Hello everyone!

Welcome to Part 2 of the very succesful 'THERMALING 4 BEGINNERS--Help area' thread!

Part 1 of this thread can be found here.

I'd like to say thanks to everyone who helped me and the other thermaling newbies through out the thread to help us become succesful TD sailplane pilots!
Your help and great advies made it so much easyer and faster!
Lets keep all that in Part 2 and maybe even PART 3!

I THERMALED MY GWS J3-F!!!

I was out crouising my J3 around about 100ft up this afternoon and smelled smoke and glanced to see some fast rising smoke just up teh street from my neighbord's.
He was burning brush and I was just low enough to fly over and circle in the rising smoke, so I did and as soon as the Cub intered teh smoke it emediatly started to climb nose high and turned off to the side as it got pushed out of the lift!
So I turned right back into it and that lil' Cub just rose like a feather!!
I circled in that for a good 2min before I got too high to be lifted and turned back for home to continue flyign for anotehr 20min! I got atleast 40-50ft out of that 'thermal'!
That flight was in the range of 30min with only a 650mAh 6s pack and IPS w/8x8 prop!
I hope he comes up with some more brush to burn soon!!

How about some talk about flap settings while trying to hunt for these thermals?
...in real airplane they can change the camber of the wing but do typical model airplane flaps do anything but just slow down the plane???

I've never had flaps or spoilers on my RCs but I am also a full-sized pilot, and from what i've herd around liftzone, yes, they shoudl do the same as on a real sailplane, especialy if its a scale model!
I think there was a little talk about flaps and thermaling in Part 1 of this thread if you want to scan through it a bit, miniellipse.

You can change the shape of the airfoil on a plane by moving the flaps and ailerons. I do this on my full house sailplanes, though I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. This is refered to as changing the camber of the wing when you move them together, or at least in coordination. You are reshaping the arifoil, in the air. The number of servos you have in the wing and the way your radio can contol them will determine how much flexability you have in shaping the airfoil.

Here is an interesting article on the subject. It is a translation from Danish, I believe. I found it a bit tough to follow due to the language, but work with it a bit and it becomes clear. Lots of good information. There are photos, which are small, but if you double click on them they will expand.
http://www.gliders.dk/triming_and_se...der_wi_eng.htm

It takes a higher end radio to do what he describes. My Futaba 9C can do most of it, but I am not sure it can do all he describes. An Airtronics Stylus, Multiplex Royal Evo, A JR 10X and the like should be able to do all he talks about. These radios can handle 4 servos in the wing, each on its own channel and each individually controlled. The radio can mix them together to create the shapes and compensation combinations he describes.

Some midrange sport radios can do some of this. The Hitec Optic 6, Futaba 7C, JR 6102 for example. But they don't have specific capabilites for 4 servo wings. Typically they have to operate the flaps together so you can't have one go up and one go down. Also,they many not have all the compensation mixes he describes.

Some radios, and we are talking big bucks, can handle a 6 servo wing, but that is real high end stuff. Not something I am ever likely to need.

If you are not familiar with computer radios and the terms assciated with them, this article may be helpful before you read the one above.

Computer Radios
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=65

what a great link...thank YOU. people on this RC groups are awesome!

miniellipse...first time thermaler

miniellipse...first time thermaler

You sure picked the right thread, miniellipse!
Yes, they are very nice to us

Hey guys.....nothin much here,

Just wanted to say got a second hand RD600!!! Ohyea!! Wat fun! lol

Got it for great deal, tx only.
Only probelm is that i dont have a charger and i dont have the charger for the tx's batts.....and was wondering where i could get a airtronics wall charger. Or can i use a hitech one or some thing?

HElp!
cheers

Charger at Tower Hobbies:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLX84&P=7

They also have an adapter that will let you use your peak charger:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXWV16&P=7

does the battery come out of the radio? If you want to use your peak charger, I find it better charge it outside the radio

BIG Caution about the peak charger - the TX and RX batteries are specified for 10 hours at 1/10 C charger rate. That means that if the battery is 600 mah, the battery is supposed to be charged at 1/10 of that or 60 mah for 10 hours. I would not recommend charging higher than 1/4C at any time, or 150 mah in this case. that would take up to 4 hours.

Last note.

Many peak chargers assume you are charging motor batteries and will turn off automatically after 1-2 hours so if you do use your peak charger and it seems to turn off too soon. Reset it and charge again. If the battery is full, it will shut off automatically after 5 minutes or so.

Hope this helps.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!!!

I'm using a Futaba charger on my RD8000

Yes, the futaba charger will work. I think the Hitec will too. Don't try JR, polarity is reversed.

EJ

Anyone else have a jet stream leveled out @ 1000' and stationary over their house?

Originally Posted by Mchone, Jake

Anyone else have a jet stream leveled out @ 1000' and stationary over their house?

Jake this tells me that if you get the plane to 1000' that it takes off on you at a pretty high speed in the same direction all the time. Is that what you are saying?

Originally Posted by aeajr

Jake this tells me that if you get the plane to 1000' that it takes off on you at a pretty high speed in the same direction all the time. Is that what you are saying?

I believe he is saying that storms follow or are guided by the jetstream and he is being clouded, rained, or snowed (or all of the above) on.

Just a guess..... Jeff

Did you know Berea has a web site...
http://www.berea.com/

Berea, KY Current Weather and Forecast


Berea, KY Weather Forecast
3:50 AM EST TUE NOV 2 2004

TODAY - Cloudy with a chance of showers - then showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms after noon.
TONIGHT - Showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms.
WEDNESDAY - Showers likely and a slight chance of thunderstorms.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT - Showers likely and a slight chance of thunderstorms. THURSDAY - Cloudy with a 60 percent chance of showers. Highs around 60. West winds 10 to 15 mph.
THURSDAY NIGHT - Mostly cloudy.