New Glider Pilot's Handbook

[aeajr]

If you are planning to fly gliders and sailplanes, whether slope or thermal,
powered or pure, this series of articles may be helpful in getting off to a
good start. They are written with the new glider pilot in mind. I hope you
find them useful.

Getting Started in Sailplanes
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=36

Sailplanes are Wonderful
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=18

Radio Systems Part 1 - Standard Radios
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=44

Radio Systems Part 2 - Computer Radios - The right choice for almost everyone
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=65

Sailplane Launching Systems
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=55

How to use a Hi-Start
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=52

Finding Lift
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=57

Plane Locators & Battery Monitors
http://www.rcezine.com/cms/article.php?cat=&id=67

I invite others to post links to articles and resources that would be helpful
to new glider/sailplane pilots. Let's build a resource here that will help
new glider guiders get off to a good start.

Good luck new pilot and welcome to silent flight!

[aeajr]

What Goes on Which Stick? :confused:

Did you ever wonder which stuff goes on which stick, and why?

When I asked the seasoned flyers about this, I was surprised to get different
answers. It confused me. So I started reading up on the subject. What
follows is the result of my research.

If you have been flying for years, the following will seem like common sense.
However, for newer flyers it can be confusing as to where to place things on
the radio.

This can be even more confusing if you started on two and three channel planes
and are moving to planes with more surfaces and radios with more channels and
more controls.

I have participated in many on-line forum threads where we debate as to which
surface gets assigned to which stick. It is usually the rudder that is the
surface in question, but not always. Let's clear up the confusion.

For a two stick radio, used in mode two format, the standard format in North
America, pitch and roll are on the right stick with roll ALWAYS being your
primary turning control. Yaw and primary speed control are on the left stick.
Other functions are assigned to switches, buttons, dials, sliders or levers,
if you have them.

If you have a motor, that is your primary speed control. If you are flying an
unpowered glider, spoilers and flaps take on the role of speed control so they
are typically placed in the speed control position, commonly referred to as
the "throttle" stick. If you buy a radio that has a sailplane section, it
might refer to the throttle stick as the airbrake control.

Depending on the design of your plane, the rudder can play different roles so
its placement can change. On dihedral or polyhedral winged planes with no
ailerons, the rudder is your primary turning surface. It provides both roll
and yaw control so it goes on the right stick with pitch/elevator.

If you think of it in this manner, there is no confusion moving back and forth
between single stick and dual stick radios. On a single stick radio, pitch
and roll are on the single stick, which usually happens to be oriented to the
right side of the radio. If there is a third channel it is usually on a
slider or a switch which operates the primary speed control; throttle, flaps
or spoilers.

I have two single stick radios and two dual stick radios. The singles are used
for R/E/T for two parkflyers. The rudders on these planes provide roll
control and are the primary turning surface.

My dual sticks, both computer radios, are used for parkflyers, TD Sailplanes
and slope gliders. The surface layouts of my planes span R/E, A/E,
R/E/spoilers, R/E/throttle, R/E/A and R/E/A/flaps.

Again, for unpowered sailplanes, think of spoilers and flaps playing the part
of speed control. During normal, "speed" flight the stick is all the way
forward, flaps or spoilers are fully retracted. When I come in for a landing
and want to slow the plane, the stick comes back toward me, just as it would
with a throttle, and the flaps or spoilers deploy according to stick position.
This increases drag and helps to slow the plane, just as would happen with
reduced throttle.

Now, you might ask, if you have a powered plane that has flaps, where do the
flaps go? On a plane with a motor, the flaps are no longer the primary speed
control and are normally moved off the sticks to a switch, a dial or a lever.

Think of your controls this way and there is never a doubt what goes where.

[aeajr]

Moderator, I think this would be a good one to make a sticky in this forum.

[aeajr]

OTHER RESOURCES

The AMA, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, is an outstanding resource to the
new and experienced flyer. I encourage you to become a member. Here is an
outstanding series of articles published by the AMA that will be really useful
to new pilots, especially new e-glider pilots. It is called, "From the Ground
Up" by Bob Aberle. I highly recommend it.
http://www.modelaircraft.org/mag/FTGU/Part1/index.html

RC Clubs in the United States:
http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubmain.asp?sid=3D490C78380448B0A15E31DE4FA6F552

International RC Clubs
http://www.fai.org/fai_members/addresses.asp


Additional Articles and Web Sites
An excellent site for new flyers by Ian Pullar of Australia
Wonderful section on gliders
http://www.newrcflyers.com/

Colorado Gliders
http://www.coloradogliders.com/tools.htm#articles

How thermals work
http://www.scalesoaring.net/thermals.html

How Slope Soaring Works
http://users.iafrica.com/s/st/stevemac/afc/ssoar.html

Dynamic Soaring - Extreme Speed Slope Soaring
http://www.billpattersonart.com/dszone.swf

RC Soaring Digest - online magazine
http://www.b2streamlines.com/RCSD.html

Read this next article only if you like to dabble in deeper technical stuff.
This article
is on advanced set-up of a full house sailplane. Definitely not something a
beginner, or even a many experienced sailplane pilot need to do. This is more
for competition pilots, but if you like to look at some of the advanced stuff,

this might be fun. It is a translation, so take your time as you read it.
http://www.gliders.dk/triming_and_setup_of_a_glider_wi_eng.htm

If you have a high speed link, take a look at these videos of beautiful scale
sailplanes being flow off the slopes of Taiwan. Magnificent!

Over the Rainbow
http://www.dwhs.tnc.edu.tw/~andycheng/wmv/200502.wmv
http://myweb.ncku.edu.tw/~n2893166/wmv/kenting_dragon_cliff.wmv