I cannot believe that two guys called the coyote the worst! No way! These things fly great! I had several and blasted the hell out of them at Fermin back in the day.

Now, I want to nominate every single sailplane designed and sold by Hobby shack from the 80's to the 90's. This would include the explorer, spirit of 76, ridge runt, and every other pile they kitted or sold as arf.

I remember when I was leaning how to fly, I had built a few wanderers, and my buddy couldn't build so he had an explorer. One day while pulling his wing out of the car in 10 mph breaze it folded! haha

Originally Posted by davidjensen

Most of what the Hobie Hawk proponents have said reinforces my submission of the HH to this list. They all say it has to be flow its way or nothing. Once you understand how it wants to fly it flys great. A GOOD FLYING glider does not need to be flow ONE WAY. (flame jacket on)

OK,let me ask you this. Do you slope race an Icon? Would you use a Jart for thermal duration?
The point being not All gliders are all around 'style' gliders.
And in between the old faithful,anyone can fly it type and the highly specialized purpose designed/built wonderships, are all the rest in their own part of the scale.
I submit that pilots get 'stuck' at one point or area of this 'scale' and anything that does not fit their 'sweet spot' gets denounced as crap.
(except for the Spirit of 76,we all know that was crap right ? )
And for the HH,I would venture to say this is still one of the most demanding RE planes out there by virtue of it's a) somewhat obscure balancing procedure b) it's elliptical planform requiring due diligence to check/adj. wingtip washout and c) it's odd,tailhigh flight attitude.
Certainly Not your father's 2m RE ship but a good flyer.
I wonder what DP would think of the Icon if the C/G was set @ the LE and the wing tips we're ballasted?
Skies.
Jay.

My first successful flight was with a spirit of 76.

My vote for worst ever is Estes Strato Blaster.

Originally Posted by rdwoebke

My first successful flight was with a spirit of 76.

Impossible!
J

Originally Posted by AirBornOne

Impossible!
J

It happened. At the time it was a good setup. Cheap and went together quick. The grandfather of the radian.

Ryan

The worst I've ever flown was the Radian. Was a big, floppy, sloppy wet dog-kiss of a plane!

But, it flew like nothing else! On the slope in 10+ mph winds though, it just flops around like a jellyfish!

Originally Posted by FrogChief

The worst I've ever flown was the Radian. Was a big, floppy, sloppy wet dog-kiss of a plane!

But, it flew like nothing else! On the slope in 10+ mph winds though, it just flops around like a jellyfish!

This post is to celebrate and repeat what you so eloquently express

I had one of these languid foam popinjays [due to spontaneous consumer spasm]. One day, a mad urge to destroy the pretender overwhelmed me. Pushing out from the slope inverted, I half looped back into the bottom of the hill as hard as it would go [terminal velocity]. Felt soo good. Environmentally aware, I went and put the pieces in a bag and disposed of it thoughtfully in a trash can. I haven't had a recurrence of this strange behaviour since.

I would have to vote for the Mark's Models Windward. I actually built two ot these pigs and had no luck what so ever getting them to do more than come off the end of the high start and come around and land (crash).

My second vote would go to the Bob Marten "Bob Cat". Never got this plane to fly right. A member of our club got one to fly pretty good, after building a new wing using the Supra airfoil.

The plane I had the best luck with for a long time was a HOB 2X6. Yes, the wood was not the best, I had to steam the sides to make them flat, But mine built up light and flew like a homesick angel. After about 25 years I still have it even though I have to do some repair work on it after its encounter with a winch.

Originally Posted by Windrider53

My second vote would go to the Bob Marten "Bob Cat".

Bob Cat or PussyCat?
J

There's and old adage: A man asked a farmer how old his axe is. The farmer said he had the axe his whole life. He's gone through two heads and three handles but it is the same axe!


wait for it...

I bought a Spirit 2 meter kit and built it as light and straight as I could. It would tip stall and snap with the best of them. It also had a tendency to porpoise if it got the notion. I tried everything I could to make the stock bird fly better.I decided to make an improvement. I hand built a complete whole new pod, boom, tail feathers and saddle for the wings. I also sheeted the wings clear to the tips and twisted in some washout. Now the Spirit flies great! But I guess it really isn't the same plane anymore, is it.....


PP

I started to build a Spirit. Then I flew a couple of other people's Spirits. I stopped building mine.

I bought a 3 or 3.5 meter sorta scale glider, rudder elevator. Took all week to initiate a turn, and another week to get out of the turn.

Had a thermal version of this weird slope glider with stretched wings. Someone I knew ovvered to put a nice light finish on it. Wasn't light at all. Since the tail was short to start with, the handling was pretty odd.

More recently, I bought a Prodigy. What a handful!

I have to admit that I flew my Skeeter for a number of years and enjoyed it a lot.

The worst for me was the Graupner Dandy but there again it was my first and I didnt know how to fly. Anyone with success with these? It put me off trying RC again for 20 years! Though I did get into commercial flying.

There's a plane I have heard much maligned in the short few month's I've been on RCG. The Spirit, especially the Spirit Elite.

The funny thing is, I've heard that it can fly very well, once a few tweaks are made.

With that, I'm finishing one that was given up on, and given to me.

My list of 'pariahs' among gliders:

Skeeter HLG-- had one, holy cow what a dog.

BUSA Nomad-- this 100" Oly II lookalike would not turn with spec polyhedral, and wouldn't climb in even moderate lift. A mutt all the way.

Bridi Tercel-- a clunker. Mount a motor in the nose, if you must have one.

Top Flite Phasoar-- small electric glider with a surprise tip stall, and keep the power on at all times if you want to remain airborne.

Top Flite Metrick-- looked like the Phasoar, in 2m size. Can sure see why it never became popular. Too heavy, and reluctant to turn with normal rudder inputs.

Sig Samurai-- a ballistic wingeron slug-o-lead.

Ace High-- molded foam wings, balsa fuse and tail. They flew okay, but ugly and low performance. A poor substitute for a Wanderer.

Spirit of 76-- another nomination here. What a joke. The fuselage makes a good foam baseball bat for a nerf ball.

Aerofever DG1000- looks good, but poor quality, and will NOT climb out in lift. Watch out for the tip stalls.

Bob Martin Bobcat-- another nomination here for this utter botch-job of a design. How DID they sell so many of them?

Lanier Hawk-- my vote for the most off-putting of all the ARF gliders ever made. It flew, but it looked simply horrible. Oh, well.

Originally Posted by Windrider53

The plane I had the best luck with for a long time was a HOB 2X6. Yes, the wood was not the best, I had to steam the sides to make them flat, But mine built up light and flew like a homesick angel.

Just had to add my endorsement to this fine, fine little glider. Replace the lite-ply fuselage sides with balsa, and go with bolt-down wings. One of the very best 2m all-wood poly trainers ever made, IMO. I've built FOUR of them!