I've flown for an hour or so several times with an Oly II.

Stu,
Another great plane is the Riser (RES), available as a 2 mtr or 2.5 mtr, often available used.
I flew my Riser 100 yesterday and it is sweet slow flying plane great
for beginners.
Rudi

Stu hi,
can I endorse what others have said try a SAS Wildthing. I started flying this year with the 42" and have never regretted it. I have 3 times pilled it into the ground at 30mph+ and on each occasion all its taken to repair is more reinforced tape. My friend has both the 42 and 60" I've flown the 60 and prefer it to the 42" its much less twitchy and will fly in lighter winds. I'm hoping to order a 60" shortly if you want one I'd be quick the owner is retiring soon!
Kevin.

Evening chaps.

I've got such a big grin on my face that I really felt I needed to pop another post onto the end of this.
I took my little skysurfer out today - the first day since Christmas with no wind, rain or snow and nothing in my schedule. It's been a long wait!
So there were a few rough landings, but it was mostly smooth sailing. Tiny gusts once I got up high and it felt a little like I was trying to survive against the gusts rather than fly where I wanted to go, but it was so much fun!!!

After an hour the dinky lipo was out of puff and sadly I had to come home. I cannot wait to get back out!

Good stuff now go get a slope soarer and get on the slope, you can just about fly until the wind runs out................................

Originally Posted by Stu L

Evening chaps.

I've got such a big grin on my face that I really felt I needed to pop another post onto the end of this.
I took my little skysurfer out today - the first day since Christmas with no wind, rain or snow and nothing in my schedule. It's been a long wait!
So there were a few rough landings, but it was mostly smooth sailing. Tiny gusts once I got up high and it felt a little like I was trying to survive against the gusts rather than fly where I wanted to go, but it was so much fun!!!

After an hour the dinky lipo was out of puff and sadly I had to come home. I cannot wait to get back out!

This is the part where you discover that having more than one pack is a good thing and a field charger an even better thing.
Have fun.

Originally Posted by Stu L

Evening chaps.

I've got such a big grin on my face that I really felt I needed to pop another post onto the end of this.
I took my little skysurfer out today - the first day since Christmas with no wind, rain or snow and nothing in my schedule. It's been a long wait!
So there were a few rough landings, but it was mostly smooth sailing. Tiny gusts once I got up high and it felt a little like I was trying to survive against the gusts rather than fly where I wanted to go, but it was so much fun!!!

After an hour the dinky lipo was out of puff and sadly I had to come home. I cannot wait to get back out!

That is great news!

Do you bring a car with you? Does the charger work from the car's battery. All of my chargers are 12V so I can recharge at the field from my car's battery.

On most of my e-gliders, when I am thermal soaring at the club field, I can get an hour or more out of a battery. I arrive with two fully charged packs. With two batteries I can fly one and charge the second and basically stay in the air all day.

If you do manage to try slope soaring, then that one battery might last you 5-6 hours or more as you would rarely if ever use the motor. It takes relatively little power to run the receiver and servos compared to the motor.

I just did a 2.5 hour flight with my Easy Glider electric at one of our slope sites. Total run time on the motor was about 2 minutes and that was just because I was showing off for some kids and their Dads because the wanted to know what I was doing.

Slope gliders typically don't have motors. So, on the slope, the main purpose of the motor is as a safety item. I encourage beginner pilots giving slope a try to use an electric glider for this reason. If the wind dies or if they get too low, the motor can get them back to the top. At some of my slopes it can be very hard to get the plane back if you drop to the ground below the edge of the hill.

Also, having a motor allows you to explore with more confidence. You can look for lift away from the hill knowing the motor can help you if you need it. And, if the wind dies or shifts to the wrong direction you can still go high and look for thermals. But, when the lift is there, you don't typically use the motor.

Welcome to the wonderful world of soaring!

Originally Posted by aeajr

That is great news!


Also, having a motor allows you to explore with more confidence. You can look for lift away from the hill knowing the motor can help you if you need it. And, if the wind dies or shifts to the wrong direction you can still go high and look for thermals. But, when the lift is there, you don't typically use the motor.

Welcome to the wonderful world of soaring!

Sounds like cheating to me

Originally Posted by FrankS

Sounds like cheating to me

In order to cheat you would have to be breaking a rule. And since no such rule exists, you can't be cheating.

But you could be having a lot of fun!

Guys, I'm having so much fun already. I'm so glad that I've got involved, and thank you all so much for helping me along the way!
I will definitely give slope a try, as the area I live in is very hilly and I've found plenty of suitable sites, but for now I need to practise on honing my skills and getting the glider back down in one piece. Flat fields, clear from obstacles on very very calm afternoons are still the order of the day.

Tomorrow has a good forecast, if a little cold, so hopefully I can get out then. I'm still reliant on the motor quite heavily, which I'm sure is limiting the battery life as you said. I need to work on having control of where the glider is going, rather than just battling to keep it away from the ground.....
Happy days!

Stu or get a Wildthing, they can take a serious amount of punishment, it's not a UK slope favourite for nothing,

http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/...=wildthing&t=0

great for those days when it's a bit breezy for a lightly loaded electric soarer.

Stu, you should really check out http://www.rcsailplanekits.com it has a lot of great beginner information including plane suggestions, some informational blogs for beginners, as well as a way to get your hands on a flight simulator, which I highly recommend to all beginners. Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by Mr. Kite

Here is one of the best how too books out there http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sailplane-an...747bcad5...May the Wind Always be Good..

This book is available for download - free is great for soaring on a buget!
https://www.rcmplans.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=15

So, we've had a little accident with the sky surfer.
Sadly after a slightly rough landing, the wing popped off. It's designed to do this, however the plastic servo arm for the moveable surfaces on the main wing (aileron?) broke.

The shop I purchased the glider from has gone out of business, and I don't seem able to find a replacement. I've decided to make a new arm from one of the spares I have from an RC car. It's a very similar fit, but will require a small hole drilling to make it work properly.
I had thought about upgrading the servo, as the ones on it seem slow and under powered - I guess I'm used to ones in 1/10th scale buggies which are much beefier.

Is it common practice to mount the servo to the underside of the wing as the factory servo is? I'm not sure how it would work as the mounting depth would need to be very shallow and the factory servo seems to have it's output shaft on a different axis to a standard servo? Would I need a new push rod?

I'd need to change the wiring, as the factory connector is the kind you would normally find on the balance plug of a 2s lipo, rather than a standard servo plug. Shouldn't be a problem as I have a soldering iron.

The pictures below might give you a better idea if it's possible to replace the servo. I'd also like to swap out the servo for the rudder and elevator too as that seems weaker still, however it's a combined servo, rx unit, so that's a project for another day





Thinking about the room in the fuselage, I think a servo would need to sit on it's side, with the output facing along the same axis as the big white plastic gear. I think that would put the horn or arm moving in a different direction to the original, so I'm not sure of the easiest way to connect it up.

Any thoughts appreciated!

I should be pretty easy to replace that servo with a GWS Pico or a Hitec HS-55. The servo shown has 3 wires, just like standard micro servos. The connectors might not match so you might have to cut and solder wires to make the connectors work.

The servos I mention cost about $10-$13 so we are not talking a lot of risk. If you can't make up the new arm, or if you are unhappy with the way the servos are working, consider replacement with one of the ones I mention above.