The most basic and obvious method

But such rising columns of air are invisible. It must do so to maintain airspeed to provide lift for the wings and airflow over the control surfaces to give the pilot control. The most basic and obvious method is to simply throw the plane with either a javelin or discus style launch. How do you get your model sailplane back? How did you get it up there in the first place? What sort of things can you do with your model sailplane when it is in the air?

A model sailplane, just like the real thing, is constantly flying downwards through the dd motors air. Thermal lift involves heat.Rising air occurs either through thermal lift or slope lift. Pull the plane back, let it zoom into the air, and grab the radio control. Bungee, or hi-start, launching sends a model sailplane skywards like an arrow.

The plane gains about 50 feet of altitude from the momentum of the throw then you have to hope like crazy that you are going to find lift before gravity brings it inevitably earthward again.Slope lift, by contrast, relies on the wind and a hill. But when the air is rising faster than the sailplane is falling then the sailplane can also rise, riding atop the rising air. The radio controls allow you to guide your plane to seek out lift and if you are flying from point to point, to move from one source of lift to another in the direction you want to go.

And eventually, of course, to bring your sky warrior down to a smooth landing. If you are flying 'point to point' then to leave that thermal to fly in the direction you want to go while at the same time seeking out your next thermal to lift you up again before the prevailing force of gravity brings your model sailplane inevitably back to earth. There is no engine noise, only the sound of your heartbeat as you watch your model sailplane become a speck in the sky.Feeling down?