I also like motor gliders, because I like to climb really high. And then use the natures forces to soar as long as possible. It can even be relaxing to just glide around with a simple RES glider. Don't need the most modern fancy stuff, to have a great time.

I do the same, ArneHu
My flying buddy and I even tried our best to build motor glider as light as possible, the smallest he built was with 200 or 220 grams of AUW, mine was 250 or 270 grams depending on the lipo used, wingspan were 90 - 100 cm. We actually applied lighter lipo with 1000mAh, and lighter 300 size outrunner. But gliders in bigger size are happier when riding on thermal in breezy weather.
Chen

I agree with the OP. Gliders are great to learn on. I personally I think one with ailerons is easier to fly. With my years of flying I have never understood why people say to start with a 3 channel. Maybe I am just weird but I think a 3 channel is harder to fly then a 4 channel. I bought the Sonic 185, 73" wing span on black Friday and am about to maiden it. I added flaps to it so it does not take a long strip to land on. I have about 30 planes and still enjoy the gliders.
That is my opinion for you to think about.
Lester

Originally Posted by FlyingHigh324

I agree with the OP. Gliders are great to learn on. I personally I think one with ailerons is easier to fly. With my years of flying I have never understood why people say to start with a 3 channel. Maybe I am just weird but I think a 3 channel is harder to fly then a 4 channel. I bought the Sonic 185, 73" wing span on black Friday and am about to maiden it. I added flaps to it so it does not take a long strip to land on. I have about 30 planes and still enjoy the gliders.
That is my opinion for you to think about.
Lester

Why a 3 ch to learn???

BECAUSE A 3CH WILL RETURN TO LEVEL FLIGHT WHEN THE STICKS ARE RELEASED!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by rtbates

Why a 3 ch to learn???

BECAUSE A 3CH WILL RETURN TO LEVEL FLIGHT WHEN THE STICKS ARE RELEASED!!!!!!!

That should be the high wing trainer with dihedral and longer wingspan, high wing motor glider kind does it better, I bet.
Chen

Originally Posted by rtbates

Why a 3 ch to learn???

BECAUSE A 3CH WILL RETURN TO LEVEL FLIGHT WHEN THE STICKS ARE RELEASED!!!!!!!

You don't have to yell!!
"BECAUSE A 3CH WILL RETURN TO LEVEL FLIGHT WHEN THE STICKS ARE RELEASED!!!!!!" and that is not always true. I still say it is easier to fly with ailerons. So what do you want to yell now?

Originally Posted by FlyingHigh324

I agree with the OP. Gliders are great to learn on. I personally I think one with ailerons is easier to fly. With my years of flying I have never understood why people say to start with a 3 channel. Maybe I am just weird but I think a 3 channel is harder to fly then a 4 channel. I bought the Sonic 185, 73" wing span on black Friday and am about to maiden it. I added flaps to it so it does not take a long strip to land on. I have about 30 planes and still enjoy the gliders.
That is my opinion for you to think about.
Lester

May i ask how you went about adding the flaps ? I just got mine,buddy has two of them,and they come in hot but glide forever when trying to land. see what i had to do to get CG and balance the wings ? Buddy s was even more out on the wings. I also have aHawksky that is fun to fly, and the Sbach 342 is a blast !!

Originally Posted by rtbates

Why a 3 ch to learn???

BECAUSE A 3CH WILL RETURN TO LEVEL FLIGHT WHEN THE STICKS ARE RELEASED!!!!!!!

I FLEW A GREAT PLANES TRAINER IN THE 1980,s 4 CHANNEL RETURNED TO CENTER ALSO !!!! why the heck are we yelling ???

Originally Posted by FlyingHigh324

You don't have to yell!!
"BECAUSE A 3CH WILL RETURN TO LEVEL FLIGHT WHEN THE STICKS ARE RELEASED!!!!!!" and that is not always true. I still say it is easier to fly with ailerons. So what do you want to yell now?

You're wrong. In any 3-channel plane it MUST be true. Otherwise it would not be a flyable plane. However, the vast majority of 4-channel planes upon releasing the aileron stick will stay right at the bank angle where you released it. And there are no 4-channel planes today advertised as being self-stabilizing, even though a very few of them will do that.

The beginner doesn't know squat about planes. There are a very few 4-channel planes that can teach him how to fly, but the beginner has no way to identify them. He WILL crater big time if he tries to start out with a 4-channel plane because he will purchase the wrong one. The only exception to this is if he is already a member of a club of knowledgeable people who guide him. But then he could start out with a Parkzone T-28 on a buddy box and succeed, so the argument doesn't even work there. With help, you can succeed with a long laundry list of planes, including sport 3 and 4 channel planes. Without help you are severely crippling your chances of not becoming an avid underwater basket weaver if you don't start out with a truly RTF 3-channel trainer.

You know, lots of blind people could cross I-75 in downtown Atlanta with a paper bag over their head. They would tell you that it is easier with the paper bag than it is without it. But if YOU tried that you'd be a grill ornament for a Peterbuilt. That's because you have no skill navigating by feel and hearing. There's a connection between this illustration and your claim.

The ability of a model to return to level flight depends mainly on the amount of dihedral in its wing -- no matter whether it's got ailerons, or rudder only.

In our club I haven't seen a 3-channel trainer for maybe 20 years, but all the 4-channel trainers that people bring have enough dihedral in the wing that they're as stable as needs be.

Originally Posted by abenn

The ability of a model to return to level flight depends mainly on the amount of dihedral in its wing -- no matter whether it's got ailerons, or rudder only.

In our club I haven't seen a 3-channel trainer for maybe 20 years, but all the 4-channel trainers that people bring have enough dihedral in the wing that they're as stable as needs be.

Well, the first sentence is a bit wrong, as there is no point having much dihedral if you have ailerons,as the ailerons are used to "right" the plane after a manouver.In a sense, ailerons and dihedral "fight" each other.Three channel models are designed to right themselves after a turn.
The second sentence mentions "clubs".With a club and a buddy-lead you can learn to fly just about anything.For the lone learner, three channels are the easiest way to learn.And light wing loading.In fact, a plane that was originally designed for free-flight is probably the best.As others have said in other threads, learning to fly rc is second-guessing the plane, before it changes attitude, once you have learnt that, you can fly just about anything.One day you can't fly without taking the plane home in a bag of bits, the next you have suddenly "got it".A bit like balancing a bicycle.

I think a great little trainer plane is the Hobby People Phoenix II. I learned to fly on one and it made my learning much easier. It is a great durable glider and Hobby People sells replacement parts for it, too, if you crash on an early flight (although its pretty hard to crash if you have somebody helping you). When my father taught me to fly on one, he had taught 6 others how to fly with it before me. I was the 7th person to learn to fly on it. Great durable glider.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php...-4g-radio.html

Originally Posted by alibongo

Well, the first sentence is a bit wrong, as there is no point having much dihedral if you have ailerons ....

I believe the first sentence is correct -- the amount of dihedral, not whether it has ailerons or not, determines how well a model will self-right.

Whether or not there's any point in having ailerons is a different matter altogether In our club, I and the other instructors prefer aileron trainer models because aileron is more responsive than rudder and, with the correct amount of dihedral built in, the models are stable.

My first flight indeed was a glider, one of our seasoned flyers crunched his 3 channel Skyhawk, had earlier successful flights but refused stabilize. Note he flys pusher jets and Bi-planes.

Are extremely gifted sailplane pilots, incredible was a champion pilot during contest selected duration times an pinpoint landings fractions of an inch, conditions suddenly changed to negative lift, other flyers dropped immediately like rocks failing any qualified times, then the world competive champ, tho also dropped to below street light level, went to tight turns just over ground level and stayed airborne, I asked what's going on, he found Micro Bubbles not only went down wind and back, qualified on duration and precision target landing. Yet to see anyone else at that skill level, Turns out he competed overseas on our USA team. Wow, Im still in disbelief.

Note I have experienced low level lift below tree level, but never in negative lift conditions.

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

The beginner doesn't know squat about planes. There are a very few 4-channel planes that can teach him how to fly, but the beginner has no way to identify them. He WILL crater big time if he tries to start out with a 4-channel plane because he will purchase the wrong one. The only exception to this is if he is already a member of a club of knowledgeable people who guide him.

this blanket statement, should not be made. i'm a beginner, i DO know about planes, my first plane is a 4 channel, i'm teaching myself how to fly, and i have NOT cratered big time. i am NOT a member of a club, i have NOT used a buddy box, and i do NOT have knowledgeable people to guide me.

that said, i did fly a 3 channel super cub about 4 times. i can say that my 4 channel e-flite apprentice is easier (to me) to fly than the super cub. i may be the "exception to the rule" but i doubt it.

the reason i didn't go with a powered glider, like the radian, for my first plane is simply because i don't care for the look of the plane. kinda like buying a car, the prius may be a good car, but i like my mustang alot better!!