speedbirdted
Legendary member
Mine will have no propulsion system whatsoever so I think keeping it light will be pretty easy. Entirely tow/winch launch or sloping. Those flames are sick btw!
Goldberg Gentle Lady Build
- Thread starter speedbirdted
- Start date
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Try fiberglass. After this is done, I have an idea...
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Beveled the rudder/elevator and added slots for hinges, as well as test-fit everything to make sure I didn't screw anything up. The plan and manual call for Monokote hinges, and the first thing everyone should know about monokote hinges is that you should never ever use them under any circumstances, because they suck. And also sometimes randomly cause your control surfaces to leave the airplane which can have undesirable effects on how the airplane flies.
I also want the stick-built look of the rudder for the elevator but sadly it's just a piece of solid trailing edge stock (what the hell Carl Goldberg????) I think I'll make something custom...
The inboard halves of both wings are also pretty much done, they only need sheeting applied to the top, but that gets done when they get joined anyway. The instructions say you should build the right inboard half, followed by the outboard half, but after some review of the building instructions I determined that doing it this way won't pose any significant problems. The reason I'm doing it is to keep the plan as intact as possible, so if I end up doing some nonsense while flying that means I have to rebuild the wing, I have the plans available. I'm also not going to bother with building the detachable wingtips since according to some people they have a bad habit of failing in flight. Neither will I be making the tail detachable, since I measured everything out and the complete wing will fit in my Golf, somehow, and the fuse/tail are smaller than that even when assembled together. At this point all a detachable tail would add is more weight and an extra point of failure.
I should stop finishing things at 2 am. Then maybe the pictures will be better.
I also want the stick-built look of the rudder for the elevator but sadly it's just a piece of solid trailing edge stock (what the hell Carl Goldberg????) I think I'll make something custom...
The inboard halves of both wings are also pretty much done, they only need sheeting applied to the top, but that gets done when they get joined anyway. The instructions say you should build the right inboard half, followed by the outboard half, but after some review of the building instructions I determined that doing it this way won't pose any significant problems. The reason I'm doing it is to keep the plan as intact as possible, so if I end up doing some nonsense while flying that means I have to rebuild the wing, I have the plans available. I'm also not going to bother with building the detachable wingtips since according to some people they have a bad habit of failing in flight. Neither will I be making the tail detachable, since I measured everything out and the complete wing will fit in my Golf, somehow, and the fuse/tail are smaller than that even when assembled together. At this point all a detachable tail would add is more weight and an extra point of failure.
I should stop finishing things at 2 am. Then maybe the pictures will be better.
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TooJung2Die
Master member
The photos are fine. I like your building strategy; doing both sides of the wing in sections instead of completing one whole side makes more sense to me too. I've seen plans where there are slight errors and the left side doesn't match the right side exactly. Speaking of hinges, what are you using? Are you using a slotting tool or did you cut them by hand?
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Sig easy hinges, and I just used an x-acto and a straightedge to make the holes for them. I've tried a slotting tool but I found they frankly aren't worth it, and once you get the hang of doing them manually it's really quite easy.
CMS_1961
CMS_1961
Great build choice!!!
Best glider/trainer ever!! I taught myself to fly RC using a Gentle Lady (back in 1980 before the RC simulators and such). I have three of them and one in the box!! If you build it right (light) it will almost fly itself "hands off" at altitude!! Keep the build light with CA glues, use Econokote (if they still make it) or Monokote and get the CG on the spot and you have a great plane.
They can be converted to electric power in a minute as well. You can hack the nose off and mount the motor there or make a pod--both are good.
Nothing but good things to say about the Goldberg Gentle Lady!!
Best glider/trainer ever!! I taught myself to fly RC using a Gentle Lady (back in 1980 before the RC simulators and such). I have three of them and one in the box!! If you build it right (light) it will almost fly itself "hands off" at altitude!! Keep the build light with CA glues, use Econokote (if they still make it) or Monokote and get the CG on the spot and you have a great plane.
They can be converted to electric power in a minute as well. You can hack the nose off and mount the motor there or make a pod--both are good.
Nothing but good things to say about the Goldberg Gentle Lady!!
dutchmonkey
Well-known member
I can confirm that you can fit a one piece wing and full fuse in a golf. i get 3 2 meter ships and about 6 other foam planes in the back of my MK4 and there is still room for more. I have fit a 50gallon water heater in its box in the back of my golf and managed to close the door.
OliverW
Legendary member
It flies amazing
I was given a Gentle Lady earlier this year, and have yet to fly it. It's not that I'm afraid to, I just have to have a good spot to launch it from since I don't have a tow hook setup in it, and there's no motor for it.
I figure I'll slope with the gentle beach winds later this summer, once the time changes.
I figure I'll slope with the gentle beach winds later this summer, once the time changes.
dutchmonkey
Well-known member
Cut the nose off and stick a motor on it you can loose the weight to balance it and gain the ability to get some altitude to actually catch a thermal.
I know the possibility is there, but I honestly don't want to do that. That means I'd have to rig up an ESC and fit a battery in to power the motor, and I like the lines of the plane now. Plus, it was given to me by a member of my club, and I kinda want to preserve the original look of the plane. It's just me and my aesthetics.
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Wing is done. Only thing left to do with it is do the final bit of sanding to get it really smooth in preparation for covering, but I tend to just do that when I have all the parts of the plane done so it'll wait a while.
Getting an object this big in a picture and still making it look decent isn't really easy.
Also built the new elevator. The one included in the kit for unknown reasons is just a piece of solid trailing edge and if you ask me it looks kinda dumb. So I drew up a plan for this and built it instead, and I think it looks much better. Test fit the hinges and all too, and it seems like it'll work out perfectly. The square in the middle is to mount the control horn. The lines of the stab don't perfectly match it, and I still have to sand it down a bit to be less rounded.
Fuselage construction starts tomorrow...
Getting an object this big in a picture and still making it look decent isn't really easy.
Also built the new elevator. The one included in the kit for unknown reasons is just a piece of solid trailing edge and if you ask me it looks kinda dumb. So I drew up a plan for this and built it instead, and I think it looks much better. Test fit the hinges and all too, and it seems like it'll work out perfectly. The square in the middle is to mount the control horn. The lines of the stab don't perfectly match it, and I still have to sand it down a bit to be less rounded.
Fuselage construction starts tomorrow...
TooJung2Die
Master member
Why do they do that? The whole airplane can be made of carefully built up balsa frame and then they stick a solid slab of wood on the tail for a vertical stab. The built up elevator you made looks much better and will mean less nose ballast. What's the rule of thumb? Every extra ounce in the tail means ten ounces of ballast in the nose? Something like that...
speedbirdted
Legendary member
I really don't know. I would have expected better from Carl Goldberg. I tried to do it to decrease tail weight too, as I think I'm going to still need a tiny bit of nose weight because no engine, but the elevator I built up weighed exactly the same as the standard one so it didn't change much other than looking much nicer.
I think I’ll leave the elevator stock for my first balsa build. Plus I’ll be putting a motor on the nose so hopefully no CG issues...
TooJung2Die
Master member
That's the best strategy for a first build. Stick to the plan. After you've built a few you can re-engineer everything.
CMS_1961
CMS_1961
I know the possibility is there, but I honestly don't want to do that. That means I'd have to rig up an ESC and fit a battery in to power the motor, and I like the lines of the plane now. Plus, it was given to me by a member of my club, and I kinda want to preserve the original look of the plane. It's just me and my aesthetics.
You can make a pod for an electric or gas .049 motor (if you like) and keep the nose!!! Research on line and you will find tons of photos and a plan for the pod too.
speedbirdted
Legendary member
I was actually thinking about putting my PAW 049 diesel that I have lying around somewhere in a pod so I could make it self-launch and keep the nose. It has the RC carb on it but I could pretty easily just set up a linkage to hold it at full throttle at all times. Problem is it doesn't have an internal tank so I'd have to get one of those 3/8oz Cox tanks (smallest tank I have right now is 1oz and it gives it 15+ minutes of runtime which is too much for a glider launch) And there's also the problem of even getting fuel for the thing now that Davis Diesel is no longer a thing and Ether is weirdly hard to get here in the States...
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Fuselage done, with the exception of the nosecone. I'm gonna carve it to shape off of the plane because doing it on the plane seems like it would get cumbersome fast. I also haven't cut the hole for the rudder pushrod but I'll do that when I know exactly where I want it to go. The instructions say at this stage you go ahead and glue the tail feathers on but I'm gonna wait until I have them covered since getting into tight corners with an iron is not fun.
Only real change to the plans here was the addition of a little 1/8x3/16 brace in the forward fuselage as it was too stiff to properly hold its shape without adding it.
If the damn postal service would only get its act together and give me my electronics and Monokote soon, I might have this flying by the weekend...
Only real change to the plans here was the addition of a little 1/8x3/16 brace in the forward fuselage as it was too stiff to properly hold its shape without adding it.
If the damn postal service would only get its act together and give me my electronics and Monokote soon, I might have this flying by the weekend...
