Originally Posted by airpower

Hey, do any of you think i could use my stryker as a trainer to learn how to find thermals?

Not floaty enough in my book.... Maybe someone else had luck with it? Have to admit that when I fly my Stryker, I FLY my Stryker. That's about the only airplane in my UM fleet that I could use without a linear throttle.... It's either ON or OFF with that baby!!!

I think the best UM is still the Vapor (with 10% throttle to cancel prop drag) or the Extra 300 3D (again, a bit of throttle needed).

Originally Posted by RealGambler

Not floaty enough in my book.... Maybe someone else had luck with it? Have to admit that when I fly my Stryker, I FLY my Stryker. That's about the only airplane in my UM fleet that I could use without a linear throttle.... It's either ON or OFF with that baby!!!

Yes but it glide very well when you in power OFF mode with a stopped prop. I had glide flights for some minutes.

RG,
I have all those planes, i just dont want to use the ASK for learning. I have flown gliders, done alot of slope soaring, done alot of thermaling in the sim, but ive never used a thermal in an actual flight, i was thinking of buying a champ for training(wanted one for a long time), but a 90 dollar trainer when i already have a stryker, vapor, extra, planes that would already be quite susceptible to thermals(i think).
But then again, im a really good pilot, how am i gonna crash the ask learning to thermal?

Originally Posted by airpower

RG,
I have all those planes, i just dont want to use the ASK for learning. I have flown gliders, done alot of slope soaring, done alot of thermaling in the sim, but ive never used a thermal in an actual flight, i was thinking of buying a champ for training(wanted one for a long time), but a 90 dollar trainer when i already have a stryker, vapor, extra, planes that would already be quite susceptible to thermals(i think).
But then again, im a really good pilot, how am i gonna crash the ask learning to thermal?

Always use the right tool for the job. Probably better to learn all the theory and then put it into practice with the ASK.

Thanks Gerry, theres a hill at my local park, so ill get an extra 30 ft from the high start. Ive heard of black asphalt streets generating lots of heat, are those good places for thermals?

Originally Posted by airpower

Thanks Gerry, theres a hill at my local park, so ill get an extra 30 ft from the high start. Ive heard of black asphalt streets generating lots of heat, are those good places for thermals?

The countryside is probably the best place to start. Brown fields are good places and of course there will be birds taking advantage of any lift.

Massive subject, though, and the more you read up on it the better you'll do.

What about a small brushless motor powerplant on a stake in the ground - spinning a spool, an eye hook a couple feet away with the line going through it and out a couple hundred feet to the ASK..

Hit a button, brushless motor spins up and spool spins in at break-neck speeds, up and away

Originally Posted by microheli

Yes but it glide very well when you in power OFF mode with a stopped prop. I had glide flights for some minutes.

I know it does glide awesome, I've been flying Strykers for a long time!. You can keep in C version in the air for more than 30 minutes if all you do is go up, and gently glide down while riding some hot air, rinse and repeat. But I think you would need a massive thermal to gain altitude with a Stryker though. Staying at the same level for a little while seem possible, but since I was always way up when that happened, I could not bet money on it!

I agree that the right tool for the job is a glider, but trust me, a Vapor over a hot city (roofs, asphalt, etc) can be fun too. Hard to get the perfect day for it though, since if there's any real wind, the Vapor stay in the box!

Originally Posted by Gerry__

The countryside is probably the best place to start. Brown fields are good places and of course there will be birds taking advantage of any lift.

Massive subject, though, and the more you read up on it the better you'll do.

They're not bad, but parking lots are better. Even in the winter, on a sunny day, the asphalt heats up a lot more than the surrounding area.
MR2

I use to send my little Aero Ace over my rooftop to get it to soar up in the air far faster than it climbed on it's own.

I had an Aerobird Challenger I would circle above the house as well in the evenings. Also, I am all field behind my house with a lot of wind and a high treeline along the road in front. My Aerobird would cruise along that treeline forever off throttle.

Originally Posted by mrodgers

I use to send my little Aero Ace over my rooftop to get it to soar up in the air far faster than it climbed on it's own.

I had an Aerobird Challenger I would circle above the house as well in the evenings. Also, I am all field behind my house with a lot of wind and a high treeline along the road in front. My Aerobird would cruise along that treeline forever off throttle.

Sounds interesting, I might try a bit of urban soaring myself.

Originally Posted by Gerry__

Sounds interesting, I might try a bit of urban soaring myself.

Pale Male. He resides in the high rent district on the upper east side of Manhattan. He does urban soaring almost every day. This shot taken with a 500 mm zoom on my Nikon D90.

Pete

Originally Posted by airpower

Hey, do any of you think i could use my stryker as a trainer to learn how to find thermals?

I assume you mean the UMX Stryker, you've got to program it to full brake or else the prop just windmills which totally kills its floating abilities. But with full brake it does hang pretty well. The issue with it is its size, it's so tiny that you can't get it into boomer territory and still see it well.

Originally Posted by Tres Wright

I assume you mean the UMX Stryker, you've got to program it to full brake or else the prop just windmills which totally kills its floating abilities. But with full brake it does hang pretty well. The issue with it is its size, it's so tiny that you can't get it into boomer territory and still see it well.

I tried full brake, but the prop still create a drag. It's much better to simply give some throttle (something along 5%) which you know doesn't propulse the airplane but simply cancel the drag totally. And again, I would like to see a report of a Stryker gaining altidude with thermal (and 5% thottle). Definitively not the best one for practicing, though I agree, it does glide DOWN very well and slow.

Originally Posted by RealGambler

I tried full brake, but the prop still create a drag. It's much better to simply give some throttle (something along 5%) which you know doesn't propulse the airplane but simply cancel the drag totally. And again, I would like to see a report of a Stryker gaining altidude with thermal (and 5% thottle). Definitively not the best one for practicing, though I agree, it does glide DOWN very well and slow.

Personally I don't like to leave the prop turning, it slows it down too much. With the prop stopped it glides quicker and can zip around to try and find lift. If I find lift I give it some up elevator to hold it there. But more power to you if that's your preference Darned near anything will climb if you can find good lift, I've even had a Kinkade ornithopter get caught in a thermal and climb out, and those things drop like a rock when they're not flapping. And yes, I've had the Stryker climb in a thermal with no throttle as well. But not for long before I bailed into a spin, because it gets too small too fast. But the Stryker is obviously not a dedicated sailplane and isn't going to render 15 minute power off glides without unusually strong thermal activity present. The ASK-21 should be a lot better for that. Hope to find out soon

PS, not to make it sound like I take the Stryker out just for thermaling, that's not the case. I mostly fly it down low and do aerobatics with it, but for a break now and then I'll send it up high and play around to see how long I can keep it flying with no power. I do that with a bunch of my planes just for grins