Here are a couple of photos of my new Gentle Lady ARF.

I took it to a Master Sailplane Builder here in Austin named Bruce Hobbs and he put the Lady together.
He tore off all the covering and Fiberglassed the main Wing Joint and the two Joints where the extra Dihedral is put in. He re-glued each and every rib. He covered it to my liking with Orange on top and Dark Blue on the bottom. Then he built me a Ballast tube, so I don’t have to sit in the car when the wind comes up.

I can’t wait to get her in the air.

Don

Nice looking GL you have there. My first R/C plane was a Gentle Lady that I build myself - took forever since I was in college at the time. I still have it and it's an awsome flyer in light lift, and is one of the last planes to come down when the lift starts to die - people get pretty jealous of it then.

Good luck on the maiden flight. I hope it flys as good as it looks!

Don,

Since the nose cone is made out of fiberglass, it would be a good idea to reinforce the bottom portion with some carbon cloth. You can either do it now or wait till it fractures on a bad landing.

You are the 2nd person to suggest this.

So it must be TRUE!

Can I just go down to my local Hobby Shop and buy Carbon Cloth with a nice peal away stickey back on it?

Don the New-Be

I'm interested in the ballast tube. How is that constructed and what are you using for ballast.

Same here. I've seen ballast tubes in threads before but haven't a clue as to how they're used.

I built a ballast box in my GL over the CG and I'm curious. Anyone care to enlighten truebrit and I?

Originally Posted by kwmtrubrit

I'm interested in the ballast tube. How is that constructed and what are you using for ballast.

I'm using TRU-Tungsten Fishing Weights for Ballast.
Tungsten is 50% smaller than the same weight in lead.
Each weight is 1.5 ounces.
I can carry 6 for an extra 9 ounces.

http://www.tru-tungsten.com/cart.php...&category_id=4

As for the tube, it's a small cardboard tube, glassed over for strength.
Then part of a Veterinary Syringe is used for the opening door.
I need to build Round Balsa spacers, so I can fill the tube with only 2 or 4 of the Weights.

Don

The GL flew today for the first time!!!!

God what a great plane!! Floats and floats and stays up!

We used a Hi-start and lunch her on her first flight.
30 minutes later she is still in the AIR!!!
Yikes!
Thermals were popping and Birds where thermaling through the area and the Lady stayed up!

What a great plane.

I had 6 fights in all today.

1st flight 30 minutes.
2nd flight 20 minutes.
3rd flight 4 minutes.
4th flight 10 minutes
5th flight 30 minutes.
6th flight 10 minutes.

I can't say enough good things about the Gentle Lady!

Don the New-Bee.

So glad to hear you enjoyed the GL - ain't it sweet?

Sounds like a super day, especially for this time of year.

What's the lady weigh?

I don't really know what the GL weights.

The guy I had put it together mumbled something like 25 ounces, but I wasn't paying attention at the time, I was just drooling over the ship.

Does 25oz seem in the ballpark?

And the day really was sweet. Light winds 3-10 out of the NE and 65 degrees.
And several times the Birds thermal thought the site.

On my very first GL flight, three turnkey vultures and one hawk came passing through and I joined the bunch. I could fly with the buzzards, but the Hawk was always 50-100 feet higher. I drifted downwind with this pack till I had to turn back toward the field.

On another flight a big big thermal took the lady skyward and I keep going up and up and then my eyes focused on a flock of white birds about 500-1000 feet higher than me. They were drifting with this thermal and had been in it before I even stumbled upon it. But once I saw them, I used them to "Mark" the drift of the thermal and ran downwind once again as far as I dared.

The Lady IS a sweet, sweet ship.

Don the New-Bee

Congratulations!!! May you have many more.

I have a Gentle Lady that I built about 20 years ago and have flown ever since. It's a wonderful airplane and I've used it to teach many people to fly, including two sons who are now older and avid RCers. A few years ago, I put a small electric motor in the nose and a folding prop. I have never had so much fun. I can fly anywhere now, without the old hi-start. It's totally silent and on one charge, I can get about 6 climbs from ground to altitude. I've found that by flying at the nearby schoolyard (5 miles from the nearest RC field), I attract a lot of people who are fascinated. Two observers in the last couple years have gone on to become active RCers. The Gentle Lady is good PR for the hobby. Enjoy her.

Harlan

Harlan, I have a GL also from 20 years ago and was contemplating a small electric for it. Exactly what setup did you use? TNX Jim

Jim,

I converted my old Gentle Lady to a wonderful electric sailplane with this:

Hobby Lobby GR1719 Motor (Speed Gear 4:1, W/S400, 7.2 volt). This motor has a built in gearbox on the front of it. Price $69

Also Hobby lobby sells a plywood firewall made just for the motor. I just whacked off the existing firewall and glued in the new one.

Hobby Lobby GPC 11080- CAM folding Prop 11-8 , price $ 20

3 cell Li-po battery giving 11.1 volts at 2400 MAH. You'll need a good charger for Li-po. I use the Triton computerized charger by Great Planes. Beware, don't use a cheap brute force charger--it can lead to li-po fires. Get a computerized one.

A Castle Creations Pixie 20, 20 amp speed control for brushed motors.
They're about $30. Any 20 amp speed control will work.

This is a perfect combination for the GL. It actually weighs less than the batteries you had for the receiver. In the electric case, the motor battery also powers the receiver. So the GL actually weighs no more than before. With the electric folding prop in the nose, it climbs great and glides great. It will climb out of sight if you keep going. The fun part is you can also fly around at about 10-20 feet altitude in slow graceful maneuvering around the flying field, It's great fun. Then you can climb to altitude and do some thermaling. I get easily 45 minutes of flight time on one charge, because you only use power when climbing, the rest of the time is gliding or thermaling ( stay up forever if good thermals). It'll also do loops from near level flight, and wingovers, hammerheads, etc. Kind of goofy for a sailplane but it adds some variety to the flying just for fun.

I have since also converted my old Olympic II built in 1980. Now there's a super sailplane that will thermal on nothing. Again, electric has put great joy into flying. I can fly anywhere and never disturb anyone. I even flew it once from my front yard up above the neighborhood. It climbed right up above the trees. Landing was kind of scary because the flat glide took a lot of room on final and I had to maneuver some to get down into my yard again. But the challenge was irresistable!

Yell, if I can help more,

Harlan