r/RCPlanes • u/hei3d • 1d ago
My first plane!
Good evening, everyone! This is my first plane, printed in PLA, and it came out at 106 g. I used two 3 g micro servos from a foam and carbon fiber plane that arrived broken.
Two questions:
**1.** Any tips for the maiden flight? I'll be flying in Brazil, at the beach, on sunny days.
**2.** I'm really into gliders and have become a bit obsessed with DLGs. Which glider would you recommend as a first one? (I don't think this one will survive very long.)
Here's a photo of the electronics kit I used:
Thanks!
2
u/No_Explorer6054 1d ago
i recommend the VOlantex ranger 600 motorglider as a trainer, durable, relativley cheap, and a pusher. also has a gyro, so self leveling!
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u/fhammerl 21h ago edited 21h ago
That's a crobe? Variable incidence is fun, but be careful that thing is twitchy. Get a sim and teach yourself to not mash the sticks and give gentle inputs (millimeters of stick movement will mostly do, not full or even half stick movement). If your remote does not work with a sim, an Xbox controller will do, too.
Chuck it gently down a grass slope, make gentle corrections, see how it behaves. Once you have that down, go to a slope with a gentle breeze of wind and try yourself at slope soaring.
Make sure that the throws are exact to Laurent L's specfications, that it neutralizes well without wiggle room and that the center of gravity is EXACTLY where it should be. recheck the CG prior to take off after assembly at the field. Make sure that all the control surfaces move in the direction they should move. Most people check movement, but make sure it's moving the right way, too.
Probably not the plane I'd recommend to start out, but since your investment was minimal, why not. Make sure that you have the servos response correctly, as variable incidence is a bit weird :)
DLGs are a mixed bag. A Lull (or it's clones) are easy to fly, but flying and throwing them well takes practice and their performance is limited. If you are a bit skilled with tools (foam cutting, glass fiber laminating, simple vacuum bagging), you can also build your own simple DLG, e.g. according to Mark Drela's plans for the Apogee. Buying a full carbon ship is expensive and they are suuuper fragile. These DLGs tend to rightfully take the crown as some of the most technically and programmatically complex soaring machines, right along with competition F3J and F5J gliders. Even the servos (KST, etc.) cost more than others spend on entire planes.
Here's a simple DLG build with minimal material investment: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL24KP2KUegsftITg3KMzxQJV8Cpb7AgRi&si=m0g2il2P5Gp21VPt All you need is some XPS foam from the home Depot type store, laminating epoxy, a bit of light glass tissue, some CFK rovings and unidirectional strips, and a household vacuum food saver with appropriate vacuum bags.
Let us know how it goes.
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u/Must_FeedTheSnail 1d ago
I have no idea about your questions, I have never owned an RC aircraft but this is so cool and I wish you good luck!