HUMAN POWERED ACROBATIC MODEL?!! DLG 

RU-vid thought I'd like to see this. RU-vid was right! That was super. Thank you.

This reminds me of the time when I was into RC helicopter (before the "drones" came out). There was an old guy with a glider and he always brought a lawn chair to sit on while flying his glider, because it takes forever for his glider to come back down. He's got the thermal mastered. :)

Hah I’m sitting here wondering how it returns perfectly, only to realize half way through the video that he’s holding a controller 🤦‍♂️

I didn't know this kind of flyer exist! Thumbs up!

If you understand thermals and know how to identify them, you can fly until your flight batteries poop out.

I love how peaceful this seems!!

Martin, the fun really starts when you learn to hunt thermals (an art in itself)...and your 1-minute flight becomes...half an hour.

Amazingly it comes back to the person who launched it 😳

i think this is cooler than powered models.

That fail clip made very sad and cringe, the pain he feels looking up at his crunched model

I don't understand how no motor and no camera equals DRONE.

You can have a LOT of fun with DLGs! If anybody's new to the idea, don't think that you have to spend £1,000+ on an all-carbon competition model with ailerons, flaps, etc. A simple, built-up design with some carbon spar reinforcement and rudder/elevator only will fly well, too. I built a DIY plane (called Spindrift) with a 66" wingspan for under £50. Typical flights are around 60 seconds, but my longest flight with it from a flat field was just over 18 minutes. Something to bear in mind if you're looking for duration (it's really satisfying to hit lift from a hand-launch!) is that less is more. Every time you touch the sticks you're creating drag and shortening your flight. You don't NEED ailerons or flaps unless you want to fly aerobatics. If you want to tear about the sky then you won't be worried about duration, but even then, the more you disturb the model, the shorter your flight times will be. One really useful control on even the simplest model is variable wing camber. This is sort of like extremely wide flaps, or possibly very big full-span ailerons, but they're not used for directional control. I set mine on the right hand stick (I fly Mode 1) to have 1/4" of up movement on the trim, and 1" of down on the stick. They work just like a throttle. Unlike ailerons, though, they're not constantly waggling about in the airflow - they're most useful when you find a thermal, when you can give the wing some undercamber and slow the plane right down to turn tightly in the rising air. A modern radio has lots of mixing options that let you have ailerons, flaps, variable camber, and various configurations of airbrakes / spoilers all at the same time, so it seems that you can have your cake and eat it, too... But don't forget about dihedral. A simple rudder + elevator + variable camber wing is pleasant to fly because it has plenty of dihedral which lets the glider fly 'hands off'. It's a very efficient configuration. If you go for the 'angry' setup, with full aerobatic capability, you'll have a bit less dihedral, a lot less natural stability, and a model that will need to be steered more of the time. Every touch of the sticks reduces your glide-time so it's a bit more of a compromise.

Well you sure have mastered the controls. There does not seem to be much of an audience for RC. I put up a video of me flying one over my river with camera on top just to see if there would be interest. Not much yet. I put on Ailerons and the smallest rimfire motor I could find at 11.1 volts and a heavy GoPro9

Gotta find those thermals!

Beautiful design, super efficient glider, excellent flying skills. In about '59 through early sixties dad made some solid balsa gliders the same size and look, for us to slope soar when I was a kid, but we didn't have rc, so we would have to chose a slope where we could hike to where they would end up landing. Someday soon, I'm going to get into rc gliding. That whole launch method you're doing is awesome fun looking.

Hey, Martin. I flew HLG (Hand Launched Glider) from a VERY young age. Won my first National Title as a Junior at age 6! I still proudly display that trophy. Just thrown, but Max flights were relatively common for the top performers at 3 minutes. Best 3 flights out of 6 attempts are added together for a total. I won with 3 Max flights! At 6 years of age! I am an old man now, relatively, but still remember that fondly. At the 70th MAAA Nats, I came home with 5 medals. My brother did even better and came home with 9 medals, mostly Gold! So, there you go. I am old, but STILL competitive.

I've flown everything that you can buy RC. There's two things I keep. My DLG and my FPV racing drones. I gave away over 100 other models, greasers, electric, you name it... those two I won't give up though.

That poor kid at 0:45 slipped and fell on rotation 😭 That could happen to anyone 🤕 It always pays to check your launching ground carefully for wet/soft spots, holes, rocks, snakes 😱 etc. before you start.

My record is 2hrs with a 2m span Sig Riser 2 channel. Bungy launch. I flew it down to the ground as my neck was buggered from looking up so long. Somehow I love gliders more than all my other lipo planes. Never tried DLG. Looks like loads of fun too.

👀 wow, had no idea such a beast existed! 2 freaking cool!

I used to thermal for 4 hours laying on my back and looking up 20 years ago but it was nice

The design of that model is really nice; large control surfaces, and I especially like having ailerons/flap-erons. As a kid I scratch-built a few RC sailplanes from plans. Years later I owned a "Fling" from Horizon Hobby I believe. I loved that little plane, but it was a little too small. Anyone recommend a specific company that makes these?

You should fly near that hill in the background and go for some ridge lift, and fly the thing as long as you want.

$! !REWARD! !$ MISSING GLIDER. LAST SEEN IN ORBIT! Please call SPACE X for details!

I saw someone launch one of these directly into a thermal and take it to the skies. It was amazing. Started off maybe 7 m above the ground and climbed almost out of sight.

I liked the guy at the start that you said you are better than. Quick and efficient launch that didn’t cause that long waste of time waiting for it to come back down.

That was a reasonably good video, Martin. I really enjoyed it. How could anybody give it a thumbs down? Some people are just haters for no good reason.

Awesome! Great video Martin. I’d love to see more DLG content from you in the future.

Como se llama en español, donde la puedo comprar y que precio tiene?

I love it "soon get back to the proper planes and jets". While they would be quite fun I would get bored quite quickly, just my opinion 😉

An elegant design and Your elegant way of throwing it plus fitting sound! A perfect match!

Built in Kharkiv Ukraine, hope those guys are doing alright.

That's one weird boomerang mate 👍😊

And they always land in your hands afterwards?? That's one cool hobby

One days flying then one day off with dislocated shoulder 😉

Acrobatics are what circus performers do. Aircraft perform aerobatics!

Wonderful. The physics doesn’t seem to add up for the amount of work expended. I could only think thermals were helping. Anyway, shopping for one right now! Drones are getting very unpopular in my area for the noise and the way dogs react. This could be the go.

Wow I never saw that, it's the level 1000 of the paper plane !

Well, for sure lots of thermal activity for the long flight. I made many hand launched balsa gliders in my days as a hang glider pilot, and had many that went up and never came back. Sacrificial victims to the wind gods..... I was looking at the hill in the background thinking if you launched up there, you could probably get some thermal activity.

how much does a glider like this one cost, looks very cool to try. so only two controls correct, rudder and elevator?

The beauty of glider is silent flight.

I miss my dlg it was so much fun. I'll never forget going out with the turbine jet guys and going out over the tarmac and catching huge lift i didn't land for over an hour till lunch got there.

Man I love the video Martin! I recently scratch built a little foam (my most recent video if anyone is interested) dlg to practice and it is sure fun to fly!

Is this thing really over $500 USD?!? I could get a drone with an HD camera that flies for 20+ minutes for that price!

The way he throws it looks like some kind of Avengers move 🤯

I fly flv drones, but this is a pretty cool concept 👌

Hello Martin .... if you would stretch your right arm even more while throwing do you have even more momentum! and you protect your muscles ;-)

Martin, Great video that will make more people aware of this sport. My son and I both fly at WC level and competed in the world championships for F3K in 2019 (Hungary). I have made some videos specifically about F3K (DLG), F3K is the FAI competition class. I have flown in seniors group for South Africa and my son (Aldo Vos) for Juniors. He was 4th at WC in 2019. If you search for "what is F3K" you should get my (Mike Vos) video that tells a bit more about the competitive tasks for this sport. It's a good mix of skill and fun!

HLG was Free Flight. No control. The model must be very well balanced. A Max flight meant you were in a thermal, and would most likely lose the model. It would just go up forever. But we would go to comps with a stack of gliders. All built by us, and all the same, actually hoping to lose them.

great flight

This would probably be fun if you knew of a suitable flying space with an obvious contrast in the landscape. Like an area mostly covered with greenery, a modest cool breeze for a sunny day in general, but some lot of brown dirt or asphalt in the middle of that which would provide an obvious hot-spot for thermals.

Its thrilling. The plane Like a living stuff. Like drone scene in Interstellar.

........................ 🔦🎓👍🌷

I wasn't expecting that guy to slam his plane and when you kept repeating it, the guys in the office next to me wondered what I was heehawing about. that was some funny $hit. Love the vid.

Pretty neat. I cant believe I never tried to roll or loop my DLG. Longest flight I've had so far was 16min. And I KNOW that's not long. I just can't seem to find and keep the thermals. That in itself is another skill. But I have to admit. After tossing my gassers and warbirds around it sure is nice to just toss and glide around for a while! These gliders are suprisingly expensive to people that are checking them out. But I can assure you. Well worth the investment! Excellent video Martin

That's downright awesome! I have a 2.5 Meter Vista Grande EP that I bought nearly ready to fly and just have so much fun with it. I use the electric motor most of the time to gain enough height to look for thermals or I ridge soar back and forth. But as of late, I challenge myself to find thermals near the ground and hand launch right into them. About one in twenty leads to a major thermal but it is so much fun when it does to know I did it without any launch assistance.

Eso es una pluma saludos ✈

Imagine taking this back into ancient times when flight a mystery. Then just going hey watch this. FLING!

"not that good at it" pfffh xD

Jeez, last DLG I saw was in 2010 & the pilot had it up in the air for a good two hours. That's thermals for ya.

I also have a Blaster 2! And a Stratair Chili Race which I just took out to the field yesterday 🙂 My longest flight was with the Blaster: more than 12 minutes, circling with a red kite. He saw my going up in a thermal and accompanied me. That was fun to watch! Usually it is the other way round 🙃

It is radio controled

I love flying DLGs. A fun activity that challenges you both physically and mentally. Each throw and flight is a learning experience.

😎😎😎😍😍

I’d never be able to throw it hard enough

Davis Edward Martin Gary Thompson Shirley

I like the silence

It is NOT "Human Powered". Gliders are UNPOWERED. What it is, is a hand-launched glider. "Human Powered" means that the propulsion sistem is based on a human's muiscles. Gliders don't have propulsion systems, therefore they can't be "Human powered".

It's been quite a while since I had to exit out of the R/C game, and if I was to return to it, DLG'ing would be the one thing that I'd pick up again immediately. "Back in the day" (2005) I designed the QuickFlick-II balsa DLG, only 1200mm span but still sells to this day.

Top. I love... How much cost in USA .

Enjoyed the video and also your flying skills. thanks for sharing

Genius! What a Great glider! Jolly good fun for any age and a Great way to learn about Thermals! The Aborigines of Aussie would say That’s better than a Boomerang Cobber! Mm! A great name for the glider, Boomerang! Well the glider does come back from where launched! 10:13 Well Done to the designer and the Builder! 👍👏👏👏👏👏 JB. UK.

Johnson Kimberly Williams Robert Walker Edward

DJG's are so amazing! ive been flying DLGs for 7/8 years now! really love them! i am throwing them up to 65 m ive had stunning 3 min flights on one throw(without thermals)!

Old clip, but still gotta say…You mean Aerobatic. ‘Acrobatic’ means like tumblers in a circus. They call these discus launched or hand launched gliders. Oooh….flaperons too! (Combined flap and aileron functions). It wouldn’t need much of a hill to provide slope lift for this - even if launched from the bottom and up into the lift band, huh!

Hall Anthony Anderson Gary Jackson Elizabeth

0:43 damn that hurts, I feel it

Ух ты 😗 Клас клас клас 👍👍👍

"If you're good at it, it goes into the stratosphere"; wait, what! For real? I'm guessing it doesn't go that high by the force of the hand, rather, by taking advantage of thermal updraft winds or something.... ???

Of all the videos of yours I've watched the final 4 minute flight was my favorite. Your skills shine even more with this platform. Please throw some more DLG beauties!

These days, we fly mainly F2.

Showing that guy at 0:47 was funny... but cruel, Martin. I was torn! I laughed AND felt sorry for him at the same time. Now I feel bad about myself. Plus it is ALWAYS sad to see a model get destroyed. I know it happens. I compete. But its still sad to see. Anyway... keep up the GREAT work, Martin.

Cool, 👍👋👋👋 niice beautiful 🌄

It's not the glider which is perfekt...it's your Spot

$1200 to $2000? Yeah i dont think so Even cheap ones are $750ish... Better just get EDF jets that cost the same or less even and have more fun.

what's the point of that? We used a 4 m long catapult with 6-8 thick rubber strands to shoot small gliders way up. 5 minutes flying time without wind...

I love my dlg's! It's what I am flying most of the time. "Just one more launch!" , repeat. Or toss one off the slope for some endless slope soaring.

My old Aquilla stayed up about 45 min. to an hr. on flat ground when the thermals were right.. I used a bean bag chair to sit in .. People walking by thought I was wakked out sitting in this chair .. they couldn't see the plane it was up so high.

I thought that was rc at first. Then the. Ideo continued and I really looked at the "fuselodge" and I'm like nah it's just a model that's so tiny. And then he chucks its and shortly after I see the rc fucking maneuvering. To fit anything in their at all if crazy. Some smart people out there these days.

How is this possible? You understand how a wing works, right? And gliders, right? And you know that DLG isn't new, ok?

What did you say at 0:45? (exact wording, please!)😏

Für den Preis bekomme ich eine richtig gute Drohe

That is freaking awesome! My favorite thing as a kid was those little Cox engines which were super loud and they were tied to a tether and you fly them in circles until you're dizzy.

0:45 а знаете почему он подскользнулся и разбил модель? Потому что не понимает для чего делается оборот торса и куда при этом должны ноги идти. Ноги должны двигаться по линии в одном направлении, даже по время вращения, что бы по итогу скорость от вращения складывалась со скоростью хотьбы/бега ног, и эту суммарную скорость передать планеру в момент выпуска из рук.

Nice flying. Cool to see you do stuff that us mortals might be able to do😉

Who cares about thermals when it only takes 5 seconds to get a 60 second flight time after time. To get physical and mental fun for a couple hours is great. I like it.

Acrobatics are done by circus performers. Aerobatics are done by airplane pilots. Just saying.

Things like this are just begging for a motor and Lipo pack.

Don't explain to the audience what it is it's nothing but a bunch of foam board pilots who will quit the hobby in 9 months anyways total reprobates with motors.....

I want one ASAP but can't seem to find any for sale anywhere, can anyone supply a UK based sales link please?