say, it needed some repairs.

Watching the others at the flying field, it appears that a black bottom wing and yellow top surface are the easiest to see. I can't bring myselft to make the whole top surface yellow, so my Genie (center section went in the bag this morning) is yellow and blue on top with a black bottom. Can't wait to see how it looks at altitude.

-Keith

[OhioPete]

Congrats on the boomer and the save!

It must be the Ohio weather today. I had my Electrified Gentle Lady up this afternoon and with a 1 minute motor run (practicing for contest days) it was wayyy up there. I hooked a mega thermal and it starting to grow real small, real fast. I had a buddy spotting with me which helped knowing there was another set of eyes on it. It was literally specked out. I finally got it down about 30 minutes later. The altimeter read 2350 ft!! :cool:

[regis]

I lost a fine 3M Scooter like that. At least six sets of eyes were on it when it disappeared. My theory is that it passed through a boundary layer. It is a boundary layer that causes a mirage. Regis

[Rhathid]

Boundary layer? Really? This is all new to me.

I was laying on my back and keeping the bird right where my eyes naturally wanted to look. This is why it was easy to find it each time I looked away before I was too high.

I'm totally hooked. I'm still learning about the thermals, basically I just stayed in the same area and would fly as much of a circle as I could but it tended to be more of a back and forth flight pattern.

The pattern was VERY wide too. Is it possible that was all lift? I fly at a field that has 6 soccer fields within it. I definitely flew out of it a couple times, especially after I lost sight of it. There's also 2 parking lots at the edge of it, but I wasn't flying over those. I was basically flying right above the west side of the field.

Pete - Yeah weather was great today, a bit hot but just a gentle breeze here. Not to often is it so calm out, at least lately.

Anyway, thanks to those seagulls. I wonder if a thermal appears in the same spot during hot days?

I did notice earlier that she was nosing up really hard and I put full down trim and she still wouldn't fly level. This was not to long after take off. I wonder if that was a thermal too?

[Rhathid]

Do you guys think putting a few strips of Chrome monocote on the bottom and top of the wing would help spot it?

I was just thinking, it was easy to spot when the sun hit the plane just right and it reflected. I put it in a hard bank to catch some light when my girlfriend was trying it find it.

I bet with the chrome it would reflect really nice. I can imagine going right rudder and up elevator after losing site of it and the rotating banking will make it like a slow strobe light.

Hmmm. If you guys think that's an idea, I have a bunch of Chrome monocoat I could give it a try with. I just want to make sure she doesn't start looking patchy and ugly.

EDIT/Follow-up: I think it would look good now that I look. My plane is translucent red and black, so the chrome would accent it nicely.

However... I just noticed 2 stress cracks in the sheeting between the 4th and 5th ribs from the center on both sides. It looks like I'm going to have to do some surgery. This has to be from the power dive when I was trying to get back to land. The wing flexes more easily now, I wonder if the spars are getting weak as well or if it's solely the cracks in the sheeting?

I know sheeting adds a lot of strength, I just sheeted the front of a glow 4* 60 I'm kit building.

[Phoebusflyer]

Contrast is what you want. Make your plane black bottomed and put your chrome on the leading edges of your wings and the top of the elevator. This will give you more contrast against a blue sky, and the chrome will flash when your in a turn.

[lincoln]

If you have a weak glider (like the Electra) and no spoilers, you have to be a lot more conservative about how high you go with the thermal. I once almost lost a 40 size gas trainer straight up! If your glider is strong and/or you have flaps or spoilers, you can lose altitude faster and can afford to ride higher before you come down.

Thermals tend to drift with the wind, and to start ascending at discontinuities on the ground, like a tree line.

Go over that wing carefully if you want to keep it.

[Stan_in_AR]

Strips were 1.25wide and 18" long. They reflected real well when making thermal turns. Got so high I lost the stab first then the fuse and then the plane. I was downwind and in what best be described as "gray" clouds. It went up through the clouds and I popped spoilers and put the stick in the lower right quadrant. Never saw the plane drop out of the clouds.

As soon as I knew I was in trouble I started walking toward the plane and the field was 1/4 mile wide at this point, even when I got to the other end of the field......nothing.

Stan












Do you guys think putting a few strips of Chrome monocote on the bottom and top of the wing would help spot it?

I was just thinking, it was easy to spot when the sun hit the plane just right and it reflected. I put it in a hard bank to catch some light when my girlfriend was trying it find it.

I bet with the chrome it would reflect really nice. I can imagine going right rudder and up elevator after losing site of it and the rotating banking will make it like a slow strobe light.

Hmmm. If you guys think that's an idea, I have a bunch of Chrome monocoat I could give it a try with. I just want to make sure she doesn't start looking patchy and ugly.

EDIT/Follow-up: I think it would look good now that I look. My plane is translucent red and black, so the chrome would accent it nicely.

However... I just noticed 2 stress cracks in the sheeting between the 4th and 5th ribs from the center on both sides. It looks like I'm going to have to do some surgery. This has to be from the power dive when I was trying to get back to land. The wing flexes more easily now, I wonder if the spars are getting weak as well or if it's solely the cracks in the sheeting?

I know sheeting adds a lot of strength, I just sheeted the front of a glow 4* 60 I'm kit building.

[stanradzikowski]

good job refinding your model in the sky :)

a couple of weeks ago i was flying my dlg, reached 420m which is normal and i dont have problems with seeing the model at that height, but its not only height that comes into effect when flying. i find that the higher i fly the further away from myself i go as well. so if you calculate the 420m altitude plus lets say the 500m away from myself that i was flying at. it comes out that the model is around 650m away from me. and yes ill admit it, on this occasion i lost sight of the model as well, im sure all of you have had that sick in the gut feeling where you can feel your blood rushing, and the OMG OMG where the *%&$ is it....... but finally found it and i can tell you, i have never made any of my planes come back to me as fast as i did that day. good thing that the wing is strong enough to with stand the extreme speed :)

stan

[infopimp]

We had a nice guy lose his plane at Hayward this weekend... from what I heard (I was flying)... he just looked away and shrugged like "its lost"... could have helped if he watched where it went down and/or pretended to keep flying instead of giving up. We had no idea where to start looking because he paniced. :(

[kak8]

Stan - thats funny. I think you have a Lighthawk - a SGII clone. You say you reached 420m and thats funny, because I have a homebuild SGII and reached about 430m a few times.
Maybe I could go higher, but this was more then enough for me.

[Guz]

I had a great weekend of major thermals with my EasyGlider. Everyday I lost sight of the darn thing at least twice.

On Monday, it was the whole field that was lift, could not fly out of it. We came up with a name for this "Oh :censored: lift". One, it's nothing but lift. Two, you say "Oh :censored:, where my plane go?!?!?!" because it's to high up to see. You dive down to where you can see your wings, level off, and in a count of 5, it's back up to where you were before, again you're saying "Oh :censored:! I can't get it down." while you're thinking (Did I remember to put my name and number in plane in case some finds it some day?). Then you try deploying your spoilerons to no avail. The plane doesn't go up, but it doesn't come down either.

That's when you fly the wings off doing loops, rolls, dives, anything to get down. All while your heart is racing because you want your plane back.

I really need to get an altimeter to find out how high it gets.

[rdwoebke]

I
Is the FAA recommendations of 400 feet apply to all RC planes or just powered flight RC planes?


Probably all planes.

We kind of live in a "don't ask don't tell" world with the FAA with respect to altitude. Thing is... Many RC sailplanes *start out* at above 400 feet, then they go looking for lift... On a winch launch they might launch to 500-600 feet and a bit 4-5 meter scale job aerotow... They start out at 1000+ feet AGL.

Glad you got your plane back. I have lost 4 RC planes. Always a bummer.

Ryan

[Rhathid]

I suppose you could compare a sailplane to a large bird. It's more likely a plane will hit a bird, since from what I can birds fly in thermals in groups.

It's not like we're flying in an airport flight path and most of us if not all will put our plane into a dive and bring it low if we hear a real plane or helo.

Don't see to many planes flying below 2,000 feet anyway.

We have a couple local helo's that will fly pretty low and the other day I did see what looked like a WWII plane flying REALLY low. I'm assuming for memorial day.

Either way, I'm not so sure I see much of a reason to fly that high. I think I'll just use lift as an elevator and keep flying back into it if it's not going away. Occasionally I might want to head up a bit.

I wonder if I can ride a thermal with my camera attached??? I took her up a few days ago with the camera on and it didn't impact performance to much.

[rdwoebke]

Either way, I'm not so sure I see much of a reason to fly that high. I think I'll just use lift as an elevator and keep flying back into it if it's not going away. Occasionally I might want to head up a bit.

In my experience, the lift gets wider as you get higher. This could be from multiple small themals joining together. As a rule of thumb, any time you are flying cross country or if you are doing a "long duration task" the rule is "get high stay high". These are the kind of tasks a person would choose to fly at the limits of vision for:

http://www.silentflight.org/LSF_Base/tasks.htm

Ryan

[Liberator]

I'm glad you got it back.

Here are a couple of things to try as you fall deeper into the well of thermal flying. :D

I use alternate colors on the wings when I build so that it is easier to keep direction straight.
I always use a transparent red on the right wing and a dark purple on the left wing. These two colors show up great even really high up. I have had a plane at 2219 feet AGL using a how high altimeter. (awesome little gadget by the way) Plus since red is always on the right wing it's easy to remember (red is right). That covers your direction of travel.
My Skybird at 2219 feet was 1/4 of a postage stamp at arms length with 137" wingspan. I know becasue I had my LSF envelope in my pocket and pulled it out and held it up to the plane to get a ground based idea of how large it looked. So grab an envelpoe with a stamp on it, hold it up...I'll wait, and you will see how easy it would be to lose a plane in a boomer.

Mirror tape is a good idea, but I mostly see guys use it on the front of the rudder and elevator. My thought for that is that if you lose sight of the plane and know that it is still up high the maple leaf is the least stressfull way(on the airframe) there is that I know of to get the plane back to a manageable altitide. That is the rudder elevator stick held in a bottom corner...your choice. Hard left rudder and full up will produce a spin and this is where the mirror tape comes in. The tails surfaces are a good choice for this material because they will be the piece of the plane spinning the fastest.

After a bit you should see a flash or the movement of the plane spinning and `viola! You have your plane back.

It is a terrible thing this addiction, welcome to the club.
May you have this problem, with this result more often. :)

Tom

[Rhathid]

That is great for the money. I was searching for that, I saw one a while ago but now it makes more sense than ever.

I looked into making one of my own, it's using an absolute pressure sensor, but at $35 it would cost me more to order everything and make it myself than buy this.

EDIT: Ordered. Forgot I had some cash sitting in PayPal and since that's what they take I just went ahead and ordered.

[Gaijin]

Good comments about hanging in and trying everything to regain sight of your glider.

I lost my first ARF 2m glider at 60 acres (Seattle) about 13 years ago. I lost sight of the glider around 1000' and began yelling to the other guys around - "lost my glider!...anybody see anything?!". Got lots of advice, like 'loop it and look for a reflection' etc. No Joy. Chalked it up as a lost cause after 15 minutes.

Found it TWO weeks later in the weeds about 150' away from where I had been standing while looking for another guys downed ship. Radio was fine, fuselage was toast, wing was OK.

If I have a point - it's this - I had been facing the direction where the plane came down the whole time I was looking for it in the sky so I obviously gave up searching the sky too soon. 15 minutes (or more) is a nice thermal flight so think of that if you lose sight of your ship, especially a well trimmed beginner's glider. Even without your assistance, they can stay up near the clouds for a LONG time.

[Rhathid]

Yeah, that thing sure likes to float.

I wonder what the glide scope is on it? When it was lost in the sky I started to wonder how far it would glide if I lost sight of it.

I can't imagine it would come down within a couple miles of the field.

I've read glide scopes range from 16:1 to 28:1. I'll have to find a way to test it out. But let's say 2,000 feet, with a glide scope of 18:1 that's almost 7 miles of gliding. With wind who knows how far.

Is that unrealistic or totally possible?

[Curare]

Strips were 1.25wide and 18" long. They reflected real well when making thermal turns. Got so high I lost the stab first then the fuse and then the plane. I was downwind and in what best be described as "gray" clouds. It went up through the clouds and I popped spoilers and put the stick in the lower right quadrant. Never saw the plane drop out of the clouds.

As soon as I knew I was in trouble I started walking toward the plane and the field was 1/4 mile wide at this point, even when I got to the other end of the field......nothing.

Stan


I've done the same thing with a beautiful old cirrus. Got sucked up into the clouds, never to be seen again. :(

[dougmc]

http://mclarenhome.com/~dougmc/RC/flights/flight-2005-09-05.gif

My highest recorded flight with my 2m Spirit Elite, recorded with a RAM2 (http://home.epix.net/~rcbrust/). At 2600 feet, it was just a speck in the sky -- I could sort of tell where it was pointed, and not much more. I lost it and found it several times before I decided I'd better bring it back down before I risked losing it for good.

Good times!

[dougmc]

Yeah, that thing sure likes to float.
I wonder what the glide scope is on it?Note that the glide slope (or ratio, but not scope) is also a function of airspeed, where `likes to float' is mostly only a function of sink speed. Many planes that don't `like to float' because they weigh too much still have a good glide slope because they're fast, and many planes that `like to float' have relatively poor glide ratios because they're so slow (usually because they're really light.) (Trivia: adding weight to a plane doesn't affect the glide slope (unless you also add drag, or change the CoG or something)!)

I think the highest performance full scale gliders have glide ratios of about 70:1.

I'll have to find a way to test it out. But let's say 2,000 feet, with a glide scope of 18:1 that's almost 7 miles of gliding. With wind who knows how far.Well, the wind doesn't affect the glide slope. But you could measure it from 200 feet rather than 2000 feet, if you had a good way of measuring altitude and distance (like with an Eagle Tree GPS data logger?) Probably the best day to test with would be a calm overcast day, so there's little lift and sink.
Is that unrealistic or totally possible?Sounds possible, depending on what exactly you're asking about :)

[Ravenman]

If you are talking about a standard balsa type wing, to my eye the very best color for visibility is transparent yellow. I always used a large portion of it on every wing I built until switching to foam/glass. When the sun shines through it, it looks just like a streak of yellow highlighter in the sky. I can see it even when it appears as a ¼” long streak, then I start down.

RM

[Rhathid]

Doug - What system are you using for that graph above? Is that Eagle Tree? I'm not invested enough to spend that much for a single piece of equipment. I do like working with electronics and programming so when the cost gets up I like to DIY. However, what they've done would take me a REALLY REALLY long time. :)

I talked to them when they were at the Toledo show.

[Rhathid]

If you are talking about a standard balsa type wing, to my eye the very best color for visibility is transparent yellow. I always used a large portion of it on every wing I built until switching to foam/glass. When the sun shines through it, it looks just like a streak of yellow highlighter in the sky. I can see it even when it appears as a ¼” long streak, then I start down.

RM

Between my translucent red and other plane which is translucent blue, once they get high enough I no longer see any color. Is that different with the yellow only?

[mwhitman]

Regarding altitude, I only fly as high as I am comfortable. For me, that depends on the sky and the plane I am flying. I find that when there are clouds in the sky it's easier to focus at greater distances and I can more easily track my plane. If there is a clear blue sky its a bit harder when my plane is getting high. Just yesterday, my plane blinked out on me but I kept looking in the same direction and gave it a gentle thermal turn and it reappeared. In any case, if I'm getting too high for comfort, I'll bring it a little lower with really wide banked turns and either try to re-enter the thermal at a lower altitude or search for another one - that's part of the fun for me.

mike

[rdwoebke]

Doug is probably using a RAM (based on the fact that his graph has the RAM logo).

http://home.epix.net/~rcbrust/

It is not a telemetry system like the Eagle Tree. Just a recording altimeter. About a C note.

Another good one is the Zlog:

http://www.kennedycomposites.com/

Also about a hundo.

Ryan

[66tbird]

It's always a good idea to find the safe stick position spin spot. Most of the time its ease to full up and then add full rudder. On my floater R/E TD ships I like a tad of washout in the left panel to help in tightening circles. So stall spin direction is best to the right for me. Red has always been my bottom color of choice, with yellow as the top base color.

On an anecdotal note, I sky'd one one day when a above average size Arizona nooner boomer came through. Plane was gone in a minute. The plane was an old WindDrifter 2CH off a pop up hi-start. Real lite and plenty strong for a vertical descent. Which is what I did about twenty seconds into the lift. Nose straight down and she was still going up. So I head some other direction to exit the core, but as soon as I pulled a little up the vertical climb sucked me OOS. Sooooo, I set the transmitter down, put a rock on the stick to hold stall/spin and went and got a cold one. Then another, but I was hot and slammed the first :) (Don't want to get dehydrated in the desert :) ) I don't know how long it was before it reappeared, maybe ten minutes. During that time my flying buddy specked a 60 size 9lbs pattern ship dead stick on that thermal. I figured mine was gone, but no, there it was a little ways off and way up just spinning its way down. BWT, the battery was about gone because of the full deflection for so all. (time before end point)

[Rhathid]

ha. These are great stories. Don't get this in the glow plane area.

I'm burning up my lunch hour right now, think I'll use the last 30 minutes to go glue the cracked wing sheeting on my bird.

It's going to hit 91 degrees today so I think I'll head back to that field and see if a thermal naturally generates in the same area each time it's hot out.

What's nice about an electric sailplane is I can fly it in a lot more locations than my glow planes.

[Ravenman]

Between my translucent red and other plane which is translucent blue, once they get high enough I no longer see any color. Is that different with the yellow only?

Yeah, I've used many other transparent colors, red, blue, green, etc. But transparent yellow glows like a neon yellow highlighter marker assuming a wing design that allows sunlight to pass through, and given a sunny day. I use it for the entire wing, or at least several panels on nearly every plane. Bright yellow on a solid wing is still good, but nothing like trans yellow on an open wing.

RM

[Iso Octane]

During that time my flying buddy specked a 60 size 9lbs pattern ship dead stick on that thermal.
Hahaha wow! What happened to that guy?

[Guz]

On an anecdotal note, I sky'd one one day when a above average size Arizona nooner boomer came through. ...

Isn't Phoenix great, for thermaling that is :D You can hit a thermal without even trying very hard.

As for visibly, there was a thread awhile back that pointed out if you look at the color wheel, then the gray scale of that wheel, you will find yellow and blue are complete opposites, and that they would be the best colors for long distance visibly. Mainly because at long distances our eyes don't see color very well, but gray scale is still working.

Going to try it on my next plane, transparent yellow over the open ribs and horizontal stabilizer and solid blue on the D-sheeting and on the vertical stabilizer.

[Rhathid]

Good point on the color wheel. I'll give that a shot on my next build. It's usually cloudy or overcast here anyway.

[wingsnapper]

Weird, I find that yellow is one of the worst colors against a blue sky. IMHO you can't go wrong with black or red on at least the bottom of the wings. As for light colors on the top, I find that a bright momentary flash tends to dazzle my eyes a bit making the plane dissapear when the nose comes back up.
Jesse

[Fred_L]

There is another thread here somewhere about how to get out of big thermals.
Personally I like to spin the polyhedral ships. Even if it isn't coming down real fast at least it isn't flying off to some other part of the sky. That sky is really huge when you are looking for a dot :eek: . The rapidly changing planform presentation might give the best chance to re-aquire it too. Getting them out of sight gets the adrenalin surging though :) .

I also have a colour preference and it is dark blue underneath and yellow on top. I find all colours tend to appear black on the bottom as the aircraft gets further away. I want contrast against a blue or cloudy sky. The yellow does disappear against a cloudy background though but it is good in sunlight. I think white and light blue on fuselages/wings are terrible. They just vanish even at moderate distanes.

I had a plane covered in transparent orange and yellow (centre panel was orange and the tips were yellow) and it was difficult to tell the orientation when it was banked at low altitudes, it looked the same whether it was banked away from or towards you. I re-covered it in the dark blue bottom/yellow top colour scheme and I am not a fan of transparents.

I've seen planes with the mirror/diamond tape on the leading edges and that seems to work great in sunshine.

Welcome to the addiction.
F

[JimNM]

TO help me get my Oly-II-E back from the thermal gods, I often use a click or two of throttle. The slowly spinning motor extends the prop- yet keeps it (the prop) turning slow enough to cause a significant amount of drag. This is useful on landings as well - just turn off the motor before touchdown and be ready for a sudden micro-burst of glide ratio when the motor does shut off.

Also, to escape a boomer, you can fly in a straight line as far as you can see the plane, then turn 90 degrees and repeat. This will help you find the edge of the thermal, and hopefully start a safe descent. There are times when the WHOLE sky is going up - those are fun for a while, but can be stressfull when it's time to bring her home.

Fly'em HIGH
JimNM

[stanradzikowski]

Stan - thats funny. I think you have a Lighthawk - a SGII clone. You say you reached 420m and thats funny, because I have a homebuild SGII and reached about 430m a few times.
Maybe I could go higher, but this was more then enough for me.

sorry nothing like a lighthawk :) completly different plane/profile/setup.

[Rhathid]

Exactly what I saw, the whole sky was a thermal. I wanted to fly today, I had the day off but as expected, Murphy's law hit. Have the biggest emergency to take care of even in my career and out of 1,300 people I'm the only one that can without question take care of it.

Double edge sword. It's nice to be the expert, except when your skills are urgently needed. I look at it like hazard pay for other companies, sure things might go smooth 99% of the time but you're getting paid because of that 1% chance something could go REALLY bad.

Would have been a perfect day too. 91 degrees out and plenty of sun. Not a leaf on a tree is even moving. It would have been my first flight since reinforcing the stress cracks in the wing sheeting from the power dive to get out of the thermal.

I couldn't think of another way to get the plane down quickly. I couldn't wait 30 minutes, I needed it done fast.