Originally Posted by Qualo Kabrigne

Is 9 to 10 mph a good wind speed to search for thermals in? That is typically the wind speed at the field I fly at, and it takes a little courage for me to launch and fight the gusts.

Good luck with finding a thermal in that. Thermals get pushed along by the winds and if it's that windy where you fly at, you can forget about it, but you can get some very nice altitude on the wind alone, at those speeds. Just make sure that your plane's trimmed out nicely and fly into the winds, until you reach a height that your comfy with and glide around for a while.

Originally Posted by Maximilionalpha

No offense guys, but those GoPro cameras make things look like google earth 3D. Just too artificial for my taste, but that's just me.

That video rocked dude- 6 cams edited together and an impact into a cell tower- it don't get much better than that- and the 3d effect is what u get when you fly 1000 feet over skyscrapers- no gopro's were on our planes - gopro was used for a ground cam only and you can watch in 720p if your connection is good enough- Let me know when your youtube channel has 215,000 hits...
sorry couldn't resist

Cheers...

Here's a very good tip for finding thermals virtually every time you go flying....Look for turkey buzzards and watch them closely. When they start to circle, fly towards them and kill you motor about 100ft away from them, so as not to startle them and then, just be one of them on the thermal

Originally Posted by Qualo Kabrigne

Is 9 to 10 mph a good wind speed to search for thermals in? That is typically the wind speed at the field I fly at, and it takes a little courage for me to launch and fight the gusts.

Sure it can be done in spite of a contrary opinion. It will depend on your terrain and weather if you have a thermals of any significance being generated. The calmer and sunnier it is the thermals will rise more vertically.

As to turkey buzzards... well every country and region has its own flavor of birds that soar, ravens, seagulls, eagles, hawks, pelicans, seabirds. Look for dust devils, leaf fluttuer going in different direction around your field, even non-soaring birds like fly catcher types swooping in and out of clouds of insects that have been lifted in a passing thermal.

Scott and Eckace have flown in windier conditions. At about 20 mph it stops being fun for me

Paul Nation has some nice DVD's on the subject of thermalling. If you have anyone in your area or club who does serious soaring they probably have a copy and you might borrow it. An internet search on thermalling will give you lots of articles on finding thermals.

My only advice is always stay upwind! You may find yourself flying in one direction all day and if you catch a good one your joy will outweigh the pain of you neck.

Here is 20 mph with broken thermals and flying in one direction all day.

Max Wind for our Radians (7 min 51 sec)

+1000 on staying upwind. If you get abeam of yourself in 20+mph winds it'll be gone in no time. Ask me how I know. If it looks like its coming back at you or past you, get it down. Don't circle, don't try to get some altitude, you can't fight upwind with these powered sailplanes. Even if you have to walk a fair amount sideways to the wind to retrieve it, you'll get it back if you don't try to fly it back to you.

--Jason

Originally Posted by Qualo Kabrigne

Is 9 to 10 mph a good wind speed to search for thermals in? That is typically the wind speed at the field I fly at, and it takes a little courage for me to launch and fight the gusts.

Well, that depends on the plane and the talent of the pilot. The Radian would not be my first choice for hunting thermals in 10 mph winds, but stick about 6-7 ounces of steel in the wing rod and it will be better in the wind.

Saturday I was hunting for lift in 12 to 18 mph winds at a contest. But I was flying a Supra, not a Radian. Conditions were challenging but there was lift there to be found .

Originally Posted by Radio.Active

Sure it can be done in spite of a contrary opinion. It will depend on your terrain and weather if you have a thermals of any significance being generated. The calmer and sunnier it is the thermals will rise more vertically.

As to turkey buzzards... well every country and region has its own flavor of birds that soar, ravens, seagulls, eagles, hawks, pelicans, seabirds. Look for dust devils, leaf fluttuer going in different direction around your field, even non-soaring birds like fly catcher types swooping in and out of clouds of insects that have been lifted in a passing thermal.

Scott and Eckace have flown in windier conditions. At about 20 mph it stops being fun for me

Paul Nation has some nice DVD's on the subject of thermalling. If you have anyone in your area or club who does serious soaring they probably have a copy and you might borrow it. An internet search on thermalling will give you lots of articles on finding thermals.

My only advice is always stay upwind! You may find yourself flying in one direction all day and if you catch a good one your joy will outweigh the pain of you neck.

Here is 20 mph with broken thermals and flying in one direction all day.

http://vimeo.com/42596221

I agree 20mph wind is not that much fun but we wanted to see if we could do it.
Ok it's fun for about 3min.

Originally Posted by eckace1

I agree 20mph wind is not that much fun but we wanted to see if we could do it.
Ok it's fun for about 3min.

I liked it more than Eckace- but I am weird- I have never tried sloping- but that was my version of it....

[QUOTE=scottdearinger;22708274]I liked it more than Eckace- but I am weird

The understatement of the year right there

Really if you guys and gal's only knew. Bob shaking his head.

Originally Posted by Qualo Kabrigne

Is 9 to 10 mph a good wind speed to search for thermals in? That is typically the wind speed at the field I fly at, and it takes a little courage for me to launch and fight the gusts.

Might not find many thermals like hat, but if you have a stand of trees, you can slope soar on the windward side of the trees. The wind will jump up to go over he trees and you can cruise back and forth along the treeline. Just don't get caught in the trees.

--
Tom

am asking for a link to a more pointed spinner for the rad.

isn't any commercially available substitute with a more conventional shape-that fits the original blades-or takes 1 about same specs-and at a fair price?
more pointed, say, like a mustang outline?
hk doesn't seem to have any that fits.
graupner may, but the price...and the blades too...

Originally Posted by phil alvirez

am asking for a link to a more pointed spinner for the rad.

isn't any commercially available substitute with a more conventional shape-that fits the original blades-or takes 1 about same specs-and at a fair price?
more pointed, say, like a mustang outline?
hk doesn't seem to have any that fits.
graupner may, but the price...and the blades too...

Sabch uses a red pointed foam spinner, have one I will try tonight.
Tim

Originally Posted by Qualo Kabrigne

Is 9 to 10 mph a good wind speed to search for thermals in? That is typically the wind speed at the field I fly at, and it takes a little courage for me to launch and fight the gusts.

I can unequivocally say, YES! Today I took the Radian out for a flight. The wind was a lot brisker and gustier than what I usually find acceptable, so strong at altitude that I was able to hover and even fly backwards. My first flight was a bit early for a fall day. I was using my usual 1300mah battery with the CG at 3.5inches. It quickly became apparent that I needed more weight so after about 20 minutes or so I terminated the flight, landed and switched to a 1600mah battery which gave me a little more weight and a slightly more forward CG. I shot the bull with some of the guys to kill a little time and then launched.

After about 30 minutes of flying, I was beginning to think that I wouldn't have any luck finding thermals when I spotted a couple of hawks. They were gliding on the opposite side of the field on a straight line into the wind and climbing very rapidly. I'd been over that area about 10 minutes before but decided to give it another try.

Ten minutes later the Radian was about 3000 off the deck. It was barely a spec in the sky. Although I was wearing my prescription anti-UV polarized sunglasses, I couldn't see the dark colored wings at all. Every few seconds I could see a glint of white off the fuse. Most of the time I flew it intuitively filling in the blanks between sightings. None of the other guys could see the Radian at all.

Eventually I noticed that my Futaba transmitter battery was getting low and I was running out of time because I had to get to work so I terminated the flight. Total flight time was112 minutes - almost 2 hours on a 1600mah battery. Not too shabby.

Reasonable winds are not a problem. As long as you have a good thermal source, you should do fine. Remember too that the higher you go, the larger the thermals and the easier it is to find and fly them.

Cliff

Originally Posted by cliffkot

I can unequivocally say, YES! Today I took the Radian out for a flight. The wind was a lot brisker and gustier than what I usually find acceptable, so strong at altitude that I was able to hover and even fly backwards. My first flight was a bit early for a fall day. I was using my usual 1300mah battery with the CG at 3.5inches. It quickly became apparent that I needed more weight so after about 20 minutes or so I terminated the flight, landed and switched to a 1600mah battery which gave me a little more weight and a slightly more forward CG. I shot the bull with some of the guys to kill a little time and then launched.

After about 30 minutes of flying, I was beginning to think that I wouldn't have any luck finding thermals when I spotted a couple of hawks. They were gliding on the opposite side of the field on a straight line into the wind and climbing very rapidly. I'd been over that area about 10 minutes before but decided to give it another try.

Ten minutes later the Radian was about 3000 off the deck. It was barely a spec in the sky. Although I was wearing my prescription anti-UV polarized sunglasses, I couldn't see the dark colored wings at all. Every few seconds I could see a glint of white off the fuse. Most of the time I flew it intuitively filling in the blanks between sightings. None of the other guys could see the Radian at all.

Eventually I noticed that my Futaba transmitter battery was getting low and I was running out of time because I had to get to work so I terminated the flight. Total flight time was112 minutes - almost 2 hours on a 1600mah battery. Not too shabby.

Reasonable winds are not a problem. As long as you have a good thermal source, you should do fine. Remember too that the higher you go, the larger the thermals and the easier it is to find and fly them.

Cliff

Good stuff! 50 kpm gusting to 70kpm since midnite last night so no joy in Mudville today RA has struck out; had to play at the workbench on another Stubby Radian for the last coule of days. Jet stream is right on top of me at 145 kph and low. May fly in 2 days when it moves out... suffering cabin-fever and there isn't even any snow on the ground yet.

http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/disp...gi?a=natla_250 and it looks like it is just about as windy for our UK friends on this thread.

Buy the foam from Parkzone, the connectors from the push rod to the control horns have come apart in my hands. Servos fail in flight and you can get quality electronics in place of cheap stuff from the factory. Then when you avoid in flight failure you'll be pleased. Been there done that, trust me buy your own electronics for your Radian foam. One more thing, shop for batteries and get quality for less.

I done now.