Marvelous! As though it were choreographed. The "catch and release" and nose-stops are like watching someone work with a well trained pet. Truly special. Thanks for sharing.
That is magical! Please please please consider posting a video where you describe the model close up and point out how this or that was built. Materials, tools, plans, electronics, hints or anything that would help those of us aspiring to build something similar. :)
I second this! :-) I've downloaded the plan but I can see you've made quite a few changes and I'd also like to know how you've achieved a lighter model. Looks better without the polyhedral, too.
I third this :D, this is imo the most beautiful sailplane I have seen so far, I love elliptical wings and you have vastly improved the design over the original with much cleaner lines and using a dihedral wing over polyhedral, I'll have to wait till I emigrate to oz before I can take on this build but like the others I would truly appreciate more detail on this build although the great camera work has shown some great detail shots, you live in a beautiful part of the country, I'm an Essex boy and it's very flat here :/
Yes, another great improvement, it would be great if this improved design could be put into CAD or similar so it could be laser cut, even just the really time consuming stuff like wing ribs, I have downloaded the plan and it looks like a great build :)
the glider is gorgeous, and you my friend are one good pilot, you play with plane like it is a pet, you bring it to you so slow and hold the nose like a dog, then gently release it, you have good control and feel the of the plane .
I have not flown a sloper for many years due to my love for freestyle FPV miniquads but this has just reminded me of the pure magic of slope soaring, I will now search for this model as its beautiful, thanks for the sharing the flight :D
Beautifully constructed model, flown with grace. It came to you as a puppy might, seeking a master's reassuring pat on the nose. Well done, lad, and thank you for posting such a gentle, lovely piece of video.
Now, that's a pretty thing. I'm in the middle of building a Bird of Time as I write this. The variety of designs available is seemingly endless, for anyone who wants to build one of their own. Cheers from Las Vegas, Nevada!
-RD: The BOT's another beautiful sailplane; good luck with your build! Apologies to all for my tangent to John's Leprechaun post. Just imagine- both of these wheeling about gently overhead. :-)
doogle1110 Yes, I've been a Dave Thornburg fan since I started in this great hobby a lifetime ago. After nearly 40 years, I've finally cleared the bench for this legendary sailplane. Thanks for the reply.
edward hasiak The original Leprechaun was a free flight model. John made several changes to convert it to R/C. There is no kit for it that I am aware of. However, you can download free plans for the original design are available through Outerzone. My advice is to not get hung up on one particular design as kits are getting harder to find these days. Maybe a Bird of Time might suit you. Although I would recommend it for experienced builders only.
Thanks for the reply Richard. It's funny You mention the Bird of Time, I built one twenty five years ago, I believe it was my third sailplane build. Since then I built a few from Ray Hayes kits(Sky Bench Aerotech). But He isn't taking any orders at this time. I never built from plans but will check out Outerzone. Thanks again.
hehehe..... way cool. Late at night when i sleep i have to lay my body on this plane to keep it from flying away... then i realize it is lifting me up and away and there is no sink or despair. Only a calm breeze and my soul floating along like a fish in a stream and a lone seagull high above the ocean cliff.
god that thing is so pretty. my last stick and cover plane was a gentle lady nearly 20 years ago. watch it fly away on me (no radio contact no idea why fresh batteries all around will never know now) never got up the muster to do another. but this plane. wow. gorgeous colors too. would love to find a place to slope. looks like crazy peaceful fun flying.
Quisiera saber las medidas de tu maravilloso modelo y qué tipo de perfil alar has utilizado.y por supuesto si tienes copia de los planos para yo comprar uno
So nice to see a R/C glider. LIKE THIS BUILD FROM PLANS AND FLOWN TO THIS STANDARD. AS A MODELER MY SELF FOR OVER 50 YEARS. I JUST GET FED UP WITH TRYING TO FIND ANY THING WORTH WHATCHING ANY MORE . AS ITS ALL R.T.F. AND FOAMY INTERNET TOYS . WELL DONE 👍
Oh the Leprechaun caught my eye in a plans handbook I purchased in the playground at school. More flights over 15 minutes than under I seem to recall it stated. Our club had a load of plans donated some years ago including this model. The sheer volume of wood, plus the fact that no DT was shown put me off. However for an RC sloper it looks perfect. Brilliant model and flying.
In more than 30 years flying models this is the most beautiful flight I've ever seen, it's so peaceful, and the plane is so simple, thanks for sharing. Which plane is it? Are plans available?
Andres Suarez thank you so much! I built it from a Leprechaun plan downloaded from Outerzone website. But the plan is for a freeflight model so I changed quite a bit from the original plan.
Love the "Seat launch" At 0:26 second in, I think she's toying with you, John. Certainly living up to her namesake. Beautiful, I can't get the smile off my face.
So glad to see you’re back! I wondered you were busy at your build board.. Anyway; This is in all ways truly magical- Very well done! Love your ‘touch & release’ moments. Your plane, for me, perfect. A Special Well Done to your videographer on this one: the close-ups are wonderful! 10/10 across the board. TY for sharing.
Just gorgeous... reminds me of when I used to design and build gliders when I was a kid. I recall having flown one in particular quite a lot...it had a lot of damage and wear, so I patched it as best I could. I trimmed it for free flight and threw it off a peak near my home. I watched it fly off, never to return.
The area looks breathtakingly beautiful...Similar to where I plan on moving to in Oregon in a few more years. I may just have to build myself a glider and fly it there. Its been 40 years, hope I remember how !!
So insanely awesome there are just not enough words to say about it! Way, way, way cool!! Thank you so much for sharing such artistry and elegance together!! Gorgeous plane! Gorgeous place! Gorgeous conditions! Just perfect!
WoW man, just WoW! Right now I have to say this is my favourite RC gliding video, from 10+ years watching RC on RU-vid. Sorry Franny, your Valkyrie is still my fave balsa built Planes I've seen. But this flight is just wonderful!!!
That would spoil the beauty and functionality of the model. I would love to build one this size and fly it. I just cannot consider any project that takes more than an hour or so as I need to clear the work space (dining table), so something like this that would take several days would need a proper work room so I could work on it in background to my regular projects.
Wow! Beautiful - Perfect plane, tuned for the perfect spot.... perfect flying.... even the hawks where watching you crow... Wow! My favorite..... that’s right....
That is an excellent cliff to be gliding on. Such a non-turbulent airstream and a lot of unobstructed area behind you for landing if required. Sites like that are rare where I live.
Absolutely lovely looks so good I used to go slope soaring many years ago and loved it seeing your model it brought back memories of the summer evening when I used to go near corf castle in Dorset, thanks for the memory
The most beautiful video of RC soaring I have ever seen! Encourages me to finish my Sunbird :-) This modified Leprechaun looks very nice indeed, with balanced lines. Its stability is very obvious, though no doubt CG position is very important with that huge stab. My very first glider was a "Corsair A/2" of similar vintage and general idea.
Bhalchandrarao Patwardhan it’s just the angle of the camera. The ground slopes away to the coast path below, then there it gets steeper. I’m a good 50 meters from the cliff edge.
I fly Sea Cliffs too. I love to fly in super close and slow like this too! Great film work you do. One building tip if I may... I see you secure your wing with cross strapped bands to dowels that run through your fuselage, both in front of the wing and behind the wing. ... traditional setup. When you hit hard you often break your wing to some degree. Think ski bindings! No broken bones! If you use only the two forward dowels, and lead the 2 bands back to single dowel located in the center of the top surface of your fuselage, and oriented that dowel in the 'fore & aft' position, thus forming a "V" over the top of your wing with the rubberbands inplace, (the bottom of the V being the back of the wing) So... when you hit the ground , or anything else for that matter with the wing, the wing gets shoved aft and forces the bands off the end of the single rear dowel allowing the wing to pop free of the fuselage and not breaking. It's like a ski binding in a way. No amount of aerobatic wildness will cause the wing to release. I do a lot of terrain cliff flying and this has saved me countless times. Don't make the rear dowel to long or you can defeat the purpose, and don't over band the wing. There is never any stress between the wing and the fuselage, so allow the wing to pop free easily. Bottom line .... less repair time!
POPS that’s a very thorough explanation! I can certainly see the benefits of your method. I’m guessing you need to ply to the bulkhead holding the longitudinal dowel, or it could twist up out of shape. Having two cross dowels is certainly easy to build and easy to attach the wing.
