Solved Ft glider

ja_ovalle

Member
Hi, just a simple doubt I have, I want to build a Flite test glider, but have trouble deciding if I should build the simple soarer or tiny trainer, bare in mind that the simple soarer for me is a little more complicated to build, I live in the mountain so fly on the slopes and are there any other Fb gliders?

Thanks,
José
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
Hi Jose, I haven't tried the gliders yet, but I know that the tiny trainer is an excellent plane and very versatile.
This article wrote by winglet (a friend) explains perfectly the modifications needed to convert the tiny trainer into an excellent glider.
Here is a preview of the resulting plane.
And if you want to fly something more aggressive than a glider, you can simply build another set of wings and swap them.
ts4-jpg_1433634745.jpg
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
I would recommend the tiny trainer. I built the simple soarer and with the abuse I gave it, it didn’t hold up too well. Have fun!
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I'm probably one of the few out there that will say that the Simple Soarer is a great glider for slope soaring. I've flown it several times down at our local beach, and have had lots of enjoyment hucking it off the cliff and catching a breeze. The dihedral in the wing makes it easy to keep stable, and you can glide for hours on one battery with it if you are going for a true glider and not something power assisted.

That said, it IS more fragile than some planes out there, and may not hold up to hard landings. I nosed mine in on the first flight, and broke the swappable pod for towing just in front of the firewall; all I had to do was rebuild that section and stick it back on, and I was ready to fly again with the same fuselage and wing.

Keep in mind that, regardless of whether you go with a Versa Wing, Tiny Trainer, Simple Soarer, or any other plane, if you run it with a prop on it, you WILL experience drag when trying to slope soar, and it is noticeable. You can fly with it, just expect it to not perform as well as if you were running without it. And if you should decide to build a plane and leave the prop and motor off (i.e., the Tiny Trainer or the Spitfire or the Versa Wing) remember to balance your plane accordingly. Your plane will no longer have that heavy motor pulling it down in one direction, and so your battery and other components may need to be shifted more in towards your balance point.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
@sprzout I figured you'd come and suggest the simple soarer! :LOL: I'll go ahead and say I really didn't give it a super fair chance as I structurally weakened mine a bit when adding lights to it. It glided really nice though!

What can I say, it flies fairly well if you give it a chance. :) I DID make some minor modifications to the original plans, though - I bought some stiff plastic tubing that was at the hobby store near the music wire/control rods, and put it in the slit that comes out of the fuse near the back of the glider. It helped prevent the wire from bending during travel, something I noticed the glider was prone to with the stock FT pushrod wire. Once I did that, the control surfaces moved MUCH more smoothly, and didn't seem to flutter like I've heard mentioned for the Simple Soarer. I suppose you could also use a coffee stirrer, but plastic coffee stirrers are so hard to find here in California. But I digress...
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
What can I say, it flies fairly well if you give it a chance. :) I DID make some minor modifications to the original plans, though - I bought some stiff plastic tubing that was at the hobby store near the music wire/control rods, and put it in the slit that comes out of the fuse near the back of the glider. It helped prevent the wire from bending during travel, something I noticed the glider was prone to with the stock FT pushrod wire. Once I did that, the control surfaces moved MUCH more smoothly, and didn't seem to flutter like I've heard mentioned for the Simple Soarer. I suppose you could also use a coffee stirrer, but plastic coffee stirrers are so hard to find here in California. But I digress...
Maybe I should give it another shot sometime... I'm actually considering doing the tiny trainer to try slope soaring as I have never built one yet.
 

Piotrsko

Master member
Maybe I should give it another shot sometime... I'm actually considering doing the tiny trainer to try slope soaring as I have never built one yet.
Ok but for slope keep the wingspan on the short side unless you want to fly only on calm days. Watch @mayan fly his Fttt slope and you'll see why.
I would take the FT explorer, stretch the wings a bit to 2 meters, close the wing bottom, semi symmetrical the nose entry, bit 1"thick carbon spar, and mostly full span ailerons with a full flying tail. That's just me however. "Heavy" and fast are advantages in slope. I have a couple of wings, but I'm not a fan.
 

K3V0

Elite member
I vote the TT too! If only for sheer ease of manufacturing.
36D9B4F6-AA0E-42A0-8A48-73E25BC5431B.jpeg
my current one has a 120cm wingspan and it can almost slope soar. I haven’t dialed it in for that but I can feel the updrafts and their effects. Seems similar to @cdfigueredo ’s picture. 😃 That being said, the SS is made for it right?
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
I know when @bracesport took his Spit to the slope he had to add 400 grams or so to the CG point to get penetration in the given wind conditions. Some times heavier is better.
Ok but for slope keep the wingspan on the short side unless you want to fly only on calm days. Watch @mayan fly his Fttt slope and you'll see why.
I would take the FT explorer, stretch the wings a bit to 2 meters, close the wing bottom, semi symmetrical the nose entry, bit 1"thick carbon spar, and mostly full span ailerons with a full flying tail. That's just me however. "Heavy" and fast are advantages in slope. I have a couple of wings, but I'm not a fan.
Both the Explorer and TT have the less then ideal style of spar construction that FT offers, it ends itself to wing folding at the most inopportune times. A box spar is always best favoring the open section on the expansion surface (bottom side) then the compression side (top of the wing) with an almost mandatory reinforcement in the center like a paint stirrer or CF rod. That is if you plane to add weight for wind conditions given the positive G's the wing will encounter.
I vote the TT too! If only for sheer ease of manufacturing. View attachment 151511 my current one has a 120cm wingspan and it can almost slope soar. I haven’t dialed it in for that but I can feel the updrafts and their effects. Seems similar to @cdfigueredo ’s picture. 😃 That being said, the SS is made for it right?
Just curious what are the reinforcements you have on the top of the wing, skewers?
 

K3V0

Elite member
Just curious what are the reinforcements you have on the top of the wing, skewers?
The wings folded a while back and instead of trashing them and starting over, I re-glued the wings and added the skewers to keep em flat. Its been a plane that I have tried to fly to pieces but it keeps coming back for more. @Hondo76251 is right about a stock tt being great!