Slope Gliders

Slope gliders come in all shapes and sizes!

The many different sizes and shapes of gliders can make choosing your first glider a bit confusing to say the least. The type of gliding you wish to do along the wind conditions at the place where you plan to fly are the most import factors to consider when choosing a glider.

Since you're reading this page I will assume you are interested in slope soaring as opposed to thermal soaring. If you're new to the hobby, slope soaring is the best place to start. Let me explain why.

In order to stay in the air a glider of any type needs to find a mass of air that is moving upward, and we call this lift. Thermal soaring involves finding pockets of air that are naturally rising due to the temperature of the air. Hot air rises, that's why it is used in hot air balloons.

Traditional Slope Soaring

Slope soaring involves harnessing the energy of the wind to provide the lift. In an open plain wind generally moves from side to side, not up and down. When the wind is driving directly into a ridge or hill, it really has no place to go but up.

When this happens it creates a great area of lift above the ridge. The next time you're out on a Sunday drive, take a look at the birds gliding around the sky effortlessly along the side of a ridge. We actually stole the idea from them!

Ideally, you want to have the wind blowing directly into the ridge. An angle of more than 30 degrees or between the wind direction and the face of the hill will not produce the kind of lift you're looking for.

The wind speed and direction along with the shape and size of the hill will determine how much lift is produced. In perfect conditions it is possible to have updrafts of lift nearly the same speed as the oncoming wind. In the right conditions, this area of lift can extend several hundred feet from the top of the ridge.

If you're just starting out in the hobby you will first need to get comfortable with controlling your glider. It takes some time to get the hang of the control inputs, orientation, and basic overall control of the glider. This is much easier accomplished with slope soaring because the flight times are much longer, the lift is much stronger and more uniform. This gives you more time to focus on controlling your glider rather than searching for thermals to keep your bird aloft.

Another advantage to the beginner is the fact that slope soaring doesn't require any type of launching equipment.

Types of RC Slope Soaring

Aerobatic Slope Gliders - Aerobatic slope soaring is what most people enjoy. Because of the increased maneuverability, these types of gliders normally use ailerons for turning as opposed to rudder. Because more weight is more speed, these types of gliders tend to be a bit heavier than thermal gliders.
Combat Slope Gliders - Combat soaring is where multiple pilots try to knock each other out of the sky! So you can imagine combat gliders need to be very agile, so ailerons are used for turning. Because of the fatality rate, combat gliders are generally very cheaply constructed and many times homemade.

You'll also notice that most combat gliders are of the "flying wing" configuration. This is because there are less parts making them more difficult to knock out of the air and more repairable in the field.
Ridge racing - Ridge Racing is where multiple gliders race along the lift of a slope. Some races involve multiple gliders racing at the same time. Another type of racing is where each glider completes the course individually while being timed.

Racing gliders also tend to have ailerons as primary control. The best racing gliders are specifically designed to produce the most speed with the least altitude drop.
Dynamic soaring - What I have explained at the top of the page is traditional slope soaring where slope gliders utilize the ridge lift on the front side of the hill. Back in the old days folks used to avoid the back side of the hill like the plague, it was considered the "Dark Side"!

The extreme daredevils if you will, discovered how to harness the energy on the "Dark Side" for attaining unbelievably high speeds. Speeds nearing 400 mph! This type of gliding is called dynamic soaring.
Powered Slope Gliders - Some people may consider it "cheating", but having a motor on the front of your glider can save you a lot of walking! Whether you're slope soaring or thermal soaring there is always going to be a time where you can find lift and a motor sure comes in handy...

Powered gliders most always have props that fold back when not in use. A regular non-folding propeller will slow your glider down in a hurry!

Basic Guidelines for Choosing Glider

When it comes to slope gliders, there is no "one size fits all" model to recommend. Think about the type of gliding you would like to pursue. Do you want a fast glider? Rather have a floater? What are the lift conditions? Do you a perfect slope with tons of wind and lift? Does your flying site have mediocre lift?

Once you answer these questions you will be in a much better position to choose a slope glider suitable for you by understanding the following basics principles.

Wingspan - In general, the wider the wingspan the more lift will be produced for any given airspeed.
Wing Loading - Wing loading is the total weight of your glider dividing by the surface area of the wings. The higher the wing loading, the faster the glider must move to maintain lift.
Airfoil - The airfoil is the shape of the cross section of the wing. Fully aerobatic gliders will tend to have fully symmetrical airfoils where as stable floating type gliders tend to have flat bottom airfoils.

The infamous "Gentle Lady"

If you're new to RC, you lieterally can't go wrong with the Carl Goldberg Gentle Lady . This is a two channel elevator-rudder floater that has been introducing new folks to the hobby since the 1970's! Since Great Planes purchased Carl Goldberg, it's now the "Great Planes Goldberg Gentle Lady." This is a very easy build, even if you have no prior bulding experience.

The Gently Lady is very SLOW and doesn't require a lot of lift. It all actuality it makes a better thermal soarer than a slope glider because it can't handle too much wind. But it's absolutly perfect for a beginner to learn slope soaring in a light breeze.

Wide Variety at eBay

Below is a wide variety of gliders available on eBay. There are many gliders that are designed specificaly for slope soaring. Others are designed to be used with both thermal and slope soaring. Because slope soaring doesn't require an extremely light model, many people find that there electric parkflyers can actually be great slope gliders! There are even gliders that are "stand-off" scale versions of full scale fighter planes.

Again, consider what type of gliding you would like to do along with the typical wind conditions at your flying area.

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