The Radian was recommended to me at my flying club, and it turned out to be a surprisingly fun and effective electric sailplane. It's almost too easy to achieve long duration flights, since it's very floaty and the powerful motor/battery combo can get you out of poor air anytime. Compared to hand launch, hi-starts or winches, having the launch system built right into the sailplane is a huge advantage at the field. However, being an aerospace engineer, I just had to modify the Radian wing. The basic 2-meter model has a blunt trailing edge which is cut off at about 1/4 of an inch high. I glued some balsa trailing edge stock pieces with foam-safe CA along most of the way out to the wing tips. After sanding the balsa flush with the airfoil, I covered it with iron-on mylar just past the joint, so the trailing edge is strong and waterproof. This improved the efficiency of the airfoil, added stiffness to the foam wing and increased the wing area by about 30 square inches. I can't quantify the performance improvement exactly, but it seemed easier to keep it up for 45 minutes during my last flight. I've also lightly sprayed some spots of dark paint on the bottom of the white wing for better visibility. I'd recommend the Radian as a fun, durable model for learning how to soar or just for the pure joy of soaring on a sunny day.
Review By. AstroNewt
0 comments:
Post a Comment