Looking for help!

[AC5FF]

I've not flown a glider yet, but reading through these forums I'm ready to give it a shot! I am hesitant though... Launch techniques, Hand, Discus, HiStart... arrrrggghh LoL

I got lucky when I picked up my GWS SS.. There is an older gentleman that flys at the park across the street from me. I got some great help. I don't know about glider help though. He doesn't fly em and as far as I have been able to find out from my LHS there is not a big market here for gliders. (I find that extremely hard to believe considerng the area. I would have thought this area around the black hills and badlands in SD would be perfect!)

Does anyone know of any websites, etc... that might point me to some local clubs/etc? I've been looking here and doing google searches but come up blank.

Thx!

[onethermal]

Well here is a starter for you http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx
with that one you can find some one that might be in your area.

Here is another one that might help http://www.rcsoaring.com/clubs.shtml

Hope it helps you....Clarence

[onethermal]

One thing to take into account you might need to go to a power club in your area and ask the members who has gliders, You might be surprised how many fly both.
Clarence

[BMatthews]

I'm surprised that the local hobby shop isn't aware of a local group of glider guiders.

Clubs are a good place to ask as noted. And of course these days we have the forums and the 'net. And you've already asked here so you're on your way on that front. Just be patient and you'll likely find someone from your area speaking...er... typing up soon enough...

I gather this would be your second model after the SS? If so you may want to stick with the idea of an electric powered glider since that's sort of up the same path you're already on. Also if it turns out that you end up more or less on your own it's got the advantage of not having a lot of ground tackle laying around on the grass between flights.

But along with a bigger model comes a bit more skill needed for flight management. The SS is pretty easy going that way. It's so light and small that if you make even a big error it recovers back to normal flight in only a few lost feet of altitude. A 2 meter glider will need a lot more altitude and time to recover and you'll want to work with that learning up higher and out of harm's way at first.

There's another advantage to going electric especially if you can't find a glider group in your area. WIth electric power in the nose you can join the power flying club and they would be more in a position to help you in getting used to flying your glider. Generally power clubs won't let you lay out high starts or winches as it fouls the runway area. But an electric glider is just another power model that handles the "dead stick" condition with more grace... :D

[AC5FF]

I have been by the local club countless number of times. I have yet to find a single person there flying :( If anyone from Rapid City SD reads this I hope they'll PM me with a good meeting time! :)

[onethermal]

But an electric glider is just another power model that handles the "dead stick" condition with more grace... :D[/QUOTE]

Yep that's right and you don't have to look foolish by screaming out "DEAD STICK" :) Because to many power pilots don't have the forsight to plan for a no power landing.

Sorry I had to add MY 2 cents worth (I have flown power) :eek:

Clarence

[Steve Boone]

Another thing you should consider as well. Put your location in your profile. It sounds like a small detail. I've never met anyone around here into gliders in 27 years. Last year I'm on R/C Groups and there's someone with a location 20 miles away. Now I have a whole new group of guys to fly with.

[regis]

Ah.. He did list a location - coordinates. That would put him off US 90, NW of Spearfish , WY. :confused: And he did say he was near the Bad Lands of SD. :eek: He may not have a hobby shop within 100 mi. - much less a model plane club. But there may be other fliers around Spearfish (if that is the local metropolis) and they could get together. Coords are cool but a city and state facilitates communication. :cool: regis

[Bert]

I make him on runway 31 at Rapid City Regional Airport in South Dakota. About 7.5 miles south of Ellsworth AFB.

[Steve Boone]

I realize he put his coordinates in his profile. They're pretty much meaningless though unless someone takes the time to look them up. Plus by entering your location it shows up under your avatar and is quickly seen by everyone at a glance. Most people don't look at everyones profiles. My point was it just makes for better exposure to maybe meet new friends and fellow glider pilots in your area.

[BMatthews]

But an electric glider is just another power model that handles the "dead stick" condition with more grace... :D

Yep that's right and you don't have to look foolish by screaming out "DEAD STICK" :) Because to many power pilots don't have the forsight to plan for a no power landing.

Sorry I had to add MY 2 cents worth (I have flown power) :eek:

Clarence

But if you don't yell out "DEADSTICK" and look all panicy then you miss out on half the fun! ! ! ! ! :D

[onethermal]

But if you don't yell out "DEADSTICK" and look all panicy then you miss out on half the fun! ! ! ! ! :D

Point Taken... :) Clarence

[slopemeno]

I think theres some guys who fly slope and DS in Rapid City over on those forums.

[AC5FF]

Thanks for all the good hints everyone.
I went to add my location and all I got was linked to pointing out a long/lat... Probably missed something, I'll go back here in a few and see if I can find what i need. Bert hit it on the nose though, closest I could point to was Rapid City Reginal Airport! LoL
As for the LHS; they weren't able to give me much info on gliders, only sell two ARFs (that I could find) and the guys there who were members of the local club weren't able to give me much at all in glider references.
I've looked at the power gliders... And it might be better to start out that way... But I really like the idea of having no motors at all. Even if I went out for just 30 minutes and was tossing a DLG up every other minute... To me, I think that's just a lot more fun :) As far as highstarts... never used one and would definatly want someone around for help before i ever attempted to use one!! :)

BMatthews: I'm curoius. I agree that the SS is pretty darn easy to fly; and that it recovers nicely. That being said, it is light, but even a 2M glider, expecially a DLG or HLG, arent those even lighter? I'd have to dig up specks on each, but itsn't the wing-loading on a glider better than that of a SS?

Hopefully someone around Rapid City will catch this thread at some point and shoot me a message.. :) I'm gonna run outa this area n see if I can get my location fixed LOL

EDIT: Wow, that was easy!! LOL.. Click Edit Profile, not location! LOL It's all good now (I think>> LOL)

Thanx again all!
AC

[sekollera]

Send a PM to Dan from Rapid City. He flies slope and dynamic soaring all over Rapid with a small crew. It is windy out there with lots of slopes - sure you want to fly thermal?

Re. LHS, they never carry decent sailplanes. Don't worry, Dan will steer you right.

Dan "garydog"
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=29177

/Adam

[BMatthews]

.....BMatthews: I'm curoius. I agree that the SS is pretty darn easy to fly; and that it recovers nicely. That being said, it is light, but even a 2M glider, expecially a DLG or HLG, arent those even lighter? I'd have to dig up specks on each, but itsn't the wing-loading on a glider better than that of a SS?....AC

The bigger gliders are not only larger but unless you go crazy on the light building aspect they will almost always come out with a little bit more wing loading than the SS. But that's OK since they have a lot of that old "scaling factor" working for them that says larger models just fly better. But the flying speed of even a light Gentle Lady is still going to be as fast or a little faster than the SS. Part of that is the airfoil. But the good news is that you can fly the glider in far more varied conditions than the SS will tolerate.

However with all this efficiency and size comes extra weight. And there's just no way around it. It take energy to accelerate that weight back to flying speed. And with a glider energy is height. It's like gas in the tank.

If you ease back on the SS until it stalls (assuming your CG location will let it reach a full stall) it'll recover in as little as perhaps 5 to 7 feet. Do the same with a 2 meter glider and it'll take around 15 to 20 feet. It just needs that extra height to regain the flying speed.

So part of your transition will be learning to read the plane and keep on top of the speed signature and signs to keep the model flying where it needs to be kept.

[scaflock]

AC, Don't over look the mail-web order aspect for kits. I've got two LHS in my area, both of which are over 50 miles away. :( There are time when ordering off the web is actually cheaper for me Vs. gas to get to the shops. You can't beat the local shops for help though so don't write them off.

Another good aspect of ordering off the web is that you'll often have a wider selection to choose from. If you have questions about a kit you see on the web but want to know what you're getting into before you lay down your hard earned cash, ask about them here first. The people here are a wealth of information and won't steer you wrong. I did the asking thing before I purchased my Laser Arts Jester 2 meter kit and I'm not sorry I did. I got a great kit (which I have yet to build due to other planes in line before it) and am happy with my choice and the help I got here.

Jeff

[AC5FF]

Jeff
That's the problem.. The darn web! (and this forum for that matter!) LOLOL
I've got TOO many desicions to choose from.. Going with one is going to be tough! HAHA, might just have to order two or three! :)

[sekollera]

Before you buy, consider that you are in slope-central and complexities such as high-starts are more or less optional.

30 of us drive 6 hours to Chamberlain three times a year to fly slope. It is better out by you but 12 hours is a long drive!

Talk to Dan, go fly with him, and these thoughts of SS, Gentle Ladies, and bungees will be long gone.

I see a tough foamie like a Bee in your future.
http://www.predatorwings.com/predator_bee_kit.htm

Adam

[AC5FF]

Adam;
Thanks for throwing yet another bee into the mix!! LOLOL Like I needed yet ANOTHER great model to choose from! HAHA

I would agree with you, although I have not seen any, I would think this area would be perfect for slope soaring. But that in itself is a downfall :( As much as I love living here in SD, I have two choices. Stay here and enjoy it or move back to Omaha to be with the wife and kids.. It's getting to be a tougher decision every day! HAHAH!

[lincoln]

I've seen your picture of the field across the street from you. That's big enough for a pretty large glider to land in if you cn launch it. If you pace it off and it's maybe 150 or more steps in the long dimension, I'd seriously recommend a high start and a larger glider. In fact, if you don't mind building, I recommend the glider I always try to get people to build for their first glider, the Olympic 2 (Skybench makes the kit these days, I think). You will learn to thermal a lot faster that way. In this case, although they don't really need it, you might find learning to land using spoilers a bit easier, to give it a glide ratio more like what you're used to. The Oly is pretty light so it wouldn't really have a problem in that space. What you'd want to do first, though, is to fly your SS and practice spot landings, consistent approaches that have a downwind, crosswind, and final leg. If you can always fly your SS where you want it, and land within, say, 10 feet, you can probably handle a big glider with spoilers at that site. Just be prepared for the nose pitching down when you put them on, and make sure you have enough elevator throw to deal with it. (I won't get into mixing, have never done that for spoilers.)

As far as a high start is concerned, if you keep the nose from rising too high until you know what you're doing, throw HARD straight forward and level, and prepare to steer with the rudder, it's very easy. Sometimes people leave the radio off by mistake and still launch high, though after that it gets a bit scary. If you stall on the high start, you push the nose down and straighten things out with the rudder and you're fine.

If you insist on a dlg, polyhedral ones are easier to fly and work ok.

BTW, if you're going to fly at those other spots you showed us, might as well build a glider with about 15 foot span. (Look up the Astro Jeff!) Well, a Paragon or Sailaire would probably be better choices.

(If this all sounds odd, it's because when I started the hobby if you wanted a good glider you had to build one or buy a used one. All the ARF's used to be junk.)