Thermal on beach

[catman529]

Just a question. We'll be on vacation during late June, when thermals should be good. Is there good thermal activity on the beach? I might want to build a collapsable glider/sailplane to haul along with us when we drive up to the Jersey shore. There's always a lot of wind on the beach, and I would imagine a good thermal would cause it to stop momentarily...and I could get a plane up a few hundred feet and then ride the wind around for a while...just a thought, I'm not experienced with thermals. First time I saw a good one in action is when I shot a little Zing Wing glider up at a park, and it went from 50 to over 100 feet in a few seconds and soared over to an adjacent golf course.

So what's it like soaring at the shore?

Thanks

[DProseus]

I always try to take one of my older DLG's to the beach with me. I offer the following observations:

If the wind is straight in off the water or almost so, you can slope soar almost anything-from a 2' high dune to the multi story condos for as long as the battery will go. The shore line itself creates some lift so that once you are up you can fly out over the water some and gain altitude.

If the wind is down the beach you are mostly at the mercy of thermals which will cycle through. I am not sure just what the cause is, but with the higher condos sometimes there is a sort of wave action that will sustain flight.

If the wind is blowing over the buildings and out to sea, the air you are going to fly in is extremely turbulant-like the rotors on the back of a slope. Flying then is normally not very enjoyable.

During the busy seasons for beach goers I find that by 9AM there are starting to be too many folks to fly safely and I usually cool it until evening after most have gone in.

It is a neat way to meet people as many will stop to talk and ask questions.

Most of my activity takes place on North Myrtle Beach any time of year.

Dick

[catman529]

Thanks for the info...I will probably start collecting some gear for a small glider. How do you launch off a 2 foot dune? The place we're staying at this year is a couple blocks away from the beach so I'll have to launch from the ground. Will hand-launching work if the wind is straight from the sea? There's an arcade on the beach with a back deck facing the ocean...sounds like a good launch spot. Will the plane stay up if it is built well? Thanks again

[east6008]

I've slope soared a local beach for years and find the light conditions
the most enjoyable. It'll be dead calm down on the beach but if you
climb the dune, theres a warm breeze from the hot sand.
I use very light gliders, like the Fokker D7 shown,
(the prop is a popsicle stick which spins in the wind)
Even some micro electric rtfs which promptly go to 500 ft.
If its windy, I find a heavy surf creates lift a quarter mile out for some reason

[catman529]

Have any recommendations for durable yet very lightweight materials I can use to build with? Currently I use EPP and bamboo skewers which is almost indestructable. I might get a little construction foam and build a small to medium sized sailplane.

[lincoln]

How do you launch off a 2 foot dune?
If the wind is right, stand just in front of the dune, hold the glider pointing into the wind, and let go. Otherwise you might need a light toss. This kind of thing is a lot more fun with a reasonably good floater (in low wind). An Oly 2 will soar that 2 foot dune in 5mph of wind.

[Dakrat]

Have you checked out the "Revert" or the "KF Crossbow" in the foamy section?

You could build very quickly out of foam or EPP. It's small enough to travel with and it looks like a blast to fly. Just do a quick search...
Dak...

[east6008]

Try 5mm depron, the more I use it, the better I like it

[catman529]

I just built an aero ace that is a FANTASTIC glider (maybe could be even better with a wider wingspan). I'll probably model a bigger one after it. No airfoil, it's all flat and very low profile. I made a glider with foam board from the Dollar Tree :p and it didn't fly very far. I will attempt a low profile model sometime soon.