Lulu II

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Sundancer
Posts: 122
Joined: 07 Jun 2018, 09:28
Location: Limousin, France

Lulu II

Post by Sundancer »

Nice to see a new forum for flat field soarers, having spent quite a large chunk of my modelling life flying this type of model, both pure glider and electric powered, I still always like to have one or two in the "stable" along with all the other "e" models.

One mini-soarer which has stood the test of time is my conversion of my late club mate and friend John Barker's famous Lulu design from 1949. The Lulu is one of those inspired and fortuitous pieces of design which is "just right", as a simple to build lightweight F/F glider many thousands have been built over the years. Apart from changes to the tailplane to make it into an AMT and stiffen up the structure and a composite spruce/balsa spar in the wing, plus of course the nose change to accomodate the little 18 mm 50 watt outrunner, the model follows the original plans faithfully. At 9.75 ounces with a 850 2S lipo it is twice the weight of a typical free-flight one but still a very competent soarer at this weight with a lively climb rate on a 6" x 3" prop and enough battery duration for very long flights.

The model is five years old now and gets a lot of flying, mostly on the calm summer evenings we are lucky to experience here and has accumulated close to 100 flights or well over 40 hours airborne. Although mine has pitch control via the AMT, it would be perfectly happy as a rudder/throttle model, just a little more limited in the range of wind speeds it could safely handle. As a simple to build model with a fine design pedigree I would highly recommend it. A good legacy from a highly competent modeller and nice guy - thanks John. There is a full build log for my model at https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2425758
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