Mehrdad, thanks so much for the response, I've pretty much had a crash course from many helpful folks here (thanx!) - so I'm all set at present. Made a couple purchases. Most here were very helpful and answered my questions! - while others just gave me their philosophies of life ??? either way I appreciate everyone's time to respond. = )
I would like to share a little info since I assume people here would LOVE to see the sport grow. One person had responded with the idea to get a cheap plane from a hobby shop. (150.00 variety). I don't feel this is a good suggestion to increase interest in the sport. I've been working with a high end sport kite company for years and have worked on helping increase interest in that sport. When people ask - what do I start with, we explain that you do get what you pay for and if you start with a bottom end product you'll probably get frustrated and will loose interest after a couple times out. Our recommendation as expert/pro level sport kit pilots is to "get the best you can afford". (however we do stress products that can handle the learning curve of a newbie, and not a wrapped carbon ultralight product that could break upon their first mishap. I'm not a newbie to RC flight. I have probably 15 planes of all levels. A couple helicopters, (one I fly in the living room) and two sailpanes. (bottom end sailplanes). But better than 150.00 starters from the hobby shop. I have to say that these two planes turned me off from soaring. Sure they do what they do well, but they're not sophisticated thermal planes. The motor takes them up and they come down. After trying these two, I decided, I don't like sailplanes... (love their beauty and graceful looks... but they don't do what I want them to do.) Then I picked up a 1000.00 setup in a package buy out from a friend and though I didn't want another sailplane, but I gave it a shot. The motor took it up and my TX timed the total motor run time of the flight at 2.5 minutes (2 trips up). But the flight lasted about 15 minutes, in my unskilled soaring hands. Landing this plane made my eye brows raise as I thought to myself "wow - that was fun!" - and made me look further into sailplanes and wondered - what if I removed the motor and 10 cell battery weight? Just like sport kites, I quickly realized that sailplanes are similar in that you get what you pay for and some ships will do what I want while others will not. Some are capable in the right hands, and others aren't capable in anyone's hands. Recommending a 150 hobby kit that may fold in half upon its first winch launch or may not perform in even the most experienced pilots hands probably isn't good advice. ;-) Again thanks to everyone that took the time to respond. -----Original Message----- From: Mehrdad Amir [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 9:41 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [RCSE] Which sailplane Hi Ron, I missed your original post. What specific qualities/features/size of molded composite high-performance sailplane do you desire. I'll do my best to recommend some. Also, do you plan to use for TD contests or for sport flying? Regards, Mehrdad Amir --- Ron Kramer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I've been into sport kiting for years and I have > 50.00 kites and I have many > 400.00-800.00 kites. There IS no comparison. Yes > they all fly, they are all > under my control, but the look, feel, fit and finish > and the performance > can't be compared. You'd be shocked at the > technology that goes into > something as simple as a "kite". - Yes there are > even 2000.00+ dollar > "kites". > I dunno if I have the plane bug - but I need a > couple powerless planes and > have ordered a couple. I like to learn why one feels > or performs differently > from another. (why I had over 100 sport kites at one > time - each is the same > basic shape but each is entirely different). Maybe > it's different with > sailplanes? Maybe they all feel the same and > perform the same? (I wouldn't > think so). - I also love tweaking and programming > the radio and the more > complex the ship, the more to tweak. It's what makes > me tick =) > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bill Swingle > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 12:42 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Soaring > Subject: Re: [RCSE] Which sailplane > > > >>I love good design, and high tech laminates > >>and smooth flowing gel coat surfaces ;-) > > Okay, hope you're wallet is upto it. ;-) You may > want to speak with James > Bacus. He's got the "latest plane" bug too. (just > funnin' ya Jim) > > > > >>the high tech ships were going up while the lower > end planes > >>were launched and came down. > > Well, yes and no. The super-duper ships do more than > lower tech planes. For > one, they have "legs". Meaning they can cover ground > much better to hop > between areas of lift. But I doubt they can wrap a > thermal better than a > floater. Both still take good piloting. Frankly, the > higher tech ships kinda > need even more skilled piloting. > > Best of luck, > Bill Swingle > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane > News. Send "subscribe" and > "unsubscribe" requests to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that > subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in > text only format with > MIME turned off. > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane > News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests > to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that > subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in > text only format with MIME turned off. > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.
