Hi Guys,

I've only been in the hobby for 8 yrs, so my experience is limited. I had a glider called a Kelly. It was a dihedril wing. It tip stalled real easy. I finally got so tired of that stuff, I cut off the wing tips, added 6" to each side and made it a poly wing. It solved the problem. I bought only poly wing planes after that.

Bob in Seattle

Originally Posted by s2000

I think the Bob Smith model was the Sea Breeze, all glass, heavier than a tank, although I do remember it being able to plow right through other stuff on the slope with hardly a bump, it was a real pig.

Yep the Sea Breeze ... If anyone has one mint in the box, please PM ... I am interested in buying! Yes it was crap, but it was crap that L@@Ked Good!

Gambler

Any para"glider"

Dieter Mahlein, ShredAir

Originally Posted by prodjx

Re: Hobie Hawk it's interresting how there's a love/hate kind of thing going on with this bird. Some sware at them and some guy love them. It's sure a looker, I have one on display where I live. Some day........

Here is why some hated the Hobie Hawk.... they tried to fly it like any other plane of it's time. Big Mistake! I took on an early lesson with my HH back in 1974.... at a ripe old age of 17. I launched it and said to myself.... "what makes this plane fly 'happy'". I watched it very closely to see where it would "settle in" and perform. Once I understood that, the HH was THE BEST flying plane I ever owned.

The biggest mistake others had was they kept trying to fly it with the tail down. The HH flies with the tail quite high in comparison to others.

Now for my worse glider... I'd have to say the Bridi Tercel... called a "grenade launch" glider.... for the price of $25 I couldn't complain but it just didn't fly worth a damn.

Kurt

I'm gonna toss in with the "HobbyShack" Spirit76 foamkabob. A POS.

Originally Posted by kzimmerm

Here is why some hated the Hobie Hawk.... they tried to fly it like any other plane of it's time. Big Mistake! I took on an early lesson with my HH back in 1974.... at a ripe old age of 17. I launched it and said to myself.... "what makes this plane fly 'happy'". I watched it very closely to see where it would "settle in" and perform. Once I understood that, the HH was THE BEST flying plane I ever owned.

The biggest mistake others had was they kept trying to fly it with the tail down. The HH flies with the tail quite high in comparison to others.

Now for my worse glider... I'd have to say the Bridi Tercel... called a "grenade launch" glider.... for the price of $25 I couldn't complain but it just didn't fly worth a damn.

Kurt

Kurt,

Believe it or Not! I flew with the designer of the Tercel!

The guy was a fellow member of the SULA - Soaring Union of Los Angeles County.

Yes it was cheap, and could only perform from a small high start.

Matter of fact, the designer showed me how it did it and I duplicated it with success:

He takes out a coffee can and from it produces a high start made from dozens of rubber bands hook knotted together and about 50 feet of nylon line.

I hope he reads this and says hello! Hello Tercel designer!

Maybe because you said it was a bad design, he now won't admit to it!?

Gambler

Wow! What a fun topic this is turning out to be! So far, my two favorite birds are mentioned as dumb gliders: The Hobie Hawk and the Skeeter!

My friend Crestline Dennis let me fly his Skeeter a few years ago. I loved the "Hobie like" quick handling qualities his particular one had. So a couple months ago he calls, says he's thinning out his fleet and remembered how much I enjoyed his Skeeter and made me an offer on her that couldn't be turned down.

The glider has a lot of use and it shows, but oh my, it turns on the proverbial dime and gives back 9 cents change, like a Hobie but weighing only a quarter as much.

I'm really curious, what do guys find distasteful about this cute little glider?
I guess it's folks being used to a Cadillac and then trying a Mini Cooper, I can't think what else it could be.

I have to chime in with someone else who mentioned the Explorer 2M RF. This "thing" was not only ugly, but flew terribly. If you brought the nose up at all from the glide, it would peel off into a tip stall and plow over. And, please don't confuse this with the top selling F3J model from NAN models called the Xplorer, which won the World Champs in 2008. The Global Hobbies Explorer 2M was completely worthy of the nickname, "Exploder". It simply could not survive anything stronger than a worn out 2-meter hi-start. The wings would fold and suddenly you were playing lawn darts. I kid you not that I have witnessed no less than a dozen of these planes come screaming out of the sky, sans the wings, and making a smoking hole in the ground. They didn't thermal worth a darn, and to be honest, they made a great aerial target. Get out the 12-gauge and wait for the word....PULL!

Mike

Clearly the fling is the worst POS I've flown. But don't forget the angry little electric glider, Aspire. Less than 2M, poly with a tiny stab and rudder. Powered by a little brushless noise maker...nasty little thing. Warped wings, tip stalling poor flying little horror...NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE F3J über ship made by Lubos.

Originally Posted by RCGambler

Yep the Sea Breeze ... If anyone has one mint in the box, please PM ... I am interested in buying! Yes it was crap, but it was crap that L@@Ked Good!

Gambler

It's not mint, but you might check this one out. Looks like it has the original box.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1472468

I second the Fling DLG! I think the worst thing I every flew was a 60" glider from Wattage the VX400 using a cobalt speed 400 motor.

I'll stand up for the Hobie Hawk as one of the Best flying planes back then and now,

If you got to understand the plane and its quirks and classic Hobie roll and yaw you had it mastered, I will agree they are not easy to land as they don't fly slow, but who could resist the classic lines and graceful look.

The materials used to make the Hawk were well ahead of its time and that may contribute to why their are many still around today, it's like a cult following and like they say you either like them or hate them, but I sure enjoy the ones I have and fly them often.

Originally Posted by theghosttanker

Midwest Soarer, and of course the Fling DLG

Soarer, designed by Hal DeBolt?

Radian.

Sure it flies. But it's Colonel Sanders takeaway technology; cheap and stogy. And try picking the cowcrap outa them cells. If only it were biodegradable . . . or just NOT made :-)

Hmm, I'd have put the Radion in the "Greg flyer" categories.