South Cotswold Soaring Association: Beginners
So you've decided you want to take up flying model
gliders, but where do you start?
Step 2: insurance: it's highly advisable to take out 3rd party insurance before you go out flying. You can usually do this by joining your local club, or by joining the BMFA (British Model Flying Association. Step 3:CAA Drone Registration: It is now a legal requirement to register with the CAA if you wish to fly most types of drones or model aircraft (including gliders) outdoors in the UK. Please see the CAA Drone Registration Website for more info Categories of model gliders:there are generally (very generally!) 2 categories of gliders.Flat field:or thermal soaring glidersThese are intended for flying off flat fields and are launched either by a "bungee" (a great big elastic band), a towline see video (a man or woman running with a long length of fishing line attached to your model) and now more popular self launching using an electric motor fitted to the model, the motor runs for a short while and the pilot then looks for thermal lift. They tend to be 2 metres or greater in wingspan. Slope soaring gliders:a slope soaring glider is one which you take to the top of a suitable hill and chuck it off over the side. The model then "soars" (flies) in the lift generated by the wind hitting the hill, then being forced up and over the hill (slope). Hence the term "slope soaring".Advice by Dave Cooper: learning to fly What's the best model to learn to fly on? What
the best radio control set to buy and how does it
work? |