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3) Overcontrolling. Most new pilots try to fly like
they are playing a video game. Most likely, you will
never need full stick movement for any correction.
Typically, you will need very little down elevator as
well. Remember to move the stick in only small
amounts at a time. The radio control system you are
using is proportional, meaning the amount you move
the stick is in direct proportion to the amount the con-
trol surface moves. Full deflection of the control sur-
faces is typically reserved for correcting a major mis-
take or trying an aerobatic maneuver.
Planning the first flight
After reading through the maneuvers, you need to plan
your first flight. For your first flight, pick a day that
is clear and not windy. Too much wind will compli-
cate your first flight. Take the time to envision the
flight path. The flight will, of course, begin with
launching and climb-out. Once a safe altitude has
been reached, make a turn down wind and continue
to climb. Level off at about 100 feet of altitude. Try
to perform a basic figure 8 pattern. Learn to make
small corrections to keep your plane pointed in the
direction you want it to fly. After 3 or 4 minutes,
begin your descent to land. Turn into the wind to
land. If you're first landing gets the plane down in
one piece and it is located somewhere on the flying
field, that is pretty good!
We hope this information will help you make those
first few flights successful.
The following is intended toward those pilots who
have mastered basic flying with the Whisper. Ther-
mal flying is by far the most difficult aspect of glider
flying, however it can be the most rewarding. The
beautiful thing about the Whisper is because it is elec-
tric you have a much better chance of being able to
seek out and locate thermals. For more information
on thermals, check out your local library or the Inter-
net. There are many books and articles available that
detail what thermals are and how they work.
Thermal flying is truly an art and there is a good
amount of luck when you do find the perfect ther-
mal, but there are ways to hone your skills so that
you can become an artist in flying thermals rather
than remaining a hopeful novice who blunders into
them by accident. The following are some keys to
start this process that should help you learn to be a
better thermal pilot.
BASICS OF THERMAL FLYING
The first key is to become very familiar with the way
the Whisper flies. The way it responds when enter-
ing and exiting lift is essential. These are things you
will notice as you fly the Whisper more and more.
You need to be familiar with the plane so that you
recognize when it is flying normally and when it is
responding to up or down air. A new plane is very
hard for the novice to tell what is happening in re-
gards to the air. He or she is uncertain if the move-
ment is due to something the pilot did or due to air
movement. You want the plane to be properly
trimmed out so that it flies stable and smooth and to
know how it responds when you turn. Polyhedral
wing designs, like the Whisper, try to remain stable
and are easier for the novice to fly than straight wing
planes (i.e. wings with no dihedral) and, more impor-
tantly, are responsive to hitting the side of a thermal
more dramatically than straight wing planes do.
You will seldom hit a thermal straight on in flight.
More often you will hit the side of the thermal and it
will lift one wing more and literally throw your plane
away from the lift. When your plane should other-
wise be flying level, watch for a sudden lift of a wing
tip and turn the plane into that area. There is a good
chance that you hit the side of a thermal and it pushed
you away—into the air next to the thermal. If you
power up to fly into the thermal, be careful. You
might fly right through it. Having located a ther-
mal, turn into it and start circling to locate the area
of strongest lift. Tighten up the circle to get the maxi-
mum rate of climb.
Think of the air as water. No wind is a calm lake. A
breeze is a slow moving stream and a heavy wind is a
raging river. Often, a pilot hits some lift, starts cir-
cling and goes up and up and stays right in the same
spot circling. Then he starts coming down and doesn’t
understand why. On a calm day, once you hit lift you
can circle right there as it isn’t going anywhere but
up. It may die after a short time, but that happens.
With wind, picture your lift as an escalator going
downwind at the same rate as the wind is blowing.
You hit it and start to circle and you go up but you
have to have your circling go downwind at the same
speed as the wind to stay on the escalator. The lift is
moving and if you don’t go with it you lose it.
