In the last couple of years I have been slope soaring from smaller slopes, I got to thinking the Multiplex Dart has a very clean fiberglass fuselage and the wing is foam covered by obeche making it very rigid, this could make a great slope flying glider. I cut into the wing to install aileron servos but reinforced the wing with carbon and covered with Monocote. For the V-tail I created a pushrod to join the two elevator halves, the glider has only aileron and elevator control to keep it simple. All the radio equipment fits through the opening in the wing so no other hatches are needed. I found a 1600 nimh battery that would easily fit through the opening.
Now that the glider was finished, the wind didn’t blow much or come from a direction for a slope I could use. Last Saturday this changed and I was able to make test flights although it was gusty. First launch it didn’t seem to turn; better check aileron direction setup, yes it was wrong. Fixed that and it was off and flying. The Dart flew pretty fast as I had hoped and the trim wasn’t too bad. I landed a little hard and it cracked the fuselage which seems rather delicate in that I had a small crack before from a test launch on level ground over tall weeds, I will try reinforcing some.
There were other glider friends there also as Wayne was going to attempt a one hour slope flight. His foam Highlander glider was bounced around a good deal and just wouldn’t stay up at times. I recruited other people to video my flying including some DS with my foam Super Scooter. When I am more comfortable with flying the Dart I want to try DS with it.
Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com
Videos
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