Le Fish slope soarer build

by apnewton | January 23, 2014 | (19) Posted in How To

Le Fish is a 60" EPP aerobatic slope soarer. The design, by Steve Lange from California, is Open Source and plans are available form his website www.slopeaerobatics.com. Le Fish was designed to perform Ultrabatics or VTPR (French acronym for aerobatics very close to the ground) 

This kit from Leading Edge Gilders includes wing and fuselage cores, carbon and hardwood spars, pushrods and control horns, balsa ailerons and tail parts. There are no official instructions but heaps of info online. Just search for Le Fish.

The build involved a few new techniques and materials for me: Using gorilla glue (had to use brown because the white stuff is not sold in Australia), covering with "New Stuff" or document laminating plastic, Gold-n-rod pushrods, CA hinges, full flying stab with crazy large throws.

I deviated from the kit by swapping the balsa aierons and tail parts for depron to save weight. My Le Fish ended up 650g flying weight, which puts it between the ultra light and all-rounder builds. Despite being light it is proving to be very tough (and easy to repair). While learning slope aerobatics I crash hard and often.

Here's the build video

 

Here's my detailed build log with lots of info and photos of every step along the way.

 

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COMMENTS

AlbertoBarragan on February 14, 2014
Fantastico!
A conscientious and meticulous work that can only give an interesting product.
My congratulations for the work done and the intelligent arrangement of components without leaving a beautiful design.
Congratulations from Spain
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apnewton on February 14, 2014
Thanks Alberto
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PaladinDG on February 14, 2014
Sloping is one of my favorite forms of RC. I use to live in California about 30 min from the coast around Santa Cruz and there were some awesome places to slope... I really miss those days. There is nothing like flying a glider with the ocean breeze in your face, the sound of the waves crashing below and the sound of your plane passing you by. That is my happy place... LOL!
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apnewton on February 14, 2014
Sloping is pure, playing with the elements in spectacular places.
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mark d on February 14, 2014
You make it look easier than I know it is. That design seems to have a very wide speed envelop too even unballasted.
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apnewton on February 14, 2014
Thanks Mark. Had to learn a whole new set of skills for building and flying, which is why I like it. I haven't felt the need to add ballast even in 25kn. That would just add momentum to the crashes. My next one will be all out ultra light.
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Aquanot on February 17, 2014
thanks apnewton to share this build. i may need to build one myself for some ridgesoaring this comming summer
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Christian Jeppesen on February 17, 2014
SUPER NICE article. I might have to invest in a slope glider of some kind, here in Denmark the wind is always blowing like crazy.

B.g. from Denmark
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apnewton on February 17, 2014
I tried my Bixler 2 on the slope when there was not enough and for Le Fish. It works wonderfully as a sloper. Very smooth and a great camera platform.
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skindoc on February 17, 2014
Nice build - where is this coastline in AU ? Bondi ? There are ZERO people for what looks like miles and miles. Paradise !
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apnewton on February 17, 2014
Bondi!? Oh no, that's about 1000km up the east coast and jam packed with people. This is 13th beach in Victoria. Torquay and Bells Beach are about 15km west.
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invertedbixler on February 17, 2014
I might have to get into scratch building......beautiful build, might have to try sloping with my stripped bixler
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apnewton on February 18, 2014
Do it man, you will be rewarded. Bixler on the slope is a revelation.
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Pat on February 19, 2014
That is so ridiculously graceful and ballet-like. Seems quite expressive. I've not been exposed to a lot of slope soaring and I've only done it on something called picasim on my iPad. I love sailplanes though. So peaceful and quietly beautiful. Thank you for the great article.
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apnewton on February 19, 2014
Thanks Pat but you must watch this https://vimeo.com/63717897 to see what talented VTPR pilots can do.
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Pat on February 20, 2014
Yeah they have the hang of it! It would seem that once you can manage to stay in the air, you'd have plenty of time to practice. No pesky battery charges! I can also imagine that during the learning curve, there's plenty of scrambling up and down the cliff?
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apnewton on February 20, 2014
That's right, you get exercise and danger at the same time.
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Le Fish slope soarer build