I was given a NIB Spirit of '76. Already knew it wasn't much of a glider, so I carved a "cabin" out of hi-density foam, installed an R/C .09 motor and tricycle LG.

It was one of the best sport flyer/trainer planes ever!

Wonder what percentage is the builder's fault.

I was about 16 in 1975 and I built a big ASW-17. being young and in a perpetual rush for completion I built a nice twist into one or both of the wing panels. The rudder couldnt overcome the twist and I ended up losing it in the trees over at Cal State Hayward.

the glass fuselage came out ok but the wings were junk. My friend had an extra set of graupner cumulus wings so we adapted those into it. amazingly it flew pretty well. We called it a cumulus-w-17.

The wing rods were bent in the middle for dihedral, but I didnt have them really attached very well in the fuselage, I tried using some of that 2 part expanding foam. When I did loops, the wing rods would flop to negative dihedral at the top of the loop, then on pullout they would go back. It scared me the first time but after all the laughing I kept doing it for the entertainment factor.

my buddy was a guy named Mel Philips from EBRC. would love to get back into contact with him

+1 for the Titan 120.

I built a riser 100 several years back,and fot the life of me I could never keep that bird in the air longer than 3minutes off of a great high start launch. I flew this plane for about two years trying different cg locations etc. someone told me that it was designed to fly fast, I tried everything to no avail, I finally got a decent flight out of it on a windy day only to stick it in the very top of an 80' tree!!
It took a few days for it to blow out in a storm after it came down it was pretty much toast, I still wonder what it would have taken from me to make that the plane that I new it could be.

Originally Posted by steve2298

I built a riser 100 several years back,and fot the life of me I could never keep that bird in the air longer than 3minutes off of a great high start launch. I flew this plane for about two years trying different cg locations etc. someone told me that it was designed to fly fast, I tried everything to no avail, I finally got a decent flight out of it on a windy day only to stick it in the very top of an 80' tree!!
It took a few days for it to blow out in a storm after it came down it was pretty much toast, I still wonder what it would have taken from me to make that the plane that I new it could be.

I had one of those once. It flew like a dog even though it was well built and trimmed, something was just wrong. As to flying it fast, there is no flying a Riser fast.

Golden eagle and hob 2x2

Originally Posted by ronj10

Two of my worst. Both were from the early 1980’s.

1st was a craft-air golden eagle. Looked nice , flew dangerous. If you slowed it up too much, (and it was hard to guess at a distance what that speed was) it would tuck the nose and go into a stall straight down for 40 feet. Crashed it three times while bringing it in for a landing. Tried everything during the rebuilds to get rid of the problem. No dice. Simply a bad design.
However, it had a sweet fiberglass fuselage. I finally but windrifter wings on it.

You know, Tom Williams had many awesome designs. But everyone gets it wrong sooner or later, and this was his Waterloo.

2nd was a House of Balsa 2X2. What a piece of junk. Impossible to build the fuselage straight with the way they designed the tail boom, and it loved to tip stall into a spiral of death.

Sounds like you fly too slow Ron.
Skies
J

Originally Posted by airbornone

Sounds like you fly too slow Ron.

Good one...

Yes, quite amusing.

Not my first RC sailplane, yet the first I was able to fly and learn on was a HOB 2x6. Still personal amusement that decades past as a former finish carpenter n fabricator actually flew a 2x6, more than a few feet in frustration, that is.


Jared

Interesting comment on the HOB 2x2. I had one and was able to build it without issue. Not sure why you had tip stalls. I remember making sure I had some wash out. I got my first 1 hr flight with mine.

I guess the statement is true


Your mileage may vary
Kurt

Originally Posted by steve2298

I built a riser 100 several years back,and fot the life of me I could never keep that bird in the air longer than 3minutes off of a great high start launch. I flew this plane for about two years trying different cg locations etc. someone told me that it was designed to fly fast, I tried everything to no avail, I finally got a decent flight out of it on a windy day only to stick it in the very top of an 80' tree!!
It took a few days for it to blow out in a storm after it came down it was pretty much toast, I still wonder what it would have taken from me to make that the plane that I new it could be.

I'm surprised to read your Riser 100 story. I've had 2 or 3 of them, and they all flew pretty well. They are on the heavy side, and do need to be flown faster than you might expect a woodie that "looks" like a floater, but doing that, and having a pretty far aft CG makes it decent. It's no Paragon, but what is?

Originally Posted by LVsoaring

I'm surprised to read your Riser 100 story. I've had 2 or 3 of them, and they all flew pretty well. They are on the heavy side, and do need to be flown faster than you might expect a woodie that "looks" like a floater, but doing that, and having a pretty far aft CG makes it decent. It's no Paragon, but what is?

I am also surprised. I have a Riser 100 for a few years now and it flies amazingly well.

Originally Posted by ronj10

Two of my worst. Both were from the early 1980’s.
- snip-
2nd was a House of Balsa 2X2. What a piece of junk. Impossible to build the fuselage straight with the way they designed the tail boom, and it loved to tip stall into a spiral of death.

Must be the 2X4. I built two and found them very easy and straight forward to build.
I had lots of fun flying them, specially the latter which I built very light and used mini servos. Finally I adapted the fuse to fit the wings of a Piece o' Cake and now I cannot make it land!

I reinforced the heck out of a Spirit of 76 kit, covered the entire airframe with light fiberglass, and mounted an Astro Cobalt 5 turn in the nose with a 14" AeroNaut carbon-blade folding prop. It climbs with authority, and I enjoy it as my "windy day" sailplane, as it will penetrate a minor gale. I certainly won't pretend it's a high-performance contest winner, but it is fun to fly, and that high lift wing hauls the weight around just fine. So while the unmodified Spirit of 76 certainly is a major contender for the "worst" title, it can be made into a fun flyer.

Originally Posted by azdiane

I reinforced the heck out of a Spirit of 76 kit, covered the entire airframe with light fiberglass, and mounted an Astro Cobalt 5 turn in the nose with a 14" AeroNaut carbon-blade folding prop. It climbs with authority, and I enjoy it as my "windy day" sailplane, as it will penetrate a minor gale. I certainly won't pretend it's a high-performance contest winner, but it is fun to fly, and that high lift wing hauls the weight around just fine. So while the unmodified Spirit of 76 certainly is a major contender for the "worst" title, it can be made into a fun flyer.

Ooh-hoo! A fellow female! Howdy!

Staying on topic: A lot of people talk about the Spirit Elite as being a bad plane. I took the advice of Paul Naton (sp?) in his "Sailplane Tuning" DVD, and adjusted the decalage to zero-zero as I finished the half-completed kit given to me. Much cursing and adjusting to make the wings straight -- they resembled helicopter rotors -- and some other fixits, and I called it worthy of a Taylor Special covering job. I'm sure I posted about it earlier in this thread, actually, so I'll spare the full story. Needless to say, it's a great, nimble flier, though better suited to slope antics than the flat-land thermal long I've been doing wih it. Still, I can keep it up for a whole 10 minute task, and land it in the same field it started out in, so I'll call it good.