Riser 78

[Charon102]

Hello folks

I`ve order a new sailplane kit from a local hobby shop here in Europe. It`s the Riser 78, the smaller brother of the SIG/kavan Riser 100. My first question, is it a good buy? How is the kit and wood quality?
And second, is the sailplane solid enough to get high started? (I won`t build an electronic propulsion).

Greetings from Switzerland

[lincoln]

I don't know about the quality of the kit. I haven't seen a Sig kit in years, but they used to be known for good quality.

I've flown the 2 meter Riser and I liked it a lot. It's not fast, more of a trainer, but it has nice handling.

It has spar caps top and bottom, so if the grain of the wood in the spar caps is straight, and you build it carefully, you should have no problem with a reasonable high start. You can even winch it without too much trouble if you can make many very short taps at short intervals with your foot on the switch. I always try to get people to go hide somewhere and practice this before they get on a real winch. Hold glider in one hand, transmitter in the other, stand on one foot and tap the other. It would make a good sobriety test.

Personally, I alwys try to get beginners to build an Olympic 2, but short of that, a 2 meter Riser is a good choice.

[Charon102]

I don't know about the quality of the kit. I haven't seen a Sig kit in years, but they used to be known for good quality.

I've flown the 2 meter Riser and I liked it a lot. It's not fast, more of a trainer, but it has nice handling.

That`s exactly why I bought it, it has a larger wing area and it`s lighter than other 2m sailplanes. Great, you flew the Riser 78. Did the plane had spoilers or thermal brake?


Personally, I alwys try to get beginners to build an Olympic 2, but short of that, a 2 meter Riser is a good choice.

The Riser will be my second plane.

[Grunta5]

The Riser 2m was my first sailplane, handled my high start no problem..
Im half way through scratch building another one....

[Grunta5]

Heres the one im half way through building now, started it last week... they build up quite quickly..follow the plans and you will have a fine flying model
( the kit comes with a very detailed building manual too.. :)

[LVsoaring]

I've buiult and flown several Riser 100's, and the quality of the kits has always been very good. I'm sure the smaller Riser is the same. As for Hi-Start launching, it will be fine, just build the center part of the wing carefully with very good glue joints.

[lincoln]

That`s exactly why I bought it, it has a larger wing area and it`s lighter than other 2m sailplanes. Great, you flew the Riser 78. Did the plane had spoilers or thermal brake?



The Riser will be my second plane.
I don't recall if it had spoilers. We had plenty of room to land at that site, and it wasn't a contest.

[FrogChief]

The SIG Riser 2-meter was my first sailplane as well back in 1995. Add some sheerwebs on the inner wing panels and you'll have a reasonably strong plane.

-Sean

[Windependence]

Hi Charon,

I just finished building a Riser 2M a few months back. I am very please on the quality of the wood and the clarity of the directions. I did put spoilers in the wings and they work like a charm. I am new to model flying and new to gliders so I was looking for a easy flying floater style plane. I would buy another one tomorrow if needed.

I did make a couple changes to the standard build plan. First I reinforced the main dihedral spar joiner with a piece of 1/16 x 1 inch carbon flat stock. I also used the same material for the spoilers. The wing is much stronger for it with very little weight penalty. My all up flying weight is right around 25 oz.

I have been launching it off of a 2M highstart stretched to around 10 lbs of pull. I get great launches.

Wayne

[StevenatorLTFO]

I've had three, one that was bone stock, one that was tweeked a bit, and one that I went nuts on. All were fun flyers.

((two more in the pile yet as well, for when I get time and space to get back to building on a regular basis!))


Steve

[TheNightowl]

I've got a half-built one in my pile of half-built planes. I was ... ehhh.. unimpressed with the die cutting. But then, I don't build from kits much. I'm a scratch builder. I will say that I was impressed with how much more solid the wing seems to be than on everybody's favorite, the Gentle Lady. And I think the wider surface on the ribs with the capstrips will made for better covering adhesion and probably a stiffer wing than the GL.
Nightowl

[FrogChief]

I've got a half-built one in my pile of half-built planes. I was ... ehhh.. unimpressed with the die cutting. But then, I don't build from kits much. I'm a scratch builder. I will say that I was impressed with how much more solid the wing seems to be than on everybody's favorite, the Gentle Lady. And I think the wider surface on the ribs with the capstrips will made for better covering adhesion and probably a stiffer wing than the GL.
Nightowl


Yeah...I always thought the Riser was unfairly overshadowed by the Gentle Lady. :(

[lincoln]

The Oly 2 is unfairly shadowed by ALL those popular two meter trainers. It's much better but doesn't have the advertising budget of the others. You might be able to convince me that a Paragon would be even better, though I think on cost/benefit the Oly would still win.

[StevenatorLTFO]

Frog,

Diecutting seems barbaric, after working with the great laser cut kits that are out there now.

The Risers I built, were when the kit was new as well, so it could be that the dies are WAY past their prime... I've seen that alot over the years.

The one mod I did that I think I liked the best, and would recommend to anybody, is to sheet the leading edge back to the spar, instead of the narrow sheeting depicted on on the plans. One the very last one I build, I did a full D tube leading edge on the center section, and the wing was very stiff, I launched it off of a 6v winch all of the time, with no problems at all.

I found some pictures the other day of the old ones I built, I'll have to see if I can get them scanned in.

Steve

[Monster Mash]

I still fly my Riser I built 10+ years ago. I built it exactly to the plans and I have launched it full pedal off the winch many times, I can't believe how strong the wing is. It is just a little too slow for contest flying and it doesn't penetrate wind very well but it is a great plane to catch thermals and just have fun with.