Help! Why does my glider do this?

MaxTheFliteFreak

Active member
Hi, I have recently been flying my DLG or discus launch glider, but I've been struggling with the launch. Each time I launch, it either flies in a knife edgeor flips on it's back with both cases ending with a plumet into the earth, hence damaging the glider. I set up the launch presets correctly, with up elevator and right rudder/ ailerons (I'm right handed). I have no idea why the glider is doing this, so any help at all will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance, happy flying!
 

agupt108

Member
Hi, I have recently been flying my DLG or discus launch glider, but I've been struggling with the launch. Each time I launch, it either flies in a knife edgeor flips on it's back with both cases ending with a plumet into the earth, hence damaging the glider. I set up the launch presets correctly, with up elevator and right rudder/ ailerons (I'm right handed). I have no idea why the glider is doing this, so any help at all will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance, happy flying!
Maybe the center of gravity is off? I am not sure though.
 

danskis

Master member
What kind of DLG? Can you post a pic? The first thing to do is set the ailerons to nuetral. Try to get them exactly the same. If you're trying to crush it on the launch then ease up, throw it with less force. Check your surfaces every time you go fly and use your trim to make sure the ailerons are neutral. My plane flew great with a light hand toss and then one of the more experienced guys at the field suggested adding more weight. It flew much better with more weight. DLG is really hard to learn without a mentor and the planes don't hold up well to abuse.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
...I set up the launch presets correctly, with up elevator and right rudder/ ailerons...
Hard to diagnose with out a video. One possibility, you have too much or to little trim. Each plane build has it own trim requirements due to slight inconsistencies in the build. The suggested trim is only a starting point. Feel free to adjust the trim as needed. I had difficulty with my first Versa wing, I diligently set the trim as Josh suggested, it was too much for that plane. I backed it off and the plane flew great.

Another possibility, discus launching is difficult, at least it is for me, you could be introducing something in your toss. You might try a less powerful toss until the problem disappears, the slowly increase the power.
 
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MaxTheFliteFreak

Active member
Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, the DLG kit I bought was made mainly out of foam and has a huge crack in the wing, amongst many other faults (mainly due to my bad piloting skills), so I have deemed the aircraft unflyable and I will be gutting it of it's heart and soul soon and use it on other projects. Thankfully though, it was relatively cheap compared to other DLGs and I only bought it for learning the techniques of DLGs so that I didn't make some silly mistake on a much more expensive one. Thank you very much for all of your advice and I will apply it to my next DLG.

Happy flying!