After my West Wings Merlin I have a first go with the Micro Gentle Lady. Here's a link to the Angel Wing Designs range of micro gliders: www.angelwingd...
Wish I had a little gentle lady, mine’s not little or gentle - a bit of a cow actually. Jokes aside I came across this coincidently whilst scaling down an Easy Answer, very much the same originally a 2m sailplane and it was the first RC kit I ever owned as a very young lad and started a lifelong love affair
The full size Easy Answer plan calls for capped ribs and webbed spar at least near the root, do you think I can do away with that on the micro version?
If your build will be half or less than half size then I would say yes don't worry about capped ribs and a webbed spar. The wing on the Micro Gentle 30" wing uses a full height spar with slots for the slotted ribs, but personally I prefer an upper and lower spar which would be both lighter and stronger. I'm assuming the the Easy Answer wing has an upper and lower spar. The 35" wing for my Merlin I've just built is very strong with just the upper and lower spar (which is set further back from the upper spar). Hope your build goes well and is successful.
@@RCSoaringDiaries Thank you, yes indeed the Easy Answer is of typical 'polyhedral' type construction with spruce upper and lower spar strips which are webbed on the first 3rd of the wing from the root, a remarkably strong wing yes, I was thinking on my scaled version of utilizing a carbon flat strip bonded to the upper spar and thus getting away with using balsa spar strips instead of a hardwood. It remains to be seen how strong it is but I feel for the intended use of slope soaring it will be more than adequate.
not sure how the primitive structural design of this could be expected to hold up to the force of a high start. never broke the full size GL on a high start, after hundreds of hours of flying. had my current (third one) since 09'.
@@kardRatzinger It's 1/8" flat rubber strip as used for rubber powered models. You can purchase it by the metre in the UK from: www.vintagemodelcompany.com/1-8-f-a-i-tan-flight-rubber.html and for the line use a very light fishing line. I've just got some 0.15mm line to make up a few different lightweight hi-starts.
I would of said the CoG was spot on 1st test glide then wind and too much tension on the high start coupled with a bit much enthusiasm. Resulting in a repair job . well done . Ready for round 2. 👏👏👏
The small gliders seem more difficult to get set just right and are also very susceptible to even the slightest change in conditions, but I'm learning. Yes I'm ready for round 2 👍
Ian, I've discovered the small gliders are more tricky to hi-start. Mistakes often are good ways to learn - I'll never try that again. All ready for next outing and I've moved the hook under the fuselage forward and secured with tape so I can adjust to get that perfect position and then glue properly 👍
Hi Carl, sorry to see the damaged plane. Especially when you put so much care into it build. Always a next time. Just wondering if the tow hook can be set further forward? That would alleviate the pressure on the wing. Otherwise a softer hi start is needed
As you know, these things happen. It's strange, it's the smaller models that are more difficult to hi-start. I've noticed, the bigger the glider the easier to hi-start. You may have missed it, but I said at the end of the video that I'll move the hook forward to alleviate the pressure on the wing. Actually what I've done is secure the hook with gf reinforced tape so I can experiment to find that perfect position and then I'll glue properly 👍
Hi Carl. I’m interested in building my first balsa plane after having flown foamies for over 10yrs. Do you have a view on whether the Micro Gentle Lady is a better choice than West Wings Merlin for 2ch RC? Also, is your West Wings model an original or the revised version available from The Vintage Model Co?
That's great to hear you want to build your first balsa model 👍 The choice between the Micro Gentle Lady and Merlin will probably be down to the type of flying you want to do. I would say for slope soaring, go for the Micro Gentle Lady as it penetrates the wind really well and as a result will fly in a stronger breeze. If you want to have a go at flat field high start launching, then the Merlin is the better of the two. My Merlin was an original kit. They come up on eBay quite frequently and there's one on there at the moment: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/West-Wings-MERLIN-GLIDER-Free-Flight-Model-Wing-Span-35-890mm/274728741249?hash=item3ff71be981:g:kekAAOSw9bdgV6ZU Both of these will require the wings covering. If for your first balsa kit you like the idea of not having to do a wing covering let me know and I'll point you in the direction of a few nice sheeted wing models that won't require covering but simply sealing the wood with a varnish. Hope this help, Carl
@@RCSoaringDiaries Thanks very much for the info. The Merlin will probably suit me better then as most of my flying is from a flat field. I was thinking I would start with a covered wing - purely from an aesthetic perspective. However, I'm open minded about sheeted wings. Are there any in a similar size range to the Merlin? I also notice some great posts on your channel about the Hiesbök Hawk Micro which seems to have a solid balsa wing. Would you suggest that for a beginner balsa modeller?
Don't let me put you off what you'd like to do. A built up wing is aesthetically pleasing. What you could do is make up a simple structure from left over balsa from the Merlin and have a go at covering that before committing to covering the wing. The original kit comes with blue and white tissue if you want to use tissue. If you want to use iron-on film just make sure it is at the lighter end of the scale. Not just because of weight, but they tend to require less shrinkage. The heavier coverings can be viscous in shrinkage, which is fine on a large, strong, stiff wing but will distort and warp a lighter wing.
good info to have prior to my Gentle lady build and maiden, its good you post the fails as well as the perfect flights, that helps us all learn more. Thank you
Thanks. At first I thought I would have to make a new wing, but when I looked at the wing the next day I could see that a repair job was the way to go. Flown since and is a great little glider. Looking forward to doing more (longer) high starts with it in a flat field soon 👍
