Boidman (RIP)
Key Veteran
Location: The Home Stretch
My Posts This: Topic Forum | BOT's are truly gorgeous. Yours looks great, but I do wonder (gently) why the red wraps up out at the tips.
My glider experience, up to 14 footers, says you have plenty of aileron area located close enough to the wingtips to get real snappy control.
Unless you intend to fly hard and twitchy upsidedown, often, I believe part of your control problem may be lack of throw differential. For a right turn, the right aileron should deflect up more than the left one does, down. The increased drag of the greater deflection on the right, helps with the turn.
Still, those ailerons look wide and long enough to give great control, given sufficient throw. My setup with that bird would have the ailerons able to move at least 3/4 of an inch up and down, as a starting point, with no differential. With, 3/4" up, and 3/8" to 1/2" down would be reasonable.
The original BOT's had a fairly light wing loading, and were once considered true thermal beasts. Even with more modern materials, which surprising might net a heavier wing loading than the originals, an unpowered BOT should thermal to beat the band. Large areas of asphalt tend to be great for thermals, but you don't always find them where first inclination might suggest. Many of us have done best near the edges of light and dark surfaces. My first choice has always been the upwind transition point of light to dark ground cover. Second choice was the downwind transition. Heat obviously rises, but the center of a large dark surface is often not the best place to find thermals. |
