This handlaunch link thread was inspired by (and originated from) Adam Neat's Hand Launch Info thread. Thanks Adam for the great idea! The list has evolved due to helpful suggestions from RCGroups users: please let me know of additions, dead links, or errors.

I’m trying to keep the list short enough to be meaningful and useful. Therefore, I'm listing only only suppliers, build logs, plans, building supplies or reference materials related to handlaunch / discus-launched RC gliders. New links/recent changes are highlighted with a big red *New* or *Updated* etc. "Source code" of this post, and my reasons for archiving it, are at this link.

Thanks,
Hal

Legend: Colors denote Kit or Scratchbuild, all others are ARF

Handlaunch Planes:


ArmSoar ; Neos; US and Canadian Distributor of TopSky, JJEdge: Asia distributor of Steigeisen, Flow 5, and Ultegra as well
Art Hobby ; Nice selection of HLG's
BLH ; ASPI 97 (in French)
Bug Yahoo Group; Bug
Canterbury Sailplanes ; Eagle
Charles River RC; Online plans for the SuperGee II, Apogee, Terminator HLG
Claus Thiele Modellbau ; Falke, Keibitz, Milan, Weihe, and others (in German)*NEW*
CS Flugmodellbau ; KiSal
[Dave's Aircraft Works; Hosted by SkyKing RC Products; Dragonette, Schweizer 1-26
Decker Planes; Spinnin Birdy (in German)
DeX SAL ; DeX 0.77m SAL
DJ Aerotech; Chrysalis traditional built up HLG - still just $49.95! Also their "Ask D&J" has lots of good info.
Dr. Chucho; Dr. Chucho SAL Glider
Dream Flight; Alula
Dyne-o-mite; Dyne-o-Mite 1M SAL Glider
Edge; RC Groups thread on the Edge Airfoil series - refer to the top post for links to designs buried deeper in the thread
Edge RC ; MiSAL
Enduro Composite Models ; Apogee Elite, Apogee Sport; Link is apparently dead as of 8/12
Falken ; RC Groups Thread on the Falken
f3x ; SALpeter, Aspirin, RAD2 and Stobel
Great Planes ; Fling DL
HJZ ; Predator II
HKM ; Concept Xtreme 2, 3
HobbyKing ; Versus
Hobby Club ; Long Shot, Top Sky Series
Hokusei model shop ; Chinese Mini DLGs similar to Apogee Sport *NEW*
Hyperflight ; EU supplier of the Vladimir's Models incl. Blaster, Elf, Longshot, Fireworks
ICare ; Osiris, Gladiator, Absalut, Sofia
Icarus; Icarus 1.2m DLG
Isthmus Models; Zephyr traditional built-up HLG, others
Jones' Prototypes ; Vandal
Kennedy Composites ; Blaster 2, Blaster 3, Blaster 3 ST, Elf
Liftworx ; Swyft
Little Nipper Yahoo Group; Grandfather of the Seeker / Swyft
Manta; RC Groups Thread on the Manta - built-up Drela DLG
Merlin Hobbies ; Ice Fire II reseller
MiMi
Miniplumes ; Topset II
MM Glider Tech; Merlin, Illusion: balsa HLGs in the $50 price range
Modellflug-Technik ; Ultrawing
Momentum Model Technologies ; Sirius
The MONSTR Shop; US Distributor of TopSky
Modellbau Bichler ; EU supplier of Horejsi Joy and Longshot II, Valenta Apache, Huron and Baby Fly
Modelflight ; AUS supplier of Long Shot
Mountain Models/Laser Arts; Boomer, Quickflick II kit and short kit, DL-50, Supergee II short kit (templates), Spinner XT EPP Kit
Nano
http://nqrc.com/; Quickflick Kits, plus DLG onboard electronics solutions: apparently closed
Oleg Golovidov ; Validol, Taboo GT
Pacific Glider Works ; Arrow Pro and Arrow Sport
PCM ; Fireworks, Flow
Peak Hobby ; Binary, Binary 900 and Ice Fire II Manufacturer
Possum Works ; Avenger 3
QSC; QSC 32 inch (80cm) SAL
RC Builder ; Lighthawk, Lightspeed, Blade, Razor
Skip Miller Models ; Ultegra, Steigeisen
Sklep Modelarski Exspert ; Pulsar, Mistral, Orion
Skybench Aerotech; Lil' Bird, Sunbird
SoaringUSA ; Solo, Tabu, X-ray, Bat, Gladiator II, Spin, Fireworks, Steigeisen, Stobel, etc
Spritz ; Spritz Molded DLG
Stratair ; Risk, X-Ray Micro, Bat, Steigeisen and Ultegra. In German
Steelhead Products; Fry and Fry MKII ; Link is apparently dead as of 8/12
Tralla la; Tralla la 80cm DLG
Top Soaring ; Top Sky 2.0 and Mini Top Sky Manufacturer
TUD Modelltechnik ; Manufacturer of Aspirin and SALPeter
Twister
YPSI; Fenix (in Czech)
Wright Brothers RC; Gambler AG
Zaerotech ; Zip 33 -
Zone; Zone airfoil series


Building Supplies:

Aerospace Composite Products
AeroMarine Products; Resins
Aircraft Spruce; Full scale aircraft supply but has lots of stuff a hobbyist could use
AMT Composites; South African Composites Supplier
Balsa USA
Cheap Battery Packs
Clarasonic; US and China Supplier of Rohacell
Composite Structures Technology (CST)
Compufoamcore; CNC foam cutting by Laszlo Horvath
Core Cutting; CNC foam cutting by RCG user Traian
Discount Composite
Fiberglass Supply
FibreGlast
Goodwinds Kites; Tailbooms
Hilaunch; Reflective tape, hinge tape
Lonestar Balsa; Back in business as of 2/2009
National Balsa
Soller Composites
Stealth Plane Works; CNC foam cutting by Anker Berg-Sonne
Sweet Composites
Tailbooms.com; Tailbooms and teflon tubing
Thayercraft; Glass Cloth
US Composites

Reference/How-to/Inspirational:

Everything; SensibleNick's "Everything" thread - references to lots of how-to
Airfoil Programs Thread
FAI; Contest rules
Fiberglassing without vacuum; Wax Paper / Weights method for tails
Foam Properties
How to Transport your Handlaunch; Links to examples of transport boxes
Molding / Bagging Threads
Polecat Handlaunch University
Radio Carbon Art; Videos on building and flying handlaunch
Radio Controlled Soaring Digest; Check out the Archives especially March-October 2006 which documented the build process for Maple Leaf's Encore
Reese Productions; Lift Ticket videos
SAL Glider Yahoo Group; Good historical info but activity there all but ended in 2007
SuperGee Thread; Go here to get a full education on building and flying foam-core composite DLGs, centered around Mark Drela's seminal design, the SuperGee.
Switchjacks; SwitchJack and Wiring Harness Links
Tailwind Gliders; Calc tools and instructional vids
Vacuum Bagging and Molding; Phil Barnes Techniques

The link for Vacuum Bagging and Composite Molding are dead - Any idea where they moved ?


Edit - Did a google search and came up with this - http://homepage.ntlworld.com/goddo/T...Techniques.htm

Is there a list somewhere of the HL/f3k contests and events?

Maybe some links to the annual events/contests?

Originally Posted by Kirkerik

Is there a list somewhere of the HL/f3k contests and events?

Maybe some links to the annual events/contests?

Perhaps ESL calendarfor east Coast events

What is ESL?

Eastern Soaring League

http://www.flyesl.org/

Howdy:

Do y'all DLG folk have unique criteria for an "ARF?"

I have snooped at most of the links that claim to be ARFs and they look awfully kit-like. Granted some foamy ARFs are nearly ready to fly out of the box, what with pre-installed electronics. Most ARFs (of all types) seem to require gluing together the major components, fiddling with the control rods, and all electronics are DIY.

I think that glassing wings, covering pods, and a few other steps are not what the usual consumer thinks of when they think "ARF."

FTR, my perspective is that of someone who is contemplating jumping into DLGs. My preference is a durable (advanced state of completion) relatively cheap beginner's ARF that I can learn how to properly launch as well as learn a thing or three about DLG construction (so that when I spend real $$$ on a kit or kit-like ARF DLG I don't hose it up).

The closest DLGs I have seen to what I consider in the ARF state of completion are the Hokusei mini DLGs and the Apache & Huron from soaringusa.com (bad reviews for the latter two, sadly).

If I have overlooked other beginner/reasonable ARFs in a state of completion similar to that of the Apache & Hokusei DLGs, I would be more than happy to recant and learn the error of my ways.

Relatively inexpensive is not a well defined term. With top competition DLGs approaching $1000, $500 is relatively inexpensive. Is this what you had in mind?


Hobby Club has the Top Sky line. They should meet your expectations and range from $130 to $365.
http://www.hobbyclub.com/index.php?cPath=21_163


Kennedy Composites Blaster 2 is $400 and the Blaster III is $470
http://www.kennedycomposites.com/

Do you have a link for these?

Originally Posted by roo_ster

Howdy:

Do y'all DLG folk have unique criteria for an "ARF?"

I have snooped at most of the links that claim to be ARFs and they look awfully kit-like. Granted some foamy ARFs are nearly ready to fly out of the box, what with pre-installed electronics. Most ARFs (of all types) seem to require gluing together the major components, fiddling with the control rods, and all electronics are DIY.

I think that glassing wings, covering pods, and a few other steps are not what the usual consumer thinks of when they think "ARF."

The only person on here who made a judgement about which of these planes was an ARF versus a kit was me, there wasn't any discussion about it, and I've no idea whether my concept of ARF matches the rest of the world.

The way I defined it was as follows that for a kit the builder has to

1) construct the airplane parts
2) put those parts together to make the final plane, and then
3) install the radio

But for an ARF the builder gets to skip the first step. But still must

2) put major parts together (join wing halves, install tail feathers, maybe install control linkages)
3) in some instances cut out control surfaces,
4) install radio

If there are some links that don't match that definition, please let me know and I'll try to fix them.

Thanks,

Hal

Originally Posted by Dragon 2

Do you have a link for these?

Maple Leaf Design used to build the Encore but a while ago their website stopped listing it so I pulled the it off the list

Originally Posted by ClimaxPilot

The link for Vacuum Bagging and Composite Molding are dead - Any idea where they moved ?


Edit - Did a google search and came up with this - http://homepage.ntlworld.com/goddo/T...Techniques.htm

That link isn't the same video. I'm stumped too. Anyone else know anything?

I continue to receive excellent pointers to links to add, and with this help the list continues to grow! This list has continued to evolve largely due to the collaboration of so many RC Groups members. Thanks everyone for your help.

I've been maintaining the top post with all the current information. Followup posts, after the link suggestions have been added to the list, I've been pruning out of the thread after letting them stand for a few weeks or if a flurry of comments starts to stack up. I hope that no one takes offense at that, I'm just trying to keep things quick n' clean.

Suggestions for new links are always welcome. Furthermore, notification about bad or obsolete links is very welcome - I no longer check them on any regular basis.

Regards,
Hal

Looks like HobbyKing has a new DLG ARF
The Apollo 1550
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...0mm_ARF_.html?

Micro 21" DLG
http://www.skyhighhobby.com/micro-d-...lg-glider.html