Art Hobby Thermic

[Rusty Joe]

Hi Guys,

Was wondering what experience y'all have had with the Art Hobby Thermic 2.5m sailplane (poly wing version). Am thinking this would be a good one for me. I'm 79 yrs. now and just getting back into sailplanes. Have been flying SAM old timers for some time, but my first love is sailplanes. Am thinking that the poly wing is better for visibility at distance. The staight wing jobs tend to disappear at distance.

Rusty Joe

[lincoln]

Hi Guys,

Was wondering what experience y'all have had with the Art Hobby Thermic 2.5m sailplane (poly wing version). Am thinking this would be a good one for me. I'm 79 yrs. now and just getting back into sailplanes. Have been flying SAM old timers for some time, but my first love is sailplanes. Am thinking that the poly wing is better for visibility at distance. The staight wing jobs tend to disappear at distance.

Rusty Joe
Haven't had stick time with that glider, but poly winged ones are going to be a lot easier to fly, especially if you're having trouble seeing them, because they are more stable. You might want to go for something with a wider wing and fatter fuselage. I've seen the aileron Thermic and it doesn't present a very large visual profile. I always try to get people to try an Olympic 2, but generally you have to build it and it isn't very fast. If visibility is a big issue, there's always the Sailaire. Monokote overcast. Paragon if the Sialaire is too much. If budget is not an issue, you don't have time to build,and your flying skills are ok, there's the Ava. Fuselage is small but the wing is pretty large. People say it flies well.

[slozuke]

I'll second the AVA. I have an AVA and it flies great! It has great visibility depending on colors of course (but that can lead to a whole other discussion).
It fles nice and gentle and has a huge spoiler in the center panel. You wouldn't be disappointed with an Ava.
On the other hand the Tharmic is quite a bit less $$$ and although I don't have one, my friends say it flies great too. But the Thermic doesn't have a spar so I wouldn't use it for heavy winch launches. And between the two the AVA is nicer looking too.

[Oldcoot2]

Doesn't have a spar?
Strange....check Art Hobby and bring up the 2.5 Thermic RES.
My eyes see a spar with carbon fiber at A. Perhaps you have some inside info that is not apparent on the plans. :confused:
Gerald

I'll second the AVA. I have an AVA and it flies great! It has great visibility depending on colors of course (but that can lead to a whole other discussion).
It fles nice and gentle and has a huge spoiler in the center panel. You wouldn't be disappointed with an Ava.
On the other hand the Tharmic is quite a bit less $$$ and although I don't have one, my friends say it flies great too. But the Thermic doesn't have a spar so I wouldn't use it for heavy winch launches. And between the two the AVA is nicer looking too.

[Toby W]

Hi,

I sent this message to Phil Barnes and he couldn't help me .... you may be able to....

I am a slope pilot interested in getting into the roots of sailplane flying -- AKA thermaling. Everyone says there is such satisfaction being able to dot a plane and I must give it a go! I am looking at the thermal dancer webpage and it says a 'Polk Micro Seeker, MPX RE 12 Synth w/ scanner' was used. Later it says "We switched receivers (to Seeker) and radio (to MPX RE 12) and with the help of some of the Silent Knights rapidly entered a simple setup." I have been in the hobby for 10 years and have absolutely no idea what they are taking about or what this equipment does. I am wondering if you do...

Toby
San Diego, CA
"Happiness is a big ass sailplane" :D

[atjurhs]

Rusty Joe,

I have had a quite a bit of experience with Andre at Art Hobby, and he is a true asset to the thermaling community, and a great customer service kind of supplier! I have always enjoyed doing business with Andre, and will continue to purchase many items from him in the future!

That said, I do believe that some of the Art Hobby products are a bit on the light side for my flying skills. That is to say, that they could be strengthened up a bit, but that does add weight. I'm an LSF2 pilot working on LSF3, and some of my landings have been charecterized as "less than gentle". I have used the Art Hobby pod and boom on my own creation:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=678527&highlight=bastard

and have cracked and replaced it more than once on landing. In subsequent pods, I have added some CF and fiberglass to strenghten the walls. I do know of other pilots (at my same skill level) that have had very similar experiences. I have heard (but can not confirm) similar stories about the supposed "spar-less" wings of the Thermic. All that said, in the air, the Thermic is a nice flying ship.

All I'm saying is that if you truly are "rusty" in your flying skills, you may want to choose a more durable bird for your first plane.

If you have the time and will to build, I STRONGLY believe there is no better thermal bird to learn on than an OLY2.

Good luck!

[bobby legue]

I strongly agree with the Oly 2. From there a great next step is the Oly 2S. That one has an excellent airfoil that can fly slow and will penetrate and move out when needed. I love mine. Not a hard build. Very sturdy. Winchable, with some vigor I might add. Ray at skybench is customer friendly and will answer your questions. As you can tell Im a very satisfied customer!
Bob

[atjurhs]

Bobby,

I essentially made my OLY2 into an OLY2S by adding a phillips entry, d-sheeting the wing panels, and adding CF and kevlar to the spar.

I full-pedal launch mine everytime, and she has also experienced some less than gentle landings and has survived admirably. They are tough, and they fly beautifully! Once, I watched a buddy of mine launch his OL2S with the Rx battery not connected (free-flight mode). It was not intentional, but even without controls, it flew pretty nicely, and that flight lasted for almost a full minute with lots of hoooops and hollerings. During that flight it even hit a pine tree, bounced off of it, turned around and continued to fly. All the pilots watching had an awesome show! When that OLY2S finally did land (which was also a bit rough), the pilot, picked her up, looked her over, turned on her battery, and sent her back up the winch line for another (controlled) flight. It was truly amazing!

LONG LIVE THE OLY2 :D viva la OLY2

[bobby legue]

What you did was a definate improvement. But its not quite an Oly2S as it has the 3014 airfoil, 3/8s shear webs, plywood box joiners as well as plywood stress reliefs. The wing planform is different as the inner panels are very long and the tips are shorter. The poly angles are different too.
Look at the Skybench Aerotech.com website under sailplanes. Scroll down from the Oly2 and look at the Oly2S. Its COOL! I really like flying mine. Im building an electric version also, my first E-plane. Boy there is a lot to learn about E-planes. Should be released very soon.
I have the Oly 650, Oly 2, Oly 2S, Oly 2s Electric, And the Oly lll- with a Oly2S aileron/ flap wing on the building board! My wife thinks Im obsessed, I know I am. But in my defence --Heck I got nothing here, I should be commited. But good golly Miss Molly Im having a helluvu lotta fun!
Viva the Oly's,
Bob