Don Cooper
01-29-2003, 11:06 AM
My son recently gave me a kit for a foam ARF glider (called the Double Eagle) he found while cleaning his attic. He said it had been there for at least 15 years. I had an IPS 'A' motor laying around, so I mounted a stick in the gliders nose and stuck the motor on. The glider has a 50" span, and out of the box weighed about 17 oz complete, including motor, battery, and electronics. In order to get a climb under power, and a decent unpowered glide angle, it had to fly right on the verge of stalling. The foam is pretty dense and heavy by today's standards, so I decided to drill it full of holes and cover it with Reynolds Wrap. I hoped to lighten it enough that the best climb and glide angles of attack would move down from the stall angle a little. It now weighs a little less than 12 oz. However, it still seems to fly best very close to the stall AOA, close enough that a gust will often cause it to stall. This is my first glider - is that characteristic of gliders? If not, is there anything I should try to reduce the best flight angles relative to the stall angle? The horizontal tail moves as one piece, i.e., there is no separate elevator surface, so there shouldn't be a decalage problem.