My 16.5oz (470g) ultralight Le Fish with Madslide-style full flying stabilizer gliding at Ellwood Mesa in very light 6-8mph (9-12km/h) wind. Shot with my hat-mounted camera.
This video was filmed later on the same afternoon as the original Cruising at Ellwood video, but the conditions had backed off some. It was still enough to have a lot of fun with the ultralighweight “MadSwissFish”. The large built-up floater you see from time to time is a kit-built 2m Spirit Elite, and was really the only other kind of plane that would’ve been much fun in such weak conditions.
The song “Star Fire Power” is by Gardens & Villa, an up-and-coming Santa Barbara band that was recently featured on NPR’s Song of the Day.
First video shows John “Big Gas” Scahill’s 26oz Extreme Gliders Extra on maiden flight. He got some footage of it and the three other new lightweights he and his buddies have built. His previous Extra was over 40oz in weight, so this is a big reduction! Per his post in the How to build a Swiss Fish thread on RCGroups, his “Anorexic Extra” is built “…with balsa control surfaces, extra spars (3 in wing, 1 in fuse) and some strapping tape “disser” style. I do have some 5 mil Laminating Film up front for strength… Aileron servos in wing. Elevator and rudder servo in nose” and is covered with Ultracote instead of “New Stuff” laminating film.
It’s very cool to see more people experimenting with the light build techniques!
The second video shows Dan’s 40″, 12oz Extra.. complete with Swiss Cheese Effect Very fun stuff, stoked to see this style of building catching on.
Dan from Extreme Gliders is taking orders for his Extra design. His contact info:
Dan McCleary – Extreme Gliders
Email: d...@Xg-eXtremegliders.com
Phone: (909) 648-4982
This video has some of the craziest stunts I’ve ever seen. These planes are so light, so maneuverable, it’s just incredible. I’ve certainly never seen a slope glider that can fly like this before. Enjoy – we may very well be seeing the start of something truly new
Had a really fun day out at Ellwood Mesa with Swiss Peter and Michael Richter. The wind was pretty light, maybe 10mph max and averaging about 7-8mph, straight in. Very marginal conditions for most planes, but not for our ultralightweights!! We had a blast, flying formation, doing fin drags and touch-and-goes, and generally just having a great time. So nice to spend a day at the beach with good buddies
Posted on July 23, 2011 by surfimp under Glider News.
The Escape by Richard Parkes.
Richard Parkes of the UK has designed a very nice 1.6m EPP slope aerobatics glider called the Escape. His prototype built to 538g (19oz) which is really great for this size of glider. It looks like it will be fantastic for close-in VTPR and just a lot of fun to fly.
Richard has been kind enough to share his design with the world, and provided some beautiful plans and instructions for download. All files are in PDF format, the plans are in a ZIP containing two PDFs, one for A0 paper and the other for 8.5×11 paper. Have a look, read about his design goals in the build instructions, and build one of these – it looks really nice!
Success! We finally have video proof of true Madslide-style multi-flips, performed here in the USA by our very own beloved Dawson Henderson. He’s flying his lightweight Le Fish, with an all up weight of around 21oz and TONS of elevator travel:
There’s a great page on the Fly35 website showing how to build wings for an Excalibur 2. If you were ever wondering how Breton VTPR models could be built so light, this should help you get an idea! Definitely worth a browse… check it out
Plans for the exciting Team Monkey Swinger are available again through the West Cornwall Slopers website here. I’ve watched the Swinger evolve over the years from the original 36″ Depron foamie to today’s 48″ Evolution composite with the fantastic TP42 airfoil. The plane and flying it evokes just gets better and better!! Highly recommend intrepid builders give one a go, looks like too much fun not to
Very fun stuff, stoked to see this style of building catching on.
