Enjoy the saga of my efforts to do something I have never done with my beloved radio controlled aircraft career in 40 years. And that is to fly an 11 foot wingspan scale glider.
Originally I had planned to build and fly a large scale glider some years back. The idea was to have it towed into flight just like the full scale gliders. I set up a large scale Ka-8 glider and it was set up for aerotow. The closest place to do this was a 4 hour drive, the other a 5 hour drive which made it impractical and after a couple of years I reluctantly sold the Ka8.
Watching the internet and dreaming of flying a large scale glider I became aware that people were starting to motorise the gliders with electric power. Even full scale pilots were doing this. With slopes being closed and fields lacking pilots that would tow you up it was an obvious choice. The only problem with some gliders like my recently purchased and built. The Bergfalke ground clearance from the prop.
The solution I found was a bit scary but people seemed to have constant success with the method which is to make a dolly the glider sits on and rolls along under power down the runway until it reaches enough speed to achieve lift and it magically floats off the dolly into flight.
I spent a month researching, reading and watching many many videos of people using this method to get airborne. I looked at all the different variations of dollies and soon understood what works best and built one from scratch.
The end result was what I had hoped for but in my first efforts to get airborne I learned there is a bit more to it than just throttling up and rolling down the runway and these videos will take you through that until the final success.
The first flights were made without wing spoilers. I have since ordered them and will be installing them next week. These are brakes that pop up out of the top of the wing to slow you down on approach to landing.
I’m already planning to build another large scale glider this time with a 179 inch span. I’m getting another Ka8.
These videos show you the progression and the final video is all about the maiden flight.
Enjoy
The Art of Steve Neill 