On Friday, November 15, 2019 at 5:56:20 PM UTC-5, Bill wrote:
Its Me wrote:
On Friday, November 15, 2019 at 2:06:32 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I thought this was kind of cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3MgvIdvydM

Yep, I used to not like RC gliders that much, but I've come to appreciate
them. It's a little but different skillset to flying them compared to a
powered airplane. They were slope flying... the wind coming off the
ocean and hitting that hill creates upward lift. As long as the wind
doesn't quit, a decent pilot can fly until the batteries run out. Other
glider pilots without a hill have to be towed up by one of several means
(winch, huge, long rubber band, etc.) or an onboard motor to get them to
altitude, then they glide slowly back down unless they can catch a
thermal, and then they can ride that back up.

I have, new in the box, a rocket powered glider kit. It uses a solid
propellant rocket motor to boost up, then you glide it back down. I
bought it but never got the itch to build and fly it. Maybe when I retire.


As a kid I took. A couple years on and off to build a balsa wood strut
glider. About 6’ wingspan. Would never glide. No matter what I changed.
Talked to guy a few years ago, whose dad owned a hobby shop. Mentioned the
glider and said, nobody ever got one to fly.

Heh. I wouldn't doubt it. Gliders are the most sensitive airplanes to build and fly. They have to be perfectly straight and true, and then have to be balanced just right (side-to-side and fore-aft), and then trimmed (up/down elevator and left/right rudder) just right. It can be a challenge for an experienced modeller. An then if it's a hand launched glider and not RC, the hand toss itself can greatly affect the flight.