Dick and others,
We are now getting to the point in HLG "technology", where most of the
superlight aircraft are NOT as fragile as you say. Take the Encore 6063 for
example. It is one of the strongest handlaunch planes out there today, if
not the strongest. And it still weighs 8.8 or less!
Dick's airplane, from my observations is very strong, and launches high.
Now, I don't know the specifics of the hang time or handling... but again we
go back to the Encore 6063. It has some of the best handling around, if you
don't believe me, ask some of the other guys out there flying them: Joe
Wurts, Tim Cone, Ben Clerx, etc. Now, before someone jumps on me by saying
"Yeah, but you can't launch an Encore as high as Dick's Uplink!"... BULL!
The Encore, without any modification, WILL side arm launch, and side arm
launch VERY well! If you're going to use the Encore as a pure sidearm bird,
I'd suggest making the wing bolt 8-32 rather than 4-40 to keep it from
shearing from lateral loads. Another thing you might want to do if your
sidearm technique has a lot to be desired is to order one, or build one, with
a reinforced tip for throwing.
Anyways, now that I've gone off on a huge rant... back to what I was
originally saying:
The newer "superlight" birds, for the most part, are plenty strong for
competition use. However, there is of course exceptions, and from my
experience, these seem to be the birds like the Flamingo and Logic. (long
tail boom, balsa tail, etc) With the knowledge available on the exchange,
someone could go home, and with a little bagging experience, build a good
flying, STRONG, sub 9-oz HLG with no problem at all! One of my current HLGs
weighs 7.8oz with 4 servos, and it is one of the strongest pod/boom HLGs I've
seen since the Epsilon.
So, everybody out there, stop bitching about fragile stick figure airplanes,
build your airplane to how you fly. If you fly so reckless and abusively,
maybe you need an airplane that can hold up to serious hits, but then
again... most of the new very light HLGs are strong enough to hold up to that
anyways!
Thermals,
Eric Farmer
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Launch height; not a superlight fragile ship; is the real key to good hang
> time.
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